An impatient, but familiar, gentleman’s voice carried through the speaker phone. "No, I'm not! I own a large portion of your stock, Alex. I want to ensure we're following the guidelines that are set out by the various governmental bodies. They’ll be forcing everyone to do the audit every two years starting next year. I'm asking that you adopt it early."
"And I'm saying no. We have too much on our plates right now. I was up here through the holidays while the rest of you on the board were on your yachts. It's not happening. I know how to run a business. Quite successfully I might add." He took a short breath. "I'm letting you go, Nicholas. We'll speak later, but not on this. I'm not discussing it again."
"Yes, you are. Damn it, Alex! Just because you started the company doesn't mean that you alone hold the reins to it now." The older man's voice was biting, and a little more demanding than Jamie had ever heard it.
What the hell’s going on?
"Nicholas, you own stock in a subsidiary of my company. I own fifty-one percent of that sub and over sixty-five of my own company. The rest of my stock is owned by billionaires and investors. You are not one of those. This discussion is over. Enjoy your day." Alex hit a button on his phone and looked up, his voice rising significantly. "That pompous ass is trying to tell me how to run my fucking company! I've got a few things to say to him that need to be done in person. Adopt early. Yeah, okay... we'll do that, and you just drink your damn martinis and sit on the beach while I make all of you rich!"
Jamie crossed the room and slid her hands up his strong chest. "It's okay, Alex. He can't force you to do anything, right?"
"Sort of." Alex let out a long breath and brushed his hand over his forehead. "I hate his ass. We need to figure out how to offer him more than he's worth and get rid of him."
"I could have our guard dog off him." Jamie gave a cheeky grin.
Alex's expression softened as he huffed. "Guard dog. Yeah, right."
"What can I do to help?" She clasped her hands around his neck and pressed herself to the front of him, loving how well they fit together.
"I don't know. The list just keeps growing and growing, honestly." He gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and untangled himself from her before moving back to his desk and plopping down. "Did you get Mark busy on something, or do you finally agree with me that this might not be the best idea?"
"He's going to be great." Jamie didn’t bother to mention that it was he who’d offered the job to Mark, not her. She leaned against the side of his desk and watched him. His dark brown hair was a little messy from having run his fingers through it. He always did so when he was nervous or stressed. That he had any hair left at all was a miracle.
"So you say. What's he going to be doing?" Alex typed on his keyboard, turning his attention to his computer screen.
"Accounting and a few other things. We're working on the bank reconciliations for the tax files." She huffed softly, hoping he would look up and realize that he'd been putting in too many hours. She tried hard not to feel like she was the second wheel in his life, but, truth be told, she very much was. His first love was his business, and it was hard to get him to focus on anything but the numbers, the growth, and the success.
"Good. Start looking into the requirements for the governmental audits that dumbass just mentioned. I know you weren't here two years ago when we filed them, but have Gina pull the files and let's at least see what we're up against, should Nicholas call a board meeting and win the vote on early filing," he growled softly, but never turned his attention on her.
"Alright. Are you coming home for dinner tonight?" She tried not to let any of the neediness that she was experiencing slip into her voice.
"No. I'll be lucky if I get to come home at all. Too much to do right now." He typed a bit more as his teeth pressed into his bottom lip.
"Alright. I needed to ask you about the alarm on the house. There are a lot of thefts on the news right now. I'm a little bit—"
"Jamie." He glanced up. "Can this wait? I'm really overwhelmed and need a couple of hours to myself to get some things sorted out. We can talk about the house and the dog later, baby." He turned his attention back to the screen.
She stood up, feeling as if someone had slapped her. "Right. Let me know if you need anything." She turned to the door, not appreciating his comment as she did.
"A clone, please. No one else can seem to catch up."
She didn't respond the way she wanted to. She didn't respond at all. After walking out into the hall, she turned to Gina and shrugged as she fought again the need to cry. "Well, you were right. He's in a mood. Stay out of there." Jamie turned to walk down the h
all to the bathroom, but Gina stopped her.
"You okay? Need me to sew your head back on?"
Gina was trying to be silly, but with all of the lonely nights as of late, and silly little fights over nothing more than Alex being an ass when he was stressed, Jamie couldn't help the tears that burned her eyes. "How about my heart? Got anything for that?" A tear rolled down her cheek and she wiped it away.
Gina moved around the desk quickly and pulled her into a hug. "Aw, honey. This is why you don't date the boss. Most of them are jerks, and they only take it out on their secretaries and tough-ass PAs. That used to be you, but when you started caring, it changed everything. Just take a deep breath and go splash some cold water on your pretty face. It's going to be okay. He'll start acting right, or you'll find someone who treats you like gold." She stepped back from Jamie and set her hands on her hips. “And, for the record, Alex gave you a promotion a few weeks back. Senior Advisor, remember that? That’s your job title, so feel free to tell him to shove it up his ass if he’s being intolerable.”
Jamie forced a soft chuckle. "I'm just being overly sensitive. It's okay. Really."
"No, it's not, but nothing’s going to change unless you stand up for yourself and force him to be a better guy." She put her hands on her hips and nodded toward the bathroom as the phone rang. "Go take care of yourself and let me know if you want me to go kick him in the shin."
"Thanks, Gina." Jamie turned, not wanting to take up anymore of her friend's time, and yet some part of her wanted to convince Gina that Alex was really good to her. He loved her, without a doubt. She was just being extra sensitive because it was her nature.
"Right? I'm overreacting," she mumbled to herself as she walked into the bathroom and splashed cold water on her face before patting it dry. Alex had too much on his shoulders, and, in all honesty, he didn't need another PA or senior advisor. He needed a partner. She would talk to him about it soon and see if she couldn't start to persuade him to get a little bit of help.