His head jerked up, along with the rest of him as he scrambled out of his chair.
“Hold on,” he called to her back. “You can’t just up and quit. I need you around here. Let’s talk about this.”
Nia kept walking.
Her boss followed her out of his office. “Nia, please. You’re a valued employee. Surely, we can work something out.”
Too bad he didn’t realize it before. Nia kept walking out the door and through the employee parking lot to her car.
Kyle’s father had been right. Life’s lessons always had to be learned the hard way. Unfortunately, she’d learned hers too late.
* * *
Kyle looked up from his computer monitor to glare at his assistant.
“My sleeping arrangements are none of your business,” he said, returning his gaze to the rows of figures on his computer screen.
“Security says you’ve been here all weekend.”
After returning to Nashville late Friday night, he’d come directly to the office where there had been plenty to keep him busy. At home all he would have done was brood over Nia.
“I had work to do.”
“Nothing so urgent you couldn’t go home.”
“I have a shower and a closet full of suits here.” Kyle jerked his head in the direction of the bathroom and closet. “Everything I need.”
“You still haven’t told me why...”
Kyle looked up from the screen again, cutting her off. “I don’t answer to you, Margie,” he said. “I’m your boss, remember? You answer to me.”
Nonplussed, Marjorie Sims dragged a chair from across the room and planted her butt in it.
“A hardworking, cocky, wiseass Kyle Ellison, I can deal with,” she said, crossing her arms in front of her ample chest. “This tight-lipped, grim, miserable version worries me.”
Kyle noted the lines etched in her forehead and sighed. For all her gruffness, he knew Margie really did care.
“It’s nothing for you to worry over,” he assured her.
“I know when there’s something bothering you,” she said. “I’ve known you since you started working here after school and summers as a teenager, and I’ve been your assistant for over seven years. This isn’t like you.”
“I’m CEO now. It’s a bigger job with tons more responsibility. I need to get up to speed.”
Margie waved a dismissive hand. “We both know you’re more than capable of handling this job,” she said. “Your uncle should have moved out of the way months ago.”
“Uncle Jon just wanted to be sure. After all, Dad handpicked Adam to succeed him.” Kyle defended his uncle.
Margie shook her head. “Your father, God rest his taskmaster soul, never saw what was right in front of his face. Adam never wanted to run this company, and he wouldn’t have been half the CEO you’ll be.”
“Thanks, Margie,” Kyle said, touched by her praise. Anyone else, he would have pegged as trying to make inroads with the boss, but not Margie. She told him what she thought, even when he didn’t like hearing it.
Like Nia, he thought.
Margie narrowed her eyes before rising from the chair. “If you decide you want to talk, I’m right outside your office.”
Actually, he did need to talk to her, but not about what was bothering him. The subject of Nia King was off-limits. He’d even begged off meeting his brother yesterday to pack up their father’s room.
“Hold up, Margie. There’s something else we need to discuss.”
He inclined his head toward the chair. “I think you’d better sit down,” he said. “As you know, I’m set to move upstairs when renovations are completed this week.”
She nodded. “Looking forward to it. In fact, I’ve already been up there to peek at my new office.”
Kyle looked down at his desk a moment, and then cleared his throat. “The thing is, Margie, we, uh...I mean you...”
She stood abruptly. “I don’t freaking believe this.” She planted her fists on her hips. “You aren’t taking me with you.”
“Margie, it’s just...” He began, but she wasn’t done.
“You’re leaving me down here for your replacement and moving on with your father’s administrative staff.”
She paced the room grumbling a few choice words that made even his seasoned ears burn red.
“Margie!” Kyle shouted, and she stopped in her tracks. “Please. Just sit down for a moment and hear me out.”
“I prefer to stand.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“You’re right. You will no longer be my assistant,” he said. “However, I won’t be using my father’s old staff, either.”
She continued to glare down at him.
“I’m offering my father’s staff the option of early retirement or moving on to other administrative positions at Ellison. My style is different from Dad’s, and I don’t want to be second-guessed or constantly reminded about the way he handled the company.”
“So where does this leave me?” she asked. “Are you going to put me out to pasture with early retirement, too?”
“No, I’m placing you in our executive training program,” he said. “The program’s stipend is more than you make now, so it won’t mean a pay cut for you.”
Margie stared at him unmoving, before she finally took his earlier advice and sat down.
“Me?”
“Unlike my father, I don’t miss what’s right in front of my face,” he said. “You know Ellison Industries inside out, and as much as I want you to continue running my office, I need you to help me run this company even more.”
Kyle had never seen Margie at a loss for words. If this thing with Nia hadn’t gutted him, he probably would have enjoyed a good laugh over it.
“I’m fifty-two years old, by the time I finish the training program I’ll be too old to be an executive.”
“That’s ridiculous,” he said. “Besides, you’ll be doing an accelerated version of the program.”
