Page 45 of On the Fly
Erik sighed. “Ander, you and Dad always butted heads. It’s not that he didn’t want us here. He wanted us to have our own lives and then choose, later, to be here. He told me once that his plan was for all of us to run this company together. I don’t—”
“None of that is true. He made his points clear when I was eighteen and he never wavered. I don’t understand why you can’t see the truth.” Ander tilted his head. How could a person live under such a delusion?
“Jesus, Ander, you’re the one who’s blind here.” Erik waved his hands in the air. “He did all this for us. You guys didn’t align because you’re too fucking alike.”
Ander bristled at that ill-chosen and flawed comparison. The desk phone interrupted Ander’s desire to go into full-on brawl mode with his brother. He picked up his coffee and went back to his desk, seeing the Lyla’s name on caller ID. Finally, someone who never failed to see his side of things.
“I have to take this. Shut the door on your way out.” He ignored Erik’s frustrated grunt and the slam of his office door.
Chapter 22
Friday
Emma turned over and groaned at the sun pouring in through the crack in the hotel curtain. She hadn’t intended to drive so long in one stretch, but being hopped up on anger and caffeine, she’d seen no reason to stop the car. The more distance she put between herself and Ander, the better. Tears were a constant threat, hovering right on the surface for anytime his image came to mind, but she’d pushed them back. After twelve hours on the road, she’d had no choice but to stop for food better than what she could buy at Starbucks and sleep. Her exhaustion left her little energy to battle against replaying the events that tore her heart out. She’d need sleep to regain her emotional strength.
She’d rolled into Flagstaff, Arizona, in the early evening, gotten takeout at a chain restaurant, and found a nice hotel to crash in. She’d vowed to start her journey again after a good night’s sleep. Emma sat up and tapped her phone to see the time—already nine in the morning. How had she slept that long? Apparently, she’d needed it. She glanced at her laptop. She hadn’t gotten any work done yesterday…or really the entire week while she’d helped Ander figure out the issues with the finances.
Emma rubbed her arms and drew in a deep breath. No, she wouldn’t think of him at all. He’d made his decision and she had to live with it. Until she found out otherwise, she still had a job to do. How on earth would she talk with Ander when the time came to discuss business? If he treated her as any other employee, she might expire on the spot. No. Not the time to think about it. She’d figure it out later—at home.
She stretched her arms over her head, feeling like she’d run a 10k race while she’d been asleep. The tension of the last twenty-four hours was catching up with her for sure. The room service menu lay on the table and her stomach took that as its cue to rumble. “Down, girl. We’ll eat today, I promise.” She patted her belly, then grinned and leaned forward enough to snatch the menu toward her.
After placing the order, she made her way to the shower, letting the water wake her up and ease her muscles. Twenty minutes later, as she dried her hair, she heard a knock on the door. She flipped off the hair dryer, cinched the hotel robe tighter at her waist, and glanced through the peephole. A young woman with hotel attire stood patiently beside a cart with food trays.
“Good morning, ma’am. I’ve got your order here.” Glenna, based on the name tag, eased the cart through the doorway and deposited Emma’s much-needed food by the small table on the far side of the room. She handed Emma a bill folder, which Emma opened and signed, charging it to the room and adding a nice tip. “Just call us when you finish or push the cart outside the door, and we’ll come pick it up.”
“Enjoy,” the girl said, then exited, shutting the door behind her.
Emma took her breakfast and sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. She’d finish her hair after eating—everything smelled so good she couldn’t wait another second. The flavor of the sweet potato hash had her moaning in appreciation. She might never leave this hotel, if only she could find someone else to finance that decision.
She ate every morsel she’d ordered, then finished getting ready, packing everything except her laptop, which she booted up. She could at least check her email before hitting the road again. If she drove five or six hours a day, she could work at the hotels in the evening, and be home in another five days. Being afraid to fly certainly didn’t do her any favors in the time-management portion of her life. She probably should have kept the flight, taken multiple Benadryl, and called Cara to pick her essentially drunk body up from the airport when she got in. She could admit that while it was true flying terrified her, her decision to take a car across country might have had a little bit to do with Ander’s high-handed tactics.
