Chapter 19
Peter Lennon squinted, picking up on the nervous tone in Ronald’s voice, and asked, “What’s up? Did Charles throw another curveball your way?”
Ronald let out a forced chuckle. “Isn’t your assistant some kind of computer whiz?”
“Just call him yourself.” Peter’s voice was curt, and the line went dead. Ronald stewed in silence, thinking about how Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Lennon must be cut from the same cloth. Both of them were cold businessmen with no patience or sympathy. Shaking it off, Ronald dialed up Lareal, Peter’s assistant. “You’ve got thirty minutes to dig up info on a lady. someone Mr. Hoffman’s looking for.”
Exactly thirty minutes later, Ronald had the scoop on Winter. He was practically gushing with gratitude. “Man, you’re a lifesaver!”
On the other end, Lareal gave a cool snort. “Does Mr. Hoffman have his eye on this chick?” Winter did not seem like much, but she played a tough game. Lareal could not see how she would be Charles‘ type, so he pried a little.
“No way! I’ve gotta go. We’ll catch up later. Time to brief Mr. Hoffman.”
After a year away. Noelle could tell that Frotconn had changed a lot. They had made her job. obsolete. Since coming back, she noticed that many of her old colleagues had bailed. Now it was just fresh faces, and someone else was keeping her old seat warm.
Noelle massaged her temples. She was not naive. Frotconn did not do things by accident. They had been planning this long before she had returned.
“Ms. Shaw, here’s the lowdown on the projects from the last six months. You’ve been out of the loop for a while, so you might need a refresher on how things run around here,” said Larisse Yorell, the woman who had been warming Noelle’s seat as the new department head. Her tone was too sharp, almost as if she was laying all her cards out on the table. Was she trying to be this upfront?
Noelle’s eyebrow quirked up a notch. She could practically feel the chill in Larisse’s voice. Larisse probably thought she would always be the one calling the shots as director, but Noelle’s return had clearly thrown her for a loop.
Larisse had been the queen bee of the department for the past half–year. Now, with Noelle swooping in to reclaim her throne, it was no wonder she was steamed. To top it off, Larisse was probably all caught up on the office rumors about Noelle being the infamous
homewrecker who only got her foot in the door and her cushy director gig at Frotconn thanks to her sister Winter.
What really seemed to grind Larisse’s gears was the idea that Noelle had betrayed her own
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sister. With that thought her tone took a nosedive. “If there is anything you don’t understand, Ms. Shaw, just ask. After all, I’ve been the one running the show here for the past year.”
Noelle’s eyebrows knitted together in frustration, Larisse was acting so high and mighty, like Noelle did not even matter. Noelle was not a fan of her tone. Despite being on the same team now, she could not get too close to this woman. “Thanks for that, Larisse. But you know, this is all part of your job. Since I’ve been out of the loop for a while, I’ll take all the help I can get without making a fuss.”
She grabbed the hefty pile of project lists from Larisse and eyed her. “Anything else?”
Larisse was taken aback by Noelle’s tough approach. She thought she had been crystal clear about her annoyance, yet Noelle was cool as a cucumber. “Uh, no, that’s it. Ms. Shaw, since you’ve been away for a bit, you might not know the new faces around here. How about I treat us to dinner tonight? It’ll be a good chance for everyone to mingle, yeah?”
Noelle’s grip on the papers tightened, and she shot Larisse an icy glance. Larisse squirmed under that stare and touched her face, asking. “Something on your mind, Ms. Shaw?”
“Nope, nothing!” Noelle shook her head. “I should be the one hosting, really, but I’m swamped these days. I would hate to rain on everyone’s parade.”
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