Page 139 of The Baby Twist
“I hope you’re resting.”
“I’m doing homework that’s due tomorrow. So yeah, I’m resting.”
“I wouldn’t call that resting, Stella. But I understand that you need to finish your homework. I’ll be a little late tonight. I have a dinner meeting at six o’clock.”
“Okay. I’ll see you later.”
My office door opened, and Uncle Ben walked in.
“I haven’t seen you the past couple of days,” he said, taking a seat in front of my desk.
“I’ve been busy working.”
“The Schmidt deal fell through,” he said.
“What? Why?” I spoke with anger.
“They didn’t like our terms.”
“What are you talking about? Peter was fine with the terms at our last meeting.”
“I changed them. I didn’t feel the terms were right.”
I sat there with a stern look, shaking my head. “Those terms were fine.” I pointed at him. “What the fuck are you doing, Uncle Ben?”
“I’m overseeing this company and making sure we don’t make deals that will cost us money. The Schmidt deal would have cost us.”
“Only for the first six months. Do you not look at the bigger picture?”
“I do look at the bigger picture, and the bigger picture was telling me it was not a good investment.” He stood up. “I just wanted to let you know. If you have a problem with it, tell the boss. Oh, wait. That’s me. Too bad if you don’t like it. I make the final decisions around here.”
He walked out of my office. Picking up a pen, I threw it across the room.
“Fuck!” I shouted.
The door opened, and Isla walked in. “Are you okay?”
“No!” I shouted. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout at you. That man.” I shook my finger. “Eleven months can’t come fast enough.”
“Is that all you can think about?” she asked.
“Uh, yeah.” I narrowed my eyes. “What else would I be thinking about?”
“Oh, I don’t know. Perhaps your wife and how the divorce will affect her?” Her brow arched.
“Stella is a strong woman. She’ll be fine.”
“If you say so, boss.” She turned, walked out of my office, and shut the door.
I met Leonard Hathaway and his brother, Jacob, at Daniel. It was a good business meeting, and I was more than happy to help his company.
“I’ll be in touch.” I shook both their hands.
I was supposed to run every proposal and deal by my uncle, but he wasn’t getting his hands on this one.
Chapter Eighteen
Miles
