Page 49 of Insufferable Boss

"You two are cut from the same cloth."

"What are you talking about?”

“She insinuated the same thing," he said, and I was slightly taken aback. But then I realized that it was a very valid argument he was making.

"Stop making wild claims, otherwise I'm going to sue you for libel and stop running away from your battles. You picked this fight, and I'm going to engage in it till the very end. And there are only two solutions. You lose, or I have mercy on you and decide to let it go. And let me assure you, the latter most definitely is not going to happen. So, you better get ready to shell out what little money you have left to cover the bills that are about to start incurring against you fast. I'm hoping to drag this out for the next two years. You were supposed to be working at the company until your equity vested anyway, so let's see how you navigate this.”

With this, I shut the door in his face and returned inside my apartment.

22

Lena

I really didn't want to be bothered about everything that had happened thus far in the day. It had been an eventful Sunday morning indeed, but now that I was rested and could think a bit more clearly, I couldn't help but wonder about how things had gone between Dylan and Kane.

I had been so thrown off by seeing him that it hadn't even occurred to me to question if those kind of visits to Kane were normal because if they were, then something was seriously off.

Whether personal issues were kept aside or not, the fact of the matter remained that they weren't on good terms. And even if it was all for show, there was no way that this kind of visit to his apartment was normal. Or perhaps he had specifically come to see him for something else? The lawsuit, for instance. Throughout the week, that had been the topic of discussion everywhere. I was even surprised that it had somehow leaked, given the fact that it was supposed to be an internal affair. But I had been too busy creating my expansion plan to worry about any of this.

But now that it was the weekend and the hours had slowed down, I really wanted to know what was happening. I had his phone number, but it wasn't for contacting him at leisure for information. It was strictly for business. But then, this was business, wasn't it? And I had already crossed quite a number of lines, hadn't I?

It was hard to ignore this attention as I had a multitude of work to handle for my scents business in LA. Currently, a photoshoot had been commissioned for a new scent I had spent the last eight months on. It would most probably be the last one I would be launching in LA.

I felt a wave of sadness come over me, or perhaps it was simply nostalgia setting in. Regardless of what it was, I returned to approving the photos and then placed calls to the needed workers to arrange the dismantling of the current office.

However, just before I did, I couldn't help but be skeptical. The proposal hadn't been approved by the board at all, yet I was already fixated on moving my entire life and business. The thing was, after spending the week here in New York, I realized that it was the exact change I needed, the next step that made sense. So, I truly didn't want to go back anymore.

But I didn't have to completely get rid of the staff and office in LA either. I could simply downsize if it was needed, but I really didn't have to tamper with a system that I had spent years trying to get to work absolutely seamlessly for me. So, I let go of that for the meantime and got up.

This hotel suite had a balcony that offered surreal views, so after making myself another cup of tea, I headed out to take in the night view. It was slightly chilly, but a cardigan thrown across my shoulders resolved this issue.

I thought about the very current shaky state of my life, and then I thought about him. Reaching out was the last thing I wanted to do, but once again, I gave in. He answered immediately, as though his phone had been close at hand, and it startled me slightly because I hadn't actually expected him to answer.

"Hello?" he asked, and I responded in kind.

"Hello?"

"I, uh..." I began, but then couldn't recall if he even knew who was talking or not. Perhaps he didn't have my phone number.

"This is Lena," I said.

"I know," he replied. "What is it?"

"Oh, I, uh..." I decided to just go straight to the point. "My brother," I said. "Did you see him? I met him in your lobby on my way out."

"I did," he replied. "He came up."

"Did he demand something?" I asked. "Or is it usual for him to visit you?"

"I was as shocked as you were," he said calmly.

"Oh," I said.

I wanted him to respond to my earlier question of whether my brother had demanded something, but I really didn't want to repeat it, so I waited. Pretty soon, the silence got awkward.

"Alright," I said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he said and ended the call. I was left staring at the phone, almost speechless. But what else did I expect? In fact, it was preferred. But as I returned to my room, I couldn't help but feel unhappy.