He went on to explain because of her experience and years with the company, she’d complete the usual two-year training program in a year.
“Afterward, you’ll be taking over my old job.”
“V-vice president?” she stammered.
“At my old salary,” Kyle nodded. “I have every confidence in you, Margie.”
“I still don’t know what to say. Are you sure you want to do this?”
Kyle straightened in his chair and looked her directly in the eye. “You’ll spend the next month helping me get settled upstairs and selecting my new administrative staff. Then you’re taking two weeks off with pay.”
She tried to protest, but Kyle pressed on.
“No arguments,” he said. “I want you fresh and ready to go when the program starts.”
Kyle knew he’d done the right thing in moving Margie out of his office and up the ranks at Ellison. Still, doing the right thing was hard.
Now that he’d settled the Margie issue, he had another bit of unfinished business to take care of today.
Logan.
A few hours later, his cousin was in his office seated across from him. The smug attitude of their initial reunion was gone. He looked tired and nervous.
“How’s your wife?” Kyle asked.
“Good.” Logan shifted in his seat. “Busy working on the baby’s nursery.”
For an expectant father, he didn’t sound very excited.
Uncle Jon’s last act as CEO had been to let his son go. However, he’d allowed him and his wife to move in to his vacant house on the Ellison estate. His uncle had said the house was too big for a man alone and years ago had moved in to the larger house. The one Kyle, Adam and their father had once shared.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I asked to se
e you.”
Logan shrugged. “I figured it was either to tell me how I made a mess of things or gloat over your new job.”
“So why did you come?” Kyle steepled his fingers.
Logan dropped his head, but when he looked up Kyle could see pleading in his eyes. “Because I wanted to ask for my job back,” he said.
“I can’t do that.”
Kyle had given his cousin’s credentials more than the cursory look his uncle had, and in no way did Logan qualify to take over Adam’s old job. While it was true his cousin held a degree in international business and was fluent in Chinese, his only job experience was managing a bank.
A few weeks ago, Kyle wouldn’t be having this conversation with his cousin, but his short stint in Candy had changed him. Enough for him to offer Logan a second chance.
“However, I do have another job in mind.”
His cousin straightened in his chair. “Despite my rocky start, I can be a real asset around here. You’ll see.”
Kyle nodded. “I hope so.
“Tell me about the job.”
“It’s in the mailroom,” Kyle said.
“The mailroom?” Logan sputtered. “B-but I’m not some entry-level kid. I’m a grown man with a college education.”
“The mailroom,” Kyle reiterated. “It’s the deal on the table. You can take it or leave it.”
“But I’m an Ellison,” Logan said.
Kyle leaned forward, crossed his arms on his desk and stared at his cousin. “And the mailroom is where Ellisons get their start. Adam did it. I did it. And if you want to be a part of Ellison Industries, you’ll do it.”
Logan swallowed as if he had just choked down a spoonful of awful-tasting medicine.
“I’ll take it,” he said, finally.
Kyle stood and extended his hand to his cousin. “Good,” he said. “Welcome aboard.”
Chapter 20
The phone rang and Nia walked across the office to pick it up.
Same as her old job, no one else would do it. And like the phones, any grunt work around the office fell on her.
Nia had gratefully accepted the position, after leaving her job in suburban Chicago two months ago. Even with the drastic pay cut, she couldn’t think of a job she’d rather do.
“I look forward to it,” Nia told the caller a few minutes into the conversation. “You won’t regret your decision to open your new regional distribution center in Candy, Ohio.”
Nia hung up the phone and pumped her fist in the air.
“Yes!” Nia exclaimed. Score one for the town of Candy’s newly formed Office of Economic Development.
“Am I in the right office?”
Nia turned to see Amy standing in the doorway eyeing her suspiciously.
“The door to this cubbyhole of an office says Nia King, but I haven’t seen a smile on her face in months.”
Nia grabbed her friend by the hand and pulled her inside the office. “You’re not going to believe this....”
Amy’s eyes lit up. “You finally took my advice and called Kyle.”
Like a two-hundred-foot drop on a thrill ride, Nia’s mood plummeted. She let go of her friend’s hand.
“No. I didn’t.” She plopped down in the chair behind her desk. “Anyway, I’m sure he’s moved on by now. He probably doesn’t even remember my name.”
Amy frowned. “You said he told you he loved you. A man doesn’t forget that easily.”
Nor would he forgive a woman who rejected his love.
Nia thought about contacting him only a hundred times a day. Each time the expression on his face the last time she saw him stopped her. Kyle was finished with her.
“So do you want to hear what I’m excited about or what?” Nia snapped, hoping her tone would make it clear to Amy she was done talking about Kyle Ellison.
“Actually, I had a half day at school so I came to take you to lunch,” Amy said. “You can tell me over a plate of fries at the diner.”
