Page 36 of Not the Billionaire

On Wednesday, Genevieve settled in for the morning in her office. Kurtis hadn’t come back after his phone call, and she wondered what that was all about. It had seemed personal and something serious enough to take his happy mood and turn it sad in five seconds flat. And as much as she wished she could help with whatever it was, they barely knew each other. She couldn’t expect him to open up to her about what was going on in his life.

She’d thought about calling him, but there was nothing urgent or pressing for him to help her with, and she needed to dig in to the tasks ahead of her. She pulled her notepad from within her bag and read through the notes she’d scribbled after she’d returned from the yacht club. Now that they had the location set, she needed to meet with vendors—caterers, light and sound engineers, bands, security, etc. There were guest lists to create, sponsors and donors to contact, volunteers to gather. They needed a marketing budget and a publicity plan. Invitations, press releases … the list went on and on.

Strangely, when she read over the list again, she didn’t feel the slightest bit of apprehension. She felt certain that by the time the regatta arrived, every item on her list would be crossed off, and she was confident this would be the best event the Schultz Foundation had ever held.

People on the marketing floor seemed chatty that morning. Genevieve wasn’t sure if this was the norm or if there was something special going on that made them so, but she could hear a lot of conversation happening outside her door. A few times throughout the morning, she nearly closed that door, but being new, she didn’t want to be antisocial, even though nobody had stopped by to talk to her yet that day. Except for Marjorie, an assistant at the Foundation office, who had come over to give her a list of vendors used at last year’s charity event. But she hadn’t really hung around to chat. In fact, she’d acted a little skittish and sort of rushed out as soon as Genevieve had thanked her.

For lunch, Genevieve headed to the employee lounge. It was an inviting space with several round tables as well as a comfy little nook with cushy chairs surrounding a coffee table. She took a seat at one of the tables across from a couple of women who were chatting, one who looked familiar.

“Hi,” she greeted them, hoping she wasn’t being too rude by interrupting.

“Hi,” they both replied.

“I’m Genevieve, the newbie.” She let out a nervous laugh.

“Bonnie,” one said. “We met the other day.”

“That’s right,” Genevieve replied. She’d met a lot of people on her tour of the building.

“I’m Tesha,” the other said. “You’re in the big office, right?”

Genevieve nodded. “I’m the new event coordinator for the Foundation.”

“I don’t think we’ve ever had anyone from the Foundation on our floor before.” Tesha’s tone seemed a little snarky.

“Oh, I don’t know. That’s just where they put me.”

She was about to say more when the ladies went back to their previous conversation. She tried not to take offense or to pay too much attention to what they were saying, but it was hard not to.

“I heard he beat up the guy,” Bonnie said. “And then Sebastian had to practically carry him out of the place.”

Genevieve perked up at the mention of their boss, but kept chewing her sandwich.

“I heard it was the police who dragged him out,” Tesha stated.

“I don’t think we’ll be seeing Gus around the office anymore.”

Tesha pouted. “Such a shame. He’s so easy on the eyes.”

Bonnie laughed. “Darn right.”

“Gus is the brother, right?” Genevieve asked, remembering at their work lunch that Sebastian had said their brother, Augustus, was the black sheep of the family.

“Yeah. He’s always been the party boy. Been a while since he’s done anything tabloid worthy, though.”

Genevieve shook her head. Tabloids were ridiculous. She couldn’t imagine having paparazzi tailing after you, following your every move, and reporting every little thing you did, including any mistakes you might make. That sounded like a miserable life.

When she’d been sitting across the fancy restaurant table from Sebastian, it had crossed her mind for a moment or two what it might be like to be with a man with unlimited amounts of money, to be able to do whatever she wanted, go wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted. But the downside to wealth and fame seemed to weigh heavier on the scale than the benefits ever would. She’d rather be with someone like Kurtis—a simple, hardworking man—than someone filthy rich who had no privacy.

“Sebastian must be so upset,” Genevieve interjected.

“How would anyone be able to tell?” Bonnie said. “The guy walks around with a straight face all the time, absolutely no emotion.”

“Yeah, at least Gus knows how to feel, even if it does get him into trouble.”

Genevieve was confused. “Are we talking about the same person?” she asked. “Because I’ve met Sebastian, and he was very friendly. Charming and funny even.”

Tesha raised her eyebrows. “Maybe it’s because you’re cute.”

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