My Ex's Secret Baby by Natasha L. Black

Author:Natasha L. Black [Black, Natasha L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-08-08T16:00:00+00:00

18

Blake

Here we go again. At least I hadn’t had to deal with these board meetings for a few days. I’d arrived early on purpose, to mentally prepare myself. It was an old habit from when I’d been new at the company, still proving myself. Space and time alone gave me confidence, stability. There was nothing I despised more than rushing or acting on something last minute.

Right now, I was so early that even Deidre and Macy hadn’t arrived yet.

No, it was just me and the never-ending expanse of offices that was TopLine. As I walked through the rows of empty cubicles, I tried to imagine how today would go. It was hard to say though; these old farts had surprised me time after time. Though I had the feeling Melvin was setting me up to fail. He may or may not be happy that I’d actually done what he’d asked of me.

The board was supposed to consist of the same twelve members, but they took vacations and switched positions, some leaving without notice and being replaced seamlessly in what felt like mere days. I lost track and, realistically, they never showed much interest in me, unless they were espousing increasingly substantial demands.

I stopped at the familiar far-end cubicle. It had been my desk when I’d first begun with the company. After meeting Robert in the Starbucks, this was where he’d put me.

“Show me some magic, kid,” he’d said.

Oh, I showed him magic. I worked 100-hour weeks, squeezing in the odd FaceTime session with Nicole when I wasn’t working a straight fifteen-hour day. I’d given him everything. Every droplet of energy I’d had. Every idea, every piece of computer science knowledge. When I’d outperformed everyone else, guys who’d been there for five years, some longer, he’d promoted me. Then again. Then again. Each time, of course, I busted my ass, went to extreme lengths. At some point, I’d broken up with Nicole – its inevitability quickly becoming apparent very soon after I’d gotten hired.

I walked back to the board room, looking in at the empty table and chairs. I had to be careful now that I was on top to keep my hunger alive. I couldn’t afford to rest on my laurels. Robert had passed on the Miyamoto Musashi quote, and it had stuck: “One thousand days of lessons for discipline, ten thousand days of lessons for mastery.”

That was the mastery I was aiming for. I wanted TopLine to be the best and most successful company in our field. Better than Virgin, better than all the other players in the space business, chomping at the bit for a piece. Better than SpaceX, even. I wanted to break records, defy what had been done before, and I wanted to do it all with transparency, with a team that loved what they did. With a company that was open, honest, good, and that helped people. I wanted to make Gran proud. I could still hear her last words, clear as a bell, “Make a damn good go of it.

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