The Executive Liaison, page 1
The Executive Liaison
ANNA STONE
HILDRED BILLINGS
© 2022 Anna Stone and Hildred Billings All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be replicated, reproduced, or redistributed in any form without the prior written consent of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover by Cormar Covers
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
Also by the Authors
About the Authors
Chapter One
“H ey, you can’t do that anymore. Remember?”
Isabel bit into her lunch, a sandwich she’d bought at the shop across the street long before work started.
Know what I remember? The sandwich bar we used to have in our old office. Those were the days. Nap pods.
Unlimited snacks. Friday night happy hour with drinks paid for by the company.
The startup’s old offices had been a broke college grad’s paradise. Their new offices in the Black Diamond Building?
Not so much.
Isabel swallowed. “Why does it matter where I eat my lunch?”
Her best friend Alexis shrugged. “I’m just saying. You’re not allowed to eat at your desk anymore.”
“I always eat lunch at my desk. Besides, this isn’t even my desk. It’s everyone’s desk.” Isabel glared around at the open, sterile co-working space she shared with her coworkers. It was bad enough that they’d moved their entire office to a different building in a completely different part of Seattle, one so far from Isabel’s studio apartment that she had to wake up almost an hour earlier just to get to work on time. But to not even have her own desk?
And she couldn’t spend her workdays commiserating with Alexis since their departments were at opposite ends of the office. In the old office, they had only been a quick kick of a
wheeled chair away from one another. The old office was smaller than this one, but that just made it cozier. Everything had been looser there. Less corporate.
All that had changed when Connect was sold to Black Diamond Holdings. The news had come swiftly, albeit with a big smile from the startup’s previous CEO and enough applause and streamers dropping from the ceiling that Isabel wondered if they were transferring to Hawaii. Instead, that was where the CEO retired.
On his yacht. With his new girlfriend half his age.
So here they were, one month later, in their brand-new office in the Black Diamond Building.
Isabel should have been excited. After all, she was twenty-three and already working for a successful startup that was going to change the world. Connect was everything Isabel believed in. It was an app that connected people to others in their community. Want to find the best tamales in your neighborhood? We’ve got you covered. Want to learn how to start a vegetable garden? There are four people on your street wanting to do the same thing.
The app’s mission statement was simple and to the point.
In a world where community life was dying and capitalism ruled, how did one go about making meaningful connections and breaking free from their reliance on big corporations, especially in large cities like Seattle? Many people couldn’t afford to move away from the city, but the urban areas were pricing them out all the same. Connect wasn’t just about helping someone find a guitar tutor. It was about building community, swapping skills, bartering instead of relying on the almighty dollar.
Everything about it appealed to Isabel when she applied for a graphic design position after graduating from college.
She’d become the head of the department within six months.
“We want young, forward-thinking minds,” CEO Evan Albright had said during her interview. “You guys are the future. Help us build the world you want to grow old in.” His vision had seemed like such a noble one.
Isabel should have known better.
She sighed. “I miss the sandwich bar.”
“You can thank our new overlords for that,” Alexis said.
“Black Diamond isn’t going to give you a literal free lunch every day. Let’s face it—it was always too good to last.
Everything about this startup was. Evan really conned us into thinking he was different from the other Silicon Valley types.”
Isabel murmured in agreement. If she had taken Connect’s surprise acquisition hard, Alexis had taken it much harder. She believed in the startup’s vision even more than Isabel did.
Social media engineer Alexis was the cornerstone for getting the word out about Connect. Marketing spent the money and did the dirty work, but Alexis was the one reaching out to the Twittersphere, and convincing the number crunchers that Facebook was dead and Instagram was the future.
It was how Isabel and Alexis had become friends. They often worked together on social media campaigns, with Alexis telling Isabel what she needed and Isabel injecting her artistic creativity to attract more clicks and engagement.
Alexis continued to rant. “When will I learn to never trust men who wear black turtlenecks to work? They all think they’re Steve Jobs and going to change the world.”
“They definitely changed our worlds.”
Alexis snorted. “I’m a little older than you, so let me tell you how this is gonna work. Our new CEO is going to come in here, tell us that everything ‘will be the same’ but with ‘some changes down the pipeline.’ First, they take away or seriously downgrade the snack offerings. Then, they tell us we can only nap during our lunch hour. Then they start chopping staff and spreading their work around. You’ll be taking work home not because you’re inspired, but because your deadline was moved up two weeks. Which is also how long your notice will be, when they eventually give you the chop, too.”
Isabel pretended her chips were so delicious that she didn’t hear Alexis’s words. Isabel liked routine. She liked familiarity.
There had been so many changes already. The idea that there
would be even more change to come was something she didn’t want to think about.
