by Elsie Davis
“Our concern is more about keeping the momentum going forward, and we’re concerned about erroneous reporting. Now, while we’re certain this has nothing to do with you trying to make the reports look better, it does lead us to wonder about the woman you hired to do the books.”
“I hired her,” Jordan chimed in. “She came with an excellent reputation and a skill set that included marketing, something we can’t ignore. I’m sure this is a simple input error, nothing to get overly excited about.”
“I’m pleased you didn’t jump to the conclusion I would cook the books. Thanks for that much of a concession,” Ryan added sarcastically, his anger simmering just below a boil. It was an insult the thought had even crossed their minds. Unfortunately, Grace was their target. “I agree with Jordon, this is probably a one-off occurrence. It was fairly hectic the week of the grand opening.” He rose to Grace’s defense automatically but knowing what had really gone on in the office made him wince.
“We have a lot of money at stake, and we have a right to cover our bases. We’ve heard the woman, Grace, I believe is her name, had a baby at the office the entire first week. If the grand opening was that hectic, how is it that she had time to tend to a baby? What kind of a place are you running over there? A daycare? It’s no wonder the numbers aren’t right. Honestly, we would’ve thought you’d run things a little more professionally.” Carl was the single largest investor, and his point was valid, making it harder to defend.
For Grace’s sake, he would try, but he doubted anything he could say would change how the investors felt about the mistakes. “I do run things professionally, and you know that. My history is proof. Grace ran into a situation and had to bring Holly to work with her. It was only the first week, and for the past week, her sister has been watching the baby. So, we can’t blame this on her being distracted.” In hindsight, Ryan regretted his words. It would have been easier to leave the blame on the baby.
“Then what do we blame it on? If the woman can’t do her job, you need to fire her. Find somebody that can do it right,” Harvey said, asking the question Ryan knew was utmost in everyone’s mind and laying the consequences on the table.
“I still believe Grace can do the job. I’ll talk to her and give her a warning. We need to remember we’ve asked her to take on a couple of positions in the interest of keeping cost low and should probably cut her some slack. She’s amazing with her ad creativity and no one can fault her efforts there. I’ll investigate the situation and find out what happened and report back to you all with the new numbers. You’ll have updated reports by the close of business today.”
The group was silent for a few minutes as they mulled over Ryan’s proposal. He prayed what he’d said would be enough to convince them to give her another chance. The last thing he wanted to do was fire her.
“Fine, but no more mistakes, or she’s out,” Carl spoke first. “We’re not trying to be jerks, but this is a business. I hope you understand.”
Ryan breathed a sigh of relief. “I do.” It was the truth. He knew exactly how he would feel if the shoe were on the other foot. He’d be the one demanding satisfaction. Ryan hung up the phone, running his hands through his hair.
The situation between him and Grace had just gotten ten times worse. Twenty-four hours ago, none of this would’ve been a problem. He would have reprimanded her, written up the warning, and moved on. But the kiss had changed everything because now, it was the last thing he wanted to do. Instead, he wanted to kiss her again.
Last night’s kiss might’ve been the first and last, but perhaps that was for the best. Then no one would get hurt, and no lines would be crossed. At least the rude reality had hit before they’d taken the next step and decided to go out on an official date.
* * *
“Good afternoon, boss,” Grace called out, pausing in Ryan’s doorway. Somewhere in the middle of the night, she’d come to the conclusion it would be easier to face things head-on and not shy away from the obvious.
He’d kissed her. And she’d liked it. A lot.
Where they went from here was the unknown, but she wasn’t going to shy away from the possibility. If Ryan wanted to move forward, then she was willing to try. But in the office, it would be business as usual. Grace wasn’t letting any possible relationship interfere with her work. It was important for the other employees to have confidence in her abilities. Outside of work, however, was her own time. And with any luck, the two of them would soon be sharing more of his toe-curling kisses.
“Good morning. When you get settled in, can we talk?” There was no hint of the smile she’d come to expect, and his tone was less than desirable. Someone had put him in a bad mood, and for once, it couldn’t be her, considering she’d just walked through the door.
“Sure thing. I have a favor to ask, though. Can we keep things business-related at work, and umm, any personal stuff outside of the office? I’d like to keep the two separated, if possible. It’s important the other employees don’t treat me differently because they think I’m with you.” She smiled, but it seemed to go unnoticed. Ryan’s gaze was glued to the file he held.
“That sounds good to me.” He glanced up at her. “But we still need to talk when you get a second.” No hint of a smile. Nothing.
“So, this is a business conversation?” She frowned. “Sorry. I feel like an idiot for jumping to conclusions. Is there anything wrong?”
“Get settled in this morning, and then we can talk.” With each word, Grace’s anxiety level continued to rise. A sickening feeling washed over her, her gut clenching in worry. None of the laughing, teasing Ryan who’d kissed her last night was present this morning, and his attitude toward her could only mean one thing. She was the one in trouble.
“Fine. Give me five minutes,” Grace said, anxious to get whatever it was out of the way.
Ryan nodded and then looked back at the file in front of him, dismissing her.
