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“My associate, Chris.”
“Is he even younger than you?”
“I think he’s five years older than I am.”
“And yet you’re the VP?”
“Chris isn’t quite as ambitious as I am, career-wise. He cares almost as much about hiking and fishing as he does about his wife and commercial real estate, so he doesn’t want the extra responsibility.”
“And you do?”
“Oh yeah.”
She looks down when she asks, “How’s Fanny Brice?”
Fanny Brice is a cat. We found her by the lake when she was a kitten. Lily took her home and named her after the main character inFunny Girl. “She’s good. She’s alive and well and happy to be living at my house when I’m in town and with my dad when I travel.”
“Good. I missed her. More than I expected to. I thought about her every day. I want her back.”
“I’ll be sure to let her know that. She’s been made aware of your return, and she’s considering her options.”
“She’s my cat, Wes. She belongs with me.”
“Funny… That wasn’t the impression you gave Fanny or me when you left her in a carrier on my dad’s porch five years ago.”
The girl had left me a scribbled note, inside the cat carrier, that said:Wes. Please take care of Fanny. I know you and your dad will be good to her. I’m leaving Belford, and I’m not coming back. Don’t try to get in touch with me. It’s for the best. Thank you.
I hope she understands why she hasn’t been nominated for Cat Mom of the Century.
She blinks, shifts around in the chair, unclenches her jaw, and lets out a breath. “Thank you for taking care of her.”
“My pleasure. She’s a lot nicer now. Just as beautiful and strong-willed and sassy as ever, but she’s calmed down a bit over the years. I like having her around.”
She lowers her eyes and her voice. “Good. How’s your dad?”
“He’s great. Still lives on your dad’s property, but he’s taken on a few more clients in the neighborhood, since your dad doesn’t want much more than maintenance work anymore.”
She nods. “It’ll be good to see him.” She looks me straight in the eye and says, “Well. Speaking of maintenance work… I guess you should start telling me exactly what I’ll be doing for you here.” She crosses her arms in front of her chest.
I mirror her pose and hold her gaze. “Beth should have gone over that with you when you were filling out your paperwork, and Kate will give you more detailed instructions tomorrow.”
“I’d like to hear it directly from you. Your expectations and administrative needs. So there’s no confusion and so I can fulfill my role here to the best of my ability.”
“Okay. So there’s no confusion—this was not my idea, and I’m just as uncomfortable about this situation as you are.”
“Uncomfortable? Do I seem uncomfortable?”
“No, you seem like a drugged-out robot secretary.”
She puffs out a little laugh. “I wasn’t aware that robots could be drugged.”
“And I think you must be drugged, or you would have objected to being called a secretary.”
She frowns and shifts around in the chair. “I am not your secretary.”
“No, you’re my assistant.” I stand up and walk around to the front of my desk to lean against it and look down at her while I talk. “You will have phone duties, scheduling and organizational duties; you will create, maintain, and enter information into databases; you’ll send and respond to emails to and from current and potential clients, as well as brokers, lawyers, bankers, and loan officers, appraisers, consultants, engineers, vendors, business owners, property managers, building inspectors, various contacts in various departments at City Hall, other members of the Barnes Group team on my behalf…all while keeping me updated on all communications in an efficient and timely manner. You’ll ensure effective communication between myself and Chris, to make sure I have all of his underwriting and market research when I need it. You’ll help me research and perform due diligence on commercial investment properties, fill out paperwork and type up reports for me, ensure that the paperwork is submitted in a timely manner. You’ll accompany me to sites when necessary, and you’ll do anything and everything necessary to assist me in analyzing investments and acquiring properties on this company’s and our clients’ behalf and closing deals. Tomorrow, Kate will give you a quick lesson on the different apps and software we use here while overseeing your work for one day only. I’m also assuming you’re capable of using a phone and sending emails—I wouldn’t know, since you’ve never called or emailed me.”
It does not go unnoticed that Lily has been squeezing her thighs together and staring up at me through her thick eyelashes, her lips parted, hands gripping the arms of her chair, leaning toward me ever so subtly.
