The Boss's Little Miracle

They’d met when he’d begun coming to the gym where she worked out several times a week. Dressed in running shorts and a T-shirt, he looked fabulous. She’d been instantly drawn to him the first time he’d showed up. Before her session had ended, he’d asked her out for coffee. From then on they’d found time to meet during the week and on the weekends.

She tried to remember all the details of their dates. But her head throbbed and she felt slightly ill again. She so did not need this.

What would this do to a future working relationship? He couldn’t fire her outright, could he? She wished she had had some prior inkling of Tanner Forsythe taking on the helm of Drysdale Electronic. What was she going to do?

Mr. Taylor nodded at the group and began to speak, “As you all know, I’ve talked about retiring for a long time. Mrs. Taylor has finally convinced me to act, not dream. Many of you know the Board met two weeks ago to finalized negotiations with my successor. I spoke with some of you individually last Friday in an attempt to make a smooth transition between my leaving and the assumption of power by our new CEO. I’d like to introduce Tanner Forsythe. He takes over with the full and enthusiastic endorsement of the Board of Directors. He has an impressive background with electronic firms in taking troubled companies and turning them around to make them more profitable than ever. A copy of his impressive résumé is in the packet Ellie will give each of you on the way out. The Board of Directors and I do hope you all will be able to guide Drysdale Electronics to new heights under Tanner’s guidance. I expect each of you to give him your full cooperation and support.”

Mr. Taylor waited for the polite applause to die down, then nodded to the man on his right. “How about each of you introduce yourself, give the department or division you head up and say anything else you think Tanner may need to know for now. He’ll be meeting with each of you individually before the week is out.”

Mr. Taylor checked his watch. “However, let’s keep it brief, I have a lot to review with him myself before I take off for the Bahamas.”

There was some good-natured teasing for a moment. Then Hank Brownson began the introductions with the explanation he ran the accounting department. One by one each person around the table introduced himself or herself and gave a brief description of their area of responsibilities. Teresa’s turn came fast. Anna felt sick. She was next. She heard Teresa explain she was the head of Human Resources, then the silence that followed.

Anna looked at Mr. Taylor rather than into the dark familiar eyes of Tanner Forsythe.

“My name is Anna Larkin. I’m the under-director for European operations.” She could say nothing further. For one awful moment she wondered if Tanner would rescind the promotion promised and refuse to let her move to the Brussels office.

She had been working toward that particular position for more than ten years. For the last five she’d studied French assiduously. Recently all her vacations had been in Europe to familiarize herself with the different countries, and to practice her language skills. She had devoted fifteen years of her life to becoming the best international marketing employee Drysdale Electronics ever had.

For one heart-stopping moment she wondered if it all had been in vain.

So if bad things came in threes, was this the end? Maybe she’d make a miraculous recovery within the next ten minutes. The news from her sister wouldn’t hurt so, and Tanner would send her to Europe with a bonus in her pocket.

And pigs would fly.

As Neil Patterson introduced himself, Anna leaned back in her chair. She had no illusions that life would change in an instant. Her only hope was that she could make it home before collapsing. Looking at the bright side of things, if she were home, he couldn’t fire her, could he?

Once introductions were complete, Tanner gave a short speech. Upbeat and direct, he challenged everyone to rise to the new level of expectations. It motivated without casting any aspersions on Mr. Taylor and his stint at the helm. Anna was impressed.

She’d been impressed before—in the summer. They’d spent endless evenings walking around San Francisco after working out together at the gym, enjoying the city when the crowds were gone, and when the weather was at its best. Talking about everything under the sun, or so she thought, he had never mentioned his exact job. And she had only said she was in marketing. She was not defined by her job.

In fact, she’d only talked about it in great detail right before he stopped contacting her.

The penny dropped. He’d known he was being sought for this position and had stopped dating a future employee.

She wished he’d finished things before they’d gone to bed together. Not only for the awkwardness of finding they had to work together, but for the glorious event itself, which would never be repeated. She had begun to fall a little in love with Tanner, even knowing it could lead nowhere. But she’d never found making love to be so exciting, so enthralling as the night they’d spent together.

She kept her gaze on her notepad, her mind drifting to that night, try as she might to focus on his words to the group. She’d wondered if she’d somehow been lacking—beyond the obvious of course. Now at least she had a more logical reason for his lack of follow up.

Tanner Forsythe moved his gaze around the room studying the features of each of the men and women who now reported to him as they introduced themselves. He knew Anna would be in this group. That had been the sole reason he had stopped seeing her. But when his gaze locked in on her, when he heard her voice, he was surprised by a shock of awareness. They dated for several weeks. Once he learned that she worked for Drysdale Electronics, he had stopped seeing her immediately. Preliminary negotiations for his new position had already begun—and he did not date fellow employees. Especially when they would soon be reporting to him.

