Oh Stupid Heart (3 page)

The muscles in Mars’
jaw and neck tightened.

“Of course, the man
hadn’t a clue about a butler’s requirements. Still I went in search of your office
and marveled how you created such a fabulous room for less than what my father
paid for his 1950’s utilitarian executive office. Thankfully, my disgruntled
employee and her nephews ravaged it beyond repair. I’m pleased you’ve returned
from Iraq. You can oversee the construction of our new offices at work.”

Mars’ eyebrows rose
to his hairline. “Sir, while I was gone only two days, the destruction, which occurred
in my absence, will take months to set right. I cannot take on the task of
managing the construction of your company’s offices. To be honest, I fear the
penthouse cannot even accommodate you presently.”

“What’s happened?
Other than the cook being arrested?” Trent challenged.

“The police did not
arrest him. They shot him six times in the chest, in your living room. That,
plus my hospitalization convinced the staff you had gone insane and their lives
were in peril. They all quit, except for Sam. So now I must interview, hire,
and train a new crew, which will take time.”

“You should try
hiring them trained. It’s what I’m doing, and the people interviewing are most
impressive.”

Carrie gripped
Trent’s hand. He meant well, but Mars really didn’t need advice on hiring
people…but then again, he did hire a Russian Mafia cook. She decided to refocus
Trent before he pointed it out to his tortured butler.

“You can stay with me
until I go to San Francisco tomorrow. I’ll take you hiking and fishing if you
want.”

His brow furrowed and
for a moment she thought he intended to refuse her offer.

“I’ve never done
either. Are special clothes required?”

She laughed softly.
“You’ll need hiking shoes and wading boots, but we can buy them in town.”

“Mars, I'm spending
today and tonight with Carrie, and if you need more time, I’ll get a hotel
room.”

The butler relaxed
and released a sigh. “By tomorrow, we should be better than a hotel room.
Although you will notice a difference, I fear. Please be patient, sir.” His
brow furrowed as he asked Carrie, “How long will you be away?”

“Two weeks.”

The muscles in his
jaw rippled.

Trent sighed and
looked up at the ceiling. “If I become too irritable, I will move to a hotel
before I threaten your new hires.”

Carrie hugged him. “You
can stay at my house if you want. But don’t fire the little girl who waters my
plants.”

“I may do that. I
like your house, although I’ll have to call the gardener and his wife who
cleans things. Otherwise, you’ll come home to a disaster.”

“You
could
pick up after yourself.”

With furrowed brown,
he turned to Mars. “Tell Carrie the basics of how to get this office replicated.
I’m giving the job to her.”

“But she’s leaving tomorrow,”
Mars reminded him, his tone stern and his words decidedly clipped.

“If she gets started now,
she can manage it from there.” Running his hand up her arm, he said, “I’ll have
Sam drive me to the new temp offices, then return to take you to our demolished
one.”

The office was only
two blocks down. “Don’t bother him. I’ll walk.”

“After what happened
last week? Not a chance.” He stroked her cheek. “I’ll give him clear
instructions to make sure no one runs off with you.” His intense stare assured
her he expected her compliance in matters concerning her safety. “While you
wait, interrogate Mars. I bloody well hate the temp office.”

Kissing her one more
time, he hurried out.

God, she couldn’t
love him more if she tried.

She turned to Mars.
“I’m so sorry my turtle—”

The butler held his hand
out, palm forward. “You are not to blame. The responsibility lies with me for
not vetting the chef sufficiently. Clearly the Russian mafia has experts who provide
excellent credentials, which all checked out.” He rubbed his temples as if he
had a migraine.

Worried his time in Iraq
had depleted him, she asked, “Can I get you a cup of tea?”

He stopped massaging
his head and gave her a faint smile. “No, thank you. Would
you
like some
green tea with lemon grass?”

Given all that had
happened during their horrible last week, he still remembered her favorite tea.
“Only if you’ll have one with me. Then, perhaps you can provide me with advice
on how I go about getting our offices rebuilt.”

Motioning her to
follow, he led her to the kitchen. “First and foremost, you need to hire a good
general contractor and be clear on your requirements.”

“That should be easy.
We want him to duplicate your office.”

“You might want to
change something.”

