AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I was excited to work with her. She was more than qualified for the job, and she had sufficient experience behind her. My last executive assistant intern had been awful. She had been in over her head before the first week was up despite her qualifications, and I had gotten the idea she hadn’t been truthful about her experience. She hadn’t lasted until the end of the week.
“Let’s talk about your previous job at Griffin Enterprises. You were there for quite some time. Why did you leave?”
Erica’s eyes slid to the left, and she cleared her throat. When she looked at me, her green eyes were weary. “I was fired.”
I raised my eyebrows. “You didn’t put that on your résumé.”
“Didn’t you call the reference I attached to my résumé? Mr. McGinty would have told you himself.”
“I was impressed by your résumé. I didn’t feel the need to follow up. Should I have?”
“If you did, Daniel McGinty might have told you all kinds of things about who I am as an employee, and perhaps not all of it would be accurate.”
“Why did you add him as a reference if he could damage your reputation?” I asked.
Erica shrugged and looked at her hands in her lap. I had to admit she didn’t fidget very much. She controlled her insecurity very well. She would present incredibly at the board meetings.
“I didn’t want to look like I was hiding anything,” Erica admitted. “I took a chance.”
She was willing to take risks. It was another trait I needed in the company. Even though I had already hired her, this stunning woman revealed more and more reasons for me to like her as my EA.
“So, tell me your story,” I said.
“It’s not a very long story. I worked for Daniel for five years. He asked me to work for him before I finished studying, so I worked for him full-time and studied part-time. In exchange, he paid for the last two years of my education.”
“That’s a lot of hard work.”
Erica shrugged. She wasn’t a stranger to hard work, and I liked that. I bordered on being a workaholic. If she was the same, we could be a power team.
“We worked together for so long we had become friends as well, and I became more comfortable making suggestions. When Griffin started struggling, I worked out a plan of action to get them back on track.”
I remembered when Griffin had started having difficulty. Griffin Enterprises was my competition in the energy industry, and I had been glad to know that they were struggling.
“Daniel wasn’t happy with my suggestions. He said I was trying to change the company to what I wanted so I could get rid of him and take over. He fired me.”
I watched her as she spoke. It had hurt her, I could tell. Despite her poker face, there was sorrow in her voice. And why not? A five-year partnership was a terrible thing to lose like that.
“It sounds to me like he felt threatened by you.”
“I don’t know why,” Erica answered. “I had always had his and the company’s best interests at heart.”
I nodded. “I am more than happy to hear your ideas about how we can get more done.”
Erica smiled. “Thanks. I think it’s best to take it one step at a time.”
She was reserved. It was natural, I understood that now. I had to earn her trust the way she had to earn mine. It was something I had never cared about before—my employees were paid enough so that I could trust them. But with Erica, I wanted it to be mutual.
“I have a meeting in an hour that I want you to sit in on so we can fast-track you on the working of the company. You don’t have to do anything other than listen and take note of what’s being said and how we’re running it.”
Erica nodded. After we discussed a few more small things, she left my office to settle into her own office, and I made a couple of work calls.
“And?” Shane asked, stepping into my office. “I see she’s in her office fussing.”
“She’s settling in. I’ve asked her to sit in on the Harper meeting.”
“Good. She’s hot.”
“I’m so glad you approve,” I said sarcastically. “Behave, okay?”
“Of course. I’m an angel.”
