Page 23 of Once Upon a Prince

“No, I wasn’t. What did you say?” I asked.

“Not going to happen. If you didn’t hear me the first time, you don’t get to hear it now. It will just be your loss. What I want to know is what or who has you so distracted. Or do I already know?”

“I am not distracted.”

“Uh huh,” Anna said. “Fine, then why don’t you tell me how your little shopping experience went.”

“It was very successful.”

“So, I gathered based on how much you bought. I never knew someone could almost buy out a store, but I think you got pretty close.”

“I didn’t buy out the store. I hardly made a dent. Wait, how did you even know?”

Anna laughed. “That wasn’t what Garrett told me.”

“Why are you and Garrett talking about me and my shopping habits? I thought they were supposed to be discreet.”

“Oh, they are, but Garrett wants to keep me on his good side so we had a little chat when you left. I heard a particular pantsuit was a hit.” Anna finished off her wine.

“I think Ella was happy with the results.”

“Any woman would be happy with all those clothes. Well, at least any woman with reason. Does she know you did it so you could stick it to those bitches who were bullying her?”

“It wasn’t the only reason but it was a good incentive. Ella is an excellent employee and should be rewarded for her good work.”

“Bonuses, more time off, taking them to lunch, maybe even giving them a bottle of wine, or if you are really generous, a spa day. It isn’t normal to get an entire wardrobe from your boss as a way of saying thank you.”

“She’s on a fixed budget. There’s a certain look my staff should have. How they look, act, and even dress is a reflection on me. It was only right that I make sure she was able to do her job fully.”

“Uh huh. Keep telling yourself that. You worked with your previous assistants for years and you never gave them so much as a holiday card.”

“I did give them bonuses, nice ones. Who needs a card?”

“Certainly, when you can have clothes instead? You’re different with Ella. Is it because you knew her when she was younger? Or is it something more?” Anna asked.

“She came to New York having never been here before. She has navigated working for me and the city exceptionally well but it hasn’t been without its challenges. I can see she has been struggling and I wanted to help her. I have the means, nothing more.”

“No, you wanted to put those bitches in their place and what better way to do it than to make Ella look better than they are.”

“She already is. She didn’t need clothes to do that.” I looked at my wine glass and scowled.

“Are you looking for ways to fire them? Can you?”

“It’s my company, I can do whatever I want. Tanya’s performance the last few years has slowly been slipping. I might be looking into relocating her to a different position, or a different area. There might be discussions about what her options are.”

“Are you sending her to Siberia?”

“We don’t have an office there, though that might be something I can look into,” I said and refilled my wine glass and Anna.

“What did they say that pissed you off so much? You never told me.” Anna took her glass and sat back in her chair.

“I don’t like bullies. I like them even less in my company. I will not tolerate them going after any of my employees. I may not be able to fire them for making comments.”

“Can’t you? Wouldn’t that be considered a hostile work environment?”

“I didn’t hear them directly, nor could I decipher which of the two was making what comments. Tanya might be lazy and not care about her job, but she still knows how to do it. As head of HR, she would poke holes in me firing her for that. It’s best to find other ways to get rid of her that don’t cause internal problems or get lawyers involved. With her gone, Diana would get a promotion of sorts, but would be so out of her league she would quit.”

“You’re going to have fun fucking with them, aren’t you?” Anna took a drink of her wine.