Carrie climbed upon a
stool at the kitchen counter. “I don’t want to change a thing. You created the
perfect office. My productivity jumped three hundred percent when I worked in
there.”

He turned the
electric kettle on and obtained two cups from the cabinet.

“Call Joseph Santos.
He was the master craftsman and general contractor I used.”

When the tea pot
shrieked, Mars poured the hot water over two metal baskets filled with loose
leaves.

With their beverages in
hand, they went to his office so he could locate all the details Carrie would
need to know. After her computer was packed with helpful information, Mars changed
the topic.

“I take it you and
Master Trent have become openly involved?”

“We love each other,
if that’s what you mean.” She felt a little weird discussing her personal life
with Trent’s butler.

“Just be careful.
Trent doesn’t have a very good track record with relationships.”

“He knows. Which is why
we’re going to take it slow.”

Mars frowned.

“You don’t think I’m
good enough for him do you?”

“Oh, quite the
contrary. You are far superior to anyone he’s ever been involved with.”

“Then why the frown?”

“Sorry, you mentioned
taking it slow. If you consider this slow, I struggle to conceive what fast
might look like.”

“But we are taking it—”
She stopped as she realized the misunderstanding causing his confusion. “Oh, we
haven’t had sex yet.” Did the butler really need or want to know such details?
Her cheeks burned with embarrassment.

He coughed and focused
on dusting the cabinet.

“Then I withdraw my
concern. Do you require anything else before you head off to work?”

“No, I’m fine.” She
hurried to the door, but stopped and turned to offer one more word of advice.
Mars had returned to his desk, his brow furrowed. “Don’t wear yourself out
trying to get things perfect at once. Trent has more patience than you’d think.
If he starts to yell, let him see how tired you are and he’ll stop. He has a
kind heart beneath his petulant exterior.”

Having said far more
than she should, she left the penthouse. While she meant every word she’d said
about Trent being kind, she suspected he’d strangle her if he knew she’d
discussed their sex life, or lack thereof, with Mars.

For the first two
hours, Carrie worked on getting matters moving on the new offices, then she
used her new credit card, which came with a travel service, to make
arrangements for her San Francisco training.

Her day grew a bit
cloudy as she read the replies to her come-to-work email.

Half the workers had
the flu. If she believed that, she’d be calling the CDC to have the building
tested. A few others couldn’t be bothered with lying… or courtesy, for that
matter.

Are you nuts? I’m not
coming near the building for a month. And if I don’t get paid, I’ll sue you for
every cent you’ve got!

She considered informing
the sales guy, he should be out visiting clients and potential clients anyway,
and if he’d ever bothered to do his job, he’d know that.

God, I’m beginning to
sound like Trent
. They really needed to get new employees before people
started calling her Mini-Trent.

She sent out a new
email reiterating the expectation for all employees to return to work. The only
acceptable excuse was a doctor’s note. Fifteen minutes after she sent the
email, an enraged systems manager phoned.

“What the fuck are
you doing? My people work from their homes.”

She had forgotten
about the Systems people she’d never met in the two years of working here. She
might have given them an exemption, but he’d cursed at her, so now she intended
to be a hard-ass.

“No exceptions.
Monday, everyone is expected to come in.” She extracted her file on the Systems
department.

“Some of them don’t
even live in the state!” Bob’s anger didn’t soften her.

“Neither do I, but
I’m in.” She glanced at the addresses listed for his people. All had the same
address as Bob’s.

Why would they all
lie about where they lived? It meant they couldn’t ask their actual state for a
tax exemption on the money New York collected.

Something wasn’t
right here.

“You’ll need to come
in, as well,” she warned.

“You can bet your
sweet ass I’m coming in, you worthless piece of shit.”

“You do realize I’m
going to report your use of language to Trent.”

“What a fucking joke.
His language is worse than mine.”

While Trent was prone
to damning things, she’d only once heard him use the F word. Yet, it was
possible, when Trent talked to the jerk, his cursing might be more extreme.

“Yes, well, he’s the
boss.”

“And you’re nothing
but a glorified secretary.”

Carrie did not like
this guy.

“Be in with your
staff by twelve at the latest.”

“Don’t hold your
breath…on second thought,
hold
your breath.”