But it was inevitable. The new CEO had big plans to expand Connect. Initially, the app had launched in Seattle, but it had since grown to include every major city on the west coast. And according to the dossier everyone received at the buy-out, Black Diamond was determined to take the app national by the end of the following year. That made Isabel a little more optimistic about the new leadership. But Alexis was older and had more experience with these things.
Then again, Alexis was cynical about everything.
She stole a chip from Isabel’s bag. “Did you hear the new CEO is coming by this afternoon? She starts today, now that we’ve done all the hard work of moving in.”
“From what little I’ve heard of her, she doesn’t seem too bad.”
Alexis almost choked on her chip. “Please. We’re talking about Scarlett Black. Do you know who she is?”
“Obviously. She’s part of the Black family.” Everyone in Seattle knew who they were. They practically owned half the city and had for generations.
“She’s not just part of the family, Izzy. She’s the heir to her family’s corporate empire. Her father Phillip is the head honcho, and he’s a ruthless, cutthroat douchebag. She has to be just like him if she’s going to inherit the company. We’re her testing ground to prove herself to him.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do. Trust me. ”
Isabel, now halfway through her sandwich, rolled back the paper, dropping a piece of lettuce to the floor in the process.
Alexis bent down to pick it up. As her long, dark hair popped back into view, another brunette marched into the room.
Isabel nearly dropped the rest of her sandwich.
She had never met Scarlett Black before, but she instantly recognized the woman’s striking face. She looked like she’d
emerged from the centerfold of a magazine. Silky brown waves washed over her shoulders as she snapped a briefcase open on a nearby table. Black pumps adorned her feet, and her skintight black dress, cinched at the waist with a golden belt, hugged every delicious curve.
What is she doing in an office like this? She should be taking over Hollywood! Did Victoria’s Secret need another Angel? Because this one just fell from lingerie heaven.
Oh, good. Isabel was imagining her new boss in lingerie already.
“Ahem.” Scarlett tapped a stack of papers on the desk, commanding the attention of everyone in the room.
Isabel shoved her half-eaten sandwich into her bag. But the chips? The bag fell to the floor, spilling crumbs onto the linoleum beneath her chair. Alexis rolled her own chair into place, blocking Scarlett’s line of sight from the mess Isabel had caused while doing something that was now expressly forbidden by company policy.
What is wrong with me?
“Could I please have everyone’s attention?” Scarlett’s voice was as silky as the hair crowning her flawless face.
She has my attention. The pictures of Scarlett Black did not live up to the woman in the flesh. Photos didn’t capture the sheer glow of her skin or the elegant mannerisms that brought more attention to her devilishly red lips and the dangling teardrop earrings that accented her jawline.
All that was missing was a silken scarf. One Scarlett would remove from her throat and dangle before Isabel’s gasping visage. Tie me to my chair and tell me you want me…
Isabel tried in vain to shove the thought aside. Great. What a perfect way to start a professional relationship.
“Thank you,” Scarlett continued. “I believe everyone is here today, yes? Soon enough, I’ll learn your names and recognize all of your faces, but for now, I’ll introduce myself.
I am Scarlett Black. I am the new CEO of Connect, and it’s my job to bring this company to the next stage of development.”
She paused for comments. However, her expression suggested she didn’t want to entertain a single interruption.
“Undoubtedly, you’ve heard some rumors about myself and my company.” The way her voice projected through the big, bright office space impressed Isabel. She could barely make herself heard by her coworkers at her table on a good day.
Is her voice naturally so magnetic, or did she train it to sound that way? She looked like the kind of woman with enough money to pay for that, to pay for anything she desired.
Either way, the effect was clear. Scarlett’s voice made Isabel shiver.
“I’ve already heard whispers that all I intend to do is fire half of you before the end of the first month. Maybe I’ll convince you to quit. Or maybe I’ll helpfully suggest another company of my family’s for you to transfer to, with the same pay and benefits package. There are many, many rumors, aren’t there?”
She looked directly at Alexis and Isabel when she said that. Isabel’s cheeks began to burn, but Alexis squared her shoulders as if to say, “Come at me.”
“I can’t tell you what the future looks like. All I can say with certainty at this moment is that we are impressed with the numbers and projections your previous CEO Evan Albright left us. His legacy and vision will not be forgotten. I’ve taken a personal interest in Connect because of what I believe it can do for our fellow Americans. The success of the app so far is all due to your hard work. That said—”
“Here it comes,” Alexis muttered.
“—there will be some changes happening at Connect in the coming weeks and months. For today, I’ll be settling into my office and taking the time to get to know the heads of every department. If there’s time, I’ll meet more of you. Do feel free to go about your work as usual, and make judicious use of our coffee and juice bar. It’s lovely to meet you all.”
