Chapter 159

Liam’s POV

The first thing I did when I returned to work Monday morning was try to find a new work station for Aria. The boiler room was no place for an office, despite how much she insisted most of her work was spent on the track with the drivers.

After the argument we had and some of the things she said, I wanted to prove to her that she was still in my thoughts, and that meant solving at least one of her workplace problems.

Unfortunately, with the annex not built yet, and with the overabundance of new hirers, there simply wasn’t enough space anywhere to put everyone.

Immediately, I picked up the phone and called HR. “Do not hire even one more person,” I warned them. “Unless that person is more construction to complete the annex quicker.”

After hanging up the phone, my assistant walked in, carrying more paperwork. Included in the stack was a newer map of the building as well as a list of names.

“This is everyone currently working out of meeting rooms,” she said and handed me the list.

It was lengthy. “None of these people have permanent work stations?”

“I’m afraid not,” my assistant said.

I rubbed my forehead with my hand. How in the world did we let things get this bad? At this rate, everyone was going to have to work on top of each other. I couldn’t even blame my father for this. He had nothing to do with HR.

“Surely HR knows we can’t hire more people than chairs,” I muttered.

The assistant gave me a skeptical look that half made me want to pick up the phone and call down there again. That wouldn’t solve anything though. The current issue was that they already had too many people.

Joanna chose that moment to knock on the door. Stepping into the office without permission, she glanced at the paperwork and maps spread out on my desk and chuckled a little.

“Trying to find a spot for your little girlfriend?” she asked.

“Stay out of this, Joanna. It looks bad for the company to have so many people working out of meeting rooms, but having someone in the boiler room is even worse…”

Joanna’s laughter abruptly stopped. “I suppose you blame me for that.”

“You were the one who assigned her that station. It’s my understanding that you directed some of the staff to move a desk down there,” I said flatly. I had no patience for pointless arguments today. We both knew she was responsible for this, and I wasn’t going to pretend she wasn’t to play whatever mind game she had planned for today.

You see the maps yourself,” she said, planting a hand on her hip. “You have all the arrangements right in front you. The boiler room was simply the best I could do for her.”

“She never should have been removed from the space she had originally,” I said.

“The man who took that space was more than deserving.”

“Not as deserving as someone already on the staff.”

“Aria rarely used that office. It was wasted space!”

“I’m done having this conversation, Joanna. Either help me find a more suitable spot for her, or get out of my office.”

Joanna snorted. “Perhaps you’d rather move her in here with you.” She’d meant it bitterly, like an insult, but it was true.

I would rather have Aria in this office, especially over where she was.

But I couldn’t do that without raising too many suspicious and creating too many questions about favoritism.

Still… doubling up office space. Maybe there was something to that.

“Why are you making that face?” Joanna asked.

“He has an idea,” my assistant said.

“No one asked you,” Joanna grumbled.

Looking down at the map and the list, I counted to make sure it would work. Some of the offices were smaller than others. Some people would be angrier to share than others might be, but yes. It should work.

“No more private offices,” I said.

“Excuse me?” Joanna said, her face twisting with disgust.

“Everyone has to double up,” I said. “The offices are big enough that sharing is possible.”

“People will complain,” Joanna said.

“It’s only temporary. We’ll make it clear that as soon as the annex is built, everything can go back to normal.”

“They’ll still turn against you,” Joanna said. “They’ll say, ‘Why do we have to share when our boss gets his own office?’”

That was true, but I’d already considered that. The solution was simple enough, though I was loathe to actually commit to it.

For Aria, though. To get her out of that boiler room. I was willing to do whatever was necessary.

“I’m also going to share,” I said.

“What?” Joanna’s smug face fell.

“And so are you.”

Unfortunately, because Joanna and I were the only executives, it made the most sense for us to room together in this office. I hated the thought of spending even more time in close quarters with Joanna, but it couldn’t be helped.

She was right, if we kept our single offices while everyone else was forced to share, it would raise discontent in the office. We had enough trouble with the lies and the accusations of cheating. We needed to keep our employees as happy as possible.

When things got tough, I’d simply remind myself, as I would with anyone else in the building – it’s only temporary. Once that annex was built, we’d get our own offices again.

I watched Joanna’s face as she slowly pieced together what this meant. At first, she was furious, but then, after a moment, her mood lifted. She almost seemed pleased.

Looking around, she was likely thinking about where her desk would go, and all of her knickknacks.

I was in for a very long few weeks.

“Should I start making the arrangements?” my assistant asked, looking at me with uncertainty. I could understand her hesitation. Joanna moving into my office meant that her own assistant would be closer. Everyone in the office disliked them.

“Yes,” I said, truly having no choice.

Everything was a mess. This was only the start of what it would take to untangle things.

“I’ll have them move my desk in immediately,” Joanna said. With the speed in which she left the room, she seemed downright giddy.

I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming on. I was going to have to invest in a lot of aspirin, being in the same room all day as Joanna. I could only hope that work would call one or both of us away from the office throughout the day.

This was the best decision, but I had no idea how I was going to survive this.

Aria’s POV

In my boiler room office, I sat with my back to the wall. In my hands, I held the $5 million check that Markus had given me. I hadn’t cashed it, nor had I thrown it away. The week deadline was quickly approaching. Then, I would throw it back in Markus’s face.

$5 million dollars, though. It was so much money. Life changing money.

I wasn’t tempted exactly, but I couldn’t help consider what money like this could bring.

To get it though, I’d have to lose Liam.

$5 million didn’t seem worth that cost…