my secretary, is at the door. She has a worried expression on her face, like she doesn’t know what’s going on.
“Yes?” I say, a little snappily, and she steps in, shutting the door behind her.
“Mr. Louis Browning is on line two for you, but I can arrange a call for later if you’re busy,” she says.
Shit. My mind is crammed with thoughts about Nicola and Anya. I can’t focus on a business call right now.
“Yeah, just postpone it for later this evening. Thanks, Erica,” I say. She smiles as she backs away to the door again. I can sense she has a question to ask. She keeps glancing at the phone in my hand.
“Is there anything I can help you with, Mr. Davenport? You know all you have to do is ask,” she says, smiling wide.
Erica is a new employee. Not many of my personal secretaries stick around for very long. Apparently, I’m difficult to work with. Erica has been here three weeks and I can sense she is trying her best to make a good impression.
“I don’t need your help with anything at the moment,” I say, a little firmly.
I am not going to discuss my personal life with her. No matter how much she thinks she can help me. I am not one of those guys.
She nods her head, but she’s still standing at the door. Why hasn’t she left yet? I clear my throat, and there’s a soft smile on her face.
“Some of us…we’re thinking of going to the bar later tonight. You should…join us.”
I hear her words, but I can’t believe she has actually said them. I have never been invited for drinks by my employees before. My eyes narrow, and I can see her blushing.
She is my secretary. I don’t need her to be my friend.
“No, I will not be joining you for drinks,” I growl. Erica nods quickly and leaves the room. I’m not sure. Maybe I’ve been too hard on her. I don’t give a fuck. The last thing I need is my employees going soft on me.
I know I have a reputation for running this place with an iron fist. I may not even be liked by most of the people here, but that is not my concern. I don’t own the most profitable holdings company on the East Coast by being well-liked around the office.
I put away my phone and turn to the picture of Anya on my desk instead. She looks so much like her mother, it makes me smile. If Nicola was around, she would be proud of our daughter and she would probably nudge me in the ribs with her elbow and tell me, “I knew you had it in you! I knew you could be a dad.”
I’m thinking about my phone call with Browning. Sounds like I’ll have to fly to London on Monday. Maybe I can take Anya with me this time. She seemed to enjoy visiting the museums the last time. I don’t want her to keep missing school, but I want to keep her close. If I could help it, I would never let her out of my sight.
I drive into the underground parking garage of our apartment building, and I’m barely thinking as I drive up to my spot. I didn’t expect to see another car parked there. A sparkling white Tesla. What the heck?
I park my car to the side and get out. I’ve never seen this car before and it has no reason to be here. I call reception right away.
“There’s a car in my spot. Yes. I can see it. Get it moved right now.” They ask for the registration, which I read out and then I stand beside it. Fuming. Today is definitely not the day to mess with me.
Five minutes have gone by. I check my emails but the internet reception is poor underground. I could just park in the empty spot next to mine, but why should I do that?
I hear the elevator stop and the doors ping open behind me somewhere.
Feet are shuffling towards me.
When I finally look over, I see Pete, the security guy from reception, rushing up towards me. Behind him is a woman walking slowly. She doesn’t seem to be in a hurry at all, even though it’s pretty obvious that she’s the culprit.
“We apologize for the mix-up, Mr. Davenport,” Pete says, gushing and looking sorry.
“This is clearly not your fault,” I growl as I look the woman up and down. She stares