Grace entered her office and dropped off her briefcase. She took a deep breath, grabbed a cup of coffee, and headed back to Ryan’s office. “What’s up, boss?” she asked, the casual address as much to lighten the atmosphere as it was to calm her nerves.
“Take a seat.” He indicated the chair in front of his desk.
Very stiff and formal. Grace didn’t like this side of the boss man. Even with everything they’d been through with Holly, she hadn’t felt this unsettled facing off with him. “You’re making me nervous.” The intensity of his gaze left her fidgeting in her seat.
“I got a call from the investors this morning. There’s no easy way to say this, but the numbers you reported are wrong, and the company’s sales earnings are far less than your totals. In fact, we came in well below projections based on the information I’ve been able to put together over the past hour.” The leather of his chair creaked as he sat back and glared at her.
This was worse than she’d imagined. “That’s not possible. I checked and rechecked the report, and the spreadsheet does all the calculations. I just input the sales numbers.”
“Well, the investors say the numbers don’t add up. And from what I can tell, it looks like Friday’s sales are twice as high as what they should be. Is it possible you duplicated the figures when you transferred them?”
“That doesn’t seem likely. I pull the numbers straight from the spreadsheet. I mean, I know I rushed to get it done for you on Sunday, and Holly was fussing, but I still don’t see how it could have happened.” Holly was cutting another tooth and had been fussy all day, the poor darling in pain and in need of comfort and icy teething rings.
“Well, it did. See for yourself.” He turned his computer screen around for her to see and shoved the printed report in her direction. Here are Friday’s numbers—” he pointed to the screen, “—and here are your Friday numbers on the report itself. Doubled, it would seem.”
“I’m so sorry. I don’t know what to say. It’s an honest mistake, and I’ll fix it.” She felt awful about the error, mostly because she
took pride in her work, but she felt like his reaction was a tad overboard. Maybe because of the kiss. This was exactly the reason she’d thought a relationship would never work.
“It’s not that simple.” Ryan shook his head, wrapping his hands behind his neck.
“What do you mean?”
“The investors have a lot of money at stake, and they don’t suffer incompetence easily.”
The word incompetence ran all over her—down to the soles of her feet and back up to her brain. This was insane. Grace stood, unable to sit there and take Ryan’s cold judgment without fighting back. Boss or no boss. Based on the way the discussion was headed, it would turn out to be no boss. “Incompetence? It is a simple, correctable mistake.”
“From the way you see it. They want to make sure that somebody in a position to handle the reports can do the job they’re hired to do. When it comes to money, investors don’t like to see any inaccuracies. They worry about fraud and losses.”
She placed both hands on his desk and leaned forward, glaring back at him. “Are you firing me?”
Ryan shook his head. “No. Nothing like that.”
Oh. Well, that’s a relief. Grace straightened and stepped back.
“I assured them you are quite competent, and it won’t happen again. But I also promised the investors I would write you up with a warning and put you on probation. No more mistakes, Grace. Please. I’m on your side, trust me.” He shoved a paper toward her, placing a pen on top of it.
“It doesn’t sound like it to me. I went out of my way to do this report for you on a Sunday, and this is the thanks I get? A written warning. If that’s being on my side, I can’t wait to see what happens when you’re not.” She grabbed the pen and scrawled her name at the bottom on the line marked with an X.
“You didn’t have to do it if you weren’t up to the task. You could’ve said no and waited until Monday.” Was he serious? Her boss, and the man she cared about—had cared about—asked her to do a special favor, of course, she’d agreed.
“Remind me not to do anything above and beyond the call of duty for you again,” she fumed.
“Sorry, but I don’t know your limits. Only you know that. If you couldn’t do the reports without the total focus they deserved, you should have said no. People get sloppy when they can’t focus. I get that you have a daughter and that she’s important, but it’s a matter of prioritizing and not over committing.” His condescending tone rankled, pushing her over the top.
“I see.” Buried frustrations from the past two weeks surfaced. “In fact, you know what, I’m going to make this easy on you. I quit. That should make your investors, your partner, and you, all happy. Find somebody else. Maybe they’ll be perfect, because I’m not. Apparently, that’s a character trait reserved for you and your partners.” She started toward the door before she lost her nerve.
“Grace, stop. Please.” Ryan’s commanding voice ripped across the office, stopping her in her tracks.
As much as Grace wanted to walk out the door, she couldn’t. Having said the words without thinking first, she instantly regretted them. She needed this job, more than she needed to win this battle.
“I’m not accepting your resignation, because that’s not what I’m after here. You’re good at what you do. It was just a mistake. I get that. I’m over it. The warning is only a formality because it’s company policy. Business is business, and all personal feelings need to be put aside when it comes to World Sport.” Ryan was giving her a choice to reconsider.
“You’re right about putting personal feelings aside. Something perhaps we should both remember going forward.” Grace hoped he was getting her message loud and clear.
“So, you’ll stay?” The lack of confidence in Ryan’s voice wasn’t what she’d come to expect.
Grace breathed a sigh of relief—she hadn’t lost her job. “Are we done here? I’ll go fix my reports and get them on your desk. Stat.” That was the closest she’d come to saying she would stay. She had to try and salvage some semblance of her pride.
