by Wolf, Alex
“I know you didn’t want to hire me. So, you were overridden. That’s why you look constipated every time I see you. Like a big bucket of rage is sitting in your chest, waiting to explode, but you have to be professional. Oh, and Weston stole all your credit too. Yeah, you have a lot to be upset about, don’t you?”
Fuck. My whole body tenses. I hate when she does this shit, works things out in front of me. Yet part of me loves the fuck out of it. She’s not some chick you just fuck and send home. She’s the real deal. The biggest challenge on the planet and she doesn’t hold back, ever.
“You’re a managing partner now, so seeing me here must really sting. Your concerns not being taken seriously.” She walks over to the wall next to the door, and leans up against it, studying me. “We both know how you are. Always have to be right. Always have to be in control, of every situation. So what would they do? That’s a good question. Decker would want to make you feel confident and relaxed, in control of something, like you are right now. You’d naturally use my last job as leverage. You’d tell them I worked for the competition, that we didn’t get along at law school, anything you could come up with in that little brain of yours to torpedo my chances.”
My face heats up another degree, and I shouldn’t be angry right now, but she’s going to get to me if I don’t get out of here.
“You were always paranoid. One step short of a conspiracy theory documentary.” She leans out to the side and peeks past me. “Which way did you just come from?”
“What?” I don’t know where this is headed, and I nod back down the hallway.
My palms start to twitch, and I don’t know how she consumes me with rage and makes me want to fuck her brains out at the same time. I want to kiss those tempting lips, just to shut her up. Judging by the smirk on her face, she can tell everything going through my mind.
Don’t let her win, asshole.
She walks up to me.
What the hell?
Then she gets up on her tiptoes, right in my ear. It’s so fucking hot. I glance down. Her pussy is just inches away from my dick, nothing but some air and a few layers of fabric between us. I could dig my fingers into her hips, and yank that skirt over her petite little ass. Put my handprint on it, just to remember what it looks like. Just to hear her beg me to do it again and again. Show her who runs shit, in the bedroom anyway.
My cock is hard as a rock and there’s no way I can hide it.
Her lips are right next to my ear and she whispers, “I bet they agreed to investigate me, to alleviate your concerns. In fact, I’ll bet the firm’s PI has an office right down there, and that’s where you just came from. That’s why you have that smug, shit-eating grin across your stupid face. But when I walk back to my desk, it’ll be gone. And you’ll be nothing but angry again, like you always are.” She pauses for a brief second, then whispers, “I’m not going anywhere, asshole.”
I try to bite back the rage the best I can, but it’s no use. She’ll see right through it. She always could. Instead, I just smirk right back at her. “I love how arrogant you are, Pais. You always thought you were the smartest one in the room.”
She shakes her head, snickering. “Oh no, Donnie. That was you. I was smart enough to realize I wasn’t always the smartest one in the room. And I know how to use that arrogance against you. Your guy won’t find anything.”
“You flatter yourself, thinking we’d spend resources looking into your uninteresting background.”
“If you don’t then you’re definitely not the smartest guy in the room. I need this job for reasons your selfish ass would never understand, and it’s personal. But do whatever you need to for your investigation. Know this, though.” She leans back up to my ear and whispers, “If you fuck with me, I will eat you alive.”
And just like that, she turns around and walks back over to her desk, swaying her hips, knowing I’m staring right at her ass.
I turn and walk away, hoping nobody notices my cock tenting my slacks. I shoot around the corner and duck into the bathroom. If I don’t get a release, I’m going to go insane or do something I regret. The urge to hate-fuck Paisley Williams has never been stronger. One thing I do know, the second I get back to my desk, I’m going to send her a ‘welcome to the firm’ email for the ages. She won’t get the last word.
Paisley
Decker pulls his SUV off I-290 onto Franklin Street. I stare way up in the sky at the top of the Willis Tower. It’s the third tallest building in the United States. It would be impressive if I hadn’t just moved back to the city from Manhattan.
