A New Foundation by Rochelle Alers

Author:Rochelle Alers [Alers, Rochelle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2021-02-13T14:32:53+00:00

Chapter Eight

Taylor tapped a button on the steering wheel, increasing the radio’s volume as he sang to Bruno Mars’s “Uptown Funk.” Knowing he was going to share dinner with Sonja put him in a party mood. It had been impulsive when he’d invited himself to her home and then asked if she would cook for him.

And if he were honest with himself he would have to admit he had been intrigued before Sonja introduced herself to him at The Cellar. When Viola called her from his car, putting their conversation on speaker he’d been mesmerized with the timbre of her voice. And the expression on her face when he opened the garage door to reveal the vehicle he’d leased for her was imprinted on his memory like a permanent tattoo. It was a combination of shock and then pure joy. It had been the same when she’d walked into the condo. She may have thought of them as perks, but he viewed them as necessities to make her life less stressful and had given her the option of setting her own hours. He did not relish the task of going through hundreds of crates, examining each item and cataloguing or authenticating it as an antique or a reproduction.

Taylor lowered the volume on the radio when a familiar name appeared on the navigation screen. “What’s up, stranger?”

“That’s what I should be asking you, Williamson.”

“It’s all good, Robbie. Right now I’m living the dream.”

“I’m glad you are because I’m so sick and tired of Lansing, Allen and Payette’s dog-and-pony show that I’m seriously thinking about walking into HR and quitting, but not before giving them the middle finger.”

Taylor smothered a laugh even though what Robinson Harris had said was no laughing matter. After the company’s merger several years back things began to change. It was gradual at first, but after a number of Payette’s board members gained a monopoly, the entire culture of the company changed—and not positively. Layoffs escalated, salaries and promotions were frozen, and supervisors were told to lean heavily on their workers to complete construction projects before the designated date in order to maximize profits.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get back to you sooner, but I just got the message. Kendall took my phone when we broke up. She only gave it back once she’d let me into her apartment to get my things. In the interim I was using a prepaid phone.”

Taylor suspected the woman in Robinson Harris’s life had tired of being his girlfriend when she’d hinted to Taylor that she wanted to become Mrs. Harris. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s okay. I’m over it.”

Taylor wanted to ask him how he could be over a woman he’d dated for more than two years. He wasn’t calling Robinson about his love life but about whether he wanted to work for him as his project manager. He was a brilliant architectural engineer who had been passed over for a promised promotion before the merger.

“Do you want to leave the dog-and-pony show?”

There was complete silence from the other end of the connection.

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