“Did you ever hear of knocking?” I barked out.
Conner’s eyes widened. He rapped on the door frame. “Hey Cy, do you have those scans for McMartin.”
I growled under my breath. “They’re running now. I’ll send you the update later.”
He stood watching me for a moment and I waited for him to ask me what the fuck was wrong with me. Fortunately, he shrugged and walked off.
I checked on the McMartin scan and saw it had a little longer to run. I decided checking our financial report for the month would cheer me up. It was always nice to see how much money was rolling in. I checked my computer but didn’t see the current report.
Annoyed again, I walked out to Dina’s desk.
“Where’s the current financials?”
She jumped at my voice and I realized I was being gruff.
“Ah…I’m waiting for April to review it first.”
“You’re the one that runs them. We can’t sit around and wait for April to stop breastfeeding long enough to do it.”
She sucked in a breath.
“Cy!” Jude’s voice barked at me.
I closed my eyes and took a breath. I was being a jerk and couldn’t seem to help it.
I turned to him. I should have been chagrined but instead I doubled down on my annoyance. “I need to see the current financials.”
Jude looked at Dina. “Why don’t you take ten?”
That was code for he was going to give me a tongue lashing. She nodded and then left her desk and went to the breakroom. As if she wouldn’t hear him there.
“If you ever talk about my wife in that tone again, Cy, I don’t give a fuck if you’re my friend and business partner, I will beat the ever-loving shit out of you.”
I raised my hands in surrender. “This is business Jude. She’s a partner and while I’m sympathetic to your family situation, decisions need to be made based on current numbers. Why Dina can’t just do them is beyond me. It’s disrespectful of her to require April to check her work.” I really was a dick.
Jude’s eyes narrowed. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“I’m trying to do my job.”
“You used to be able to do that without being a dick.” He glared at me with his hand on his hips. “Is this about your mom? Are you worried about her?”
I mimicked him, putting my hands on my hips and glaring back. “This is me wanting to make sure our business stays solvent.”
He shook his head like he thought I was going nuts. “What has happened to make you think it’s not?”
“I can’t get current financials. I’m gone four days and I can’t even get a current financial.”
“You’re a valuable member of this business, but you’re not fucking indispensable. The rest of us know what we’re doing, Cy.”
Jesus. This was getting out of hand way too quickly. From up the hall, I heard my computer ding with a notification.
“That’s the McMartin scan report.” I pushed past Jude to my office.
“Yeah, well, when you get that done, scan yourself and find out why you’re being an asshole,” he called after me.
I strode into my office and slammed the door. I ran my fingers through my hair wondering what was wrong with me. Well, I knew. It was Petal. She was fucking with my sanity.
I let out a growl and focused my agitated energy on doing my job. I sent the McMartin scan to Conner. I ran my own financial report although the large number of account receivables annoyed me more. Had Dina sent the invoices?