An email pops up from Donavan, and I make the mistake of opening and reading it. My hackles rise, but I need to put it out of my mind. Then I see he sent it to the entire firm and copied all the partners on it. Asshole. I can’t believe he even knew how to use a party popper emoji in the subject line.
Dexter is in the front passenger seat and I’m right behind him.
“Ready to give the good news?” Decker asks Dexter.
“Yeah,” says Dexter.
They yanked me out of the office earlier, and I’m still not entirely sure what I’m doing here.
Dexter glances back as if he can read my thoughts. “Need you with us for a consult afterward.”
I nod. Seems like usual business.
We park in the garage and head to the elevators. Decker punches in the fortieth floor and we rocket up. When the doors open, the office is gorgeous. A ton of beautiful women walk around in skirts and heels. I half expect Decker and Dexter to gawk at them but they don’t. They soldier on toward the front desk, and I walk as fast as my shoes will allow, trying to keep pace.
A young woman reaches up and touches the headset on her ear, presumably to shut it off, then looks at both of them, then me. “Mr. Collins.” She turns her head to Dexter. “And, uhh, Mr. Collins. Here for your meeting?”
“Yes please,” says Decker. “We brought Paisley Williams with us.”
“Nice to meet you.” She pushes a button on her phone. “Mr. Miller, the Collins brothers and Paisley Williams are here to see you.”
“Show them back.” The voice booms out from the speaker on the phone.
She stands up and says, “Right this way please.”
We pass a bullpen of cubicles, and offices line the perimeter. Split down the middle are conference rooms with floor-to-ceiling temporary walls made of glass. She leads us into one.
“Can I get you anything? Juice? Coffee?”
“No thank you,” says Decker.
“No thank you,” says Dexter.
She turns to me.
“No thank you, I’m fine.”
“Mr. Miller will be right with you.” She turns on her heel and exits before we can say anything else.
I set the folders they gave me on the table, and we sit and wait. A few minutes later a man walks in. He’s the only person in the building not in business attire.
He has on tight, tattered jeans and a V-neck t-shirt that clings tight to his body. He’s extremely good-looking, in the bad-boy, tough-guy sense. Tattoos cover both of his arms down to his wrists and he has dark brown hair and hazel eyes. His hair is disheveled, like he just looked in a mirror and messed it up then walked out the door. Dexter stands up first and they shake hands.
So, he’s probably Dexter’s friend and that’s why he does business with the firm. Could be wrong, but the gut rarely is.
“Dexter, Decker, good to see you.” He shakes hands with Decker then turns to me. “I don’t think we’ve met. Cole Miller.” He holds out a hand.
“Paisley Williams, I just started at the firm.” I take his hand, and he has a hell of a grip.
Everyone has a seat.
Decker straightens up in his chair. “Got good news.”
Cole Miller relaxes a little, like a huge burden just lifted off his shoulders.
Decker turns to me. “We’ve been battling a lawsuit for what?” He turns to Cole. “Eight months or more, going on nine?”
“Nine,
for sure. My fucking hair’s going gray.”
Dexter laughs. “Hey, I hear silver fox is all the rage.”
Cole laughs.
Decker cringes. “Jesus, with you two. Anyway, we reached a settlement.” He turns back to me again. “Sorry, we didn’t have a chance to brief Paisley. She just came to work for us, from New York. Cole owns a nationwide chain of gyms, Curve.”
“Oh yeah, we had a few of those in Manhattan.”
Cole grins. “Were you a member?”
I shake my head. “No, sorry. Always working and there wasn’t one close to the office. I did go in and look around once.”
He shrugs and grins. “No worries. I can get you hooked up, now that you’re…”
Dexter cuts him off. “You gonna let us give you the news or do you want to pitch a fucking gym membership?”
Everyone but Decker laughs.
