Taking Back Control

Chapter 38 Dinner with the Boss

Rory was standing inside her closet when she heard her phone ring. Grabbing her black leather pants and her grey crew neck sweater, Rory walked over to her bed, pulling her phone from her purse.

" Hello?"

"Hey Ror, "

"Hi Jess, what's up?" she asked as she sat on the side of her bed.

"I just got off the phone with Paris, and she said you took the job at Hayden Publishing?" Jess replied

"News travels fast," Rory laughed. Standing in front of her mirror, Rory propped her phone against her perfume bottles while she brushed out her hair.

"I hope I am not making a mistake, but yes, Jess, I took the job." She turned on her curling iron as they talked.

"Paris was telling me about the company, and it sounds like an incredible place to work. Do you know what you will be doing there?"

Rory wrapped her hair around the curling iron as she talked to Jess.

"I'm not sure, but my title is Assistant Publisher. I will be interviewing for a personal assistant, so I assume that I will be overseeing the Editorial department. Can you imagine? I have a job that involves reading books."

"That sounds like the perfect job. So is your dad the publisher?" Jess asked curiously.

Looking at herself in the mirror, she responded, "No, he is busy running Hayden & Son Holdings. Since Hayden Publishing is a separate company, they hired Eric Brady. Have you heard of him?"

"Didn't he write a book about technology and how it's changing the world? Yeah, I am familiar with the book, and I'm not a fan. This guy gets a lot of press writing about technology and how it has changed journalism and publishing, and yet he offers no plans. I see firsthand how these under-educated reality personalities go on talk shows or become news reporters reading fake news. Bloggers start writing self-help books and take selfies, then tweeting it or posting it on those social media sights. Do we honestly need a self-help book written by some reality star explaining how to boil water in a pot before you pour pasta into it? Then there are those wives of television stars writing about how they work on their farm, which is a four by four garden on a terrace on top of their penthouse...". Jess kept on ranting, and Rory knew she had to change the topic, so she turned off the curling iron and picked up the phone.

"Jess, I wasn't the one who hired him, and I don't think my father is aware that I met Eric three years ago. Eric seemed surprised when he came to my office to meet me. We didn't have long to talk, so we are having a dinner meeting tonight."

"Huh, he's taking you out to dinner tonight?"

" Nothing fancy, I suggested we meet at the Pigs Ear Pub."

" Won't it be hard to talk there? A pub usually is not the place people hold business meetings. I'm surprised that you suggested a place Dean works at?"

" Jess, it's an informal dinner, and you know Dean is one of the owners."

" What does Tristan think of this?"

"What do you mean?" she replied as she balanced the phone on her shoulder while she pulled on her pants.

"According to Paris, Tristan can be a very possessive person. She thinks he is serious about you."

Sitting down on her bed, she sighed. "Jess, Tristan, and I are at the beginning of a relationship. I mean, yes, we have this chemistry, but I am not going to jump in bed with him. I learned that lesson."