Page 32 of Good Time Boyfriend
Paisley came forward and took a seat in front of me, crossing her long, lean legs. Today she wore a coal gray pencil skirt with a bright pink top that had a tie on the front, as well as shoes to match the top. She looked like a Barbie with red hair, and it somehow all worked. I felt dumpy in comparison with my heather gray pants and mint green shirt with my blond hair up in a partial braid.
My shoes were kicked off underneath my desk, and I thought about trying to reach for them, but I didn’t care. I knew Paisley did the same thing. We didn’t have to wear heels at this job. We could pretty much wear whatever we wanted as long as we still looked presentable to our clients, but I liked wearing heels. And I also liked not wearing them.
“I am forever grateful that I hired you.”
I smiled. “Really?”
“Yes, really. You’re amazing at what you do. You keep our clients at ease, and they never feel like they’re interrupting or in the way. You’ve got a way about you.”
I shook my head. “It doesn’t feel like it sometimes. But I’m so glad you see it that way. Considering it’s what I’m trying to do.”
“You’re head of PR, and you kick ass at it. I’m grateful that you’re with me and not some other company.”
“What other company would I be at? This place is great. You not only have a subsidiary of venture capital that you work on, but you help smaller businesses that need to expand. You keep food in people’s mouths. And, of course, there’s the matchmaking thing.”
Paisley rolled her eyes.
“You make me sound altruistic. When in essence, I’m spending money to make money. I sound like a finance bro.”
I snorted and shook my head. “My best friend is a finance bro. She calls herself that because she has to deal with the real finance bros every day.”
Paisley shuddered. “No, thank you. As soon as I was able, I opened my own business. I still put the blood sweat and tears into it to make sure it’smybusiness. I have to go to meetings and galas and other events with those business bros, but I don’t have to answer to them every day.”
I shook my head and sat back, reaching for my coffee. I got an iced coffee today, and it hit the spot. “I’m not sure how Addison deals with it. Seriously. She loves her job, but she also has to deal with those finance bros who think that she’s just their secretary. They even asked her to get coffee yesterday—at her own meeting where she was showing the financials and was presenting her case. It’s ridiculous.”
My stomach still twisted for Addison over that. Remembering how angry she was when she paced my living room, calling the men she worked with all sorts of names.
“You would think in this day and age there would at least be a little more progress.”
“It’s very much the ‘Boys’ Club’ there, even though Addison isn’t the only woman.”
“And somehow our business is the opposite. Sometimes I feel like I need to add more dude-bros for flair.”
We both shuddered at that.
“No, the men who work here treat women with respect and dignity. It’s shocking.”
“I know, right? Completely shocking.”
“Anyway, I didn’t come here just to complain about men, because I don’t actually do that all the time.”
I sat back in my chair, finishing my coffee.
“Same. I’m sorry about that.”
“Anyway, I also wanted to apologize for the thing that we both have been really good about not talking about for the past couple of weeks.”
I set my empty cup on my desk. “It’s okay. We really don’t have to talk about it.”
Paisley gave me a look. “No, I think we really do. I’m sorry. For beginning our conversation by lamenting that I had been stood up on my blind date.”
“I’m still angry about that. Who the hell would stand you up?”
“The last guy that I’ll ever use a dating app for. It’s fine, I don’t need a date. I’m perfectly fine just running this business and making friends. Not that I have a lot of friends because I’m busy. But well, you know, I’m trying.”
She smiled so brightly that we both knew it was fake. And I knew right then and there I was going to have to change that. I had been working for Paisley for over a year now, and I loved my job. And I liked Paisley. She worked hard, and if we were doing something wrong, she sat us down and made sure we knew how to do it right rather than yelling at us like my first boss. She also praised us when we were doing things right, and we were paid a fair wage. It was a good place. I was friends with a lot of my coworkers. We got along, and we also had our boundaries.
But I realized that we really didn’t get to know Paisley that well. She was an island. And we were just surrounding her, trying to catch up.