Decker sighs. “Always trying to sell some shit.”
These guys all must go way back, the way they’re talking to each other.
“They agreed to everything?” says Cole.
Decker nods. “Yeah, it was really just the courts and paperwork. I think they wanted it to stay in the news, she had a non-profit group behind her. I still can’t believe this shit went on this long.” He turns to me to explain. “The lady didn’t want money, just a donation to an anti-online-bullying charity.” His eyes move back to Cole. “She said multiple times she knows you didn’t condone what your employee did and was happy with the way you handled it right from the start.”
“What about the other part of the settlement?” says Cole.
“She was reluctant but accepted. Lifetime membership to Curve. She did ask for one more thing.”
Cole cringes. “Yeah?”
“She wants you to start a program. The details we can discuss later, but she wants you to block off a time for certain classes or some shit, she used one of those pussy words everyone says now. Safe space or something. I don’t really know what it means.”
Dexter palms his forehead and shakes his head. Cole looks like he’s about to die laughing.
“What?” says Decker.
“Nothing, you’re just like an eighty-year-old conservative trapped in a forty-year-old attorney’s body.”
“I’m not forty yet, assholes. I have like two years to go.”
“Coming up quick,” says Dexter.
“Anyway, you were saying so eloquently, Decker. She wants a safe space in my gyms?”
“Yeah, a time block with some classes for insecure women.”
Just looking at Decker I can see how uncomfortable he is talking about this stuff, and I have a feeling it’s because I’m in the room and he might not want to offend me. It’s hilarious.
“She wants, umm, curvier instructors. Basically, she wants you to do something so heavier, I guess, women feel more comfortable in the gym, when they’re just getting started. Less intimidating. That’s what she said.”
Cole taps his chin. “Fuck, that’s not a bad idea, actually.”
Decker’s eyebrows shoot up. “Really?”
Cole nods. “Yeah. A lot of women want to work out, they just don’t always feel comfortable when they walk in and see abs and sports bras everywhere. They don’t know how to use the equipment; they don’t know what they’re doing. They’re afraid to hire a personal trainer, or they can’t afford one. It’s overwhelming for them, gives them anxiety which is something we’re trying to combat here.”
Decker shakes his head. “I’ll never understand this generation of people. Afraid to do anything.”
I swear I hear him mumble, “Pussies,” but I can’t be sure. I think it has more to do with personality types, and Decker looks as ambitious as they come. I can relate, somewhat, but everyone is different, and I think it’s a great idea too.
Cole turns to Dexter. “Hey, when the smoke clears on this shit, is there anything in this lawsuit that would make it a bad idea to offer this lady a job?”
Dexter pops up in his seat a little. “Really?”
Cole nods. “Fuck yeah. I’ll put her in my operations department. It makes sense anyway. She probably has a lot of insight into the minds of insecure women who want to work out. She knows what it’s like to be body shamed on a national stage while trying to be healthy. I don’t know what that’s like. Do any of you?”
We all shake our heads.
“I try to put myself in the headspace of someone like her, so I can meet that demographic’s demands, but it’s not the same. She has first-hand knowledge of things we don’t know about, other than through empathy. I should’ve done this shit a long time ago. Look at the name on the wall. It says Curve. The whole goal when I started was to make a place for all women, all shapes colors and sizes, to get healthier.”
Decker sighs, as if he’s tired of this conversation already. “Okay, so you’re good with all the terms then?”
“Absolutely.”
“Good.” Decker stands up and shakes Cole’s hand. “We’ll make it final and I can get the fuck out of here before I get accused of microaggressions.”
Everyone turns to him, eyes wide.
He shrugs. “I don’t know what the fuck it means but one of the new associates told me I was doing it the other day. Tate thought it was hilarious. I told them to fuck off and get me the file I asked for before I showed them actual aggression.”
Dexter shakes his head. “Sounds like you used actual aggression the whole time. I don’t think there was anything micro about it.”
