Romance: Working for the Billionaire's Pleasure by Kelli Sloan Read Free Book Online

10
     
     

 
     
     
     
    I am shattered.
    For the first time in my life, I had the chance to stand up for myself.
    And I did.  I quit this job.
    I stood in front of the most beautiful man I have ever met and told him that I couldn’t work for him.  It took every ounce of my courage to do that, but I couldn’t resist his control.
    I crumbled under the pressure of his dominance. 
    After crying in the loneliness of a locked toilet cubicle, I return to my desk with smudged make-up.
    What a horrible day.
    I sit at my desk, fuming about Mitchell’s complete disregard for me and for the future of the music industry.  A week ago, this company would have falling over itself trying to hold onto that band.  Joel would have jumped at the chance to develop this band.  Joel wouldn’t have cared that they wouldn’t make money because it was never about the money. 
    Large bands signed with our record label because we had the reputation of looking after the future of the music industry, but not anymore.
    Not now.
    Now we are all about the money, nothing else. 
    We might as well be a bank.
    If it doesn’t have the potential to make a lot of money, then Mitchell will shut it down.  That’s all he cares about.
    Money.
    Those dirty, seductive, evil green notes.
    It's not what I’m about and that’s not what this company is about.  How could I possibly convince Mitchell that this is not the way to go?  
    Maybe I shouldn’t convince him? 
    I sit at my desk, thinking about my options.
    I slept with him.
    I slept with my boss.
    I don’t feel great about that. 
    I don’t feel good about that at all.
    Can I swallow my pride and keep working for him?
    I don’t know if I can.
    As I ponder that thought, another email comes through from Mitchell.
    It is just one word.
    The email does not begin with hello and there is no goodbye.  There is no thank you or any other statement.
    It merely says,
     
    Coffee.
     
    That’s it.
    A directive for me to follow. 
    And that is all I am now to this company – I am just another employee to make the boss feel good about himself.
    That is not good enough for me.
    I can’t take that.
    I won’t take that.
    I am worth more than that.  I am a valuable member of society.
    I am a woman.
    I storm into Mitchell’s office, and this time, he looks up at me.
    His eyebrows rise when he doesn’t see a coffee in my hands.
    “Where’s my coffee?”
    “I quit.”
    I state the words firmly.
    “Go and get my coffee first.”
    “What?”
    Is he serious? 
    “You can’t leave this business, Chloe.  This business is as much a part of your personality as your sexiness is.”
    “No it’s not.  I am more than this business.”
    “You are not.  This business is all you know.  You can’t leave that.  You would be nothing without this business.”
    He sets down the statement as a challenge.  Do I know anything other than this business?
    Am I brave enough to accept his challenge?
    I stare at his face.
    His beautiful, rugged face.
    And all I can think is one word – bastard .
    “Stuff your business.”
    With huff, I storm out of his office to pack my desk.
     
     

Chapter 11
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
    Eva is quick to join me for a debrief chat in my apartment.
    “You walked out the door?” she asks.
    I nod, still with tears in my eyes, “It feels like I’ve lost a part of my soul.  That business is all I have known as an adult.  I have known nothing different.  From the moment I started to become an adult, it is all I have I have done.  It’s taken up my days, my nights and my weekends.  I don’t know who I am without the business.”
    “You’re more than just the job, Chloe.  You are so much more than that, you said so yourself.  You are a smart, successful, funny, sexy woman.  You are not that job.  You are your own woman.”
    “But I feel like a part of me has died, Eva.  I feel like I have thrown away the best relationship I have ever had.  The job was my boyfriend.