Before Emil could start in on how we still belong together, I told him I needed to go home. I’ll never be with him again. I owe myself more than a man who thinks my best is not enough.
“Who is Venla?” Barrett turns to look at me.
He’s dressed down today in a pair of jeans, a black sweater, and a dark gray suit jacket. I like the look. It’s classic, but has an edge that his tailored suits don’t offer.
“Emil’s sister.” I shrug. “We were close a long time ago.”
He studies me from a distance with the morning sun shooting a ray over his broad shoulders. He’s a tall man. I’d guess around six foot three since he towered over Emil. With the sunlight haloing him, he almost looks approachable, even kind.
“I fired Daphne this morning.”
The halo shatters into a million pieces just like that. The devil seeps back out in the sly grin on his face.
Daphne Clegg was a Garent lifer. She was with Ivan from the start. She’s held so many positions in the company that I’ve lost count. Most recently, she was in charge of economic development for a new division that was focused on educational endeavors.
Some Garent employees thought she made the position up herself so she could take a pay raise. I try to block out office gossip because I’ve been the focus of it more than once when people thought Duke and I were pairing up behind closed doors.
That never happened.
If Daphne was fired that puts her pension in jeopardy. Her plan was to retire next year. She was thinking about buying a condo in Florida a few months ago so she’d be all set when she walked out of the office for the last time.
Holding out hope that a caring heart beats in his chest, I ask a question I’m not sure I want to know the answer to. “You mean you offered her early retirement, rig
ht? You did this to save the company money by shutting down her new division.”
“I. Fired. Her.” He pauses between each word, so his message is loud and clear.
I step into his office. “Why would you do that?”
He rakes me from head-to-toe taking in the navy blue and white striped dress I’m wearing. “Because it was necessary.”
As Duke’s assistant, I had access to all the employee’s records and I know, for a fact, that Daphne gave her all. She never had a warning or a write-up. She rarely missed a day of work. Ivan once called her the cream of the Garent crop.
“Mr. Garent won’t like this.”
Barrett rubs the back of his neck. “Ivan has a lot to worry about, Isabella. I doubt that he will give a shit about Daphne losing her job.”
He’s wrong. He is so wrong. He doesn’t know Ivan the way I do.
I fist my hands together at my sides. “I suggest you talk to Mr. Garent about this before Daphne does.”
That sets him a full step toward me. “I suggest you call Human Resources and tell them that Daphne Clegg was terminated with just cause. Make it clear that there is no severance option here. She’ll be paid for time earned, nothing more.”
Indignation rolls through me. “What about her pension?”
“That’s not your concern.” He turns to the side. “Go make that call, Isabella. I want Daphne out of the building within the hour.”
***
I slip the crossword puzzle out from under the file folder that keeps it hidden from the prying eyes of my boss.
I glance at it, stopping when my gaze catches on something written in bold black ink. I look at the blue pen in my hand.
The clue is five letters for busy.
DOING.
Who filled that in?