Dirty Diana by January James
Chapter Eleven
Ifloated into the office, so early that most of the desks were still empty. I hadn’t slept, but not for the usual reasons I hadn’t slept in the last week. I was on cloud nine. I’d had the best sex of my life, again, with a man who was prepared to quit a directorship for me. And not just any man—the most beautiful man I’d ever laid eyes on.
I didn’t need to make a special effort with my appearance this morning; I was glowing from the inside out. I felt as though the new life I’d begun after hearing those fateful words from the bartender in Ted’s Bar, was crystalizing before my eyes. Without needing to think about it, I’d styled my hair, taken greater care applying my make-up, and selected a low-cut, wide-legged romper from my closet, and lifted myself up by four-inch wedged-heel shoes. I felt like a million dollars.
I was pouring myself a coffee when a knock came at the door. I spun around to see Jake Davis, Empirical’s Chief Personnel Officer. His appearance was always ominous—he only ever approached people when he had very good news or very bad. After the revised figures I’d sent the board the previous day, I hoped the news was good. He paused, taking in my newly polished appearance.
“Diana,” he began, dragging his eyes back up to my face, unashamedly. “We’re having a directors meeting at nine. I need you to be there.”
“Sure,” I replied. “Do I need to prepare anything? It isn’t in my schedule.”
“Garrett’s leading it…” he replied. That struck me as even more ominous than the fact Jake Davis was standing in my doorway. “The chairman? Sounds serious.”
“It is,” Jake stated. “I need you to be there promptly. No need to prepare anything. But you might want to clear your calendar for the rest of the day.”
“Should I be worried?” I frowned.
“You have no need to worry right now; it’s just an update. We can always catch up later if you need to discuss.”
He tapped the doorframe and ran another cursory glance over my body, then turned and walked away.
I was officially worried. Jake Davis, despite being the head of all our human resources within the business, was perhaps the least personable and approachable director. He was useless at disguising matters that might be concerning and this occasion was no different. I swallowed back my coffee and looked out of the window of my hard-earned Manhattan corner office. Was I going to lose it? Had I left it all too late? Had I left it too long to make the tough decisions? Anxiety balled in my chest as I listened to the clock ticking on the wall.
* * *
At five minutes to nine,I walked through the door to the boardroom. Only three other directors had arrived, and I nodded to them in greeting, noticing their own panicked expressions. Sheridan entered close behind me—as marketing consultant to the Group, she also attended these meetings, and I was relieved to see a friendly and familiar face. The directors, myself included, worked in disparate parts of the business, meaning we only ever crossed paths at the quarterly review conferences and at times like these, which were few and far between.
“Any idea what this is about?” Sheridan said in a low voice as she sat beside me.
“None whatsoever,” I replied. “But I’m not getting a warm glow about it, put it that way.”
“I’m glad it isn’t just me.” She leaned in closer. “I loved the new sets of figures, girl. Ballsy. And exactly what we need.”
“Thanks,” I smiled. “I just hope I get a chance to put the proposal into practice.”
Sheridan turned to face me, full on this time. “You’re looking hot this morning, by the way. Where are you getting these outfits?”
“My closet,” I replied, shaking my head. “I know; I’m as surprised as you are. I’d forgotten I actually own nice clothes.”
“Not just nice, Miss Delaney—freaking jaw-dropping. I mean, look… Geoff and Tristan can’t take their eyes off you.”
I couldn’t bring myself to look up at the VPs of our two other offshoots, so I took her word for it.
“If you’re looking to get laid,” she went on. “There’s your offer, right there.”
I stifled a laugh. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m sorted in that department.”
A hand placed itself on my opposite shoulder, turning me sideways to face her.
“Say what? You’re seeing someone?” The shock on her face would have insulted me had it not been completely justified. I hadn’t dated anyone for as long as she’d known me. A long time.
“Kind of,” I said, failing to hide the smile that was brewing on my lips. It was not what I wanted to say. I wanted to scream it. I wanted to stand on my chair, right there, in the middle of the boardroom and scream it for everyone to hear. I’ve got a boyfriend! But several things stopped me. First of all, we’d simply had sex a few times; we weren’t exactly dating—yet. And second, I still didn’t even know his damn name. I didn’t really know anything about him, except how to make him come in thirty seconds or less. “I’ve just seen a guy a couple of times, nothing too dramatic.”
“Nothing too dramatic?” Both eyebrows were raised in astonishment. “You’re glowing, babe. If I didn’t know better, I would have guessed you’d been getting busy with it. Your skin is… well… vibrant.”
“Sheridan, stop,” I put a hand over her mouth for fear one of the other directors would hear. I did not want any element of my private life to be aired in the workplace. “I’ll tell you everything later, I promise.”
“You better,” she wagged a finger at me.
I was saved then, by the arrival of Garrett Green, the chairman, who walked to his seat at the head of the table, but instead of sitting in it, he perched his hands on the back of the chair and scoured the room, checking we were all present. Satisfied, he started to speak.
“Thank you all for coming at such short notice. I have some important news to update you on.” He coughed, almost nervously, which was unusual. Garrett was known for being a fair but definitely tough chairman, whose temper when roused could reduce grown men to sniveling boys.
