Page 14 of Grumpy Boss of the Year

“You’re not going to hook up with her, are you?”

“I mean, no.”

“Why? You want Elisabetta?” he says, grinning at me.

“No. I don’t want Elisabetta. She’s very cute and sweet. Actually, I take that back. There’s nothing sweet about her, but she’s a challenge I don’t need in my life right now.”

“I see,” he says. “Yet, you still decided to hire her?”

“Really, she volunteered for the job. I was actually hoping Juniper would help me out. No offense to Skye and Lila, but Juniper is definitely the best assistant of the three.” I'm not telling the truth, but he doesn't have to know that.

“No offense taken.” He laughs. “You haven’t tried Marie, though.”

“Oh, yeah. Isn’t your sister going to be working for Gabe soon?”

He nods. “I’m joking, by the way. I don’t think she’s going to be an amazing assistant either. I don’t know why Gabe is giving her a shot, but I guess he’s always had a little soft streak for her. You know she’s going to have a baby, and she wants to figure out how she can take care of it without my help or our parents. I guess this is really the only job that she’s going to get with her qualifications.”

“That was really nice of Gabe,” I say, “but is he sure he wants a completely inexperienced teenager who is pregnant to be in charge of…”

“Oh, she’s not going to be his only assistant.” He burst out laughing. “He wasn’t as dumb as us.”

“Oh, he has a real assistant?” Hmm, maybe Gabe is more like me than I thought.

“Yeah, Marie will just be like his receptionist.” He rolls his eyes. “I mean, I’m grateful to him for stepping up and giving her a job, but I just don’t know how it’s going to go. I’m a little worried for her. I still don’t know who the father is.”

“Yeah. I’m sure that must be stressful for you and for her.”

“She’s handling it well, though. I guess I just never expected my baby sister to have a baby before me.”

“I get it. My sister has a kid, and I still feel like a teenager myself.” I sit back in the booth and survey the room. There’s a Kendrick Lamar song playing, and people are screaming in delight as they dance back and forth. I wonder if people in London react the same way when they hear the song. I love being in New York, but sometimes it’s so different from my environment back at home.

“What is it you were going to tell me earlier?” Max leans forward. “If it’s something important, as your attorney, I should know about it.”

“As my attorney, you would know about it if it was something that was important and would affect anything to do with the legalities of my business. You know I don’t mess around with that.”

“I know,” he says. “You want to tell me?”

“I don’t think now is the right time,” I say, shaking my head. My phone beeps, and I look down at the screen. “Oh, hey, hold on. It’s my friend, Connor, texting.” I look at the screen, and instead of texting him back, I decide to call.

“Hey, Liam, what’s happening?”

“Hey, Connor, I saw you texted. I’m in a bar right now with one of my attorneys, Max Spector, and I figured I’d just give you a call back. What are you up to?”

“Oh, I was just checking to see if you were in town already. Are you saying that you’re with one of your attorneys because you’re not willing to come over to our firm?”

“You know I love the work that my current firm does for me, Connor. I love you, and I think you’re great, but…”

“But you’re not ready to hire us. I get it.”

“I mean, we’re having a drink now, if you want to come to the bar and hang out.”

“With your current attorney?" He groans.

“Yeah. I don’t know if you know him.”

“No. I don’t know him, but I’ve heard of him, of course.”

“Of course, you have. He’s one of the biggest attorneys in the country.” I smile at Max, and I can tell he’s curious as to who I’m speaking with.

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