Board Indiscretion

by Jessica Jayne

  A sardonic laugh filled the office and the sound grated on Mark’s nerves. Amazing how he entered his dealership in a happy mood and now he wanted to rip someone apart…not someone—Seth.

  “Aren’t you going to even ask why I’m here?”

  “I don’t really give a shit,” Mark said.

  “I thought you might want to talk about Suzannah McCormick. I mean, seriously, Olson. Fucking the assistant to Advantage’s CEO in a local club bathroom.” Seth’s head shook from side to side, demonstrating his mock-disapproval.

  “Leave Suzie out of this,” Mark said through his clenched teeth. He didn’t mind if Seth came after him, but it would be a cold day in hell that he’d allow Seth to do anything to Suzie.

  “I can’t,” Seth continued. “You’re a tough guy to get an advantage on, but I think if Michael Herron returns my call any time soon, he’ll be interested to know that one of his board members is fucking around with his assistant. Who, by the way, does have a sweet voice and ass, but her attitude leaves much to be desired.”

  Mark dropped his arms to his sides and clenched his fists at Seth’s comments about Suzie. The side of his jaw ticked as he gnashed his teeth together.

  Seth didn’t even pause. “Then there might be questions as to how Advantage is being run and if decisions by the board are really unbiased. I mean, is Michael Herron requesting that his assistant blow you so that you are the deciding vote on key business decisions? Would hate for those pesky local reporters to get a hold of that juicy bit.”

  “Seth, if you have a problem with me, that’s fine. We’re both men. Let’s handle it.”

  Seth stood up from behind Mark’s desk and placed his stubby hands flat on the desktop. He didn’t move from behind the desk as Mark had asked him to do, and Mark suspected it was because he felt a position of power where he was. Attempting to stand face-to-face with Mark would simply emphasize his small stature.

  “I like to handle things the way I want to,” Seth said. “You and I duking it out doesn’t work for me. It’s obvious you’re bigger than me. Luckily, there are other ways to bring you to your knees.” He sneered at Mark.

  Grinding his teeth, Mark gripped the back of the small brown leather chair opposite his desk. Blood rushed through his veins and heat rose on his cheeks as his anger built. He inhaled deeply through his nose in an effort to calm himself. “What is it you want, Seth?”

  “I want to embarrass you. Humiliate you. Make you see what it’s felt like all these years being second fiddle to Mark Olson.”

  The way Seth’s words seethed with hatred hit Mark like a ton of bricks. In that moment, he realized how miserable Seth really was. All these years, he’d done nothing but agonize over what Mark had and he didn’t. Some of the anger and aggression Mark had been feeling moments ago dissipated at this awareness and a feeling close to pity started to fill its spot.

  “I’m sorry things have been so rough for you, Seth,” Mark said. His voice filled with pity and he didn’t attempt to disguise it. “Quite honestly, I hadn’t realized you were still so hung up in the past.”

  “Don’t go fucking patronizing me,” Seth shouted.

  “I’m not. I get the fact that you’ve been in constant competition with me since high school. High school! At what point do you just grow up and move on, Seth? But even if you can’t get passed your issues, there’s no reason you need to drag a good woman or a good company through the mud just to get an edge on me. That’s just shitty and childish.”

  Seth’s face flushed red with what Mark recognized as anger. His hands curled into fists on top of Mark’s desk and just as he was about to say something, his phone buzzed in the holder strapped to his belt. Pulling out his phone and glancing at the screen, he swiped his fingers across it and said into the phone, “Why hello, Michael. Thanks so much for calling me back.” His icy gaze found Mark’s. Flipping Mark the middle finger, he opened the office door and sauntered out.

  “Fuckity, fuck, fuck,” Mark said, slamming his office door shut. He had wanted to be the one to tell Michael about his relationship with Suzie. He didn’t want Michael or the rest of the board finding out about it in this way, like he was trying to be underhanded. “God damn it!”

  Grabbing the loan documents he’d asked Gloria to put on his desk, he stuffed the folder under his arm and stormed out of his office. He could attempt to chase Seth down, but then what would he do? Beat him to a pulp? He was already on the phone with Michael.

