Page 61 of A Bossy Roommate
“They have high demands for their renovation project,” Huxley says. “They recently bought a small chain of restaurants, and all of them need major construction and updating. Their timeline is short, and their budget extremely specific.”
There it is.
Short time frames with small budgets are nightmares to organize. Especially for highly involved clients who have specific needs and are already wary due to fuckups. No wonder Huxley isn’t mad that the account is being taken away from him. He doesn’t have to deal with the mess he’s caused. But that’s the major difference between us. He sees those types of clients as annoying—I see them as a challenge.
I never back down from a challenge.
“Great, can’t wait to get started,” I say. “Unfortunately, I can’t do so today, gentlemen. I have to leave right after this meeting. But I’ll do what I can from home and lay the groundwork for the transfer first thing Monday morning.”
“This is a big client,” Huxley suddenly jumps in. “The reason we’re having this meeting on a Saturday is that it can’t wait. I’m surprised you would delay getting to work on such an important client.”
Laughable. Huxley really thinks he can goad me into dropping everything to stay at work. He knows I have family obligations. Of course, he doesn’t know exactly what I have happening over the weekend since it isn’t any of his damnbusiness. But if he wants to go that route, if he wants to try to make me look bad in front of Bernie, he’s in for a surprise.
For one thing, I put in more than enough work to deserve a weekend. Second, work doesn’t come before my aunt. The only reason I felt comfortable enough to leave her for an hour is that she always takes a nap after her flight, but mostly because Eden is with her.
“The reason why I have to leave is because my elderly aunt is visiting, possibly for the last time,” I announce. “I have someone staying with her at the moment, but I need to get back soon. The rest has to wait.”
I can feel the energy shift in the room. Bernie looks uncomfortable, and Huxley’s smile falters. “You could have told us,” Bernie says, shifting in his seat while absentmindedly running his hand through his thinning hair. “We could have rescheduled or done a remote meeting.”
“Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough time. I got the call about the meeting on my way back from the airport.”
At that, Bernie looks at Huxley sharply. “What is he talking about? I told you about this meeting two days ago.”
Two days ago? Bastard. Not telling me earlier about an important meeting is exactly the kind of shit I’ve come to expect from Huxley. It’s a good thing Bradley had called me to let me know the meeting was going on. Huxley probably wouldn’t have said anything at all.
“I swear I sent the message yesterday,” Huxley says. “Must be that new assistant you have. Shame, I thought she would work out well. You might want to rethink her position here. How many assistants would that be now? You go through them so fast it’s hard to keep track.”
All right. He wants to play dirty. Bastard is already on thin ice trying to throw me under the bus. His going after Eden is where I draw the line. I know with absolute certainty that if shehad gotten that email before she’d left work, she would have immediately put it in my calendar, or at least told me about it when we’d gone to dinner.
He had sent the email after hours, knowing full well I wouldn’t see it in time.
“As you know, anything last minute like that should be CCed to me as well or sent directly to me. I have explained on multiple occasions that my assistants don’t work after hours or on weekends and therefore she would not have seen it until it was too late,” I inform him, keeping my voice calm and cool, yet glaring daggers at the asshole who sits across from me. “I will also say, she’s been working with us for a week already and has proven to be competent at her job.”
Huxley nods. “You are right, that was my mistake. I forgot about that.” He smiles. I can count on one hand the number of times Huxley has smiled at me that wasn’t a sneer or smirk.
“Anyway, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that I’m here and we’ve discussed what we needed to. Is there more or can I return to my guest?”
“Yes, of course,” Bernie says. “There was something else I wanted to go over, but the full details can wait.” He turns to Bradley. “Everhart, can you make sure to fill Bancroft in on the other items we discussed?”
Bradley gives a curt nod. “I will.”
“Enjoy your visit with your aunt,” Huxley throws out. “I’m sorry to hear that she isn’t feeling well. Please let us know if you need anything.”
What the hell is going on with him? He’s being way too nice and understanding, which is unlike him. I know he has to be pissed that his plan to keep me out of the meeting failed spectacularly. I’m sure he has something else up his sleeve.
Any other day I would have dived headfirst into work to stick it to Huxley. But my mind is preoccupied with Aunt Eleanor, andI’m anxious to text Eden to check in, announcing that I might need a bit longer than the promised hour, so she won’t have to worry. Without a word, I get up from the table, and Bradley follows me out of the room.
When we’re far enough awaythat we can’t be overheard, he says, “Well, that could’ve been worse.”
“I don’t trust anything that just happened in that conference room,” I tell him as we head toward my office to discuss our battle plan.
“Why? Huxley seemed pretty chill about the whole thing.”
“I know. When have you ever known Huxley to be chill about anything, unless he believed he had all the strings in his hands?”
“Fair point.”
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