Page 32 of Handsome Devil
I wanted to know more about what happened—what exactly did he say when he fired her? Did he give her a reason other than “it’s a business decision”? Did he offer her a severance package? Did they work out some kind of agreement so she’d leave without making a fuss?
Shit, had he even thought about that? About how this might come back on us if he didn’t handle her exit carefully?
Yeah, he thought about it. That man was many things, but he wasn’t a fool. And like he said, he was a “titan of industry.” Therefore, I was going to give myself one less thing to worry about and assume he’d handled Janelle’s dismissal properly, so she wasn’t going to trash talk us to whoever would listen.
Hopefully.
I clicked back to my email, where I’d started to write to the staff.
Dear Team,
That was it.
I just couldn’t seem to clear my head.
Suri had come through with a liberal dose of air freshener, so at least it smelled like fake roses in here now instead of devil-in-a-suit. But it was still freakishly quiet out there. And I realized the other staff were probably sweating.
I picked up the phone again and buzzed Suri.
“Can you please let me know if our visitor meets personally with any of the other staff?”
“For sure,” Suri whispered. “He’s requested a meeting with Claire at eight o’clock tonight. But that’s it, as far as I know.”
Shit. Poor Claire. Our sole in-house accountant, more comfortable dealing with calculators and spreadsheets than other humans, Claire would probably dissolve into a puddle of tears the second Dane Davenport leveled her with his ice cauldron eyes.
I’d have to talk to her before that meeting. Try to prepare her.
“Thanks, Suri.”
I hung up and forced myself to compose the damn email. Slinking around the office whispering behind doors about the devil in our midst was a bad idea. Too much of a chance he might overhear or get pissed off.
Plus, I didn’t know if everyone was in the office right now, and I didn’t want them left in the dark—or walking in on Dane Davenport and having a heart attack. The man was fit for human consumption only in small doses. He should’ve come with a warning label.May cause terror, nervous sweats and spontaneous shivers.
Dear Team,
As many of you know by now, Janelle Gorman has been let go. While I don’t have any details about the decision that resulted in her parting ways with our agency, I have been assured by head office that things will continue to run smoothly.
Okay, so that was a stretch, but I had to give them—and myself—some reassurance here.
Until we have a new manager in place, and as always, please feel free to come to me with any questions or concerns you may have. One of our owners, Mr. Davenport, is here from Toronto for a short time to help ease this transition.
My ass.There was no “ease” about Mr. Davenport. But I figured that bit might make him seem less intimidating. And leaving out his first name might help prevent the staff from finding his sex tape scandal in a second flat when they tried to Google him. Maybe.
There will be a staff meeting at the office this evening at 7:00. Attendance is mandatory. Mr. Davenport is kindly having dinner brought in for us. This will be an opportunity for you to meet him and ask any questions you may have.
Devi
I sent the email. There wasn’t much more to say just now. And I had to be careful what I said. No doubt Mr. Davenport could get access, very easily, to this agency’s emails, if he wanted to.
For all I knew he already had.
And I didn’t need anyone panicking. Or quitting. Or saying something they shouldn’t in front of him. I’d like the rest of our staff to remain intact, thank you very much. Even Lizzie, as much as the woman annoyed me at times, was an asset here. There was a balance. We were a family. Not perfect, but functional. And there was true caring between these walls.
Narcissists aside.
Other than Janelle… losing anyone currently employed at this agency would be a real loss.
On that note, I really needed to keep the nepotism jabs to myself. My job wasn’t the only one in danger here; last thing I wanted to do was unleash the unholy ice wrath of Dane Davenport on the other people in this office. I needed to remember that the next time I was tempted to go off on him.
