Page 1 of Boardroom Sins

1

RAE

From:Rae Everett

To:[Drafts]

Subject:just one nice thing for my birthday. that's all I wanted. guess not.

These days, devils don’t announce themselves with fire and brimstone.

They do it with Slack notifications.

The notification pops up at 4:59 P.M. on Friday afternoon.

KIR LAZAREV: My office. Now.

I look at the message. Then at the clock. Then at the sad little cupcake Jillian had delivered to me this morning with a “25” candle stuck in it.

Well, happy birthday to me.

Sighing mournfully, I grab my tablet and head for my boss’s corner office. It’s a thirty-second death march that I do at least a hundred times a day, but it never gets any easier.

Kir doesn’t look up when I knock. He’s behind his massive desk, sleeves rolled to his elbows, dark hair falling across his forehead. His gray eyes are locked on his laptop screen.

“Close the door.”

I do. Then I wait.

He keeps typing. Ten seconds. Twenty. Two minutes. Four. Then and only then does he finally deign to give me his attention. Why he called me in here when he did, I have no idea.

“The Shimizu paperwork,” he says impatiently, as ifI’mthe one who kepthimwaiting. “Legal found issues.”

“I reviewed that with them yesterday. They said everything was?—”

“Everything was not fine. Sit.”

I don’t sit. “It’s almost five.”

Now, he looks up. Those gray eyes pin me in place. “And?”

“And I have plans,” I protest feebly. “It’s my bir?—”

“Cancel them.”

My jaw flops open. “I can’t just?—”

“Ms. Everett.” He slouches back in his chair, as arrogant as the day is long. “Did I ask if you could? Or did I simply tell you to do it?”

I bite the inside of my cheek so I don’t say any of the R-rated things I’d like to.

The thing about Kir Lazarev is that he’s not wrong. He’s never, ever wrong. The paperwork probablydoeshave issues. Legal probablydidmiss something. And I probablywillbe here until midnight fixing it.

But it’s my birthday. Surely that counts for something, right?

Not that he knows. Or that he’d care if he did.

“The revisions are essential,” he continues. “I need them tonight. The Tokyo call is first thing Monday morning.“