Page 5 of Miss Manage

Chapter Four

GABRIEL

My initial confusion at the young woman’s reaction shifted quickly into recognition. She looked older now, with her features fuller and played up by makeup. Her height was more noticeable now than when she’d been a teenager, but there was no mistaking her identity.

“Olivia? Olivia Roberts?”

She laughed, eyes bright. “Yeah, it’s me. Hard to believe, right? What’s it been? Like nine or ten years?”

She turned toward Charlotte, eager to explain. “I used to babysit for Mr. and Mrs. Chambers. How’s Samantha, by the way? She’s got to be, what, almost a teenager?”

Heat pricked the back of my neck. The last thing I wanted was my personal life laid out in front of my new boss, but Olivia’s earnestness was disarming. She’d always been a ray of sunshine, and I wasn’t about to dim that with a curt response.

“Yes, Samantha’s about to turn thirteen in a couple of weeks.” I cleared my throat, shifting uncomfortably. “How about I show you pictures later, and we can catch up then?”

“I’d love that so much. So, um, I’m supposed to show you your new office, but I can come back when you two are finished. I’m seated right outside in the cube between your offices.”

“Great. I’ll come find you once we’re finished.”

“Small world,” Charlotte murmured once the door clicked shut.

Something about the sudden quiet, just the two of us in her office, felt…charged. It shouldn’t have. But nothing about this woman had felt straightforward since the moment she’d caught my eye in the conference room.

Crossing to her desk, unease stirred low in my gut. A folder lay open, the neat rows of a spreadsheet impossible to miss. Not only numbers, but rankings of names I recognized from Juniper. My annoyance snapped awake. Before I could get a better look, she slid a hand over the page, tucking it beneath the folder with practiced ease.

My jaw tightened. “Ranking the new members?”

If I hadn’t been watching her closely, I might have missed the faint flush creeping up her neck. She recovered quickly, shoulders straightening, her voice smooth but edged with authority. “I’m ranking everyone, not just Juniper. It’s important I understand who’s coming in and review performance from the current staff.”

My irritation spiked. “Or you’re preparing for layoffs and choosing to hide that fact from your new chief of operations.”

For a beat, I thought she might bristle or deflect. Instead, her expression didn’t so much as flicker. “Given I just met you this morning,” she started evenly, “and we’ve yet to have a formal one-on-one to discuss such matters, you can set aside the suspicion that I’m keeping things from you.”

A flicker of respect stirred, tangled with something I didn’t care to name. So I focused on my irritation.

Mainly because layoffs were two weeks too late. The owners should have made this kind of decision before the team bothered with onboarding. Why waste the time, money, and resources merging the companies if the ax was going to fall so soon after?

“Why wouldn’t the owners have done staff cuts as part of the merger?” I tried to watch my tone, but a bite still crept through.

Her brow lifted, landing like a warning as she took her seat behind the massive desk.

“It’s a fair question that I don’t have an answer for except to say I think the owners want the executive team to have some time to evaluate everyone.”

“How many are they looking to cut?” I turned toward the window overlooking the harbor.

“Five percent. I’ve yet to tell the other chiefs, but planned to this afternoon. I’m doing some preliminary work to get my arms around the numbers.”

I had no doubt most of those numbers would come from Juniper’s side, given she was the acting CEO. I forced my temper down as I stared out over the water.

“I’m hoping we can be fair across both companies,” I stated, finally turning toward her. I didn’t know her well enough to trust her judgment, but it wasn’t hard to guess where her loyalties would fall.

She studied me for a long moment, and I half expected the usual lecture: something about trust, process, knowing my place, or launching into her feelings on fairness. Instead, a flash of irritation lit her eyes, and she only answered with, “Of course. Now, then, you came by to see me. What’s on your mind?”

“What’s on my mind now are the layoffs.”

I half expected her to sigh or to tell me to get out, and she’d talk about it later, but instead she pulled out the bios of Juniper’s leadership. I could see mine was on top. “Okay. Let’s start by talking about your management team and the value they provide.”

I wondered how many she’d target for the cuts but kept my tone neutral. “All right. What do you want to know?”