by Tia Siren
He didn’t smoke in the office, but it clung to him like a cloak. I couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t smell like cigars.
“There you are!” My father stood from behind his desk, his booming voice filling the room.
I walked toward him and let his much larger and taller body envelope me in one of his familiar bear hugs.
“Heard you wanted to see me. What’s up?” I asked, taking a seat in one of the chairs facing his desk.
He sat down, his large body filling the chair. I looked at the gray hair on his head that was thinning more and more every year.
“I have a job for you,” he said, leaning back in his chair.
“I already have a job.”
He smirked. “I have an extra special job only you can do.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That sounds interesting.”
“I want you to go to work for Dylan Parks.”
The words hung in the air. I stared at him. “You want me to do what?”
He leaned forward, his meaty hands on his desk. “I want you to infiltrate the enemy.”
I laughed. “That sounds dramatic.”
“I want you to get close to that son of a bitch. I need to know what the hell he’s doing over there. That snake has been scooping me, and I want to know what the hell he’s doing.”
“Dad, how do you expect me to get a job with him? Won’t he know who I am?”
He shrugged his shoulders. “Why would he? He’s never met you that I know of. It isn’t like our families associate with one another.”
Leaning back, I rolled my eyes. “Dad, I don’t know how I’m going to get a job with him. And what kind of job would it be?”
“I don’t care. One that keeps you by his side day in and day out. I need you to spy on him. I want to know who he talks to and where he goes.”
I hesitated. “I don’t know about this, Dad.”
“Kendall, I need this. It will be a great way for you to see the other side, to get a glimpse of the competition. You can prove your worth to the other board members,” he said.
I let out a long sigh, knowing my fate was sealed. My father was stubborn and wasn’t going to let this go. “Why do I need to do this again? What am I supposed to gain by following him around?”
“He’s been stealing from me, right out from under my nose. I need you to watch him and see how he’s doing it and get me the proof. I want that little piss-ant to know I’m not a man to be screwed with,” he said, his face turning an unhealthy shade of red.
“Okay, okay. I’ll try. Relax, Dad. Your blood pressure is probably through the roof right now. Calm down and take a couple deep breaths. I’ll do it.”
I hated to see him like this. I was terrified that one day he would have a massive heart attack and drop dead on the spot. He was relatively healthy, but his blood pressure had become an issue in the past few years. He was in good physical shape and not too overweight, but he did love his steak, scotch, and cigars—a dangerous combination. As frustrating as he could be at times, I couldn’t lose him. He was the only family I had in the world. If he wanted me to be a spy, I’d be a spy. Anything to lower his stress and keep him in good health.
He nodded and took a drink of water.
“That man has been stealing ideas right out from under me. I never see him coming, but I don’t think he has an insider working for me. There’s something else going on,” he said in a much calmer voice. “He’s going to bankrupt me if he keeps this up.”
I stood up, smoothed my skirt down, and smiled. “I’ll handle it, Dad. Relax. Let me prove how well you have taught me.”
“Thank you, Kendall. I knew I could count on you. You’ve always been a company woman, and I appreciate it. Let me know what you come up with. The sooner you get close to him, the better,” he instructed.
I nodded my head. “I’m going to try my best.”
“Don’t try, do!” he ordered, back to the gruff CEO, all signs of my loving father now gone.
Leaving his office, I returned to my own to begin my mission. I knew the name of my target, but I didn’t know the man at all. I needed to figure out how to get into his company, and the best way to start was to see if he was hiring.
“Wow!” I mumbled as my search turned up the founder and CEO of Parks Industries, Dylan Parks.
He was hot. He had blond hair and blue eyes with a defined jaw, a perfect nose, and a look that just screamed alpha male. That could have been my angle. I quickly read over his bio. Single, never married, and no children. He was one of those geniuses who had come up with an idea for an app in college and managed to capitalize on it. My father’s company was built on computer software with a branch dedicated to games. I had been telling him for years it was time to evolve into apps, but he was stubborn. Dylan Parks was the king of online apps.
I surfed the company website, did a few searches, and came up empty on available jobs. Companies like his and my father’s didn’t usually just open up the hiring. It took someone coming in the door with a killer resume or a fantastic idea to get a chance. We used headhunters to scout out new blood, and I was sure Parks Industries did as well.
“Dammit,” I muttered. I was going to have to be one of those people begging for a job. I couldn’t exactly present my resume. I needed another way in.
I clicked back to Dylan’s bio page and stared at the blue eyes that almost looked aqua. I needed to take a direct approach. I knew his type. The single status gave me the edge I was prepared to use. I didn’t mind playing up my looks to get in close. I wasn’t sure I was willing to sleep with him to get what I needed, but I would cross that bridge when the time came. It wasn’t like it would be a terrible chore to get the man naked and let him have his way with me.
I jotted down the phone number listed on the website.
“Here goes nothing,” I murmured into my empty office.