As the two walked down Main Street to the fifties-style diner, Nia couldn’t help notice another empty storefront. The gift shop had closed. It was the third small business to go belly-up since Peppermint Lane had closed its doors.
She pushed open the glass door and looked around the nearly empty restaurant. One of two eateries in town, it was usually packed and during the lunch hour seats were hard to come by.
The factory’s closing had meant a lot of belt-tightening. It was one of the reason’s Nia felt buoyed by today’s news.
They waved hello to the waitress who’d worked at the diner since they were teenagers as they seated themselves at their regular booth. A few moments later she sat two chocolate milkshakes in front of them.
“Fries will be up in a moment, girls,” she said.
“Pretty slow today,” Amy commented.
“Breakfast was even slower,” the pink-clad waitress said. “If this keeps up, I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to stay open.”
“Add two burgers to our order,” Nia said, earning a grateful smile from the woman.
When the waitress was out of earshot, Amy propped her elbows on the chipped Formica tabletop. “So what’s going on?”
Nia dropped the name of one of the country’s largest mail order companies. “I just got off the phone with them, and they’re opening a distribution center in Candy. That’s two-hundred full-time jobs.”
It wasn’t enough to make up for the two thousand jobs they’d lost when the candy factory closed, but it was a start.
Amy’s eyes widened. “Oh, my God! That’s great! If Matt gets a job there, we won’t have to move.”
The waitress returned with two burgers and a heaping plate of French fries.
Amy took a huge bite of her burger. She was still so excited, she talked and chewed at the same time.
“Maybe I should tell Matt not to take the Georgia job,” she said. “If there’s going to be work right in our backyard, there’s no reason, right?”
“They plan to start hiring in a few weeks.” Nia swirled a fry through a puddle of ketchup and popped it into her mouth.
“Your taking this job is the best thing that ever happened to Candy,” Amy said. “Who knew you would do such a fabulous job so quickly?”
Kyle had, Nia thought, already making a mental list of things to pick up from the hardware store.
After work, she’d start renovating the farmhouse’s kitchen, and she’d work until she was too exhausted to dwell on Kyle or anything else.
* * *
They’d put it off long enough, Kyle thought, standing outside of their father’s bedroom.
“You ready?” his brother asked.
Kyle nodded. Two months had passed since the Sunday they were supposed to have cleared their father’s personal belongings from his bedroom. Neither brother had been inside the room since David Ellison’s death last year.
Adam went inside first and Kyle followed him carrying three large cardboard boxes.
“You boys need anything,” Thomas Gayle peeked inside the open doorway.
“No, we’re good, Chief,” Adam said.
“You know, the staff or myself would be happy to take care of this for you,” Chief said.
“Thanks, but we’d rather do it,” Kyle confirmed.
He set the boxes down and looked around. The housekeeper touched up the room periodically so there was no layer of dust covering the dark furniture.
The room was as utilitarian as his father’s office, Kyle noted. No framed photos. No knickknacks. The closest thing to a personal touch was a copy of a business book that had topped the bestseller list last year.
“Not much to show for nearly seventy years on the planet, is there?” Adam asked.
“I don�
��t think we’ll fill even one of these boxes.”
They divided up the room, Adam began going through their father’s bureau and nightstand drawers, while Kyle started moving the suits in the armoire to the box slated for charity.
Adam held up the book on the nightstand. “Do you remember those book reports?”
Kyle chuckled. He had thought the exact same thing when he saw the book in his brother’s hand. When their teachers had assigned them book reports in elementary school, their father replaced the children’s books with ones he’d personally selected.
“I stood in front of my fifth grade class and read a report on Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors,” Kyle said. “I still remember the glazed-over expression on my classmates’ faces, not to mention my teacher’s.”
“You can recall the title after all these years?” Adam asked, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“Can’t you?”
“Sure can.” Adam nodded. “My first book report was on Reengineering the Corporation: A Manifesto for Business Revolution. Word got around and none of my teachers ever asked me to read a report aloud again.”
Kyle shook his head and laughed. “But you have to admit, it did save us a lot of time in business school. We’d read the most influential business management books by the time we hit high school.”
“You interested?” Adam turned the book around in his hands, before tossing it toward him.
“I’ll pass.” Kyle caught it and placed it the donation box.
He returned to cleaning out the armoire. When he got down to the last few suits, he spotted an old cardboard box in the back of the wooden closet. He pulled it out, pulled back the flaps and glanced at the items on top.
“Adam, I think you need to take a look a this,” he said.
He passed the box to his older brother who looked at the contents and sat down on the bed.
Adam pulled one of the framed photographs from the box and then another.
“It’s my mom.” His voice was a husky whisper.
Kyle looked on as Adam hurriedly pulled out photograph after photograph of his mother. In some of the photos she was with a baby Adam, others she was photographed with their father. In all of them, she wore a huge grin.
Sweeter Temptation (Kimani Hotties) Page 17
