“Man, you have to stop firing her people,” he said. “Didn’t we discuss this?”
“The guy had it coming,” I replied. “Besides, they run over her and she thinks they are all friends.”
“Maybe she likes them.”
“Too bad. She’s supposed to be their boss.”
He nodded. “I forgot you don’t associate with the help.”
I smirked. “You’re the exception.”
“Lucky me.”
“She told me not to go into the office today,” I said. Now that I was talking about it, I was on a roll.
“That was ballsy.”
“We’ve already established she has zero respect for my authority. She said a lot of other shit too.”
“I told you to take her to dinner,” he said. “You’ve got to smooth things over with her lady side if you want to have a good working relationship.”
“Her lady side?” I questioned.
“Yes, the one you banged in here.” He looked around. “You didn’t bang in this chair, did you? I don’t want to be sitting in your shit.”
I rolled my eyes. “No, not there.” My eyes drifted to the spot where she’d been on my desk with me buried inside her.
He grinned and looked at my desk. “Ah, there.”
“Stop.”
“Talk to her before this gets really bad,” he warned.
“I think it’s too late for that,” I said. “She really doesn’t like me. When she said it wasn’t happening again, she wasn’t joking. She was serious. It is never happening again. Taking her to dinner would be a waste of time and I doubt she wants to spend any more time with me than she has to.”
“Understandable,” he said with a laugh.
“She just can’t see how those people treat her,” I said and jumped to my feet. “She thinks they are her friends, but they aren’t. They are nice to her, and I have no doubt they like her, but that’s because if they stay on her good side, she’ll never be hard on them.”
“Look, I think you need to try and be nice to the employees if you want to get back in her good graces. Start there and work your way up to her.”
“I’m not mean to them,” I retorted. “I’m just asking them to do their jobs.”
“Put their damn donuts back, man. Seriously, don’t you want employees that are amped up on sugar and caffeine? I think you are shooting yourself in the foot with this one.”
“The only way I’m getting back in her good graces is to fire myself in front of everyone and show myself to the door.”
He laughed. “Then do it. You don’t want to be an accountant anyway. That’s what you pay people to do for you.”
“I can’t let that place go just yet,” I said. “If I’m being honest, I might have fucked up a little. I need to fix it, but I’m not bringing back donuts. I’m going to do some interviews and hire good people that know the meaning of hard work. She’s upset because they are short-staffed. I’ll fix that problem and then she’ll be more chill.”
He shook his head. “Yeah, sure. That’ll do it. You banged the woman on your desk and then you went and fired her friends.”
“One,” I said. “One friend and he deserved it.”
“Regardless, you are not going about this the right way. The only thing you’re doing is making it worse. Just swallow your pride and open your wallet. You can afford to do it.”
“It’s not pride.”
“It is,” he said. “You have to decide if you want to be the big, bad boss with no employees and a tanking company, or if you want to be the guy that is willing to bend a little to keep his employees happy.”
“I’m going to check on the plumbers,” I said. I didn’t want to talk about the stupid tax firm or Saige. What was done was done.
“All right, I’m just trying to help you out.”
“I get it, and I appreciate it, but the tax firm is not quite so easy to fix. It’s got problems and I’m handling it.”
I headed out of the office. I knew he would follow. When we stepped into the lobby, all I could hear was a loud banging sound. “What the hell is that?” I asked.
“Sounds like they’re working on it,” Davin said.
“It sounds like they are trying to destroy it. No wonder it’s taking them so damn long.”
I followed the noise and found the plumber I spoke to on the phone. “What in the hell is going on here?” I asked.
“We’re installing the new pipes.”
“That sounds like you are busting the new pipes.”
He grinned like he thought I was joking. “You’ll be good as new by the end of the day.”
“I’m not interested in waiting that long. I want this done in the next hour.”
“That’s not going to happen,” he said with a smug look.
“If you can’t get it done, I’ll call someone who can. The only reason you got this job is because you showed up first. There are a hundred other companies that will come in here and get this done on my schedule.”
“We’re almost done.”
“Almost isn’t good enough,” I growled. “I want it done in the next hour. Tell all those guys standing over there to get their asses in gear. I don’t pay people to stand around.”
“You’ve got a real problem, man,” he growled.
“Yes, I do. Apparently, I hired the wrong plumber for the job. You better believe I won’t be making that mistake again.”
The man stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled. The guys that were standing around jumped into motion.
“I’ll be back in an hour and you better be presenting me with a bill for your finished work,” I said and walked away.
Davin followed me into the bar. “Dude, that was a douchebag move,” he said.
“Five fucking days to replace a few sections of pipe,” I growled. “It doesn’t take that long. He’s dicking me over. You know it and I know it. He’s milking the clock with as much labor as he can. I guarantee you he’ll be done in an hour.”
“Remind me to never go to dinner with you,” he said. “You’re the kind of guy that gets spit in his food.”
I didn’t care if the world thought I was a douchebag. I was sick of being taken advantage of. I didn’t expect much, just the job they were paid for.
Chapter 25
Saige
It was almost seven when I walked through my front door. The first thing I did was kick off my shoes. My feet were killing me. I wanted a glass of wine and a hot bath. Unfortunately, that would have to wait. I walked into the kitchen and Joss was loading the dishwasher.
“Hi,” I said with a sigh.
“Oh, hon, you need a drink.”
“I do,” I said. “It’s been a long day. So long.”
I grabbed the bottle of wine and poured myself a very full glass. “Still trying to play catch-up?” she asked.
I nodded. “Yes. I don’t know if I will ever be caught up. How’s Jace?”