I picked up my cell phone, not wanting the company name to show up on some caller ID, and dialed the number. After a few connections, I was put through to his secretary. She didn’t answer the phone, which meant I had to leave a voice mail. I knew it would be difficult to get to the man himself. I was going to have to sound convincing and eager enough to get the secretary to pass along my information.
“Hi. My name is Kendall”—I paused, realizing I needed a different last name and looking around my office to come up with one quickly—“Baker. I am interested in shadowing Mr. Parks in an intern capacity. I recently graduated with my bachelor’s and have been following the rise of Parks Industries. I would love to get an inside look at how things really work and get a chance to learn from the best. I promise not to get in the way and would be willing to put in all the time you need to help you be the best company in the world. Thank you for your time.”
I left my cell phone number and hoped it was enough to convince the secretary to pass my message along. If I didn’t get a call back by Tuesday next week, I would up my game. I had to do this for my dad. Besides, if Dylan Parks was stealing ideas from our company, I wanted to nail him for it. He was screwing with my future.
With my plan in motion, I turned my focus to my work. Clearing my schedule and delegating tasks was no small feat. I wasn’t sure how long I’d be out of the office, but I didn’t want to risk losing out on an acquisition. That would give the guys trying to push me out of line for the CEO position a little too much firepower. I couldn’t afford to mess anything up, even if I was on a secret mission for my father.
Chapter Three
Dylan
Monday
My typical Monday morning meeting with Aaron was off to a good start. We were embarking on something big and had high hopes that our new product was going to put us at the top in the world of technology.
“Did you see the stock on Friday?” Aaron asked, scanning his tablet.
I nodded. “I did.”
“Don’t sound so thrilled,” he commented. “You’re making history, Dylan. This company is fairly new. You have really set som
e of the other guys on their heels. They’re going to be coming for us.”
I shrugged my shoulder. “Let them come. Let somebody else try to chase after the top spot for a while.”
“You’ve done it in record time. In five years we went from two guys working out of your tiny apartment to this,” he said, spreading his arms out to include the entire office.
I nodded. “Yep, we did, and we’re going to get bigger. We could do so much more,” I mumbled, not really taking the thought further.
My attention was focused on the schedule for our latest product launch. This new app was what had driven those stock prices up on Friday. Rumors about the app had leaked on Friday morning. There was a lot of buzz, which was what we needed. We wanted people talking about it and getting excited to try it out. The leak had been intentional. It stirred up interest and gave us a revenue boost to help offset the cost of the launch. We were going big, probably bigger than ever before.
“We’ve got print and radio running. The TV and internet ads are going to start this week as well. This is exciting,” he said, his smile radiant.
“We are definitely going to celebrate, but first, I want to get some hard dates in place for this launch. I’m seeing a lot of media, but we need those beta testers to give testimonials. People are going to be more inclined to believe real users and not just a bunch of fancy words,” I said, reviewing the campaign posters on my tablet.
Aaron put his tablet to the side. “I’ll talk to marketing.”
“James, note that,” I ordered.
“Note what?”
I growled under my breath. “I want to follow up on the marketing.”
“Oh,” he said, nodding and quickly tapping on his tablet.
Aaron gave me a look before dragging in a deep breath. “What kind of celebration did you have in mind?”
“I want to give back—in a big way. This product is going to bring in profits and shine a light on the company. It’s a good time to do something big. We can use the publicity to direct attention to the children’s hospital.”
“Why that one? I thought you liked the inner-city school charities.”
I nodded. “I do, but the children’s hospital charity is floundering. One of their board members reached out a couple weeks ago. I sent a personal check, but we can do more. We need to give them some of the limelight,” I said, looking over at my PA, who was staring off into space. “James?” I said his name, grabbing his attention.
“Yes, Mr. Parks?” he asked, pushing up his glasses and looking at me with those dead eyes that always made me wonder if he was really awake. Maybe he was stoned. I couldn’t say for sure.
“Did you get that? I want to do something for the children’s hospital,” I said, my voice not hiding my frustration.
“Did you want me to note that in the meeting notes?” he asked, completely oblivious.
“Yes, James. That’d be a great idea. You do realize you are sitting here, with us, because you are supposed to be taking notes. That is your entire purpose for being here. You’ve been working with me a month now. How many times have we had a conversation like this?”
I was trying to hide my anger and frustration but was failing miserably. Despite my tendency to be stern and intimidating to most people, those qualities seemed lost on the kid.
Aaron snickered. I looked at him and rolled my eyes. I was going to have to talk with HR. I didn’t know who was doing the hiring down there, but this kid was an idiot. He had to be a relative of someone in the company. There was no way he would have passed an interview. He wouldn’t have passed the mirror test.
Aaron and I talked a little more about how we could help out the hospital. I occasionally glanced over at James to make sure he was taking notes. I wasn’t entirely convinced he was, but in this case, it didn’t really matter. This issue was important enough that I could remember the details.
“Maybe you should set up a foundation,” Aaron suggested.
