Page 12 of Selfish Suit

“Quite the contrary.” He lifts the box from my hands, his fingers gently brushing against mine. “Come. Have a seat.”

“I’d rather be fired while standing up.”

“Okay.” He smiles, and my stomach betrays me with a bout of butterflies. My heart joins enemy lines by thumping loudly and skipping beats.

For several moments, Mr. Sutton simply stares at me, and I’m certain he can hear the beating in my chest.

“What if you’re not getting fired?” he asks.

“I’d want it in writing before taking a seat.”

A slow smirk crosses his lips, and he slides a hand inside my box, pulling out a pen, then a Post-it.

In neat handwriting, he writes,I am not firing you...yet.He signs his name, and then he presses the sticky paper to my blouse.

“Is that good enough?”

Without waiting for my answer, he turns away and heads to the desk.

I warily follow, slowly plopping down into a plush grey seat across from him.

He leans back in his chair, staring at me, daring me to utter the true first word.

I know better than to try.

“I summoned you because something unfortunate has come to my attention regarding your employment.” He finally speaks. “You’re the longest-serving intern in the department, and it isn’t due to any pettiness on behalf of the supervisors.”

“You’re late twice a week, you speak out in official pitch meetings when you don’t have permission, and you pick and choose which rules of my employee protocol you wish to follow…”

I swallow, unsure of where he’s going with this. If he blatantly lied about not firing me.

“Yet, despite a record number of red flags in your file, and the fact that your supervisors have an entire private forum where they talk about you all day—” He pauses at that surprise reveal, as if he’s amused—“they know better than to let you go…”

What?

“Now, while I don’t appreciate them giving you so many chances or letting you stay on so long without moving you to the paid level after the trial period, I can see why both things were done.”

“And now that?—”

“Sorry for interrupting, Mr. Sutton.” A guy in a dark grey suit rushes into his office. “It’s a stage five emergency.”

Dominic waves him over, and the guy brings a notebook to his desk.

“The clients from Waldorf are here a week early,” he says. “Can you sign off on this latest campaign so we can present it?”

“No.” His rejection is instant. “Hold them off by giving them a tour of headquarters for the next two hours.”

“But sir?—”

“They need us more than we need them,” he says. “Make my office the last stop so I can explain how the dates on contracts work.”

“Uh, I—” He stammers. “Yes, sir.”

“Lock my door on your way out and tell Tracey not to let anyone else inside without calling me first.”

The guy rushes out as quickly as he came in, and Mr. Sutton picks up where he left off without missing a beat.

“Now that I’ve gone through everything thoroughly, I’ve decided to offer you a reassignment, Miss Locke,” he says. “It’s a position where I think your talent will be best put to use.”

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