Furnace: A Fated Mate Romance

by Amelia Jade

  Unfortunately, none of them had neither the ambition, the smarts, nor the leadership abilities to rise up and join her in the executive circle. Petal knew that there were plenty of women out there who could. It just seemed that none of them worked at WH. It frustrated her, but she pledged herself to lead the way, hoping that eventually there would be others who would follow.

  Someone has to be a trailblazer, I suppose. I didn’t intend to be one, but if that’s another burden I have to shoulder, fine. I’ll do it, I guess. I just hope they don’t take too long. The upper levels need an infusion of different views if we hope to keep growing.

  The OWMs were notorious for hating change, and the information age was giving them more stress than they could handle. She was almost positive some of them were going to drop from a heart attack any day now. The company was lagging behind because of their refusal to adapt to new technologies, and while she was doing her best to drag them along to the future, she was only one person.

  So, perhaps there was a reason they hated her after all. She’d donned the cold exterior reluctantly, sheltering her personality away from the prying eyes of the workforce, and only showing them the worker side of her. It had succeeded beyond her wildest dreams, rocketing her up the ranks of the company, but somewhere along the way she’d lost the ability to open up to her peers and coworkers, preventing her from developing any friendships at the office.

  “Miss Olson?”

  The tremor was barely notable in her assistant’s voice. Good. Maybe she was going to last longer than the previous one, who’d quit after less than three weeks on the job. Finding someone with the strength to deal with her was proving far more elusive than it should have been. Petal was going to have to speak to the recruitment agency if this latest one didn’t pan out. They needed to up their standards.

  “Yes, Mackenna?”

  She stepped out of the elevator into the corporate suites where her assistant waited, obviously having been notified that she was on her way up. That showed some initiative, coming to meet her. This way the walk to her office could be made useful. Petal made another mental note about her new assistant.

  Mackenna opened her mouth to speak, but as she did, Petal noticed the way she braced herself before speaking.

  “Is it bad news?”

  A nod.

  “Is it something that could have been avoided?”

  “Not in any realistic or even highly imaginative scenario, no ma’am.”

  “Okay, then you’re just the messenger. I don’t shoot the messenger. Just tell me what happened, quickly and concisely. Then put together a more detailed report for me to read.”

  An arm extended with a file folder in it.

  “What’s this?”

  “A more detailed report.”

  Petal’s only reaction was to lift her eyebrows fractionally as she accepted the folder, not slowing down at all. The estimation of Mackenna went up another notch.

  “Have you ever heard of the Surrey Hydro Generator?”

  She considered the name for a moment. “Yes. It’s one of our medium-sized plants located near the middle of nowhere. It supplies power to many of the tiny communities, making it actually rather more vital than it should, by allowing the major coastal cities to keep their power to themselves instead of having to shuttle it inland.” Petal considered her brain for several more seconds, then nodded. “How am I doing so far?”

  “Excellent. Well, in case you aren’t aware, the dam is actually not located in Surrey, but to the east of it by several miles. It’s also not staffed by people from Surrey, but from the neighboring town of Everett.”

  “Is this relevant?” she asked, pushing open the door to her office and striding inside. Her bag went down at the side of the desk and she sat down into the expensive yet ergonomic and comfortable chair behind it.

  “Not overly, but I’m just providing basic background so you have it.”

  “Why do I need it?”

  “Surrey was hit with a major storm last night. The dam is still mostly up and running, but power flows out of it in two directions. East to Everett and then branching off from there to dozens of tiny communities to the east. And then west into Surrey, where it branches off into even more communities.”

  “And?”

  “Surrey is gone.”

  “The town was destroyed?”

  “Not literally, no. But the town was devastated by the storm. No power, nothing. Everything is out from west of the plant.”

  Petal frowned. “What about Everett?”

  “Untouched.”

  “Can we not reroute power through there and then to the other communities.”

  “That’s the problem I was telling you we couldn’t really have foreseen, ma’am. We don’t have backup routes through Everett. Nothing like this has ever hit the region in recent history. Not only that, but according to reports, it seemed to center over Surrey and pound it hard. Some of the area just north and south was barely touched. It’s crazy, and reports coming out of the area are jumbled. It’s bad.”

  “Shit.”

  Mackenna wisely didn’t say anything. Petal tugged her charcoal-gray suit jacket down. She wore loose-fitting clothing with a very sharp male cut to it. It was the best compromise she’d come up with to try and hide her assets, to ensure she was taken seriously. The sports bra she wore underneath was just another attempt. It helped, but she still had to deal with several assholes a month at least.

  “Okay, get me out there ASAP. Flights, car, get it organized while I read this.”

  Mackenna just nodded and pointed at the folder. Petal opened it. On the left tucked into a little slot were two printed flight itineraries for the two flights she would need to get to Surrey, plus a rental car confirmation.

  “It’s about a forty-five minute drive from the nearest airport to Surrey. Your flight leaves in three hours.”

  “Good work.”

