AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 4
Several weeks pass in a blur, leaving March to roll into April. Now with it being the end of the month, and given how I’ve been working out every day for two hours, my muscles are becoming more defined, and I’ve gained back seventeen pounds. I’m looking like my old self, and my face isn’t so gaunt anymore. Even though I received a decent amount of attention when I first got to the city, I must be looking better, judging from the women I’ve caught checking me out on the street and in the office lately.
During my days at Eltech, I’ve already figured out how to break down the educational bundles so we can market and sell them separately to consumers. Zane and his production team were impressed with my recommendations, so they began working to implement them to increase revenue.
Zane also had me review other products to see if I could figure out ways to streamline the production process and save money. Figures are what I was born to work with. Real estate was draining the life out of me, and I only ever enjoyed it when I got to work on the budgets for each sale.
My father still hasn’t come around. He’s upset that I’m forging my path rather than becoming the next Wilton generation to run the family company. In our last call, he berated me about how embarrassing it is not to have at least one of his sons working within the company. I told him that he should be proud that either of his sons isn’t expecting handouts from their relatives, but he doesn’t ever hear anything but his complaints.
In less than two weeks, Noah and I will face them in New York. Rory’s wedding is fast approaching, and soon, everyone will be in town to celebrate. For some reason, I’m anticipating seeing Olivia in a dress more than anything.
I ran into her in Central Park not too long ago. She was running, and since it was an unusually warm day, she was only wearing a form-fitting tank top. As she drew closer, her sculpted arms and a taut stomach left me impressed with her athletic body.
By the time of our run-in, I had been moved to the executive side of the building, meaning I didn’t see much of her. Since the VR system was complete and marketing began shortly after, the programming staff was shifted to other projects. The only time I saw her was at our bi-monthly conferences to give and get updated on progress reports, but I look forward to them so that I can see Olivia. Lost in my thoughts, I jump slightly when Zane pops into my office for a chat.
“Lucian, I’m impressed with the work that you’ve done. If I knew you were this good, I would have lured you away from your father sooner.”
I laugh. “I wish you had. I was beginning to lose it dealing with real estate all day.”
He nods absently. “I have a request.”
“Sure, anything. It’s been nice digging into figures again.”
“We’re working on a new product, and I need you to sit down with Olivia and go over some of the figures involved. We might outsource some of the programming, but I need to know if it’s financially feasible. It might also make sense to hire temp workers and have them in office. We might even keep a few of them on if work picks up.”
“Should I ask her to come to my office?” The mention of Olivia makes my palms sweat.
“It would probably make sense rather than meeting in her tiny booth. I eventually want to move her, Paul, and Henry to a collective larger office.”
“You think that’s wise?”
“To have them all together?”
“Don’t they all work on different projects?”
“I think it makes sense since they can discuss problems with each other. And just because they work on different projects doesn’t mean they can’t bat around ideas. I think it will work out well.”
“As long as they get along.”
“They do. Olivia did have some issues with Paul a few months back, but they’ve ironed them out. They seem to be civil to each other.”
“That doesn’t mean they will want to sit in the same office together.”
In my encounters with Paul, I knew him to be a bit of an arrogant prick. He got into a heated discussion with me on more than one occasion over some production figures. He felt I was tightening the belt too much while I felt he was too lax in his department and wasting not only time but money on over-testing. He told me that I should worry about the figures and let him worry about producing sound products.
After our back-and-forth exchanges, I finally had enough of his attitude and put my foot down, telling him that as part-owner of the company, I needed him to justify his spending. It was wasteful to keep retesting a product under the same variables! He told me he would talk to Zane, but fortunately, my argument was backed up.
I didn’t like the man and felt that if he could treat me like so, then he needed to be around other staff, including Olivia. If his dealings were toxic, it could poison the entire department. I also caught wind of him talking shit about me. I just hadn’t approached Zane about finding a solution yet.
Shaking Henry from my thoughts, I ask, “When would you like me to sit down with her?”
“Oh, I already told her to meet me in my office in five minutes.”
It takes a second to gather my things, but soon we’re walking over to his office where we wait for Olivia to arrive. I haven’t seen her for days, but the moment she enters, I notice how tired she looks. She glances at the both of us and sighs heavily.
“Is there a problem?” she asks with worry in her voice.
“Please take a seat, Olivia,” Zane says.
