Page 102 of Brutal
Mimosa steps on my foot with her heel. “I’m not sure what you’re implying, sir. As executive assistant, I’m here to take notes on the board meeting. You can thank me for getting copies of today’s slides sent to everybody, and if for some reason you didn’t bring a tablet or laptop, I also can provide you with paper printouts, pens, and paper.” She keeps smiling the entire time. “But surely you knew what executive assistant duties entail.”
The way she so thoroughly puts him down is effective enough to keep me above the water, and I smirk at Oliver.
Oliver laughs nervously and scratches the back of his neck. “Right. Well, sweetheart, we’ll have to meet over coffee sometime and get to know each other.”
Never mind the calm. “Do I need to get with HR about sexual harassment of a temporary employee?” I ask sharply. “Because I will. She’s not your f— sweetheart.”
“Yeah, Dan in HR would love to meet her too, I bet,” Oliver shoots back. “Anyway, the board meeting. I wanted to chat with a few people too.”
He goes through the large doors. Several of the board members are already waiting inside, including Chase. I seethe as the doors slowly shut again.
I didn’t realize Oliver was like this. Had he always been this way, and I’d just ignored it or didn’t care?
“I think he wanted to rattle me,” Mimosa says calmly. “He wanted me to think you were a sexually harassing asshole. Which I already know.”
“Not to my employees!” I protest.
They’d always been eager to climb into bed with me. I hadn’t had to harass them at all.
“Anyway, let’s get inside before he can start to talk shit,” I grumble, wishing I could wrap my arms around her and pull her close. But no. As far as anyone here is concerned, she’s only someone filling in for Caroline.
Someone who is most assuredly not single and definitely not their sweetheart.
We enter the room, and all conversation dies down. I notice the way some of the board members pale, and a few wince.
George and Oliver stop whispering to each other in the far corner.
“Hey! Don’t stop chatting on my account,” I say to the room at large. “I think we’ve got another few minutes until the meeting officially starts.”
I walk over to the refreshments table, which Caroline had of course organized before she’d left. It’s an extravagant spread, and Mimosa had balked when she’d seen the bill as she’d gone through Caroline’s email.
I want to talk to Mimosa now, just to ground myself, but of course several of the board members come over to talk to me, and Mimosa ends up talking to a few other people.
This was the plan. We have to act normal.
I have to act normal.
When the clock on the wall ticks over to the hour mark, I clear my throat and say, “All right, everybody. Let’s get this meeting started. We’re all busy people, and we can’t wait around for stragglers.”
I’m sure Oliver would have said that about me, if I’d been missing.
We all take our seats, with Mimosa in a chair near the wall behind me. Almost all of the board of directors are there, which makes me itch in the back of my neck. Even Rachel Stellar is there, and she only shows up when there’s some pet issue she wants to be on the news about.
If they vote me out of the company, there is definitely going to be a huge news story.
I wish Mimosa were within view. I have to settle for knowing she’s directly behind me, supporting me.
“Right. Let’s get started with the financials…” Oliver starts up his bog-standard presentation, then takes a few questions about where the market is heading and how our prospects look for the rest of the year.
Dull, boring, and normal.
My fingers clench as I wait for the ball to drop.
Forty minutes into the meeting, and I almost wonder if this was all a false alarm. Maybe I invented the whole problem, spurred on by my withdrawal or my fear of Mimosa leaving or whatever else is wrong with my fucking brain.
Except George Browning suddenly stands up and says, “There’s one more matter to discuss.”
All eyes turn to him, and he puts on a grim expression. “We’ve all been keeping track of the news cycles and the rumors. We know exactly how much hinges on public opinion. And to that matter, I wanted to bring up an unsavory, uncomfortable issue.”