Ineffable Read Free Page B

See who was around. He might be able to stumble upon a lick, as she liked to say.
    He was up bright and early at the gym where he worked out for over an hour, trying to purge some of the energy roiling through his system. But his normal sanguine had deserted him. Almost as soon as he showered he felt out of sorts again. He had to force himself to sit at his desk and email until his first meeting. He managed, just, but the second his last meeting wrapped he headed out. Tommy was his first stop.
    You at work, he texted.
    Yeah, she answered. Come on by.
    On my way. Want coffee?
    Yeah, peace.
    Nori grinned and held up a hand to hail a cab. Excellent.
    Tommy drank the coffee like it was water.
    “Thank God,” she rasped. “I had a headache like you would not believe. It’s already receding. I love caffeine.”
    “What’s wrong?”
    “Nothing, I’m fuckin’ swamped, and I need to go by Margot’s.”
    Perfect. It was just the opening he needed. Maybe too perfect. He’d better figure out sooner rather than later why she was making it so easy for him to fuck her friend. You never knew with Tommy. She’d be smiling beatifically one minute, and the next you’d find yourself bleeding, your foot caught in a trap. “Why? Is she okay?”
    “Yeah. She okay.”
    Nori wanted to shake her when Nia came in the room and she turned away.
    “What is this?” She asked, accepting the storyboards her assistant offered.
    “Willie brought them over. He said his computer is acting crazy.”
    “This is not what we talked about,” Tommy spat, flipping through them. “I’m gonna fucking act crazy if he doesn’t do what I say. Get his ass on the phone, now. Nori, I gotta go.”
    His brows rose. Apparently he’d been dismissed. “You look really busy. Why don’t I check on Margot for you.”
    She eyed him. “Yeah? It could be ugly.”
    He laughed. “Excuse me?”
    She shrugged, dropping into her desk chair and spinning toward her laptop. “Sometimes people have a bad day for a reason,” she said cryptically.
    And she’s gone, Nori thought as Tommy yelled for the phone right before Nia came rushing in with a cordless. But that was okay; he had one little artist to check on, and a store, something whispered.
    Shit. Right. The store.
     
     
    Nori knew he was being impatient, but he was in a hurry, and this particular problem wasn’t one he should have to deal with. If an employee isn’t working, and the individual has been given an opportunity to straighten out, enough already. Business moves too fast, and customers are too demanding and too fickle to dither over anything as critical as management.
    Candy, however, was begging for leniency, and that leniency was now standing in between him and the most exciting piece of pussy he’d met in his entire life.
    “I don’t understand why she can’t sell this shit, Candy. This location is fabulous. The product is fabulous. The stores on either side of us are fucking profitable, and fabulous. What’s the problem?”
    Candy looked uncomfortable.
    “I’m sick of this.” He was also in a tearing rush to get to Margot. “This was your hire. Give her one more chance to straighten out, one, or get rid of her. I don’t have time for this shit. Maybe now you’ll fucking believe me when I say HR is a specialized thing. You do marketing. I do business. We do not do fucking HR. When we do, we get this,” Nori flung a hand out to indicate the manager who was probably listening at the door.
    “Know what? I’ll prove to you that management is at fault for the problems we’re having at this store. It’s not our merchandise, the economy, the location, the time of day or any other fucking thing you or that silly woman can come up with. The very first customer I encounter when I leave this room, if I can get her to buy something, you get rid of that manager when I say. Deal?”
    “Deal,” she said reluctantly.
    Nori nodded, pleased she knew she didn’t have a choice.
    Serendipitously,