Then again, the slower pace home could be just what she needed to let herself catch up with the whirlwind that had happened since landing in California. If it gave her perspective, then every mile would be worth it.
A groan slipped free when she logged into her company email. Two from HR stood out since Mr. Bates rarely emailed her. The first email informed her that they were working on a new organizational chart and that her department would report directly to Erik Jorgensen, who, going forward, would head Communications/Public Relations in coordination with James Beasley. Eric’s contact information was listed at the bottom of the email. She tried not to take it personally that she wouldn’t report to the CEO any longer, both hurt and grateful to not have to deal with Ander directly. She hadn’t been sure how that would work out for either of them.
Emma took a moment to open another email window and drafted a note to Eric letting him know she understood she’d now report directly to him. That she hadn’t taken the flight Ander had scheduled her on yesterday but had decided to rent a car and drive home instead. She’d work in the evenings and she should be home sometime the middle of next week.
After sending that off, she opened the second email from Bates. That one made her gasp and sit back, tears forming again. Ander had HR send her a form to sign absolving the company of liability for their relationship and acknowledging that the end had been amicable.Amicable? Was he serious? Just because she hadn’t argued with him at the time did not mean she found the end of whatever it was they’d been doing to be friendly or good-natured. His words and demeanor had been more akin to a highly flammable incendiary device laying waste to her heart.
She sat back and drew in a breath, released it, drew in another. After several deep breaths, she had her tears under control once again. No, she wouldn’t sign that document, agreeing to a lie, at least not at the moment. Mr. Bates had given her no timeframe in which he expected a response, so she’d think about it while she drove today. Ander could remain unclear about her next step for all she cared. If he thought she’d sue him, then let him stew, because he didn’t know her at all. Besides, he didn’t deserve clarity if he couldn’t reciprocate. He could call and talk to her and pull that stick out of his rear end if he needed more information. She didn’t know what had happened to make him act that way, but it had to be more than just wanting to end whatever they had after a week. There were better ways to have handled things—even he had to see that.
With the laptop shut down and secured in her satchel, she slung it over her shoulder along with her handbag and pulled her suitcase behind her. She was ready for the open road again…more than ready to be home.
~~~
Ander ignored the exhaustion threatening to pull him under and lifted his hands from the keyboard. The company wide chaos he’d created over the last two days had garnered the attention of their entire company, the buzz humming now extended to their national staff. Rora Airlines employees were in a tailspin. Good, they needed to be. Things like a strict employee handbook should be the expectation, not the outrageous, picket worthy demotivator it had become. Wait until they understood that these were just the start to a much bigger structural change.
The idea he’d even had to spend an hour, let alone several hours, fielding emails from departmental staff was ridiculous, but he had answered every disgruntled message by referring them to their department head. That seemed to create a whole new round of outrage. Ander pushed back in his seat and lay his head against the headrest while staring at the screen. He had only implemented basic Business 101. Employees needed to follow rules and stick to the chain of command. How in the world had his father grown this company as big as he had?
Ander’s eyelids slid closed of their own volition. He didn’t fight it, his exhaustion finally getting the best of him. In seventy-two hours, he’d slept maybe eight. If something didn’t change, he’d make himself sick. Adrenaline and determination only took a person so far.
Emma came into view like always. Delirium must be setting in as he saw her furrowed brow, concern over his wellbeing cascading over his senses like warm honey. Her caring voice told him he’d done a good job, but it was time to sleep and they’d talk more when he woke. Her need to comfort him thawed his heart. If she cared this much, it had to mean she wasn’t angry anymore. He didn’t want her angry with him. The tightness in his chest eased as he lost the battle and fell asleep.
His ringing cell phone startled him awake. He looked around—the only light available in the room came from the moon shining in the night sky just beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows. How long had he slept? He rubbed his eyes, gathering his wits. More importantly, he’d missed a call with one of his partners, a venture capitalist who had knack for finding buyers.
Damn.
The cell phone rang again. Ander shifted forward in the chair and reached for his phone. His movement caused the motion sensors to trigger overhead lights, illuminating the room.
