Page 16 of My Boss's Sons

“If they send more than three men out, they’ll have to be okay with taking turns! My sister is a badass but she’s only one woman!” Ava winced when I pinched her arm. “What?”

I glared at her and waited for the understanding to cross her face. “Yeah, jerk. You just said that. I’m not telling you anything.”

Mr. Jimmy sighed. “Well, poop.”

The cops never showed up, thankfully. I did however give in and tell them about my night before going inside and beginning the process of acting like it never ever happened.

14

***Sophia***

“Looking good, Sophia.” Randal Barnes walked into my office first thing Monday morning with a broad smile showing off every one of his teeth. He was dressed in a cream suit that made his caramel colored skin look amazing. He’d taken his two weeks of vacation in Mexico and if I said I wasn’t jealous, I’d be lying. “What’s different about you?”

Randal had been my assistant for six months but if he didn’t find a better job before I moved up in the business world, I was taking him with me. He was amazing at his job and could read me like a book when it came to anticipating what I needed. He was a few years younger than me and had three little boys at home. We’d been talking about getting the kids together for a play date but after working ten hour days, we were usually too tired to make any real effort.

I sat up straighter and smiled to hide my frustration at being back at Anderson Inc, without a promotion. “Absolutely nothing.”

He searched my face and then rushed to close my office door. “That asshole. Sophia, you deserved that promotion!”

I nodded. “Yeah, I did.Wedid.”

“This isn’t right.” Randal shook his head and offered the same thing he’d offered a dozen times before. “I can ask Rita for help, Sophia. This is her bread and butter. Let her help.”

“I’m not letting you drag your wife into this.”

“She lives to sue asshole employers who mistreat their female employees, Sophia. This would make her year.”

I shook my head and brought that conversation to a close. “No. There’s no need for that. At least, not yet. If it gets more obvious, Randal, I’ll do something.”

He nodded, understanding that I was through talking about it. “Well, I wasn’t kidding about you looking great. Did you get a haircut or something?”

I shrugged. I was considering the weekend a big blank space in my mind because nothing had happened. At all. If my body was still achy in certain places, that was because of something different. “Nope.”

He studied me for a bit longer and then shrugged. “I don’t believe you, but that’s fine. What’s up first this morning? I didn’t fill out your schedule on Friday because I was hoping you’d have the correct job this morning.”

That was one of the things that made Randal amazing. He slipped from personal to business seamlessly. “I think we should spend this morning reviewing-”

James Flannery opened my office door and walked in without knocking. He cut his eyes at Randal and frowned. “I’ve been trying to page you, but it seems your assistant wasn’t at his desk.”

I stood up and walked around my desk to stand next to Randal. “No, he was here, with me, working. What can I do foryou? I didn’t expect to see you on this floor after you chose Bill Trent as your replacement.”

“I’ll be around to help Bill out for a couple of weeks.” His frown deepened and I hoped he was thinking about how he wouldn’t have had to stick around if he’d chosen me. “Mr. Anderson has called a meeting for all managers and heads of departments.”

Annoyance bit at me, but I was back under the giant Anderson thumb and my time wasn’t my own once more. Whatever work I could’ve gotten done with Randal would have to wait. “Now?”

James nodded. “We need to get moving.”

I grabbed my phone from my desk and nodded to Randal. “Start pulling up the files for businesses A through E, please.”

While walking to the elevator, James cleared his throat. “It’s complicated, Sophia.”

I narrowed my eyes but kept my head straight. “Oh?”

An intern tried to join us when the elevator doors opened but James held up his arm and shook his head. “Take the next one.”

I crossed my arms under my chest and leaned in the corner of the elevator. “That was rude.”

“Look, Sophia, I understand that you hate me. I didn’t have a choice, though. If I could’ve chosen, I would’ve picked you. You’re made for the job. And if you’d gotten the job, I could’ve been setting up my office on the executive floor right now.”

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