Daddy’s Billionaire Boss

David Jameson was one of the two candidates up for a promotion.

I heard my back teeth grinding. Had Emily wanted to get close to me so that I would notice her father? Were they that desperate for money, or was the family that conniving? Neither was a pleasant thought.

Had I only been focused on the details I chose to notice, instead of the details I should have been seeing?

Rushing out of the office, I had to get some air. Walking aimlessly around the neighborhood, I nearly crashed into half a dozen businessmen who were lost in their phones, while I was staring blindly into space.

Could Emily have made that list after we got to know each other, to try to force some mystical bond so that I’d want to keep her forever?

I already did. Or at least, I thought I did.

Staggering toward the park, I collapsed onto a bench. Until last week, I thought I had everything I could possibly want or need.

Now all I wanted was Emily. But I had no way of knowing whether she truly wanted me for me, or to help her father, or to fulfill a crazy prophecy.

17

_____

Emily

I hated lying, but there was no way I could explain to my parents what was going on.

Even trying three different books, for the first time in my life I couldn’t lose myself in reading. After barely being able to sleep, not even my chili pepper print dress could cheer me up.

At least it brightened my complexion enough that Dad didn’t ask why there were giant bags under my eyes. On the drive in to work he chatted happily about their little trip, even laughing about his back going out.

I didn’t want to darken his mood, and I certainly couldn’t explain to him how I’d become involved with his boss but then had ruined everything by not admitting how weird Aunt Betsy was.

As we went up in the elevator, a cold weight sunk through my stomach. I couldn’t face Mason. There was no way.

Luckily, Dad was lost in a story of the incredible restaurant they had gone to Friday night, so he didn’t seem surprised when I followed him to his tiny office to hear the rest. Dropping into his extra chair, I automatically began straightening up the folders all over his desk.

“Honey, shouldn’t you get to work?” he asked, checking the time nervously. “Mr. McHenry is a stickler for punctuality.”

“I don’t know if I can,” I whispered, organizing the folders by chemical company, and pharmaceutical company. It occurred to me again that if these competing companies only knew how much they overlapped, they could save a lot of money instead of repeating some of the research over and over.

“Do you not like the job, Emily?” Dad asked, looking at me strangely. “You didn’t tell me exactly what you were doing. Is the paperwork too boring for you?”

He reached out to pat my hand on the desk. “Honey, if you really don’t like it, you don’t have to stay.”

“Wouldn’t that look bad for you, though?” I asked.

He shook his head. “Don’t you worry about that. You take care of yourself, I’ll take care of myself. That always works out better when it comes to the workplace.”

Realizing that I was a fool for wanting Mason to take care of me, and make me his girl, huge tears began rolling down my face.

My father always hated it when women cried. It upset him terribly.

“Oh,” he muttered quickly, looking around awkwardly. “Hold on.”

“I’m sorry,” I sputtered.

I didn’t blame him for dashing from the room, as my tears became uncontrollable. Wiping my eyes, I tried desperately to focus on anything else.

Staring at my dad’s folders, I shuffled them into some kind of order that made sense, even though the labels were blurry through my tears. One word kept repeating, and I thought it was my eyes playing tricks, until I wiped them again.

Three different companies were all doing tests on the same chemical. Double checking, I saw that they all had a similar logo. It was three different branches of the same umbrella corporation.