  “Mr. Olson?” Gloria asked, looking at him as he rounded her desk. “Is everything okay?”

  “Fine, Gloria. Thank you.” His voice was stern, sterner than he intended to speak to her. “I’m sorry for snapping at you. I’m headed back to Advantage and will not likely be back in today. Please have Bruce do all the end of day paperwork.”

  Gloria’s lips stretched into a soft but hesitant smile as he turned and headed toward the side door of the showroom. He unlocked his car and slid into its plush leather seats. Starting the engine, he whipped the car out of its parking space and threw it in drive, peeling out with a screech.

  He weaved in and out of traffic, zipping down First Avenue South, hoping to avoid most of the traffic lights by taking a one-way road east. Reaching the parking lot next to the Advantage office building, he slammed his car into the first available parking spot and bolted into the building, giving the security guy Sam a quick wave.

  If Seth jeopardized Suzie’s job, he would kill him. He’d literally kill him. That little prick would stop at nothing to get at Mark and apparently, he’d take down anyone connected to him. Yes, Mark felt pity for him. The guy clearly spent his entire life comparing his to Mark’s and had turned out disappointed, but he wasn’t going to ruin other people’s lives in his seek for revenge.

  Taking the stairs two and three at a time, he reached the glass doors of the executive suite in record time. Luckily, he kept himself in shape. Otherwise, he would have been winded.

  Scanning his security badge, the door clicked and he rushed in. His mind was set on one thing and that was getting to Michael immediately. Seth had already spilled the beans, but perhaps he could do some damage control as it related to Suzie.

  He marched through the reception area of the executive suite. Suzie sat at her desk typing away until she noticed him coming her direction. Her fingers paused over the keyboard as he approached.

  “Mark?” Her voice was filled with worry. “What’s wrong?”

  “I need to see Michael,” he said, rounding her desk and heading for the CEO office down the short hallway behind her.

  “Mark! Wait,” she said, standing. “He’s on a phone call.” She reached for his arm, but he brushed it away. Her eyes widened at his dismissiveness and she pulled her hand back as if he’d burned her. Hurt settled in her gaze and he paused. He hated seeing that look on her face.

  “I’m sorry,” he said before hurrying past her and toward Michael’s office. The idea of knocking crossed his mind momentarily, but instead, he pushed open the office door to find Michael sitting behind his cherry wood desk, holding the phone receiver to his ear. Michael’s eyes enlarged at his entrance, but he waved Mark in and pointed to the chair across the desk opposite him. Mark closed the office door and sat.

  “Listen, I’ve got to go,” Michael said. “I appreciate you providing me with this information.” Mark couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end and his heart beat a little quicker in anticipation. He was sure Seth gave Michael an earful. “I understand completely,” Michael said. His voice was short. “We’ll handle the situation.” Michael slammed the phone down and looked up at Mark. “Well God damn it, Mark. What the hell is going on?”

  “I’m sorry this has gotten thrown at your feet, Michael.” Mark shifted in the chair and crossed his ankle over his knee. Restless, his fingers combed through his hair.

  “Thrown at my feet? That asshole is trying to use your indiscretion with Suzie to destroy more than just you.” Michael sat back in his brown leath
er chair and ran his own hands through his hair, causing it to stand up. “And Suzie? Mark.” Michael closed his eyes and shook his head, signifying the disappointment in Mark’s actions. “You know she has had a crush on you for quite some time. You can’t toy with her. She’s a good girl.”

  “Listen,” Mark said. “I had every intention of resigning from the board this afternoon. The time reserved at the end of the schedule today…that was for me to explain all of this to you guys and turn in my resignation.”

  “Resign? Why?” Michael asked. His brow knitted down to emphasize his perplexed expression.

