Grumpy Boss

“That’s me,” I said. “How did you find out?”

“It’s a small world,” he said, running a hand through his hair. “This gossip beat has me talking to pretty much everyone. It’s kind of exhaustion.”

“Do you stalk all them, too?”

He smile sheepishly. “Really, I’m sorry about that. Next time I’ll stick to phone calls and emails.”

I waved him away and finally felt like I was getting my wind back. A reporter hunted me down—I’d have to talk to Lori about that one—which was definitely a bad thing. I didn’t have to ask Rees if he wanted me talking to the press, since I knew the answer already.

And yet I was curious. I didn’t want to tell this guy anything, but I did want to find out what he knew. If he was as connected as he pretended to be, then he might have information that could help Rees squash this rumor, and finally end this strange attack from Desmond. I had to be careful, since this guy was press and was definitely used to people trying to get information from him, but I figured it would be fine, so long as I didn’t reveal anything.

“Let’s walk a little bit,” I said, and pointed toward his pocket, where he put the phone. “Keep that turned off, and this is all off the record. That’s a thing, right?”

“That’s a thing,” he said, looking disappointed, then laughed. “Although that’s what I’d say if it weren’t, right?”

I decided to ignore that very bad joke and started off toward the office again, but this time at a much slower pace. “So why did you hunt me down?” I asked. “I’m just an assistant. I’m not sure what you think I know.”

“You’re the assistant to a man that rarely has an assistant,” he said. “I think the last one got fired three years ago, and only lasted four months. It’s odd that he hired you, and even more odd that he hired you on the heels of all these rumors.”

I pursed my lips slightly, trying to decide if he was lying to me or not. Everyone we met with so far did act surprised to see me there, and so it seemed possible that Rees wasn’t the type to take an assistant, but still. He was rich as sin, and the idea of him going without an assistant was absurd.

“From what I can tell, it’s not that unusual,” I said, and Alex only shrugged, like he didn’t want to argue.

“There’s also this Lady Fluke thing, which I’ll admit is pretty outlandish. I mean, I know Rees and Fluke have a friendship, but she’s not the type to have an affair.”

“And he is?” I asked.

Alex’s smile was almost patronizing, like, oh honey. It pissed me off. “Rees is a rich man living in a country that lives giving everything to rich men. I’m not saying he’s running around putting his dick in anything that moves, but you know—“

“If you want to keep having this conversation, you won’t talk about him that way,” I said, glaring at him. I was giving something away by reacting like that, but I couldn’t help myself. His smug smile pissed me off.

“Fair enough,” he said, tilting his head to one side and studying me, like he was seeing me for the first time. “He’s your boss, I get it, but I’m just being honest here.”

“I’m not sure what you want from me,” I said. “I don’t know anything about his personal life.”

“You’re around him a lot, you must’ve heard something.” He rubbed the back of his head and adjusted his hat. “What about that SPAC? Has he gotten more investors?”

“That information isn’t public yet,” I said, giving him a look. “You’ll find out when everyone else does.”

“You’re not going to give me much, are you?” He laughed like he wasn’t surprised. “I guess Rees wouldn’t hire an idiot.”

“Oh, thanks,” I said. “Do you actually know anything about me?”

“I know you went to Penn. You have a law degree. I know you haven’t taken the bar yet.” He gave me a look and I thought of all those people I’d gone to school with—so many of them already practicing lawyers, despite having graduated beneath me in the class rankings. And yet I still couldn’t get my shit together, and this random reporter dude wasn’t doing much to help with that self-esteem issue.

“You’re truly one of the great investigative journalists of your time,” I said, then stopped walking and faced him. We stood on the street corner, and the flow of pedestrians parted around us, like we were a rock in a stream. “Look, let’s not bull shit each other, okay? I want something from you, and you want something from me. Let’s make a deal.”

He seemed surprised. His eyebrows rolled up his face like two fat caterpillars and I couldn’t believe this moron was hesitating.