Page 24 of Billionaire and the Barista

NATHAN

“Gavin,” I said, stepping into his office.

I stopped and looked at him and shook my head. He didn’t even have the smarts to attempt to look busy. He lounged back in his chair; feet crossed on top of his desk.

“Hey, dude,” he said, tossing a baseball in the air and catching it.

“Are we working today?” I asked, spreading my hands, indicating his lax attitude.

“I don’t know, are we?”

I slapped his feet from his desk.

“Hey! It’s not like you’re taking this office seriously.” He pointed at my clothes.

My belongings from Amsterdam still hadn’t arrived, and I had not had the time to find a local tailor. My personal assistant in Amsterdam would not be joining me in the States, and I had not yet found a replacement to handle these matters for me. The only suit I had with me was the one I wore to the funeral. I still couldn’t bring myself to put it back on. I was dressed like I was on vacation. I had wanted to be comfortable for my time here, to make a sad situation as comfortable as possible.

It was bad enough that I had to bury my father, but I had to take over his office for him. This trip had been anything but comfortable.

“I need to know what the status is on the Lake Moore project. Specifically, the adjacent properties.” I held out my hand and made a beckoning gesture, expecting him to produce something tangible and useful.

“I’ve got nothing man. I have a bonus offer out to a few real estate agents for whoever can get the sale.” He finally sat up and looked like someone who was doing some work.

“I still need a written summary. Get on it.”

I left his office and stopped in the conference room. Cameron had brought in a crew of temps to sort and file everything that had been stacked around my father’s office. Three women sorted through documents and made their own piles. Banker’s boxes were stacked along one wall, and open boxes took up one end of the table.

When I returned to my office, it no longer looked the way it had when I had first walked into it last week. All of the paperwork had been removed, the carpet had been cleaned. Cameron was efficient and made things happen. I could see why my father had kept her for longer than two years when I could remember him constantly complaining about finding competent assistants.

Too bad she already worked for the office; I could use someone like her as a personal assistant. I buzzed the intercom and asked her to come into my office.

“Is everything okay? There isn’t a problem with the job the cleaning crew did, is there?”

“No, everything is fine. I checked on the temps, and they look like they know what they are doing, more so than Gavin does” I said.

“He’s a slow self-starter, but your father did seem to think he did a good job,” she said.

“And you?” I asked.

“He hasn’t attempted to touch me inappropriately, or call me toots or babe, so I don’t have any complaints.”

I closed my eyes. Please tell me I wasn’t going to have to teach Gavin how to behave properly in an office setting. I made and relaxed my fists a few times.

“He hasn’t…”

Cameron chuckled. “Trust me, you would know if he did anything that constitutes sexual harassment. I’m not the type to let that go unchallenged. Gavin is fine, but with his, um, personality, I honestly had expected it.”

“So, this bro-dude thing he has going, he doesn’t just do it around me?”

She blinked at me a few times. “I just assumed that was his personality.”

I shrugged. “Maybe it is now. It’s something he picked up in college. Anyway, I’m glad to know he behaves and gets the job done. What had I called you in here for was to ask if you have a sister or a clone?”

“Excuse me? What?” Her hands went up in a defense position.

“I need a PA, and you have proven to be more than competent in getting things handled in a timely fashion. I need another one of you.”

“Ah," she dropped her defenses. “I can contact the agency and see what they have. Preferences? Expectations?”

---