“First, it’s not an affair. And second, I thought you had a cooperative agreement with La Porte. Doesn’t that make him sort of a part of your company?”
“Exactly! I think I need to know what’s going on between my employees.”
Anne’s wrath came bubbling to the surface. “In that case… Mr. Gherring, sir. Please let me inform you I’m flying to Paris tomorrow to spend four days with Henri. And I plan to tour Paris and visit a very sick little girl in the hospital. And I’ll be sleeping in my own room at Henri DuBois’ house.”
Her jaw trembled with fury and frustration. “And I’ll probably hug him frequently, and I might let him kiss me. And maybe you’d also like to know I haven’t let anyone else kiss me for the past fifteen years. So maybe I’m a weak person to let him kiss me, but it feels nice. And maybe it’s just something I need right now.”
He’d taken a few steps back as her frantic tirade began. Now he came toward her and held out his hands in supplication. “I didn’t mean—”
“Will there be anything else, sir?” She backed away from him, keeping her eyes on the floor. “I’ll be at my desk if you need me for anything else of vital importance.” She walked out the door without closing it behind her.
Gherring didn’t bring up Henri or Paris again, but their conversations were tense and stilted. Both made an effort to talk only about business. He acted as though their exchange had never occurred, discussing her new job responsibilities and how to inform the other employees.
“I’ve decided to name your position as a new department in the company. I’ll call it Coordination, and you’ll start out as the only team member. Then if we don’t think it’s successful, we’ll just dissolve the department. At that point, would you be willing to move to CMA?”
“Sir, I’m willing to move to CMA at any time. It’s entirely up to you,” she replied without emotion.
He sighed. “Ms. Best, if we’re going to work closely together, you’ll find I have more than a few imperfections. I get stressed and irritable. I may sometimes get a little testy. I might say things that offend you.”
He took a deep breath. “I need to know you’ll be able to overlook an occasional lapse in my demeanor and comportment.”
Anne’s eyes softened. “I’m sorry. I have a terrible temper. I’m usually able to control it, but with you… I don’t know. You seem to push my buttons sometimes, just like my kids. But I can forgive your slip-ups, if you can forgive mine.”
“It’s a deal.” His eyes crinkled in the corners.
“And one more thing, Mr. Gherring…”
“Yes, Ms. Best?”
“I’d appreciate it if you’d forget most of what I said earlier today—especially anything that involved hugging or kissing.”
He chuckled. “I’ll try. But you do make an impressive speech when you’re angry.”
As predicted, Katie was not pleased at the prospect of searching for another secretary for Gherring.
“I can’t believe I have to find you a new PA. Do you know how long it took me—how much work I had to do to get you to hire Ms. Best?” She was on a rampage.
Gherring said, “Ms. Carson, you seem to be a bit more outspoken than you used to be—”
“I just want you to know if this is a trick to make me stay here after I’m married, it’s not going to work.”
He commented to Anne. “I think perhaps you’re rubbing off on Ms. Carson. I’d better keep you far away from my next PA.” Anne started to protest, but he let out a chuckle.
“Katie, please. I promise to make it easy this time. I’ve finally accepted you’re leaving me. You and Ms. Best can choose someone for me from the candidates we’ve already interviewed. Just set up one quick interview appointment with me. It will be on a three-month trial period.”
Anne said, “You mentioned that one girl, Lana something…”
“Yes, do you remember, Ms. Carson? Lana Stewart?”
“Her name was Lana Seward. She was extremely qualified and experienced, attractive, well-spoken.”
“How old is she?” Anne asked.
“I think she was about thirty-five,” Katie replied.
“She sounds perfect,” said Anne, already contemplating the possibilities.
“And I do believe she’s married,” he said with a sideways smile at Anne.