Page 52 of Forty, Flirty & Fired

Just not the kind that involves tinsel-covered protest signs.

16

THE SUMMIT OF ALL FEARS

ALEX

Twenty years of running Drake Enterprises had taught me many things, but nothing had prepared me for watching Mackenzie Gallo destroy my senior VPs at charades during the first night of the Winter Strategy Summit.

"Time's up!" Emma calls, just as Mac's team correctly guesses "disruptive innovation paradigm."

"How," Gerald Matthews wheezes from the losing team's couch, "did you act out 'paradigm'?"

Mac grins, still slightly flushed from her performance. "Twenty years in tech. You learn to speak fluent buzzword."

The great room at Cascade Lodge glows with firelight, snow falling heavily outside the floor-to-ceiling windows. We're only three hours into the first evening of the three-day retreat, and already I'm questioning my sanity in inviting her.

Not because she doesn't belong here – the past week of watching her prep for this summit proved she's more qualified than half my leadership team. No, I'm questioning my ability to maintain professional distance when she keeps doing things like demolishing corporate barriers through party games.

"Another round?" Dave Phillips from Engineering suggests, clearly smitten with Mac's charades prowess.

"Actually," Emma intervenes with perfect timing, "the evening activity schedule shows we're due for the traditional first-night bonding exercise."

Various groans echo around the room. The "bonding exercise" is infamous – every year, leadership shares their biggest professional mistake and what they learned from it. It's meant to encourage vulnerability and trust.

Usually, it just encourages drinking.

"Mr. Drake starts," Emma announces, because some traditions refuse to die. "As always."

I stand, whiskey in hand, trying not to notice how Mac leans forward slightly in her armchair by the fire. She's traded her usual power suits for a cashmere sweater and dark jeans, and the effect is... distracting.

"My biggest mistake," I begin the familiar script, "was?—"

"Letting Keith order the revolutionary berets in bulk?" Mac interrupts, eyes twinkling.

"That's next year's story." I find myself smiling despite the formal nature of the exercise. "No, my biggest mistake was believing that corporate culture was something that happened to other companies. That if we focused on results, on innovation, on being the best, the culture would take care of itself."

The room goes quiet. This isn't my usual story about a failed acquisition or a missed market opportunity.

"I built Drake Enterprises to be unbreakable," I continue, aware of Mac's steady gaze. "After watching my father's company collapse, I swore I'd never let that happen to mine. But in making it strong, I made it rigid. In making it successful, I made it... cold."

Gerald shifts uncomfortably. Barbara Cho studies her wine glass.

"And then someone threw champagne at me at a charity gala."

Laughter breaks the tension. Mac raises her glass in mock salute.

"Sometimes," I meet her eyes directly, "the best lessons come from unexpected places. Or people."

The moment stretches, charged with something more than professional respect.

"Well," Emma clears her throat, "who's next?"

The stories flow, fueled by premium whiskey and the intimacy of firelight. Barbara admits to almost tanking a merger because she wouldn't listen to junior developers. Dave confesses to a coding mistake that accidentally sent everyone's salary information to the company printer.

"Ms. Gallo?" Emma prompts. "Would you like to share?"

Mac stands, firelight casting shadows on her face. "My biggest mistake was staying too long in situations I knew weren't working. Whether it was a marriage or a job... I kept trying to fix things that weren't mine to fix."

---