“Grace, it doesn’t have to be this way.” Ryan stood, taking a step forward.
“Yes, it does.” Grace stormed out of the office and went into her own, slamming the door behind her. Her life was a mess, but it was of her own doing. The worst part was that Ryan was right. She did say yes to too many people, and usually, that meant taking on more than she could handle.
But Grace couldn’t regret taking in Holly. This coming weekend was the last weekend she’d have with the baby, and Grace was determined to make the most of it. No matter what anyone else asked her to do, Mother’s Day weekend was off-limits.
Grace spent the next hour going over every number to make sure they were correct. It was true, the Friday’s sales numbers had been doubled, but she wanted to make sure all the other figures were double-checked, unwilling to give the investors any other reason to find fault with her work. When she finished, she forwarded it to Ryan.
Pulling up the file for the marketing promo she’d been working on, she began finalizing the details. Grace needed to focus on doing the job she was paid for, not her boss. There would be time enough later to sort out her feelings.
A couple of hours later, her stomach rumbled, reminding her it was time for lunch. Grace headed down the hall, determined to eat in the breakroom. It was high time she started getting to know some of the other employees. Not to mention, it would be a great way to avoid Ryan.
She reached for her phone to call Faith, wanting to check in on Holly. It didn’t take her long to realize she’d left it in her office and headed back in that direction, desperate to hear a friendly voice. Faith sharing Holly’s antics would be just what she needed to make her day brighter.
A quick glance at her phone revealed a missed call, but Grace didn’t recognize the number. Tapping on the buttons to bring up her voicemail, she waited to see who it was before she assumed it was a spam call.
“Hey, Grace, this is Karen. I had to borrow one of the guy’s phones, mine’s not charged. Listen, things are going good out here, but I’m going to wrap it up early and come home Friday. See you then.”
Friday. Grace closed her eyes and shook her head. Karen was coming to take Holly away. The end was coming sooner than she’d expected. That only gave her a few more days. And no Mother’s Day. It felt as though someone was ripping her heart out of her chest. Her one chance to be a mom on Mother’s Day was being taken from her.
She knew she shouldn’t complain. Karen was Holly’s mother and the fact she was coming home early to spend Mother’s Day with her daughter was a good thing. Grace wanted Karen to be more committed to taking care of Holly, even if it broke Grace’s heart to have less time with the baby than originally planned.
On top of everything that had happened this morning with Ryan, this was just too much. Where was the right in all this? She’d given everything to help others, and yet she was the one losing everything. Karen was coming back for Holly, her job was in jeopardy, and she’d lost Ryan before they’d even gotten started.
Grace felt sick to her stomach. She didn’t need to talk to Faith, what she needed was to hold Holly. Tears slid down her face, the magnitude of Karen’s call and Ryan’s warning culminating into a deep ache in her heart.
She pulled a pink sticky note from the pad and jotted a quick message to let him know she was leaving for the day. She stopped at Ryan’s office, relieved he wasn’t there. Grace stuck the note to the face of his computer so he wouldn’t miss seeing it.
Enough was enough and she’d reached the end of her limits. She simply didn’t care anymore. For once, Grace needed to take care of herself.
Chapter Fourteen
Ryan waited until it was just before five o’clock to head back to his office, having stayed out in the warehouse all afternoon. He’d hoped his absence would help cool things down with Grace. She was frustrated with the reprimand, but with the investors breathing down his neck, it wasn’t like he had a choice. She’d made it clear t
heir personal lives and business were separate issues, and he’d honored her wish, but at some point, they needed to talk about the kiss.
The best thing to do would be to walk away before things went any further, but he wasn’t sure that was an option anymore. At least not for me. Grace seemed to have other ideas judging by her comment.
He was surprised to see her office door closed, and when he tested it, it was locked. He glanced at his watch. 4:52. Grace had clearly left early, and it sent him into a wave of panic. What if she’d finished her reports and then quit? She’d do something like that just to make a point. Her headstrong ways would definitely have had her considering it.
He went into his office, glancing at his desk. He spotted the report on top, right where he was sure to see it. A hollow feeling in the pit of his stomach formed. He was almost positive now Grace had quit. Why else would she leave early after receiving a written warning the same day?
Ryan sat in his chair and picked up the report. A spot of pink caught his attention. He pulled a sticky note from his computer and frowned.
Sorry. Had to leave early. Issues with Holly.
Grace
Ryan shook his head, frustration radiating from every pore of his body. She hadn’t quit. She’d simply left to take care of the baby. Again. They were operating on two different levels when it came to the job and her commitment to the company.
Short of finding somebody to replace her, he didn’t know how to make her understand how important this was to him and to the investors. Millions of dollars were at stake. Holly was important, too, but where did one draw the line?
Ryan didn’t know the answer, and it’s not like there was anyone he knew and trusted that he could ask. Most of the people he dealt with would be quick to tell him to fire her, but that was the last thing he wanted to do. She was a single mom trying to juggle home and office, and he applauded her for those efforts. He just wished it didn’t have to be to the detriment of World Sport.