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll do some checking, but I think it could be a good way for you to give to those charities you are most fond of. It would also give you a way to accept donations and raise even more money,” he said.
I focused my charitable donations on the kids in the city. I hated the idea of kids suffering. The foundation sounded like a good idea. If money could ease their suffering or give them a better shot at life, I couldn’t understand why more people weren’t giving more. Shit, I didn’t know why I didn’t give more.
“Back to the donation of profits,” I said, redirecting him.
“Do you want to do one percent of earnings?” Aaron asked, his tablet back in his hand, poised and ready to tap.
I looked at him. “No! I’m talking about something big. Let’s do twenty-five percent.”
Aaron’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “That’s ridiculous. The board will never agree to that. We wouldn’t make any money. We have to make a profit.”
“Why do I have to get their approval? It’s my company,” I said, pouting. “We don’t absolutely need a profit. We have more projects coming up. We’ll profit from those,” I said.
Aaron shook his head. “I’m glad you’re a generous person, I am, but you have a lot of overhead. I’ll pitch twenty-five, but a more realistic number is five to ten percent, and that is going to be pushing it.”
I shook my head. “I won’t go lower than ten.”
“Noted,” he said, and I knew he was placating me.
I missed the days when I could just do what I wanted. The bigger the company got, the less I felt in control. Every decision had to be put to a vote. The board was generally easy enough to work with, but sometimes I wanted the simplicity of changing something or making a decision without listening to the opinions of eight other people.
“I want you to really push for ten,” I insisted.
“I will. I’ll do some spreadsheets and see how I can massage the numbers and make it look favorable for the board,” Aaron promised.
“Thank you.”
I was silent for a moment, lost in my own thoughts, trying to figure out a way to use the steam coming from the newest product launch to really do something good for those kids and their families. Aaron was the man who could put all my thoughts and ideas into one cohesive plan. I often felt like I was unraveling a thread on a knit sweater. I started to tug and then, before I knew it, I had about a thousand ideas bouncing around in my head. It could be overwhelming. Aaron was the one who pulled those thoughts out and strung them together.
“What’s on your mind?” Aaron asked, knowing me too well.
I shrugged. “Give me some ideas for fundraising. This is something I have to do.”
He smiled, nodding his head and understanding me so well. “Auctions and dinners seem to be the thing to do.”
I wrinkled my nose. “Those are boring. They’ve been done a thousand times. We need to think of something different, something that will really bring in donors—and I don’t just mean the guys with the deepest pockets. Ten bucks from a thousand people is a big deal. People need to feel like they’re giving back, like they’re doing something that matters. Helping kids matters.”
Aaron put his tablet down on the table. “You’re serious about this, aren’t you?”
“I am. We need a think tank. I’m no good at the whole creative thing. I start with one thing and it turns into something way different.” I turned to look at James, knowing it was a lost cause but asking anyway. “James, do you have any suggestions?”
He blinked, giving me that familiar blank stare. “Huh?”
Aaron guffawed, and I had to close my eyes and count to three. The kid was not going to be my PA much longer. My blood pressure couldn’t handle it. I would end up putting my head or his head through a wall, preferably the latter.
“Never mind,” I said, making a mental note to revisit the idea. “Can you talk with marketing? I think it would be a great idea to use the steam from this launch to really drive som
e funds to the hospital.”
“I will. Are you working on that new acquisition?” he asked, not being specific in front of James.
I smiled. “I am.”
“Do you have a meeting this week?”
I shook my head. “No. Not yet.”
“Want me to check around?”
“Good plan.”
“I’ll make a couple calls,” he replied.
“Anything else?” I asked him, noting James drifting off into space again.
Aaron smirked. “Nope. I have a meeting with the head of marketing. I’ll firm up the dates and shoot you an email.”
I rose from the chair in the small conference room and headed toward my office, James right on my heels. I stopped and turned around.
“James, why don’t you go grab us a couple coffees. You look like you could use a pick-me-up.”
The young man looked at me with confusion but nodded his head and headed for the elevators. I was definitely going to have a talk with HR.
“Good morning, Gena,” I said with a smile to my secretary.
“Oh, wait,” she said, standing from the desk. “I forwarded you a voice mail from a woman who wants to be your intern. She wants to job shadow you and learn the ropes of running a billion-dollar business.”
The incompetence level of my staff was staggering.
“Gena, that needs to be forwarded to HR. I don’t do any direct hires. I don’t have the time or resources to run the proper background checks or check references. Please, in the future, send those downstairs. I don’t have time to wade through messages like that.” My voice was stern.
“This woman sounded very eager,” she said.
“They all do,” I mumbled and headed into my office.
I sat down and pulled up my search engine and jotted down some ideas for fundraising before looking into the idea of a foundation. Aaron was definitely on to something.
Chapter Four
Kendall
Tuesday
I dreaded going in since I already knew what he was going to say. My dad was going to be disappointed and angry. I hated disappointing my father.