Page 23 of Insufferable Boss

“I can't do that,” she said. “This is a company I built from the ground up, and I would hate to feel like I was cheated out of it.”

I studied her, and then I set down my fork.

“You know this isn't about money, right?” I asked, and she nodded, giving me her full attention as well.

“Of course it isn't. I can foresee that murky days are ahead, and only those with control will be able to survive.”

I listened, and then I went straight to the point.

“You won't, for any amount, completely give up full control of your company, will you?”

“No,” she said.

“This is my final offer,” I said. “51% for us and 49% for you. As you said, it's not about money but control, and as the subsidiary that you will become, you cannot have autonomous control over that company. Otherwise, it won't feel like ours. This will not only bring further conflict between Standard Rock and your company but also between the two staffs.”

She listened, and then she nodded.

“I'll take this into consideration,” she said, and I couldn't help my smile.

“Maybe the 2% you're taking away from me will come at the cost of my support for you among the other owners.”

At her words, I couldn't help but laugh because I had actually expected her to say this.

“If that is the cost, then that's fine with me. As you have just said, you do care about the company, and so do I. So, I don't believe that at any point you'll support decisions that will harm the company. That is more than enough for me. So please feel free to not support me at any time if you feel that my moves or interests are not in any way for the good of the company.”

She stared at me and then she nodded.

“I think we’ve gotten somewhere.”

“Yes, we have,” I replied, and we continued with our lunch.

11

Lena

As I watched him eat, I couldn't quite believe where we had come to. I had expected this conversation to go a little bit more left field and take much longer to resolve, but to my surprise, he was quite reasonable about it, and I was just as surprised as I was impressed.

I was also unhappy, though, because ultimately, I had lost, but it was a loss I found I could handle as I pondered over the matter as we ate. Diana said this would be majorly for the sake of the company, my dad's company, so there was truly no loss. As a subsidiary, Kane would be in charge most of the time, but given his track record of running the company excellently so far, I didn't think there would be any danger coming from him. He'd want it to succeed just as much as I did, and he'd be someone I could go to for the difficult decisions as well.

I could stomach this, so by the time we were done with the light cheesecake dessert, the atmosphere between us was a little bit more harmonious. I looked at the time and was impressed by how we had both eaten quite quickly, and we were right on time. Lunchtime would be ending in about twenty minutes, and it was more than enough time to spare in heading back.

"Let me pay the bill this time around," I said as I pulled out my wallet, and to my surprise, he didn't stop me.

"Please, go ahead," he replied.

Shaking my head slightly, I handled things with the waiter, and then it was time to leave. However, he stopped me.

"Before you leave, can I ask that you consider one more proposition?" he asked, and I wondered what it was.

"Let's hear it," I said, and he said it plainly.

"Are you open to a more personal relationship between us?" My heart skipped a beat, or perhaps several.

"Um, what kind of personal relationship?" I asked.

"There's chemistry between us," he said. "We don't have to act on it and can choose to ignore it. It's up to you, but I would be remiss if I didn't at least make the offer. I've never really looked away from something I wanted, so why should I start now?"

I looked at him and then decided to be bold as well.

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