The Love Of Money - S01 E41

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The Love Of Money - S01 E41

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 41

My eyes lingered on the word 'Yours', and I couldn't help but grin.

"Mr. Upton?"

"Oh," I said, suddenly remembering I was on the phone. "I can't make it over to the firm today, I'm afraid. It's a bit of a drive, and I have a few things to do."

"That's okay," she quickly cut in. "I can come to you."

I hesitated, "I... maybe?"

I wanted to check on Natalie and see how she was settling into her new role, not that she would have had time to do much. She was likely still getting her office set up. In truth, I was just interested in seeing Natalie.

"Not in the office though," I said. For some reason, the thought of Ashlee and Natalie being in the same building made me recoil... as If their seeing each other would cause me to lose whatever potential opportunity I had with Natalie. Considering what I'd been up to in my office for the last twenty-four hours, it was an unreasonable thought. Would Natalie be interested in pursuing something if she knew what I'd done with Helen? Would she recoil in disgust if she knew what I did with Bobbi? Still, until I got a better idea of what Natalie was feeling, I needed to exercise caution. Surely having to deal with the added optics of Ashlee suddenly showing up would potentially make things worse.

"That's alright. I understand wanting to get out of the office after being cooped up there all morning. There's a coffee shop half a block from you in the Valance buliding. Would you be interested in meeting me there in about forty-five minutes?"

This girl wasn't giving up. I checked my phone - it was 2:30 in the afternoon.

"Yeah," I said as I finished getting my clothes on, discarding the tie completely. "You know what? Coffee sounds good. I'll see you there."

"Sure thing," she said. I couldn't mistake the excitement in her voice. "What would you like? In case I beat you there, I'll go ahead and order for you."

I gave her my order and then we said goodbye. I pulled open a drawer on the desk and found the mints Helen had mentioned.

Popping one, I considered my encounter with Ashlee in the bathroom. I was almost sure she was trying to seduce me when she followed me in there, but she'd been interrupted so early in the attempt by Helen that I couldn't be completely sure. The information that Ashlee was a VanCamp also brought that whole situation into a new light and raised some questions. What was the relationship between Helen and Ashlee? Were they related? That thought stirred something deep down in me, but I quashed that quickly. Helen had been so good to me, and the thought of doing anything with Ashlee without checking in with her made me uneasy.

But then again... why hadn't Helen revealed the connection between her and Ashlee? Surely she knew what the younger woman had been attempting in the bathroom. Hadn't she implied as much?

I pondered the puzzle as I made my way to the elevator to descend several stories to where I'd spent the last year of my life. By the time I was on the analytics floor surrounded by the din of mid- afternoon work-day craziness, thoughts of Ashlee and Helen were fading to the back of my mind. I wound the corridors of cubicles, saying hey to all of my old workmates, who greeted me with all sorts of reactions.

Several of them stared slack-jawed at me through their cubicle windows as I passed by. One of those was my old neighbor Gerald, and I made it a point to stop by his office. "Hey, man. I just wanted to check on you and see how you were doing."

"Um... I'm fine," he said, spinning in his chair to look at me. I glanced down the hall to see several others watching the two of us. A few of them were whispering to each other.

I turned my attention back to Gerald and said, "Good to hear it. So, what's the deal with everyone? What have you guys heard?"

"Well," Gerald said, "I haven't heard much. You rushed out of here midday on Friday and next thing everyone knows, you showed up yesterday around lunch with Andrew and some important-looking people and headed right into Gina's office. The whole floor was buzzing over that," he chuckled.

"Then you came out of the office twenty minutes later and left. An hour and a half later, Andrew escorted Gina off the floor with all her stuff. Then I heard Natalie was called up to the executive floor. Then Bobbi. I didn't see Bobbi again, but Michael said he saw her as she was leaving and she looked pissed. Then Natalle started moving her stuff into Gina's office near closing time. She's been in there all morning setting things up. Sounds like we have a new boss."

That was the most I'd ever heard Gerald say in one sitting in my entire time working for this company. He was a simple man who liked stability and predictability. His recounting of events with more than a sentence was a testament to how much his world had been rocked in the last twenty-four hours.

"Yeah," I responded, feeling a bit bad about causing such an upheaval to the crew without telling them. "I bought the company yesterday and moved fast. Gina was bad for us, so I decided to change that with someone who deserved her spot. I'm sorry for any concern I caused you guys."

He raised his coffee cup at me. "No one liked Gina. Everyone likes Natalie. It was a good call."

That was the Gerald I knew.

"Thanks, bud," I said. "Could you do me a favor and spread the word that no one else is getting canned? The team does good work and I want them to know it. Natalie is going to be evaluating everyone, but I'm pretty confident we can look at pay bumps for most everyone."

"Hopefully not everyone. There's Hank in logistics. Fuck that guy." My eyebrows raised in absolute surprise. I'd never heard Gerald swear before.

But he was right. Hank was an absolute tool and a waste of space.

I pointed a finger at Gerald. "You're right. Fuck Hank. He's gone."

Gerald grinned at me and I shot a grin back. "Okay thanks, man. I'm going to see Natalle now. Have a good one."

I made my way down the hall and arrived at Gina's old office. The door was closed and, I spotted her name emblazoned across it. I made a mental note to make sure that was changed as soon as possible.

I knocked on the door. "Come in," was the response, and I obliged.