Beware of the Boss. Leah Ashton

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      TWO

      Grayson Manning shoved his chair away from his desk, then covered the generous space between the desk and the door in quick, agitated strides.

      Outside his office, his assistant’s desk was empty.

      He glanced at his watch, confused. It was well after nine a.m., and Rodney was always on time. Gray insisted upon it.

      He frowned as he walked into the hallway. Thankfully a woman sat behind the glossy white reception desk. Behind her, ‘Manning’ was spelt out in ridiculously large chrome block capitals.

      What was her name again? Cathy? Katie?

      ‘Caroline,’ she said, unprompted, as he approached—reminding him he’d guessed wrong last time he’d asked her a question, too.

      ‘Caroline,’ he repeated. He’d been told doing so was useful when remembering names—not that it had helped him so far. ‘Where’s Rodney?’

      The woman blinked. Then bit her lip, glancing away for a moment. ‘Um...Mr Manning, Rodney resigned...’ A pause. ‘Yesterday.’

      Gray’s jaw clenched. ‘Our agreement with the agency specifies at least two weeks’ notice must be provided.’

      The woman nodded, her blond ponytail bouncing in agreement. ‘I believe he asked your permission that his resignation be effective immediately.’

      ‘I didn’t agree to that.’

      Caroline’s lips twitched. ‘I’m pretty sure you did. Rodney forwarded me your e-mail so he could organise cancellation of his building access and so on. It was there in writing.’

      Gray pulled his phone from his jacket pocket and quickly scrolled through yesterday’s sent messages. Yesterday had been stupidly busy—back-to-back meetings, a major issue with one of his contractors, and a lead on a new investment opportunity in South East Asia.

      Even so, surely he would have noticed if... Letter of Resignation.

      It wasn’t even a vague subject line. He really needed to start paying more attention to his inbox. But then, that was one of the reasons why he had an assistant: to prioritise his mail, to nag him to respond to anything important, and to allow him to pay no attention to anything that wasn’t.

      The irony was not lost on him.

      Without another word he headed up the hallway to the opposite end of the floor. To his father’s office.

      A mirror image of his own, Gordon Manning’s office also had a smaller adjacent waiting area—although his was complete with an actual assistant.

      ‘Marilyn—’

      Unlike Caroline, the older lady didn’t even attempt to hide her smile. She shook her head. ‘Gray, Gray, Gray...’

      ‘I need a new assistant.’

      ‘So I hear.’

      His lips thinned. ‘Does everyone but me know that Rodney resigned?’

      ‘A group of us had farewell drinks last night. Lovely guy.’

      ‘I was unaware you were so close,’ he replied dryly. ‘He was only here a couple of weeks.’

      ‘Two months,’ Marilyn corrected smoothly.

      Really? Since his father had announced his impending retirement six months ago, Gray could barely remember what day it was. He was working seven days a week, and easily twelve-hour days.

      ‘Is my father in?’

      ‘No, not today.’

      His father hadn’t been into the office in months. Initially his transition to retirement had been gradual—and Gray had been unsure if his father was capable of retiring at all. But soon Gordon’s days in the office had been reduced to only a few hours, and then to nothing. And while Marilyn continued to manage his dad’s life, now she did so exclusively via e-mail.

      A month ago Gordon Manning had had his no-expense-spared retirement party and that had made it all official. But Gray wasn’t silly enough to clear out his dad’s office just yet—apart from the fact it contained about forty years’ worth of god-knew-what paperwork, it would be a while before Gordon—or Gray, come to think of it—could СКАЧАТЬ