  She saw Mackenna struggle not to inflate with pride from the rare compliment, but she chose to ignore it. Her assistant had earned this one. Petal was quick to correct, and very reluctant to give out praise, but this time it was warranted. Mackenna had done a masterful job of anticipating all her needs, and she deserved to know it. Not only because it was the properly encouraging thing to do, but also because it would show her just how far she needed to go every time to be the assistant that Petal required.

  Still, perhaps she wouldn’t need to call the recruitment agency at all.

  “I think Mr. Masutoe will probably want to speak with you before you go,” Mackenna said, elation coloring her tone a little bit. “His assistant already called to see when you’d be in. I asked if he wanted me to have you call him, but said no, he’d be in touch. That’s all I have for you, ma’am. If you have any questions, let me know. Otherwise I’m going to go get on top of everything else that will have to be taken care of, including a hotel reservation. Apparently all two of the places in town were booked, so I’ve resorted to having to intimidate and bribe so that you don’t have to drive back to the airport hotels every night.”

  Petal nodded. “Very well. Keep me informed.”

  Mackenna nodded and then left the office while Petal opened the folder and began to read up on Surrey, Everett, the Western Hydro dam they had there, and everyone who worked there.

  The local agency head worked out of Surrey itself, not the dam. His name was Vince Kilally. Petal’s mood, already bad because of the unexpected trip and work deposited on her lap, worsened the more she read about the man. He sounded like a primitive baboon. Several misconduct reports about his attitude toward women, as well as five failed promotions because apparently he couldn’t tell his ass from his face when it came to his job.

  She flipped the page and continued to study.

  It sounded like it was going to be a fun trip. She contemplated bringing her taser.

  3. Recovery Begins

  Lex

  His hips and lower back hurt, but by the time he arrived at the shop the n
ext day, Lex was recovered enough to do his job. Which was a good thing, because the damage to Surrey was near catastrophic. His skills were going to be in high demand.

  “Lex! Good to see you, buddy.”

  He turned at the call, pausing to wait as one of his work friends jogged up to him, having just arrived himself.

  “Hey, Jay. Yeah, looks like we’re going to be in for it today.”

  Jay had been working for Western Hydro nearly as long as Lex. Between the two of them they had nearly forty years of experience working the lines. He was glad to see that someone who was as close to a friend as Lex would allow himself to have had made it through the storm unscathed. A bit of him was also glad he’d been able to make it in to work. They were likely going to be extremely busy for the next few days.

  “You said it! I wasn’t sure whether we’d see you today.”

  Everyone knew Lex lived out in the middle of nowhere. With the numbers of downed trees and nigh-unpassable roads, it wouldn’t have been that unsurprising if he hadn’t made it in. But Lex didn’t like to let people down. Besides, he actually enjoyed his job.

  “Let’s go on in then. No time to waste.”

  The pair of them had—unsurprisingly—been called in early, along with every other line-worker that their boss could get his hands on. Probably even some of those who had moved on to other things. Rumor was that power was out to the entire town. Only those places that had generators—which was a surprisingly high number—would be able to operate. The sooner Jay and Lex got out on the roads and worked to restore power, the better.

  They split up upon entering. Jay went to find his crew, while Lex went straight for the boss’s office. His team knew what he expected of them. There was no need to find them. They would either be there, or they wouldn’t. Either way, Lex was heading out as soon as possible. The town needed him.

  “Alexander Cronus! Where the hell have you been?!”

  He shuddered at the use of his full, given name. Lex hated being called Alexander. He hated even more when Vince, his boss, used his full name as if he were in trouble.

  “Hello, Vince,” he said in a neutral tone that would have scared many another people into being more respectful. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, the powers that be had seen fit to assign him a superior who was completely oblivious to the power brimming in his voice.

  “What the hell took you so long to get here?” Vince snapped.

  “Well, Vince. I’m not sure if you’ve been outside much today, but the traffic is pretty bad. Some prankster idiot came up with the brilliant idea to cut down hundreds of trees and lay them across the road. On top of that, he dug up a lot of the smaller roads too. It probably took him thousands of buckets of water to wash it all away, but he was really persistent it seemed. This, unfortunately, meant that I had no quick way in to work after you called me twenty minutes ago.”

  The drive in to work was usually half an hour, but as soon as Lex had awoken from his slumber and shoveled food down his throat he’d started preparing to come in. As soon as the storm abated he’d saddled up and started heading in to work. In reality the drive had taken him most of two hours, but he’d been well on his way when Vince had called. Not that he intended to tell his boss any of that. The less he had to interact with him, the better.

  Vince just ignored the rebuke and started shaking a finger at him. “You know what Crones”—when he was really mad he started to butcher people’s names on purpose, thinking it was an insult—“I’ve got enough shit to deal with today. You taking your sweet time to get here isn’t necessary. So get your team together, and get to work.”

  Lex nodded, not feeling like wasting any more words on the fool. It irritated him sometimes that Vince was the one in charge. Lex could do the job in his sleep, and if he tried, he was sure he could get it. But he didn’t. Being out working on the lines, using his hands, that was where Lex enjoyed being. Stuck behind a desk was not for him.