Decker walks around and Cole stands up, so they’re eye to eye. He smiles. “Glad we could take care of this for you.”
“Seriously, Decker, thank you, for everything you and your firm did. It’s incredible, and I’m glad everything is amicable. Just let me know where to write the check.”
Decker says, “It’s no problem, and I will. I want to do a press run and some social media stuff when you write it, and we’ll do a formal press conference with the settlement. You’ll get a ton of great PR value out of this. I think it may actually be a good thing overall.”
“For sure. And we’re good on the other thing too?”
“Yeah, I need to put you in touch with our HR manager and Dexter. I need to see if there are any additional tax or insurance benefits available, for providing gym memberships to all the employees.”
Oh, that would be a nice job perk. I get excited for a moment, but I’m not sure how long I’ll be in Chicago yet. Not to mention, I don’t know when I’ll have time to work out, if they work me anywhere near the same number of hours I put in at Cooper.
“Okay, I’m fucking off now. Have a great day.” Decker turns to us. “You guys good to Uber back to the office? I didn’t even think about that when we rode over together and I have a meeting.”
“We’re good,” says Dexter.
Decker leaves and Cole sits back down at the table.
He laughs. “Your brother is very in tune with society today.”
“Yeah, he’s always been hardcore like that. Which is hilarious because he’s liberal as hell. Just doesn’t put up with laziness and feelings. He’ll pay the shit out of some taxes though, for the good of the city.”
“Hilarious.” Cole leans back. “Now, the fun shit. Is Paisley up to speed?”
Dexter shakes his head. “No, I haven’t had a chance to brief her.” He turns to me. “Cole’s looking to expand his business now that the lawsuit will be settled. His balance sheet is extremely healthy, just needs capital infusion. His tax structure is about as efficient as it can get, but I told him he needs to be very targeted, know exactly what he wants to try. Then, we go hunting for capital. I know this was your specialty in New York and I know you possibly have some connections to VCs and angel investors I don’t.”
I nod. “Absolutely, I can help. It’d be best to know what ideas you have first. I know VCs who specialize in certain sectors, so to put you in touch with the right people, I need to know your goals.”
Cole’s ey
es light up like this is the conversation he’s wanted to have. “I’ve narrowed it down to either health supplements or franchising.”
I glance over at Dexter.
It almost seems like he’s testing me right now. Wants to see how good I am. Well, Dexter, sit back and observe.
“Why franchising?”
He shrugs. “Well, I think it might be faster. I can bring in licensing fees with minimal oversight. Less work, more money. What’s the downside?”
“Franchising can be good under certain circumstances. What’s your managerial style?”
“Huh?”
“Are you laid back? Hands on? How much does your brand mean to you? When people see Curve, do their opinions and thoughts matter to you?”
“Of course, they do. I’m very involved. I can go to San Francisco and if I walk into one of my gyms, I want to get hands on, teach classes, show employees the way things should be done. Leadership.”
I glance over at Dexter. He’s doing his best to look indifferent.
Fuck it.
“I think franchising is a bad option. You can still expand, but you seem to like control. When you franchise, you can lay out terms and conditions, but it can be a pain in the ass to manage. I’ve seen it happen with entrepreneurs like you who see more than dollars and cents attached to their brand. You have to think like the investors who would be taking a chance, buying a Curve and managing it. They don’t see your company the way you do. They see an investment. They want a return and that’s it. Maybe you have one or two passionate ones, but it's not their calling like it is for you. They’ll cut corners. They’ll do anything they can to increase their bottom line. You can still expand, just get the capital and do it yourself. You have way more control and I can tell you like control. That’s not a bad thing. It means you care about your company. You care what people think when they see Curve on the side of the wall. What they experience when they walk inside.” I glance over at Dexter. “Just being honest.”
“I like her.” Cole grins. “You got all that, just by sitting in on one meeting?”