Page 85 of Insufferable Boss

Shaking my head, I started to leave, sure that this nonsense could be resolved at a later date.

Given her current state of mind and the changes she wanted to make, I had no response to give in return. Thus, rather than stay here and make things worse, I turned around and headed straight for my office. When I got to my office, I gathered documents that I needed from my desk but after giving it further thought I dropped them, grabbed my jacket and headed out. My secretary saw all this and came in in a panic.

"Sir, I'm sorry to say this, but you can't do that. You have meetings scheduled for today and-"

"Give them all to Kate.”

"Sir..."

I could see the panic on his face, and it made me understand that this was exactly what needed to be done.

"Don't argue with me. Just hand them all to Kate.”

I could feel the tears and frustration in his eyes, but I wasn't in the mood to care. In short, the more I thought about this as I headed out, the more relieved I felt. Since I had joined the company over ten years earlier, I had taken on as much as my shoulders could bear and then some.

But now, especially given my relationship with Lena, it was time to step down and see things from a different perspective. Things would fall apart, but I would be able to bring them back up if needed. That was the skill that never taking a break for this long had given me.

"Sir, a lawsuit is coming," she reminded me. "About the copyright infringement with the packaging design for the light bulbs for-"

"Give it all to Kate," I said and headed out with a wave.

It was amusing, truly, but none of it surprised me. I was upset, but I knew I would be fine after a morning scotch, something that had never happened before. However, first of all, there was somewhere I needed to be. My driver was waiting outside to drive me, but before that, Matthias met me at reception.

"I'll have a way to overturn this by the end of the day," he said, and I didn't respond. But then, just as I reached the door, I stopped and turned to him.

“Don’t do anything.”

"You're sure about that?" he asked, and I could see the element of amusement in the corner of his lips.

"Yes, but if not, perhaps it's time to move on anyway."

"I'll keep in touch," he said and turned around to return.

The moment I got into the back of the car, I looked outside the window at the skyscraper, and then I gave him the needed instructions.

"Lena's apartment.” I said, and he nodded in response.

40

Lena

This was the third time I had gone back to bed within the space of an hour, and it was frustrating me to no end. I wanted to sleep, but every time I did, I would wake up again, fraught with fear and worry, unable to find rest. And then I would feel hungry, but whenever I tried to eat something, I would lose my appetite.

Eventually, and for the last time, I emerged from my bedroom. This time, I found Diana at the counter with sleepy eyes, pouring herself a cup of black coffee. She stared at me, and for a moment, I wondered if she truly saw me.

"Do you have your contacts in?" I asked, and she frowned.

"It's 10 am."

"So?"

"Well, no, obviously, but that doesn't mean that I'm blind."

I smiled as I pulled the fridge open to grab the oats that I had been wanting to eat all morning.

"I heard you moving around constantly, but I thought you'd be at work by now."

"I'm taking the day off," I said, and she paused when I came over to join her. I caught her watching me.