Page 18 of Faking It With My New Boss

That day it was a moot point. She wasn't packing. She was sitting at her desk, typing into her computer.

“Hey, Courtney,” I said when I walked into the office.

“Hello,” she said without looking in my direction.

“Thank you for bringing these vendor lists to me. I'll go over them this afternoon and make sure you have them back as soon as possible,” I said.

Her eyes snapped to me. “Is that the way this is going to be?”

“What do you mean?”

“I'm going to do all the work and you're just going to sit around and take all the credit for it?” she asked.

I was surprised by the question and didn't immediately respond. She gave a tight smile and a single nod.

“Got it.”

“Look…”

She held up a hand to stop me. “You don't need to explain. I understand. This is your company. Your name. I get it. But now I have to work.”

Her focus turned back to the computer and I felt summarily dismissed. Without another word, I left her office. It only took a few steps for me to realize I actually felt bad. That wasn't something I was used to. I had always gotten my way without bothering to think about anyone else. Now I actually cared what someone else thought and that was weird.

Chapter Thirteen

Courtney

Once again, I was still sitting behind my desk long after everybody else had left the office. I was going over some papers while I talked to Vanessa.

“He was seriously standing there talking to this guy like he had come up with everything in those folders. There wasn't a single shred of acknowledgment that he had even gotten any help, much less that I'd actually be the one to do it. And you know what? I would have even given him partial credit for it. He did give me some changes to make and a few guidelines to follow. I would have happily played along and let him look good in front of the Board. That wouldn't have been a problem.”

“If he hadn't tried to just take all the glory for himself,” Vanessa said.

“Exactly. It was just such a jackass thing to do. Of course, that fits perfectly with what I already thought about him, which is that he's a jackass. So, I suppose I shouldn't be all that surprised,” I said.

“Did you say anything to him about it?”

“I asked him if that was the way it was going to be and he didn't respond. I guess he didn't really have to. Then I told him I understood because it's his company and his reputation. What else was I supposed to say? He was standing there taking credit for all the work I had done. I could either just deal with it and remind myself of the paycheck waiting for me at the end of this. Or I could throw a temper tantrum.”

“Like you did yesterday?”

“That wasn't a temper tantrum. That was a statement,” I said.

“Whatever you want to call it. I think you've reached your limit. At least for your first week of working at the company.”

Before I could say anything else, the door to my office opened. When I looked up, expecting to see the cleaning crew, I was surprised to see Bryan.

“Vanessa, I've got to go,” I said. “I'll call you when I get home.”

I hung up, wondering just how much of the conversation he had overheard. Even if he heard all of it, he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he stepped the rest of the way into the office and I noticed a bag of takeout food in his hand. He lifted it up and turned it around so I could see the name of the restaurant.

It was called Olive Branch.

I shook my head. “Wow. I didn't know you were capable of such bad, corny jokes.”

He shrugged. “Thought I'd give it a try.”

“Come on in.”

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