Playing with Power - Book 3: New Adult Office Romance (11 page)

As Amit explained the issue, Lauren quickly grasped why he was so concerned. One of their biggest clients, Rendezvous, was demanding changes to their software. Not only were the alterations extremely complicated, they wanted them finished immediately before they launched a new marketing campaign later that week.

“Figures,” Lauren said shaking her head. She turned to Rochelle and continued, “If you haven’t realized it by now, when it comes to programming, the things that sound easy take forever to finish and the complicated stuff you dread? That’ll take you a quarter of the time you thought it would.”

Rochelle nodded and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I’m starting to see that.”

“So basically, I can spend a couple hours and write up a script that’ll do all this—” Amit started but Lauren was already ahead of him.

“Or spend a couple hours and do everything manually, yeah...crap. Between the two of you it’ll probably take just as long, huh?”

As Lauren weighed the pros and cons of each solution, Faith called out to her from the other side of the office. “Lauren! I think your phone is ringing. I thought you said it was dead?”

Oh shit, it’s my other phone!
“Umm, yeah, it must’ve still had a little juice left,” Lauren said as she sprinted to her desk. Snatching up the phone and notebook beneath, Lauren made a show of checking the screen. “Aw crap guys, can you give me a minute? I just have to return this call real quick.” Quickly stepping out of the office and avoiding any odd looks, Lauren went out to the street.

The missed call was from Dennis at MyBFC. Pacing up and down the sidewalk, Lauren impatiently waited for him to pick up. When he did, his voice was breathless and strained.

“Lauren, there you are! Damnit! I’m sorry to call you in the middle of the day but it’s an emergency. Can you get down here ASAP? I really need you.”

“What’s going on? Maybe I can help from here?”

Dennis groaned, sounding more flustered than she’d ever heard him. He was usually the calm one in the office, so she was starting to worry. “Lauren, seriously. I really think you’re gonna want to get down here. Please hurry.”

Pure panic coursing through her veins, Lauren fled back into the office to take care of the first problem. Grabbing her purse and rushing back to Amit and Rochelle, they looked at her like she was crazy.

“Okay, Rochelle. I’m trusting you to help Amit with this. This data is highly confidential and sensitive, okay? I wouldn’t normally ask this of an intern but an emergency just came up and—”

“Don’t worry! I can handle it,” Rochelle smiled at her sweetly. “We’ll get it done in no time, won’t we?” She touched Amit’s arm with a sly smile.

Lauren was a little stunned by the open flirtation but shook it off. “Alright, I’m going. I won’t be too long but call me if you need any help.”

She repeated the same thing to Faith who sympathized, “You’re having a hell of a day, aren’t you?”

In the cab on the way to the MyBFC office, Lauren texted Landon with no reply. She called him but it went straight to voicemail. She phoned Dennis but he didn’t pick up. A feeling of dread building up in the pit of her stomach, the short trip to the office took an eternity.
What could’ve happened? Why isn’t anyone telling me anything? Did Parker find out?
She briefly considered calling Nick just to hear his voice but decided she didn’t want to risk tipping the scales just yet. They’d only just found a nice balance and it wasn’t like she could really tell him what was wrong.

Without looking at the fare, she tossed a twenty to the cab driver and jogged to the front door. Jamming her thumb into the call button on the elevator with one hand, Lauren was still trying to contact someone, anyone, who could tell her what was happening upstairs. By the time the elevator doors opened to the office, she’d managed to convince herself that Parker would be standing there with his attorneys, lawsuit in hand.

Of all the scenarios she’d imagined, the scene she entered was nothing she could’ve anticipated. Music was blasting from Brian’s computer, the large subwoofer under his desk reverberating through the large room. She heard laughing and talking from the kitchen where she found Dennis, Brian, and Lev huddled around a couple packages. The juxtaposition of Dennis’ frantic call and the seemingly joyful scene in front of her left Lauren beyond confused.

“Hey!” she shouted over the music. All three spun, Dennis with an expensive looking bottle of whiskey in his hand.

“Surprise!” Brian cheered, throwing his hands in the air.

Despite the lingering anxiety and sensing no immediate danger, Lauren smiled suspiciously at his enthusiasm. With Brian’s sense of humor, she could see him celebrating during the Apocalypse. “Dennis, what the hell is going on?”

“You need to call Landon!” he yelled over the music.

“I already tried, he isn’t picking up.”

“No, go call him on Skype. He’s waiting for you.”

Not a fan of surprises in the first place, Lauren wasn’t recovering well from the panic Dennis had injected in her. Her patience drawing dangerously thin, she stormed back to the main room and turned off the thumping music to a chorus of disappointed groans from the kitchen. Sitting at her desk, she opened Skype clicked his name.

After two rings his face appeared, pixelated at first but clearing as the connection strengthened. He sat in a bright, clean room she didn’t recognize. Looking very casual in a gray cotton polo, she assumed he was at his home in San Francisco.

“Hey,” he said. The familiarity in that one word, the effect it had on her, nearly quenched the scared frustration she was feeling. Nearly.

“Landon, what the fuck is going on?”

His eyebrows shot up as he tipped back in his chair. “Whoa there! Where’s this coming from?”

“Dennis just called me
at my job
panicking, telling me I needed to get down here as soon as possible. You didn’t pick up any of my calls and I can’t get anyone to tell me what’s happening. I walk in here and it’s a madhouse—”

Landon groaned and wiped a hand across his face. “Lauren, I’m sorry. I told him to call you, to get you to come to the office immediately but I didn’t ask him to freak you out like that. I’ll have a word with him.” Even through the screen she could see the warmth and concern in his eyes. “Take a deep breath, everything is alright.”

