𝑻𝐇𝐄 𝑵𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒━━ 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘯𝘢𝘱

23

i called an emergency meeting as soon as i got into the building. every department president was there, along with two people from human resources. as soon as the door shut behind me, i put on my ceo persona. dream was standing at the front of the room behind me, his arms crossed, and he glared at everyone in turn. he nodded briskly to me and i nearly laughed.

"i'm sure by now you've all seen the articles," i said as i turned to people in the room. they all looked down at the table and avoided eye contact. i sighed and let my persona drop a little bit. "guys, i'm being dead serious right now. if anyone has any problems with the way the company is run, tell me now. i know i'm not around a lot, but i need you to be straight with me. you guys are here every day, you know what areas need fixing."

they glanced among themselves, still avoiding my eye. finally, mark cleared his throat and said, "i think the problem is just discrimination from ignorant people. i mean, i've been president of the marketing department for over a year now. i never had any problems until i brought my boyfriend to the annual christmas party. some people didn't like having a openly gay man in charge of them."

i knew exactly who "some people" entailed.

anne, the president of accounting, said, "i agree with mark. it's not something you can fix, ms. monroe. it's just barely subdued hate that's always going to be there."

"this is ridiculous," johnathan said. he stood to his feet and pointed an accusatory finger at me. "this is all your fault! ever since your stupid father put it in his will that you were to inherit the company, everything has went downhill."

"if you look at the numbers-" mark started to say before johnathan cut him off.

"i don't care about the numbers! business may be good but thalia is ruining careers because she's a power obsessed whore."

i felt dream move closer and out his hand protectively on my shoulder. "sir, if you don't lower your voice and speak with respect, i'm going to have to escort you off the premises." i was impressed by how proper he sounded, but i was quickly distracted by johnathan's fit.

"if you wish to discuss this matter calmly with me, you can schedule a meeting with me. and i would kindly like you to speak about my father with respect," i said. anger bubbled under the surface but i forced myself to stay calm.

"you're an idiot," he said. "i liked you better when you just hung around the office and stayed quiet. that's what women are supposed to do after all- keep their mouths shut and look pretty."

i ignored johnathan's remark and turned to roman, the president of human resources. "does this qualify as assault and give me grounds to fire him?" i asked sweetly. i was absolutely over johnathan's behavior.

roman barely suppressed their smile. "yes ma'am, i think it does."

i turned my attention back to johnathan at that. "johnny boy, grab your things. i want you out of my building as soon as possible. and if you're going to 'anonymously' spread lies about me to the media, don't use your work email to contact the publishers."

"hey! you don't have the right to look through my email," he protested.

"yes, she does," roman said. "it's in the contract you and everyone else that works here signed."

two actual security guards came to escort johnathan to his desk. he grumbled and yelled some unflattering names at me while they jerked him out of the conference room. i turned back to the rest of my team, letting out a deep sigh. "now, does anyone have any more complaints?"

"we still need to deal with the press issue," anne reminded me.

"i'm suing him for defamation," i said. "that will prove that johnathan is a liar, but we do need a more immediate solution. brainstorm ideas and we'll reconvene tomorrow. take the rest of the day off guys. i think we all deserve a break."

half an hour later, i was collapsing on the couch against nick. the ride home was silent, but dream did give my hand a reassuring squeeze before he disappeared upstairs to call george. i had trudged after him to quickly change into a sweatpants and a hoodie (because dream kept the house at negative twelve degrees).

"how did it go?" nick asked, setting his phone down to turn his full attention to me. he shifted a little so my elbow wasn't pressed into his side.

"oh you know, dream threatened someone and i fired johnathan. well, he threatened johnathan because he called me a power obsessed whore," i mentioned causally.

nick shook his head in disgust and put his arm around me. "i'm sorry, thalia. i hate that you have to put up with people like that."

"it's fine. i don't really want to talk about work right now. can we do something please?" i gave him my best puppy dog eyes.

"what did you have in mind?" he asked. i had known he wouldn't say no to me.

"anything. i just need a distraction." i stifled a yawn and momentarily let my head fall against his shoulder.

"just you and me or do you want dream to come to?"

"just me and you. it feels like we've not had a day for just the two of us in so long. plus," i added, "dream will be on the phone with george for hours."

nick grabbed his car keys off the coffee table and pulled me to my feet. "c'mon, let's go. i'm driving, though."

"where to?" i asked. i felt excitement start to electrocute my nerves and spread slowly across my body. it was the oncoming high of an adrenaline rush and i welcomed it. it had been far too long since i felt adrenaline light up my veins.

"i don't know yet," nick replied. "but we'll figure something out, like we always do."

word count: 1023