Chapter 1

1

“I need that meeting with Mercer set for some time next week. The earlier, the better. Make it happen, Cody.”

I nodded, making a note in the app I had up on the second screen, then turned my attention back to my boss. Having a Zoom meeting every morning was not ideal, but we’d made it work since almost the beginning of the year. Josiah Campbell cared about his employees more than he did about making money, but since he cared a great deal about that, too, he’d found a way for us to all keep working remotely.

“If he insists on face to face, you know my requirements,” Mr. Campbell said, his voice a little weary. The fact was, Mr. Campbell had thrived in the virtual world and realized he could get a lot more done.

The world had already been leaning toward a more fully virtual workplace. Our current situation with the global COVID pandemic, though, better than it had been in March, had sped up that process. Mr. Campbell was on board. And though I missed seeing other people on the regular, I was more than happy with working from home. It had taken some adjustments, but I’d found I could quite easily do my work as an administrative assistant without being in the office.

“All right.” Mr. Campbell’s voice broke into my wandering thoughts, and he gave me a small smile. “Anything else?”

“Arthur Commack has been quite insistent about a meeting, sir. He emailed four times last week, and already again this morning.”

Part of my duties were to screen the boss’s emails. His business account went to me first, and I organized it by priority before he logged in. It had been that way for three years now, and I still remembered the pride that had filled me when he’d assigned me to take over that particular task. It was the moment I knew he trusted me implicitly and that I’d become indispensable.

Mr. Campbell groaned and muttered something that suspiciously sounded like “pretentious gasbag.” I hid my amusement. Commack was one of our worst and most demanding clients, and insisted on dealing with Mr. Campbell directly. Mr. Campbell had long ago moved solely into the president and CEO position, and for the most part, no longer met with clients. But Commack had a lot of money, and he was privileged and demanding because of it. Mr. Campbell didn’t let him get away with it much—which I was grateful for—but he had to weigh the fact that Commack brought a lot of money into the firm.

“I don’t want to see him,” Mr. Campbell finally grumbled. Then he sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Find out exactly what he wants and then assure him we’ll set up a meeting.”

I kept the smirk off my face from years of practice. “Yes, sir.”

“Is that it?”

“That’s all I have,” I said after double-checking my list. “Unless you have anything else for me?”

Mr. Campbell shook his head. He trusted me to know what needed doing, and come to him only if there were issues or something that needed his immediate attention. I’d had five years to perfect the art. I knew what I was doing and I appreciated his confidence in me.

“That’s it for this morning. I’ll let you know if anything else comes up. But now. You have to make up for ending today’s meeting with Arthur Commack. Where’s our girl?”

I chuckled and pushed back from my desk, turning to locate Pippa. Unsurprisingly, she was on the couch, her big head hanging over the arm and looking for all the world like I’d betrayed her. She had a really expressive face.

“Come here, Pip, and say ‘hi.’” Immediately she jumped down, her solid body making a thump as it hit the hardwood floor. But when she popped up to put her front feet on the edge of the desk, her face broke into that pittie smile, her tongue hanging out, as Mr. Campbell cooed over my dog.

I scratched behind her ears and let them have their moment. It had become a morning ritual over the past few months. Mr. Campbell had been shocked to learn I had a pit bull, since he believed the hype and the misinformation about them. Pits were some of the sweetest dogs I’d ever known, and Pippa was sweeter than most. She’d been a rescue, but fortunately she’d only been a baby and hadn’t been used to fight or as bait. She came home with me at twelve weeks, and she’d been my big baby ever since.

Meeting concluded, I sent Pippa to get her sweater and pulled off mine. I’d put on the blue cable-knit to look presentable for the meeting, but I much preferred the comfort of my fleece-lined hoodie. Another benefit of working from home was the comfortable clothes.