Should he have suspected she worked for Drysdale when he met her at the gym? As part of the compensation package he got membership. He’d gone to see if he liked the facility. It was two blocks from the office, crowded after work each day. He should have pushed more at the time to find out where she worked, but he’d been more interested in Anna herself than her employer.

He was not into long-term relationships as a rule. He’d learned his lesson well from Cindy. He wasn’t going to get suckered into anything like marriage again. But he and Anna had meshed in many areas. She made no demands, nor had he. They’d been two people who had a lot in common, and had ended up for one terrific night in bed.

He’d not been out with anyone else since he stopped calling her. The demands on winding up the former job and preparing for this one had been arduous. Nothing he couldn’t handle, but he wanted to hit the deck running. There’d be a sizable bonus in it if he increased the bottom line within a year. Tanner was into achievement.

Forcing his attention back to the meeting, he continued to listen to the different managers and directors and wondered only briefly if Anna would cause a problem. He suspected she was too professional to make a scene in front of everybody, but with women, one never knew. He’d have to make sure their former relationship didn’t throw an additional complication to the new challenge. There was enough to do to turn this business around with the competition facing it, without having to worry about any problems within.

When the last manager finished, Tanner spoke again. “I’ve inherited Ellie Snodgrass as my PA. She has a list of those to whom I wish to speak today. I’ll keep the initial meetings short. I’ve been working for a number of weeks on ideas and changes in strategy, so I hope you’ll show up with an enthusiasm for a new direction and a determination to see Drysdale Electronics regain the preeminent position in our field.”

He turned to Mr. Taylor and offered his hand. “I’ll do my best with your company, sir,” he said.

Everyone broke into spontaneous applause at the comment.

The sound made Anna feel even worse. She felt dizzy and achy and so tired she could hardly hold up her head. Her stomach ached. She hoped she wasn’t contagious. Her fellow employees wouldn’t thank her if the flu ran rampant through the office.

Tanner led the way from the conference room. Everyone scrambled to their feet and quickly left except Anna. She wanted to put her head down and cry at the unexpected turn of events. Or sleep for a dozen years until she felt able to deal with things.

“Coming?” Teresa asked at the door.

Mr. Taylor’s secretary Ellie peered in. She still had several packets left.

“In a minute,” Anna said. Ellie came in and placed the large envelope beside Anna’s notepad and left.

The silence was welcomed. Anna folded her arms on the table and rested her head on them. She had to see if her name was on today’s list. If so, she prayed it was soon. Then she had the journey home—through the pouring rain, the short train ride and then the few blocks walk straight up a hill to her apartment. But once there, she could cuddle up with her cat and sleep until she felt well. Or died, whichever. It was bad enough to get the flu, but to have the shock of Tanner Forsythe as her new boss was beyond anything she’d ever anticipated.

For a moment she wished it was last August again and they had just met. First thing she’d do is tell him she worked for Drysdale.

Or maybe she should wish that they had never met at all.

She heard a sound in the hall and lifted her head. The room spun around a little, then settled. Slowly she rose, picked up her coffee cup and the thick envelope and headed for her office.

There was a note on her desk, Mr. Forsythe would see her at one o’clock.

It was only a little before ten. She had almost three hours to get through. She called Teresa’s extension.

“Human Resources,” her friend’s secretary answered.

“This is Anna, is Teresa available?”

“No, she’s in with Mr. Forsythe.”

“Have her call me when she’s free,” Anna said. So her friend was one of the first to talk to the new man. She wondered what Teresa’s assessment would be. Could Anna get her opinion about how to deal with him? She couldn’t risk revealing anything. She wasn’t even sure Teresa knew she’d been seeing someone, she couldn’t tell her she’d slept with their new boss! She’d have to decide how to handle things on her own.

Reaching for a stack of phone messages, Anna saw several were from the East Coast. She’d get those returned first, then call the local ones. Might as well make best use of her time.

Promptly at one, Anna arrived at Ellie’s desk. She’d had some soup for lunch and was feeling marginally better. The rain had tapered off. All in all, the day seemed to be improving.

“I’m here for my appointment with Mr. Forsythe,” she said. She’d brought the latest plans she and Thomas Ventner had discussed. Thomas was the current Director in Brussels. Scheduled to retire in December, he’d been grooming Anna for his position for months.

“Ben Haselton’s still in there. Be another minute or two,” Ellie said. “Tanner has been good about not running long with anyone.” She peered at Anna. “Are you all right?”

“Think I’m coming down with the flu,” Anna said. “I’m trying to stay away from everyone so I don’t pass it around.”

“Have a seat, dear. I take public transportation. There’s no avoiding some illness during the winter months.”

Anna had scarcely sat when the door opened and Ben Haselton emerged. He looked upset. Charging ahead, he didn’t speak to either of them.