The CEO Above My Desk (Mckenzie Shinabery) novel Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Violet

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By noon, it’s clear that today isn’t going to let up.

It never does when I come in early.

Avery has already called my extension four times, each one routed through Camille because she still can’t remember the internal numbers. I ignore the first three. On the fourth, Camille sighs softly into the receiver before transferring the call.

“Violet,” Avery says immediately, voice tight and irritated. “Rowan moved the investor lunch and I didn’t know and now they’re annoyed and-”

“I updated the calendar,” I say, eyes never leaving my screen.

“Well, I didn’t see it.”

“You didn’t check,” I reply.

There’s a pause. Then, offended silence.

“I need you to come upstairs,” she says.

“I’m busy.”

“You’re always busy,” Avery snaps. “That’s not my fault.”

“No,” I say calmly. “But your job is.”

She hangs up on me.

I don’t react.

I log the call, reroute two more, and respond to an email from legal asking for confirmation on a meeting Rowan already canceled himself. I send the confirmation without commentary. They don’t need it.

Ten minutes later, Theo appears at the desk, tie loosened, jacket off, phone pressed to his ear.

*-yes, I know the optics,” he says. “No, I don’t care. Send me the revised copy.”

He ends the call and looks at me. “Please tell me you’ve got a miracle in your back pocket.”

“I have a schedule,” I reply. “And a revised press outline.”

He exhales like I handed him oxygen. “You’re a lifesaver.”

“I’m a receptionist.”

Theo snorts. “Sure you are.”

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Chapter 10

He leans closer, lowering his voice. “Rowan moved the lunch again. Avery didn’t tell anyone.”

“I know.”

Theo studies me. “How do you always know?”

I don’t answer.

He nods once, already understanding. “I’ll handle it. If Rowan asks-”

“I’ll cover,” I say.

Theo’s mouth curves into a grateful smile. “I owe you.”

“Everyone does,” I think, but don’t say.

By two o’clock, I’ve handled three issues that weren’t mine.

By three, the reason I’m being pulled into Rowan’s orbit becomes painfully clear.

The corporate dinner.

It’s on his calendar-private, off-site, involving investors who prefer discretion and expect perfection. The kind of dinner where one wrong detail becomes a reason to pull funding.

And Avery touched it.

My phone buzzes with an internal alert, and I already know before I open it.

RESERVATION: CANCELED

I stare at the screen.

Slowly, I pull up the restaurant details. The date. The time. The confirmation number that no longer exists.

Avery didn’t move the reservation.

She canceled it.

I don’t swear. I don’t sigh. I don’t waste time being angry. I open a new tab and start calling.

The first restaurant is booked solid. The second laughs politely. The third puts me on hold long enough that I move on to the fourth without waiting.

Finally-success.

Same level of class. Same privacy standards. Same expectation of discretion.

The only downside?

It’s further away.

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1 secure the table, send confirmation to Rowan’s private calendar, arrange transportation to adjust for the distance, and forward the updated details to legal and security. All of it happens in under ten minutes.

No one thanks me.

They never do.

At five-thirty, Rowan steps out of his office.

Avery is already hovering, phone clutched tightly in her hand.

“You canceled the reservation,” Rowan says flatly.

Avery blinks. “I-I thought I was moving it.”

“You weren’t.”

“I didn’t mean-”

“You’re done for the day,” he cuts in.

Her head snaps up. “What?”

Silence.

“I am not coming down tonight when you decide,” I continue, voice flat and sharp. “My life does not revolve around your inability to do your job.”

“Now hold on-”

“I said listen,” I snap. “You don’t get to bully me because you think pressure will make me slip. It won’t.”

He tries again. “You don’t dictate-”

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Chapter 10

“I absolutely do,” I say. “Because if I get fired from my job due to your harassment, I will bury you in paperwork so deep you won’t have time to harass

anyone ever again.”

That shuts him up.

“My mother is sick,” I continue. “She requires care. That care is paid for by this job. You interfere with that, and I will sue you so aggressively you won’t have a pension left to stand on.”

A sharp inhale on the other end.

“I will come in later tonight,” I finish. “When I’m done working. You will deal with it.”

“You can’t just-”

I hang up.

No goodbye. No hesitation.

My hand doesn’t shake as I lower the phone.

I don’t feel brave. I feel done.

I pick up the folder from my desk and straighten the edge against the counter. Corporate dinner. Transportation. Timing.

Then I walk toward Rowan Ashcroft’s office.

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The CEO Above My Desk