He continued: “I know you are all aware of our financial situation and how we are performing in relation to our competitors. We’ve been up against some serious challenges in the last few years, most notably, piracy—the threat to our survival in that respect continues—and significant changes to the way people purchase and consume their music. We have adapted as far as we can with the resources we have, but it isn’t enough. Our shareholders are demanding fundamental change, and this will impact all of you; some substantially more than others.”
The tension in the room was palpable. Every single person in there was holding their breath, sensing the worst was about to happen: our jobs and those of our teams could be at risk.
“We need to take a long hard look at the way we are structured and consider drastically downsizing, to focus our energies and resources on a small portion of our existing business.”
My heart was in my mouth. I had done myself no favors, managing a label which had only declined in performance, draining profits rather than making them. I kicked myself again for having let the likes of Cherry Tatum dictate to me the way I ran my own business.
“I’ve appointed a new CEO,” Garrett went on, “whose remit is to review the entire organization and recommend divisions and departments that no longer meet the needs or objectives of Empirical.”
At that moment, the door opened. I turned back to face Sheridan whose eyes were wide and anxious. I tried to convey to her with one glance my fear for the future of Phoenix, but her eyes didn’t meet mine; they were on the door. She spoke quietly and without moving her lips.
“And he would have to be a sexy motherfucker,” she whispered.
I turned to face the front of the room and died on my seat.
It was him.
The man with whom I’d spent the best few hours of my life; the man who had just given up his place on the board of a successful club for me; the man who had declared his desire to see me again, sleep with me again… was my new CEO.
His dark blue eyes were surveying the room, curiously; his lips were drawn and taut. His suit was elegant, perfectly fitted, freshly cleaned. His form and charisma filled the room. I watched as his eyes touched on each single person, taking them in, taking note.
Then they landed on me.
He paused his roaming for the beat of a second, registering nothing, then continued to graze his eyes across the rest of the room. I slowly let out a breath. I was fucked. Every which way. Nothing could happen between us now. He’d just been appointed to kick me out of a job. He would know it too, but according to his blank expression, he cared a hell of a lot less about it than I did.
Garrett was still talking but I heard nothing but the loud sound of my pulse throbbing through my eardrums. My heart had sunk low into my belly, my brain banishing every single now-painful memory of the earth-shattering sex we’d had together.
I just about managed to bring my consciousness back to the party when Garrett announced the name of my latest and no doubt last-for-a-long-time lay.
“… Jude Peyton-Harris.”
I noticed Jude’s eyes flicker towards me, almost imperceptibly. No one else would have noticed. Only me. He knew this would be the first time I heard his name.
I swallowed, feeling a giant lump in my throat which subsequently alerted me to the ache in my heart. The last few hours had flipped my emotions in two extreme, opposite directions. One minute I was embarking on a relationship with someone I was irrepressibly attracted to, someone who’d had his tongue inside me and his cock in my mouth only hours earlier, someone I thought I might actually have a future with. The next, my heart had been flung across the room along with the possibility of losing the one thing that had meant anything in my life: my record label.
The man who’d held me up against a vanity unit while he fucked me senseless now held my future in his hands, and I knew exactly what he would do with it: screw it up and throw it in the trash.
I felt at once inexplicably angry and utterly heartbroken. His face now represented my demise. In it, I saw nothing but a future heading down the drain.
But that was crap; I was kidding myself.
In his face I would only see the lust that had swarmed in his eyes, the curve of his lips as he revealed his plans to leave the club, for me. I would only ever see the delirious expression he wore when I brought him to orgasm as I ground my hips above him.
I closed my eyes tightly to stop any tears forming and studied the desk as he spoke. His voice was different. He spoke with an authority with which nothing argued. His words were crystal clear; his meaning and intentions unambiguous. He laid it out straight.
“From this point on, you are all at risk. And that means your teams are too. You will be consulted as part of the restructuring process, but your cooperation will be precisely and only that. It will not strengthen any case to keep you or your division intact.”
His words were unemotional, plain and hard-hitting, endearing him to no one. I could feel the defenses of all my colleagues go up, the resentment undisguised on their faces.
“I have already hired the management consultants McAuley Finch to support the process and I will appreciate you each making time for them whenever they require it. I will also aim to meet with you individually over the next few days to discuss any concerns you may have.”
It occurred to me I would have to be in a room with this man again, alone. To talk about my business and how he planned to break it apart. I couldn’t look at him.
“I’m not here to make friends…” he continued, his voice directed towards the other side of the table, “… but this will be a lengthy process; it will be helpful if we can all behave respectfully towards each other.”
The room fell silent as soon as he stopped talking and I couldn’t help but look up to assess his reaction. He was staring right at me. I swallowed hard and looked away again.
“Thanks for your time,” he finished. “I needn’t remind you that everything we have just announced here is confidential. There will be a written announcement circulated to all employees later today, with some FAQs to help you answer any questions your teams may have. I look forward to meeting you all individually, in due course.”
He turned and walked out of the room, taking my heart with him.