When she got off the
phone, she called Trent. It went to voice mail. Perhaps he was interviewing Systems
managers, because they needed a new one fast. She wished their only
working
systems person was back, because she wanted to ask Jack if he’d ever spoken to
any of the staff. The address issue bothered her.

An irritated clearing
of a throat caught her attention. She gazed at an arrogant young man with shiny
spikes of hair jutting straight up for an inch, piercing grey wolf eyes, and a tense
square jaw. While not exactly good looking, he probably thought he was. Nothing
else could account for the arrogance radiating off his expensive blue suit.

“Where are the
executive offices? Someone sent me here, but clearly the guy’s a moron.”

His look of contempt warned
her she closed in on his moron pile as well.

“And you are?” she
asked.

“Grant Tyson, Mr.
Lancaster’s right hand man.”

“The new EA?” Damn
it. She hadn’t expected to like her replacement, but never did she think it
would be repulsion on first sight.

He rolled his eyes.
“Do you know where the real executive offices are or not?”

“You are here. We had
a fired employee go a bit nuts last Wednesday and she and her nephews ripped
the place apart.”

“This is it?”

His brow furrowed as
he stared at the boarded windows and broken cadenza. His gaze darted to the
door.
Please God, Please let him run!

He slammed his
briefcase on her desk, almost knocking her laptop to the floor.

“So be it. Bring me a
latté from downstairs and don’t ever use my desk again.”

She stood up and
gathered her computer, briefcase, and phone.
He’s only temporary. He’ll be
gone in a month.

She moved into Trent’s
office and resettled, connecting her computer to Trent’s port.

“Excuse me, but what
do you think you’re doing?” Wonder Boy stood in the doorway and asked—more like
demanded. In fact, he sounded a great deal like her father.

“I’m trying to work,”
she growled. She’d moved across the country to get away from her parents. The
last thing she wanted was her dad following her about work.

“I told you to bring
me a latté, and Mr. Lancaster doesn’t wish to have you in his office.”

She bared her teeth
in what she hope was a smile. “I should have introduced myself.
I’m Carrie Hanson, Trent’s former EA.”

She expected a flash
of regret and perhaps some groveling while he apologized for his rudeness. She
got nothing.

He just stared at her
as if waiting for her to jump to his command.

“What?” She returned
to her computer and burrowed into the company system, using the last password
she’d bought before nearly killing Jack with those damn turtles.

If Bob Ott only did
his job, then the system data would be retrievable by normal users. Instead,
whenever she needed data, she had to bribe a password from Jack and run
temporary reports.

She downloaded the
employee data for systems. Exactly how much did all those people living at Bob’s
house make?

“If you don’t get me my
latté in the next five minutes, you’re fired,” Grant warned.

She saved the data on
her hard drive. “You don’t have the authority to fire me. I don’t work for
you.”

He stared at the
ceiling as if praying for patience. “As Trent’s secretary, you are my
secretary, but only for four more minutes.”

“Well, thank God for
that,” she cheerfully replied and began sorting the files for analysis.

Three minutes to his
deadline, he stormed out and called someone on the desk phone.

Curious, she pushed
the active line, lifted up Trent’s phone, and listened in.

“The girl is rude,
inept, and refuses my every request.”

An all too familiar
woman’s voice replied. “Ignore her. It’s her last day.”

A ball of rage
exploded in Carrie’s head. “The hell it is! For your information, I’ve been promoted,
not fired.” She slammed the phone down before the bitch could reply, certain
she wouldn’t like her response.

A minute later, Grant
stormed back in. “How dare you listen to my phone conversation!”

She shrugged. “If it
really offends you, quit. No one will mind.”

He leaned over the
desk and got in her face. “Listen, you piece of shit. You weren’t promoted. You
were given a meaningless position in hopes you’d have the sense to find another
job. But I can’t imagine
anyone
hiring you. So once you come back from
your two week boondoggle in San Francisco, you’re gone. I’ll make sure of it.”

He stood up straight
and fussed with his tie. “Bet you’re sorry you didn’t get me that latté now.”

She grinned as a
thought came to mind. “I’ll get you one now if you want.”

He snorted and left
the room, calling over his shoulder, “Too late.”

With a shrug, she
returned to her analysis. Probably wouldn’t have been a good idea to pour hot
coffee on him anyway. He’d no doubt press charges for assault.

