Forever the Boss: Billionaire Romance ~ Hot and Steamy (Managing the Bosses Series Book 10) by Lexy Timms Page A
Authors: Lexy Timms
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13
“Paul. Come see me in my office, please.”
Message sent, Alex sighed, and waited for his new senior advisor to knock on the door. It was only a matter of minutes before his request was answered.
“Come in,” he called, and the door opened wide enough for the younger man to step through, closing it behind him.
Since Paul had arrived, things had been relatively quiet. There wasn't anything going any more wrong than it had been going since Zander's betrayal, and Alex was counting that as a success. But that didn't mean that things weren't still going wrong. He'd put Paul on light duty, giving him some time to get re-acclimated to the business, but now it was time to really get him involved. “Take a seat.”
Paul sat, and Alex leaned forward a little, turning his computer screen so that it faced the opposite side of the desk.
“This is the situation we're in right now,” he said. “It's much better than it was when I fired Zander several months ago, but there are still consequences coming down the line from that mess. So I want to know how you're going to handle it.”
There was a bit of uncertainty in Paul's expression, but nothing that looked like panic. Alex took that as a good sign. The other man’s eyebrows drew together as he regarded the screen in front of him.
“Honestly? I know it probably sounds overly simplistic, but my first instinct is just to talk to the guy. See why he feels the way he does and if there's any way to pull him back from the ledge, so to speak.”
“Not a bad solution,” Alex said. “And one we've been using since the fallout started.” He folded his hands on the edge of the desk. “Immediately after the news got out, a lot of our clients were leaving because they felt like they should. Everyone was talking about it. Everyone was leaving. So they had to get out, too, before things got as bad for them as they were for Reid Enterprises. Most of those people were easy enough to talk out of it once they realized we were making strides toward keeping negative consequences from touching our client base at all.”
Paul nodded, and Alex reached out and tapped the edge of the computer screen.
“The problem here is that we're several months out now, and this person is just deciding to leave, which means that either they were living on a remote tropical island with no internet access when Zander hit the news, or something has happened to make them decide that there were complications that affected their own bottom line after all. Which means they're going to be harder to handle than the easy sells who were jumping ship when others were.”
Again, the younger man nodded. He looked at the screen again. “Going by what's in the complaint—this line about the company not doing enough to make sure Zander didn't have a ripple effect—that reads to me like something did happen that affected them. The problem is going to be in figuring out how to remedy that.”
“Exactly.” Alex pulled up a smile that he didn't quite feel. “You're doing well. I'm glad I decided to invite you back.”
The smile that answered him was more sincere than his own. “I'm glad, too,” Paul said. “I mean, I didn't ever really consider coming back here after I left, but the moment that you called and I knew what you were offering, I knew what my answer was going to be.”
Alex laughed. “So I didn't have to bribe you with all of those concessions?”
“Probably not,” Paul agreed, smile widening. “But I'm not going to let you back out of them now.”
It was teasing, and Alex let it slide. The joking was more familiar than he usually allowed his employees to be, but if the younger man was going to be one of his top advisors, Alex was going to have to treat him a little differently than a standard employee. It probably wouldn’t hurt anything to indulge in the occasional bit of friendly banter. Might even improve morale.
“I'm sure that I could find a way if I really looked for it, but it
“Paul. Come see me in my office, please.”
Message sent, Alex sighed, and waited for his new senior advisor to knock on the door. It was only a matter of minutes before his request was answered.
“Come in,” he called, and the door opened wide enough for the younger man to step through, closing it behind him.
Since Paul had arrived, things had been relatively quiet. There wasn't anything going any more wrong than it had been going since Zander's betrayal, and Alex was counting that as a success. But that didn't mean that things weren't still going wrong. He'd put Paul on light duty, giving him some time to get re-acclimated to the business, but now it was time to really get him involved. “Take a seat.”
Paul sat, and Alex leaned forward a little, turning his computer screen so that it faced the opposite side of the desk.
“This is the situation we're in right now,” he said. “It's much better than it was when I fired Zander several months ago, but there are still consequences coming down the line from that mess. So I want to know how you're going to handle it.”
There was a bit of uncertainty in Paul's expression, but nothing that looked like panic. Alex took that as a good sign. The other man’s eyebrows drew together as he regarded the screen in front of him.
“Honestly? I know it probably sounds overly simplistic, but my first instinct is just to talk to the guy. See why he feels the way he does and if there's any way to pull him back from the ledge, so to speak.”
“Not a bad solution,” Alex said. “And one we've been using since the fallout started.” He folded his hands on the edge of the desk. “Immediately after the news got out, a lot of our clients were leaving because they felt like they should. Everyone was talking about it. Everyone was leaving. So they had to get out, too, before things got as bad for them as they were for Reid Enterprises. Most of those people were easy enough to talk out of it once they realized we were making strides toward keeping negative consequences from touching our client base at all.”
Paul nodded, and Alex reached out and tapped the edge of the computer screen.
“The problem here is that we're several months out now, and this person is just deciding to leave, which means that either they were living on a remote tropical island with no internet access when Zander hit the news, or something has happened to make them decide that there were complications that affected their own bottom line after all. Which means they're going to be harder to handle than the easy sells who were jumping ship when others were.”
Again, the younger man nodded. He looked at the screen again. “Going by what's in the complaint—this line about the company not doing enough to make sure Zander didn't have a ripple effect—that reads to me like something did happen that affected them. The problem is going to be in figuring out how to remedy that.”
“Exactly.” Alex pulled up a smile that he didn't quite feel. “You're doing well. I'm glad I decided to invite you back.”
The smile that answered him was more sincere than his own. “I'm glad, too,” Paul said. “I mean, I didn't ever really consider coming back here after I left, but the moment that you called and I knew what you were offering, I knew what my answer was going to be.”
Alex laughed. “So I didn't have to bribe you with all of those concessions?”
“Probably not,” Paul agreed, smile widening. “But I'm not going to let you back out of them now.”
It was teasing, and Alex let it slide. The joking was more familiar than he usually allowed his employees to be, but if the younger man was going to be one of his top advisors, Alex was going to have to treat him a little differently than a standard employee. It probably wouldn’t hurt anything to indulge in the occasional bit of friendly banter. Might even improve morale.
“I'm sure that I could find a way if I really looked for it, but it
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