The Boy Who Has No Faith (Soulless 5)

I understood his dilemma, because he couldn’t be in two places at once. “What if you had some of your best engineers run the internship program? People you trust to make sure they learn everything the correct way? To supervise them and give them the best experience before they work here or go off somewhere else.”

He picked up his pizza and took a bite, his thinking cap on again.

I was surprised that he pretty much ate whatever he wanted and he still had that ripped physique. Maybe skipping breakfast kept him lean. Or maybe it was because of his exercise regimen. I had no idea when he fit it into his schedule, but he obviously did. He had a private gym in his penthouse, so he must wake up and get it done first thing in the morning.

“My best engineers want to be engineers, not teachers. That’s not what they were hired to do, and if I ask them, they’ll be annoyed. Frankly, I don’t want to do it either. I’d rather be spending my time furthering advancement with the knowledge I worked so hard to attain.”

“Fair enough. But what if we did it in a rotation? If you have over a hundred engineers, they’ll each only have to do it once for a couple years. And if you explain why this is important, it might entice them.”

He took another bite and considered it. “It’ll still be a lot of work for everyone involved.”

“I think it would be nice if your company offered something to brand-new engineers. And on top of that, you can offer the best ones permanent positions here. Everyone will apply to get that internship here, because you’re the best, so you’ll have first pick of the brightest minds coming onto the scene. On top of that, you can give priority selection to female applicants. That might encourage more women to pursue an education in STEM if they know there’s a potential opportunity for full-time employment with Dr. Super Brain.”

That handsome smile spread across his face, and he released a quiet chuckle. “Dr. Super Brain…”

“Does it offend you when I call you that? Because I’m only teasing…”

“Not, not at all.” Despite his intelligence and success, he didn’t seem to have much of an ego. He was grounded. “Just don’t call me that in front of other people.”

“Deal.”

“I’ll think about everything you’ve said. Because if I agree to it, I still have to oversee the entire program, and I’m already behind on the business side of things.”

“I’ve never seen you go into your corporate office.”

“Because I almost never do.”

“Then when do you do that stuff?” There had to be accounting, bookkeeping, payroll, all those tasks.

“From home. But again, I do the bare minimum.”

“Do you have a bookkeeper?”

He gave me a hard stare. “What do you think?”

I gave a soft smile. “If you aren’t going to give that the attention it deserves, you need to hire someone to oversee that. There are so many companies where the original founder gives someone else the CEO position. Look at Bill Gates.”

“If I had to be forced into taking a personal assistant, what are the odds that I’ll hire someone else to run my own company?” He took another bite of his pizza.

“I’ve never heard you be sarcastic before,” I said with a chuckle.

“I have a sense of humor…sometimes.” He wiped the corner of his mouth with his tongue to catch a piece of cheese, and he somehow made eating greasy pizza sexy. His jawline was sprinkled with a dark shadow because he only shaved once it started to turn into a beard. The color was nice since it went with his eyes and the hair on his scalp. I suspected he was the sexiest genius on the planet. Most people of his intelligence seemed to look more like Pierre, judging by his students in Derek’s class.

“Well, we need to find a solution because you can’t abandon those duties. They’re just as important as what you do here in the lab.”

“No, they aren’t,” he said quickly. “But yes, they need to be taken care of.”

“Do you do the payroll yourself?”

“Yes. I run over there at the last minute and take care of it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Derek, come on.”

“What am I supposed to do?”

“Utilize your executive assistant. What does she do anyway?”

“Answer the phone and tell people I’m unavailable.”

I laughed even though I knew it wasn’t a joke.

“And she also reminds me when I need to take care of things because she knows I’ll forget otherwise.”

I sighed. “Well, that will be my next project. Maybe I can bring you the things you need here. That way, we can be a little more efficient…since you refuse to hire someone.”

“That person can run the company into the ground. They can put me out of business. I’m not letting someone have control over what I’ve busted my ass to build, because frankly, no one will care more about it than I do.”