The Boss(hole) by Penelope Bloom
Jules
As much as I wanted to be amused by the idea of Mr. White suffering the indignity of being strip-searched while I rushed off to do this impossible task, I couldn’t enjoy it. Not even Mr. White deserved that kind of indignity.
So even if part of me wanted to screw this up on purpose to spite him, I felt like I owed it to him now because my careless comment was causing him so much humiliation. I also kind of didn’t want to get fired.
And damn it. I thought I knew exactly how to make this work.
I found Mr. Krause hunched over his phone right where we’d expected to be. He was waiting for a flight to New York and sitting in an empty row of seats by the window. Gerald Krause and my father went way back. He’d practically been an uncle to me growing up. I still remembered how he looked before he lost most of his hair and put on some extra weight in his later years. Now he was a grandfatherly man with liver spots on his head and sagging jowls, but he had kind blue eyes.
I sat right next to him and cleared my throat. “Uh, hi,” I said.
He looked up like he was ready to be annoyed, then recognition flashed in his eyes. “Juliette?” he breathed. “Your father has been scouring the globe for you. Where on Earth have you been?”
“Mr. Krause, I need a really, really big favor. The first is that you don’t tell my father you saw me.”
He started to shake his head. “I don’t know, Juliette. You have to understand just how hard he has been looking. He’s hired an entire team of private investigators. They’ve been searching in an expanding loop from New York and aren’t leaving any motel unturned. It’s borderline obsessive.”
“Yeah,” I said. “But we both know it’s not about finding me because he’s worried. He can’t allow me to ‘win’. If I leave and he can’t find me, it will hurt his precious ego.”
Mr. Krause chuckled. “You do know your father well. Yes. But if he even suspected I’d spoken to you without telling him-”
“He’ll never find out. Not unless you tell him, because I definitely won’t.”
Mr. Krause turned the watch on his wrist over a few times while he thought. “You said the first favor is not telling him I saw you. But you wouldn’t be revealing yourself to me if there wasn’t more. So, what else is it you need from me?”
“Can you promise me you won’t let any of this get back to him?” I asked.
He nodded. “Against my better judgment. Yes. You can trust me, Juliette. I can’t promise I’ll be able to help with whatever the other favor is, though.”
“I’m working for this man who was hoping to meet you at the convention you missed today. He was going to show you this presentation because he was hoping you’d see his potential and consider bringing him in to work at Coleton Central.”
“Where is this man?”
“Well, he was with me, but he got stopped by the TSA and we didn’t want to risk missing you. He had me learn the presentation though for the conference, so I could show you…” I opened the laptop and started tapping through the slides, doing my best to rehearse the presentation the way I knew it was supposed to go.
Mr. Krause listened patiently until I was done, then rubbed at his chin. “Coleton Central is a rather exclusive group, Juliette. Bringing someone in because of a presentation they put together… it would be unprecedented. Even if there was a spot for them,” he added.
“Is there?” I asked. “A spot, I mean.”
He grinned. “There happens to be, yes. But I can’t-”
“Mr. Krause. How long have you known me?”
“Since you were drinking milk from bottles.”
“Can you please at least bring him in for an interview? Give him a chance to show you what kind of an asset he could be for you in person. For me.”
He sighed. “This man must mean a great deal to you. This is quite the big ask, Juliette. Even for you.”
“Can you do it?” I asked.
He looked down at the laptop again, then back to me. “To be honest, even as a favor for you I don’t know that I could. But I’m impressed by someone who has the gall to track me down at the airport like this. More so, he had the foresight to have his assistant ready to give his presentation. I admire someone who goes the extra mile and comes prepared with contingency plans. So, yes. For you, I’ll have my people give him a call.”
I hugged him. “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome. But tell me this much. Why are you doing all this? Working for this man? Running yourself ragged for pennies? If you came home, you’d have access to more money than you could spend in a lifetime, Juliette. You know that.”
“If I returned to my cage, you mean?”
He chuckled, watery eyes turning down. “It’s a shame how it works out. Every parent wants their children to have more than they did. The ones who succeed beyond their wildest dreams give their children the world. But when the world is already in your palm, what’s left to dream for?”
I nodded. “Leaving let me try to look for my purpose. Maybe when this is all over, I can tell him where I am and let him see that I was more than he realized. But for now, I’m enjoying living for me. If I prove him wrong, it’ll just be a bonus.”
Mr. Krause smirked. “Somehow, I think you’ll wind up proving exactly that.” He gave me a one-armed hug, then pointed toward where a woman was calling for his flight to board. “That’s me. Good luck, Juliette.”