  “I’m in love with her, Michael.” The statement came out of his mouth as if he’d known it forever, as if the concept of being in love was the most comfortable thing in the world. Michael’s eyes widened at his words. “Neither of us planned this situation. I swear to you. It started several weeks ago. I’m sure you don’t want all the details. At first, I thought it would just be, you know…”

  “One of your flings,” Michael said, finishing his sentence. Mark flinched at the words. It bothered him that for the last few years, he’d used women for sexual gratification, and people he respected, like Michael, thought that may be all he was capable of.

  “Yes.” Mark bowed his head in shame momentarily. “But I want to take a chance on my relationship with her and I feel the best way to do that properly is to resign from the board.”

  “John and Elizabeth are in a relationship. He’s remained on the board.”

  Mark nodded at Michael’s point. “Yes. I’ve thought about that. But Elizabeth is much further removed from everything. Suzie is your executive assistant. She’s entwined in all of the board meetings, the agenda, the minutes, and so forth. The ties between everyone are too close. Obviously, Seth Kriken picked up on it and is willing to exploit it.” Mark scrubbed his hand down his face, trying to relax the tension that settled there. “What exactly did Kriken threaten?”

  Michael huffed. “What didn’t he? He said if we didn’t remove you from the board immediately, he’d go public with your affair with Suzie. He said it wouldn’t take much to plant the seeds of impropriety given Suzie’s position with Advantage and your blatant display at the Beach Club. Plus, he warned me that he’d imply that I coerced Suzie to go after you in order to get an edge with the board on swing votes. It’s absurd…I know. But we can’t have him planting that sort of shit in the minds of others, no matter how ludicrous it sounds.” Michael stood from behind his desk and motioned for Mark to follow him. He looked down at his watch. “Let’s get in the board room. Everyone should be back from lunch by now. We’ll open this discussion immediately instead of waiting until the end of the day.”

  “I wanted to be the one to bring this to your attention. I apologize. I thought the end of the day would be best. But when Seth met me at the dealership over lunch, I realized I should have just opened up the meeting with it this morning. Do you think this will go over well?” Mark stood and walked toward the door.

  Michael swung an arm over his shoulder. “Nope. Not going to go over well at all. The guys aren’t going to like to see you resign. I don’t like seeing you resign, and John may want to go after this Kriken guy. You know what a hothead he can be.” He chuckled as he escorted Mark out of the office and into the executive suite reception area.

  Phillip Barker and Greg Snow stood at Suzie’s desk chatting with her when Mark and Michael came around the corner.

  “Let’s round everyone up and get started,” Michael said. “Suzie, there’s been a slight change in the agenda. We need to not be disturbed for a while.”

  “Do you need me to change the agenda for the members?” she asked. Mark could hear the worry in her voice.

  “No. We’ll get to everything.” Michael ushered Mark into the board room, but Mark could see the look of concern on Suzie’s face. He wanted to say something to her, but perhaps it was better to deal with the board first.

  ****

  “We can’t just let this asshole start dictating how we handle situations,” John Dorsey said. He slapped his hands on the board room table. “We give in to his demands, he’s going to always think he has one over on us. What’s next? He threatens to release this information if we don’t make him a member of the board? I don’t like it.”

  “John, we all understand your frustration,” Phil said from the head of the table. Mark watched as John ran his fingers through his hair.

  “Greg, isn’t there some way to fight this asshole? Last I checked, blackmailing people wasn’t exactly an ethical or legal maneuver.”

  Greg inhaled slowly in an obvious exercise to maintain his composure. Of all the guys on the board or that Mark knew, for that matter, Greg Snow was the most level-headed, but it was noticeable this topic was pushing even his patience. “We don’t have to allow him to blackmail Mark, Suzie, or the company. There are certainly legal moves we can make to head him off at the forefront, but we don’t have any control over what he puts out to the public. Of course, we can always go after him for slander after he opens his big mouth.”

  “Listen,” Mark said. He rested his arms on the table. “Even before Seth made these threats, I was going to resign. Now it just makes even more sense. I appreciate all your support. You need to know that, but I think this is the best route for all of us and it keeps things from getting too messy.”