Without another word, Scarlett turned and marched her briefcase, papers, and stiletto heels into the back corner office that overlooked Capitol Hill.
Murmurs erupted throughout the office. While Isabel reeled from the storm that was Scarlett Black, Alexis sank deep into her seat and let out a mighty groan.
“We are so screwed,” she said.
Isabel unearthed her sandwich and nibbled on a piece of turkey. “That woman. She’s…”
“Our worst enemy. Mark my words, Izzy. Scarlett Black spells the end times for this grassroots startup of ours. Fuck you, Evan. He ruined everything for us.”
“We don’t know what’s going to happen yet.” Isabel’s appetite had flown the coop. She wrapped the paper around her sandwich and buried it in the bottom of her bag. I’ll finish it in the break room. If it stopped raining outside, she might take it to the Black Diamond courtyard, where office workers and custodians alike were known to congregate, gabbing on their phones and doing mid-morning yoga in their work clothes. “She does seem kinda… tough, though. Way stricter than Evan ever was.”
“Well, yeah. Evan had us call him by his first name.”
“Maybe Ms. Black will as well?”
“So why are you calling her Ms. Black already?”
“I don’t want to be on the boss’s bad side on the first day,”
Isabel said. “Remember, this is my first real job. I don’t want to blow it.”
“Haven’t you heard the oldest Millennial adage yet?”
“Unlike you, I’m not a Millennial.”
“Then let me impart some wizened Millennial wisdom on you.” Alexis crossed her arms. “If you stay at a company for more than two years, you’re being underpaid. If you don’t get a nice raise soon, I would start looking for a new job. God knows that’s what I’ll be doing.”
“You really think things are going to go downhill?”
Alexis’s expression grew more somber than Isabel had ever seen it. “Yep, unfortunately. But I’d love to be proven wrong.”
So would Isabel.
Especially when she thought about that soft, wavy hair and the way those hips moved when Scarlett waltzed off to her new office.
Chapter Two
S carlett crossed another name off her list. Toby Deen: Head of Customer Service. Toby and his two team members handled all of Connect’s customer inquiries. One of the things he had asked his new CEO was if he could get one more body in his department. As Connect expanded into more cities, there would be more emails and phone calls, often requiring lengthy conversations and back-and-forth exchanges.
But Scarlett saw only one possible outcome for Toby and his crew. At best, his department would be downsized. At worst, they would lose their positions completely to a third party who could do all the customer service for much, much cheaper.
Scarlett let out a heavy sigh that echoed through the vast room. The corner office was furnished exactly how she liked it. She’d picked everything out herself, from the glass desk to the minimalistic modern art on the walls.
But it didn’t make her feel any less like she was in hell.
It was a hell assigned to her by her father. From the moment he had invited her to a private dinner and announced that the family holdings had acquired a “promising new startup,” one thing had become clear—this was it. Scarlett’s time had come to shine, or to fizzle out like a dead star. She was thirty-eight and had been studying the family business for most of her life.
It’s time to prove myself.
There was immense pressure on her shoulders. Her father wanted to retire soon. He hadn’t said so, but Scarlett knew him better than anyone else. She even knew him better than her mother, who was usually preoccupied with her own life.
Dad is getting older. Slower. He has places he wants to go and old friends he hasn’t seen in years. People met Phillip Black and swore they’d encountered one of the most frightening men in Seattle, but Scarlett knew better.
Sure, he could be blunt, and her sister Parker often joked that he had “resting asshole face.” But he was only human.
The man had worked hard his whole life. Putting in long hours, neglecting family time, giving himself ulcers over business deals that could destroy everything his ancestors had built over the generations. Perhaps other people couldn’t relate to that, but Scarlett knew the feeling well.
She was facing her own ulcer over this acquisition. It wasn’t the first she’d been involved with. She often played the role of her father’s fixer, whipping smaller companies Black Diamond acquired into shape. But none of those companies had been as important and successful as Connect.
Although, ‘successful’ wasn’t how she’d describe the startup right now.
“Five million dollars,” she said out loud, setting aside Toby’s personnel file and picking up the next one in the pile.
“Somehow, I have to save five million dollars over the next few months.”
Connect was a local media darling. Dozens of neighborhoods across the west coast had lauded it as a huge success, helping them forge brand-new communities that bartered with each other and helped those who needed it.
Scarlett saw it too, the need for people to have the kind of social lives that their ancestors had enjoyed for thousands of years.
Modern life stifled natural social connections. As Evan Albright had pitched in one of his investor videos, “Modernity has trapped us in our houses, staring at screens and getting everything we need delivered to our doors. What if I told you
