Page 35 of The Mogul: Leonard

“Nothing.”

But it feels like anything but nothing. I feel like I shared a part of my private life with her that I jealously keep to myself, and I haven’t even realized it. I don’t know if I’m angry or scared about it.

12

Roxanne

“Are we having this conversation again?” I glare at Leonard.

He keeps staring at his computer, frowning because of a problem we incurred this morning. He stubbornly refuses to give me access to the part of his company that concerns his employees, and I’m here, waiting for him to check those files.

“As long as you keep asking me to stick your nose where you shouldn’t, yes, we are having this conversation.” He never moves his gaze from the monitor.

I study him, his disheveled state. We have been working nonstop on this project since he hired me, and we are running in circles, chasing dead ends. It’s frustrating for both of us.

I discovered a side of Leonard that I didn’t know existed. A less perfect version with messy hair from constantly running his hands through it. He doesn’t wear a tie because he had almost ripped it off in frustration after hours of coding a patch that didn’t yield any promising results. His shirt sleeves are rolled up to his elbows since he needed to keep busy while I searched through yet another directory that turned out to be a dead end. I discovered a Leonard who is more human and less tycoon, someone almost relatable.

“You know that I can do it anyway, but I’m being nice and letting you trust me, right?” I challenge him.

He glances over at me, and his lips slightly curve upward. Another novelty about Leonard: he can smile!

“Of course, I know it. But if you do, you’ll be escorted out of this place by the FBI,” he threatens me. His tone is playful, but I know he can do it. He has so many connections all it would take is a phone call to lock me up forever.

“Really? You feel so threatened by a girl you’d have to call the big bad guys?” I tease.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself. You don’t threaten my masculinity by showing off your skills,” he counters.

“Strange. I didn’t mention your masculinity, but you felt the need to point it out.” I grin when he rolls his eyes.

“I pointed it out because you always go there. You never cease to mention that men and women are equal and that all this toxic masculinity is getting inside our heads.”

He has a point. I remind him daily of this. “It’s true,” I scoff.

He finally turns toward me and pins me to the chair with his magnetic stare. Jesus, those eyes.

“I know it’s true, and I never once led you to believe I think otherwise. I’m well aware of the disparity between men and women, especially how you’re treated in tech. I’m doing everything I can to erase this divide and change men’s mentality in every one of my companies.”

That is also true. To my annoyance, he proved me wrong when I said he keeps perpetrating the same toxic work environment as most of the companies I had to deal with.

A knock on the door puts our conversation on hold.

“Come in,” he says, and his secretary—a beautiful woman in her fifties—enters the room.

“Sorry to interrupt; I’m going out for lunch. Should I bring you back something?” she asks, as she does every day.

To my surprise, Leonard shakes his head.

“No, we’re going out, thanks.” He smiles at her.

“We are?” This is the first time we haven’t eaten our meals in front of the computer.

“Don’t be so surprised,” he scolds.

“Are you serious? This is the first time we’re walking out of this office with the sun still in the sky. Are you sure you’re not going to burst into flames?”

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Very funny. I need to get out or I’ll kill you with my bare hands,” he says, standing up and walking around the desk.

When I turn and face the secretary, I almost laugh, noticing her wide eyes and bewildered expression. She is probably not used to this kind of banter with her boss.

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