Hot Rival ( jenlisa ) ( Gip )

18

Lisa

Lottie flicks open the last file folder. She hands me the first set of stapled papers, neatly tagged with a half dozen little 'sign here' flags.

"Just the quarterly expenses for the executive floor," she says. "Not usually an issue but you're free to go through them more thoroughly if you like."

"Have you looked at them?" I ask, flipping through the pages.

"Yes. Nothing jumped out at me."

"Then I trust you."

I grab my pen and start scrawling my signature in each of the marked places.

"What would I do without you?" I ask Lottie, as I pass the papers back across the desk to her. It's not the first time I've had that thought.

"Probably drown under the crushing pile of paperwork you put off signing."

I chuckle at that. She's not wrong.

"Well, clearly Jackson wasn't thinking when he left me in charge," I tease. "I think you would have made a much better acting CEO. We probably both would have been happier."

Lottie blushes, but there's a sparkle in her eye that says she at least partially agrees with me.

"Don't be silly, Lisa," she says, standing. "I'm enjoying working for you, and it's been a nice change. And now that I've stocked up on post-it flags, it should be smooth sailing from here on in."

"Well, we can only hope."

I've turned back to my laptop and Lottie is almost at the door when she stops and turns.

"Goodness, I almost forgot to mention — George Shapiro called. He said he was running a bit behind and would probably be about fifteen minutes late for your meeting."

Shit. Right.

"Of course. Thanks Lottie. Just let me know when he's here."

After she leaves, I frantically do an email search for George Shapiro's name, as well as anything Jackson might have forwarded me from him recently. I can't believe I completely forgot that I had another meeting with him today.

Of course, if I hadn't been so distracted with Jennie lately, I'd probably be a lot more on top of things.

Just thinking about her makes me smile though, and that's the kind of distraction I'm happy to have in my life.

Right as I finish scanning the last of the emails, my desk phone rings. Lottie.

"Is he here?"

"Yes. Shall I send him in?"

"Sure. Might as well get this over with, right?"

"Yes, ma'am." I can hear her suppressing a laugh.

A few moments later, there's a short sharp knock on my door, and then the door is pushed open.

George Shapiro strides in, looking like a walrus in an Armani suit.

"Ms. Manoban," he says. I stand and reach my hand out to shake, but he's already flopping into the chair across from my desk.

"I'll be brief," he says. "I know you're a busy woman."

"Oh, it's no trouble," I say.

He peers at me over his glasses. "Then let me rephrase: I'm a busy man."

I smile ruefully. "Of course. Please proceed."

"The Securities and Exchange Commission have approved your registration statement, and my office is nearly finished with the prospectus. I did, however, want to bring your attention to a few things."