When she finished,
she called Trent. She used her cell so Grant couldn’t retaliate by
eavesdropping on her call.

Trent answered. “I
heard you had a run in with my new EA.”

“He’s an ass. You
should fire him and call in one of the other choices.”

“I doubt you’d like
them any better.”

“No, he’s really an
ass. He tried to send me down to get him a latté and he didn’t even offer me
the money to buy it. While I suspect you are going to need a secretary, at
least while I’m gone, you need to tell him she can’t afford to buy his coffees.
Those things cost eight dollars apiece downstairs.”

“I’ll have Coco talk
to him. Did you really eavesdrop on their phone conversation?”

“Yes. Can we talk
about something serious?”

“Well, just for the
record, Coco is making it the crime of the century.”

“Then she clearly
hasn’t been updated on all the crimes I’ve committed this past week.” During
her week from hell she had incited a city shutdown by screaming “bomb” when
there wasn’t one, fed two people Europa-laced chocolate turtles, and aided and
abetted illegal aliens in avoiding arrest. Eavesdropping didn’t even make her
list. “I need your focus on something important.”

“You’ve got it.”

“I believe Ott’s
staff may not exist.”

“Who’s Ott?”

“The systems
manager.”

“Ah…yes. He called
and complained about your unreasonable request. I told him to ignore you.”

“Trent!”

“Calm down. You’re
missing the big picture, which is not like you. It’s usually you pointing out
what’s important to me.”

“What’s the big
picture?”

“We need to replace
him before we fire him.”

Damn it, Trent was right.
She had totally missed their need for subterfuge.

“I’ve some good news.
You remember the sales clerk who waited on you in Macy’s?”

“Which one. I’ve been
there a billion times.”

“The one who gave you
the discount on the black dress a day early and got fired for it.”

“What? No!” Carrie’s
stomach turned to lead. She’d caused Jenny to get fired from a job she loved.

“Yep,” he stated with
excessive cheeriness.

“Why are you acting
like it’s good news?”

“Because it is for
me. No other department store would touch her, so after weeks of searching, she
called me today for more information about the sales job.”

“But your sales
manager will up and quit if you hire someone for his staff.”

“I’ve got the big
picture clearly in my head. I’m hiring her as my temporary secretary so she can
follow me to meetings with clients and get a better understanding of our
business. Thus, when I can move her to sales, she’ll already be a step ahead,
having met the customers face-to-face.”

“That will work,”
Carrie stated, shocked Trent had thought of this all by himself. “Did Coco
suggest hiring Jenny?” The she-devil might have her own big picture in play.

“Are you kidding? Jenny’s
way too pretty. Coco will hate her on sight. If she has her way, she’ll be the
only woman on my staff.”

Carrie growled. “And
why do you sound so happy?”

“I’m amused, not
happy. She thinks I can’t see what she’s up to? God, give me some credit.
Remember the Angel girl we met outside of Penn station?”

“An-ge-
La
.
Grant’s girlfriend?”

“Coco didn’t like her
at all. When I overrode her objections and insisted she be hired, Coco almost
walked.”

Carrie’s blood boiled
even as she fought to keep her voice calm. “Excuse me, didn’t you promote me to
change specialist because you didn’t want to rock the boat with Coco? How is it
you can’t stand up to the bitch for me, but you can for an angel you don’t even
know?”

“Sorry, the next
candidate has arrived. We’ll talk about this later.”

The line went dead.

Carrie was tempted to
hunt down Sam and force him to drive her to Trent’s new offices so she could
continue the discussion.

How low did she fall
in his priorities?

Trent made her the
change specialist so he wouldn’t offend Coco and lose the fabulous people she
brought in. Yet, he had no qualms risking all those great hires for beautiful
Angela and Jenny.

She covered her face.
Damn it, she hated being on the opposite side of Jenny. The girl had lost her
job getting Carrie a discount. She was glad Trent hired her. She simply
resented him for his double standard.

And what was a change
specialist anyway?

She googled the term
and learned a change specialist helped people re-energize, re-engage, and
transform their workplace and lives. She couldn’t think of anything this
company needed more.

Coco may have meant
for her new position to be a dead-end job, but Trent hadn’t. To him, it was the
most important goal the company had. She smiled, no longer angry at him, and
happy for Jenny.