Page 12 of Atlas
Lumi stood up. “I have a plane to catch. Please excuse me.”
I followed her out of the room and into the elevator. “I thought your plane wasn’t until tonight.”
“It’s not.” She cranked her neck from side to side. “I get a taste of bile in my mouth every time I have to be in the same room as John.”
Pushing the button for the eleventh floor where my office was, I warned her, “You have to tone it down, sis. The loathing in your eyes when you talk to him is obvious.”
“That man shouldn’t even be the CEO. He’s a disgusting pig.”
“You’re choosing to believe a claim that isn’t supported. We don’t know if John promoted Jennifer because of their affair.”
Lumi’s eyes thundered. “Oh, come on. She has no qualifications to be head of the call center, and they admitted to having an affair when she put up that stupid picture on social media of him buying her a car. If she’s too ignorant to keep their affair hidden, she shouldn’t be the head of anything at Solver. Think about John’s poor wife.”
“Let me guess. You already talked to Charles about it?”
“Of course, I did. I suggested that Charles make you the CEO.”
“Ehm, no, thanks.”
I held the doors to the lift open and let Lumi exit first. As we walked through the open-office landscape where the administrative part of my staff worked, many looked up to greet us. The rest of our research and development team were in a well-guarded warehouse in the suburbs of Chicago, where ingenious engineers tinkered to improve the technology and machinery of the future.
Clarissa, my assistant, rose from her chair with a bright smile for Lumi. “So nice to see you. I heard you were in the building.”
“You too, Clarissa. Thank you for keeping my brother out of trouble.”
“Oh, I try. Atlas reminds me of my two sons, not that they ever listen to my advice.”
Once we entered my office, I closed the door, hoping Lumi had moved on from the subject of John, but as always, Lumi wasn’t letting me off the hook.
“You would make a great CEO, Atlas.”
“So would you.” I motioned for her to take a seat.
She obliged but gave a low dismissive snort. “That’s not true. Being a CEO requires leadership skills that I don’t have.”
“Says the woman who is in charge of more than two hundred people.”
Lumi gave a wave of her hand. “That’s different. My staff in finance and accounting are all rational numbers people like me. We speak the same language. A CEO has to bridge all the different departments and personalities, and we both know I wouldn’t have the patience for that.” She closed her eyes. “At the last leadership weekend, the salespeople drove me insane with all their talk about events, not to mention the amount of representation that comes with being a CEO. I would die.”
“And yet you want me to do it.”
“You’re much more social and outgoing than I am.”
I laughed. “A hermit is more social and outgoing than you. I’m not interested in being the CEO. Not with my involvement in the research that I do on the side.”
Lumi’s black hair was in a high bun that hid how long it was. Her pants suit was sharp and complemented by small pearl earrings and an expensive watch. She crossed her legs and let her foot dangle with her tall stiletto. “Tell me about it. What about the new psychologist you hired. Is she as good as you hoped?”
“Her name is Jolene. And yes, so far, she’s doing a great job.” I swung a bit in my chair, letting my eyes take in the view of downtown Chicago.
“Is she attractive?”
I centered my attention back on Lumi. “What does that have to do with anything?”
She shrugged. “I take that as a yes.”
“She’s… not unattractive.”
“Wow. Coming from you, that sounded almost like a compliment.”
