Page 129 of As a Last Resort
“It’s not something I put on my Insta profile.”He had a large frame and a full head of shampoo-commercial hair.She could fit in a sardine can even with four-inch heels on and had pin-straight black hair.“I favor my mom’s side.Obviously.”
It all started to make so much more sense.“So that’s how you got our time slot on such quick notice.”
“Yeah, they typically do pretty much whatever he says.Based on stock ownership, technically he owns fifty-one percent of the company.”
“All this time you’ve worked for me, how did I not know your dad was the majority owner of the company we work for?”I’m an intelligent person.There’s no way I missed this unless she was deliberately showing me smoke and mirrors.
“My dad’s always thought just because he’s this big corporate guy that I’d want to follow in his footsteps.But I don’t want to.He says he’s worked his whole life so that I wouldn’t have to work as hard.But that’s not who I am.I’d be miserable running some big company, sitting in a squeaky leather chair and answering to a bunch of men who don’t have enough hair and suck at golf.”
“Does he know about your writing?”I knew she moonlighted as a writer under a pen name but we never talked about it.I tried to give her the privacy she’s always granted me.
“He knows I dabbled in college.He’d kill me if he ever read any of the books though.”
“Books?Wait, how many have you published, exactly?”
“Honestly, I didn’t think I’d stay that long with you.”She narrowed her eyes at me, avoiding my question.“But after the first few days of working for you, I knew you were kind of kick-ass.I’ve learned a lot from you.Things I wouldn’t learn cushioned underneath some baby boomer who wanted to appease me because of who my dad is.So, I stayed.”
I was speechless.I didn’t know what to say.On one hand I was pissed she kept this from me.On the other hand, I wasn’t surprised at all.It seemed like exactly the kind of thing she would keep secret from me and the world.
“I’m grateful you stayed.Even though it scares me how good of a liar you are.”
“It’s called storytelling, and don’t get all emotional on me.New York is a right to quit state.I’m going to circle back and see what I can find out.We’ll catch up later.”
I spent the rest of the afternoon holed up in my office pretending I wasn’t checking my phone every two minutes.Robby’s head popped in the doorway.
“I can’t stay long.”He leaned against the doorframe.“Don’t want Glenn to see me congratulating the enemy, but you nailed it, Leigh.For real.”There was a genuine smile on his face.
“Well, we’ll see if the board thought so too.”
“Oh trust me, they were like kids on Pixy Stix after you left.You killed it.”
“Thanks for doing that in there, letting me finish even though Glenn was trying to get you to railroad me.”
“It was nothing.What you had to say was good.I wanted them to hear it.”
“Plans after work?”I asked, hoping my olive branch would be seen as a completely platonic gesture.“We’re either grabbing a glass of champagne to celebrate or a whiskey neat if I’m walked out at some point today.My treat, as a thank-you.”
“Oh man, I’d actually love to but I’ve got this thing.”For the first time ever, Robby blushed.He rocked back on his feet as he met my gaze.
“Okaaay,” I drew out, happy to leave it at that.
“It’s a girl, actually?”It came out as a question.“I met her down in Florida and it turns out she’s going to school up here at NYU.”
“Oh wow, okay.That’s great.”
“It’s Charley’s niece, Sherry?You probably didn’t meet her.She’s not a local.”
“Doesn’t ring a bell.”
“She’s pretty awesome.She’s more brazen than me, if you can imagine that.”His face turned a shade deeper.His eyes darted around my office like he was looking for buried treasure.“She has a good head on her shoulders.I think I like her.Like, a lot.”
“Well, I didn’t think I’d ever see the day you were twisted up about a girl.I’m happy for you.I hope it works out.”
“And she’s hot,” he added as Ivy crashed into my office.
“Hey!”
“That’s my cue.”He turned around, beet red, and headed out.“See you, Leigh.”
