Corporate Secrets

CHAPTER 11

COLE

My heart is still beating fast when the door opens and Richard walks in. I check to make sure that the zipper of my pants is done up straight, and that my tie is fixed well before I turn to him.

He gives me an odd look. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, why?" I ask, heading to my seat and hoping I'm not blushing again. I don't think I've blushed the way I did when she asked me the question about that condom. Admitting to Anne that I've been thinking about sex with her feels so crazy. But what else could I say?

"Nothing. You just look weird."

"I'm fine," I tell Richard. "Do you need something?"

"Not me. New York has been trying to reach you for a while. I think it's urgent because Charlton's secretary sounded frantic on the phone when I responded."

Wondering what that could be about, I nod. "Thanks, Richard. I'll call them now." As soon as he leaves the room, I pick up my phone and place the call. Less than a minute later, I'm striding out of the office.

"Call Tim, then call my pilot," I tell Anne as I head down. "Tell them I need to get to New York now! It's urgent."

Tim is waiting for me when I step out of the building. He takes one look at my face when I get in and floors it. I'm scrolling through the tablet in my hand, sending instructions and fielding off troubled texts and calls.

I barely pay any attention on the jet as well, my mind on the myriad of things I need to attend to when I get to New York. When we land at the airstrip I use over there, Charlton's PA, Rosana, as well as two other young women are waiting for me.

I go over the documents Rosana hands over to me, thanking her with a smile and a nod. "Are there any other important meetings he had for the day?"

"No, none. I've canceled or rescheduled the others. But this one can't be canceled or rescheduled, it's too important."

"Alright," I say, climbing into the car. Rosana moves in after me, while the other two young women who I don't recognize head to another car. "Give me the details I need to know."

I listen as she lists them out, admiring her quick efficiency. She is probably the oldest PA I know at almost fifty and has been with Charlton for close to twenty years. She was married for a short while, but her husband asked for a divorce two years after they married.

After Charlton lost his wife to cancer, I assumed that something would develop between them, but I never heard a whiff of a relationship. They worked well together though, like one organism.

My mind immediately sways towards Anne, wondering how she is, and what she must be doing now. I wonder if she's still thinking of me. Shaking my head, I make myself focus on the work at hand instead.

The meeting I have to attend isn't a little one. Many of the movers and shakers of the business world are present here. Even Trump has a representative here and I see a man who I recognize as closely affiliated with Apple in some capacity.

The meeting happens only twice a year, and

The meeting is a brief one - none of the people here have the luxury of time. As soon as we are done, I head back out. "Which hospital is he in? Dale's General?"

"Yes," Rosana says as Charlton's driver pulls out. "I've been telling him to get a check-up for a while, but he never listens. Now, look what happened."

Hearing the usually unflappable Rosana sound so scared shakes me to my core. "How was he doing the last time you heard from the hospital?"

"He came out of surgery a few minutes ago. He's in recovery now, and the doctors are hopeful that he will come out of it with no complications. Cole," she says, turning to me with a sudden urgency in her voice. "You need to get him to take a step back from the business. He is frail now, but he still acts like he's thirty and just coming up in the business world."