Page 7 of The Lies I've Told
“You want to get out of this office, right? And, with this promotion they’re giving me, I will be traveling even more. I’ll need help. It’s a win-win. Plus, you’ll have my ear and I have theirs. Do you see where I’m going?”
His interest perked up. “Okay, I’m listening. So, I’ll get to go with you to all these ridiculous places you visit?”
“Yes.” I smiled.
“And help you with design.”
“You can give me your opinions. I can’t promise more than that.”
Because that’s all you’ll ever be able to give.No one is going to take you seriously in this company,a small voice in my head said.
I ignored it, like I’d been doing for years.
He briefly considered it before he spoke, “When you see what I have to offer, you’ll be begging for more. Will I have to get you coffee and cut up your food?”
“Cut up my food?”
“Willa, Lorenzo’s assistant, says he regularly makes her order him dinner and then cut up his food before he’ll eat it.”
I tried to imagine my sexy man of a boss doing this. “Um, no. I’m pretty sure I can cut my own food, but I might ask for coffee from time to time.”
“I guess I can do coffee, as long as I can get my own at the same time.”
I heard someone clear their throat next to us, and my attention went to the front.
“So, are we good?” Kyle asked.
I gave him a thumbs-up as Lorenzo took the stage. Well, there was no stage, but if there were, he would totally have owned it.
“Hey, uh, Millie…I think you have a bit of drool right there,” Kyle joked, pointing to my mouth.
I shot him a look before shaking my head and returning to Lorenzo.
“Thank you all so much for taking the time out of your busy day to come together as a team to honor and celebrate this wonderful company. Our annual meeting is always a special occasion because it truly humbles me to see the hard work that goes into making this company great and to recognize much you achieve on a daily basis, both in and out of the office. So, without further ado, let’s get this party started!”
Everyone laughed at his attempt at humor. It really wasn’t that funny, but with the addition of Lorenzo’s Italian accent…well, it helped.
Plus he was our boss, so of course we laughed.
“Here we go,” Kyle whispered beside me. “Wake me up when they get to you.”
“You’re terrible.”
“No, I get easily bored and this is fucking long.”
He wasn’t wrong. We weren’t a large company, but we were by no means small. This was just our corporate office. We had satellite offices in several other countries, and even though none of those people were here, Lorenzo felt the need to honor them anyway.
So, it could get a little long.
We celebrated promotions and retirements and even births and marriages. In Lorenzo’s eyes, those were equally important, although none of the top staff members even knew what it was like to be married, let alone have kids since we were all married to our jobs, but we celebrated everyone else with a smile and a round of applause.
Finally, he got to promotions in the corporate office. I hit Kyle in the ribs, causing him to sit up straight and pay attention. Just as Lorenzo was about to open his mouth, several beeps and buzzes filled the room, like everyone’s phone had gotten a notification at the same time.
Wanting Lorenzo to continue, I ignored my phone, but several others didn’t.
Including Kyle.
He casually pulled his phone under the table, like half of the room, and I watched as his eyes nearly bugged out of his head.