  “I don’t fucking like it,” John said again. “I get why you want to resign, Mark, I really do. But we can work around this situation with Suzie. There’s got to be a way. You’ve got such great business insight. That’s such an asset to this board.”

  “John is right,” Phil said as he leaned back in the leather chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “We can find a way to work it out. We are willing to fight it out with this Seth character if need be.”

  “Gentlemen, I can’t thank you enough,” Mark said. His voice cracked as emotion welled in his chest at the outpour of support these men, his friends, were giving him. “But my mind is made up.”

  “Jesus Christ, Mark,” John huffed. The exasperation overflowed from him. He pushed back in his chair and grasped the edge of the wooden table like he was going to catapult up and across the table at Mark. “I’ve got a flight to catch to Atlanta soon, and we still have two more issues to cover before the end of the session today. I’m not agreeing on this resignation. It doesn’t settle right with me. Can we call a special meeting and further discuss this next week? Let’s all sleep on it.”

  “I’m in agreement with John on this,” Andy Price said. Mark looked at Andy, who was generally on the reserved side. The portly man settled back in the leather chair and folded his hands across his belly. “Sorry, Mark. I don’t want to see you go.”

  “Guys, I’ve made my mind up. I planned to do this even before Seth Kriken’s shenanigans.”

  “We need to carry on with the rest of today’s agenda,” Phil said. “We will tentatively accept your resignation, Mark. I’m going to ask Elizabeth to review the bylaws and see what the procedures are and we will get back together in a week to further discuss. I’ll stop down in her office after the meeting today to discuss it with her. Michael will contact Seth and inform him of your resignation to keep him from going to the media with his ridiculous antics.” Michael nodded his head. “Now, let’s finish up today’s business, so we can all start our weekend.” Phil looked over at Mark and smiled. His eyes indicated the topic was closed for discussion, at least for today.

  Chapter Eight

  “They’re still in there?” Suzie heard a familiar female voice say. She looked up from her computer where she typed out a few emails on behalf of her boss to see Elizabeth Wright waltzing into the executive suite. With her auburn hair tumbling over her shoulders and her navy blue pants suit conforming to her body, even Suzie’s heart rate escalated whenever Elizabeth walked into the room. She was a knockout! And the kicker, she was sweeter than strawberry wine.

  “Yep,” Suzie said, smiling at Elizabeth. “They started
a littler later than usual after lunch. Not sure what’s going on in there.”

  Suzie replayed Mark storming through the executive suite doors after lunch with a murderous look on his face. He didn’t reply at all to her inquires as to what was going on. Shortly thereafter, he and Michael rounded the board members up and ushered everyone into the board room asking not to be disturbed like some top secret CIA meeting. No one had been out of the board room for two hours, not even to use the restroom or refill the coffee.

  “You here to see John?” Suzie asked as Elizabeth stood in front of Suzie’s desk with her arms crossed over her chest.

  “Yes! Darn it! I wanted to see him before he left. He’s headed to Georgia today to check out a construction project outside of Atlanta. I won’t get to see him until Monday.” A frown spread across Elizabeth’s mouth and her brow furrowed.

  “I can send him down to your office as soon as he walks out,” Suzie said, trying to help her out. Sure, Suzie had been shameless in her flirtations with John Dorsey. John had even flirted with her a little too, but once Elizabeth walked into that board room to present to the board on some legal issues involving a lawsuit, John hadn’t looked at another woman. Now they’d been living together for over eight months in John’s beach house, and a little birdie had mentioned to Suzie that John was gearing up to ask her to marry him.

  “That would be great. I have a couple things I need to wrap up before I can leave here. I think his flight is at five-thirty, so he’s already cutting it close still being here after three,” Elizabeth said with a little worry in her voice. “Thanks, Suzie.” Elizabeth smiled at her and the smile reached her eyes, warmth emanating from her. Elizabeth turned and started toward the door when the board room door opened and John rushed out. His lips were pulled in a tight line, his brow was furrowed, and Suzie could tell he wasn’t happy. Then he saw Elizabeth and his entire body relaxed, as if set at ease.