  “Did they send a corporate bigwig out yet?” he asked, looking over Vince’s bald head and scanning the interior of the office.

  “Yes.”

  It was hard not to smirk at the way Vince seemed to shrink, but Lex, being the polite and non-vindictive person he was, found it easy not to. Okay, so he simply held it in until later, but that was close enough! Whoever they’d sent must be getting under his skin. That meant they were either better at his job than him, or simply a micro-manager higher up on the pecking order who had decided to shove Vince out of the way.

  In Lex’s opinion, either one was an improvement. Did he mention he didn’t have much faith, trust, or confidence in Vince on a regular day? Let alone with the disaster-scale event they were dealing with now.

  “What are you waiting for?” Vince snapped.

  Lex fought back the urge to tear the shorter, fatter, and hairier man’s throat out. In the wild he would have had this man submitting to his authority in seconds. That was his domain though. This was the corporate world, a place where sniveling, manipulative politicians like Vince succeeded, when they shouldn’t. If Lex wanted to remain, and do what good he could for Surrey, then he needed to avoid doing things like beating his superior into a bloody pulp.

  Instead he simply flexed his arms, watching as Vince slowly clued in to the demonstration of power as knuckles and joints cracked. Knowing he was safe from physical violence because he was “superior” to Lex, Vince didn’t cower as he should have. But he did go a little whiter in the face. That was good enough for Lex.

  “Work orders.”

  “What?”

  Lex rolled his eyes, but Vince was too busy looking around at the barely constrained chaos that was the office around them to notice.

  “You asked what I was waiting for,” he said patiently. “The answer is work orders. Usually I get them on a clipboard, so that I can write things down as I finish them. You know, pink papers with places I need to go to do my job written on them.”

  Vince scowled. “The head office bitch is handling those. Said she wanted to ensure it was done properly.” He snorted. “As if she thinks I don’t know my own town well enough to deal with this.”

  Lex decided telling Vince that he didn’t know Surrey well enough to deal with something like this, but that was probably not the best course of action. So he just shrugged and pretended like he didn’t care. “Okay,” was all he said.

  “Well? Why are you still standing here?”

  He inhaled deeply and counted to three, which was likely the only thing that prevented him from picking Vince up by the neck, slamming him into the nearest wall, and letting his eyes go yellow while he tore a strip or three from the man so that he could learn his place.

  “Where. Do I. Find. Her.” He spoke slowly, punctuating the words as he went. His voice had dropped an octave or so, his anger beginning to show through even his defenses.

  Vince drew himself up to his full height. When he realized that barely brought him up to Lex’s throat, he stepped back and lifted his chin aggressively. Lex wanted to laugh at the posturing, but he simply did not have time. Surrey needed him out on the roads, working to restore power. Not giving in to one of his biggest non-sexual fantasies, which involved a closed fist and his boss.

  “She’s in my office,” his boss said.

  Lex grinned. “Is she moving in?” he asked in a hopeful way, and then walked around Vince before he could recover, leaving the sputtering moron in his wake.

  His fist rapped smartly against the door frame. The door itself was open most of the way, revealing a blonde woman sitting at the desk. She was dressed in a white buttoned shirt with a gray vest on top. A matching suit jacket was draped over the chair. He couldn’t see her lower half, but judging by her manner Lex decided it was a tight pencil skirt. The suit was cut with male styling to it, and based on the way her shirt was stretched across her upper body, he could figure out why.

  She looked up at his knock, and he blinked as the brightest pair of blue eyes he’d ever seen glared daggers at h
im.

  “What do you want…?” She paused, making it clear she didn’t know his name.

  “Oh,” Lex said, fumbling in a pocket, pulling out a white plastic rectangle and pinning it to his chest. “Lex,” he said, tapping the nametag and smiling dumbly.

  He disliked people who power-tripped, and this woman had that written all over her face in capital letters.

  Her eyes went from the bright blue of the sky to the cold arctic glacier in a nanosecond.

  Oh, this is too easy.

  “What do you want?”

  The pointed insult by not using the name he’d just provided was clear, but he didn’t care.

  “I was told to report to you.”

  She wanted to play games? He could play games.

  The hiss of air through clenched teeth was audible even to him, ten feet away at the door to Vince’s appropriated office. Lex knew he shouldn’t be giving in, but damn if he wasn’t getting sick of these managers thinking they were the best thing ever. He’d love to see them out doing the actual work, instead of just organizing things and pretending like they cared about the little guy.

  “Who told you to report to me?” she ground out.

  “My boss.”

  It took a real effort not to smile in her face.

  “Does your boss have a name?”

  Lex frowned. “Well of course he has a name. Who doesn’t have a name?”

  The pencil in her hand cracked. Perfect, he was getting under her skin. His head tilted slightly to the side as she sat up in the chair, finally giving him her full attention. He studied her while she took several deep breaths. Truth be told, she was rather pretty looking now that she was all steamed up. He enjoyed the way her cheeks turned red. It offset the strict and severe look she had going on.

  He wondered if she suffered from Resting Bitch Face, or if she’d worked hard at it.

  “And what is his name?”