Feeling less than impressed, she leaned back and crossed her arms, her jaw clenching. “Alright. I’m listening.”

“We just got seed funding.”

Speechless, Lauren’s arms dropped to her lap. “How much?” she whispered.

“More than I thought. $900,000. I convinced the angel investor to keep it under a million. He was happy to go over but anything beyond that number would make raising Series A more difficult for us. What do you think?”

“I think I could kiss you,” she said instantly. The smirk he gave her brought a hint of color to her cheeks but she quickly pushed the thought away.
Almost a million dollars...for my silly little company.
It was hard to wrap her head around.

“I wanted to be the first person to tell you. I’m sorry Dennis gave you such a scare. I ordered a few things so you all could have a celebration. Did you guys get them yet?”

“So that’s what the vultures were picking through,” she laughed, looking to the kitchen. Her mind still fuzzy with shock, she felt a little outside herself.

“Wren, this gives us more than enough runway to really get going.”
Wren...has he ever called me that before?
“This is just the first step, but it’s a huge, very successful first step.”

Shaking her head, she leaned forward on her elbows. “I just can’t believe any of this has happened and so quickly.” She looked intently at his face, hoping her expression could convey a fraction of the gratitude she felt. “Thank you for taking a chance on me.”

“I didn’t take a chance. I gave you an opportunity. You took the chance.” He looked down as if he struggled with wanting to say more. With a soft smile, he looked back at the screen and said, “Why don’t you go celebrate with the guys? I know I pulled you from work but this is special.”

“I know, I’m glad you did. Talk to you later.”

She sat in stunned silence, the excitement and disbelief washing over her in waves. A part of her always wondered if Landon’s interest in MyBFC had more to do with her than the merits of the company. Although she knew he was a shrewd businessman, it had always remained a question in the back of her mind. Yet here was an investor, whom she’d never met, who was willing to put down nearly a million dollars...it was mind-blowing. She returned to the kitchen in a happy fog.

Dennis immediately spotted her. “Talked to Landon?”

“Yes and he’s not happy with you mister,” she said with a broad grin. Lauren playfully slapped his arm. “You’re in big trouble for scaring me like that!”

“Ow! I couldn’t think of any other way to get you down here!”

“Try asking next time! Here, what do have in these baskets then?” Her eyes gravitated to a bottle of pink champagne, condensation building on the chilled bottle. “Let’s crack that open. We need to toast this! I’m sure we have glasses around here somewhere.”

“Landon sent a little cake, too,” Lev pointed out.

“Champagne and cake sounds like a perfect lunch,” Lauren said patting him on the shoulder.

Lauren couldn’t stop stupidly grinning on cab ride back. Head floating with champagne and the bewildering feeling that her life just dramatically shifted course yet again, she allowed herself to enjoy this win.
I should call Nick!
she thought but immediately stopped herself. Instead, she texted Landon.

Does this mean I can tell people about what we’re doing?

...

Not yet, now while you’re still at StyleSpur.

Well that sucks,
she thought tucking the secret phone away.
I really don’t want to keep this from Nick anymore but I guess you can’t be too cautious. I can’t believe this is all happening though. He’s going to be so surprised when I finally do tell him. By then, it’ll be something tangible, something successful I can point to and say, “This is what all the sacrifices built.”

Her mind wandered back to the MyBFC office where she’d left the three men still partying.
I really enjoyed celebrating with those guys. We should really do that more. They all work so hard, it’s kind of on me to make sure they step away and have fun every once in a while. It’s good for morale. I
am
technically their boss...

As she closed the door to the cab and walked dreamily to the office she thought,
Actually, StyleSpur hasn’t gone out in a long time. Faith and I should really organize something casual, just a night out.

She tried to collect herself, remembering that she’d left the office in a frenzy. It wouldn’t look good if she came back half drunk and floating on air. Popping two mints in her mouth, fixing a slight scowl on her face, Lauren pushed the door open. Sitting at her desk to the left, Faith’s eyes immediately shot to the door. She leapt to her feet and rushed over.

“You’re late!” she whispered harshly, grabbing Lauren’s purse and practically pushing her to the meeting room. “Parker’s about to have a stroke in there.”

“What are you talking about?” Lauren asked, glancing through the glass walls. Parker seemed deep in conversation with someone, the dark hair on the back of their head the only thing she could see.

“You have an investor meeting. I put it on your calendar a few days ago!”

“Shit! Shitty shit.” Lauren fought to sober up completely. “Let me just grab a cup of coffee—”

“I’ll bring it in to you. You have to go!” The intensity in Faith’s eyes finally unglued her feet from the carpet.

Parker locked eyes with her before she’d even reached the door, tracking her movement to the room. Noting his body language, she could tell he was announcing her arrival to his guest, just barely masking his annoyance.

“I’m so sorry I’m late. There was an emergency I had to—”

The chair spun and Sahra Gilson crossed her legs. “Lauren Kemp. You were never one to be late. What
has
gotten into you?”

“You know Ms. Gilson here. She was just filling me in. Apparently you’ve been much busier than I thought.”

“You
have
been a busy girl though, haven’t you?” Sahra said with a condescending grin.

Hand frozen on the door handle, Lauren briefly considered running from the room.
Oh God, he knows. Somehow she found out about MyBFC and she’s told him.

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