Chapter 2

I drove out to the coffee shop where I'd arranged to meet my client.

The second I pulled in, a company email landed.

Kayla had rolled out a new finance rule:

Effective immediately, every expense had to be approved before you laid out any money. Otherwise, no reimbursement, no exceptions.

Looked like she hadn't found a single thing wrong with my old books, so she'd gotten mad and written a new rule instead.

I couldn't be bothered to fight her over it. I'd just play by the rules.

I snapped a photo of the coffee shop's storefront to log my location, then submitted a request for two coffees.

In under three seconds, Kayla shot it down.

Right after that, my phone rang.

"Cassandra Fox, are you trying to provoke me?"

"So a field trip means going out for coffee? How do you even have the nerve to file for reimbursement?"

I explained calmly. "The client loves this place. She's the one who picked it."

Kayla let out a cold laugh.

"I've seen plenty of old office slackers like you, hiding behind 'work' to play the fancy little socialite on the company's dime."

"Since I'm here to manage all of you, I will not allow this kind of rot to keep going!"

I didn't want to get into it with her. I just said,

"Then I'll treat the client myself. I won't put it through reimbursement."

And I hung up.

The truth was, this little private café wasn't cheap. Two coffees plus dessert ran a hundred, two hundred easy.

But this client mattered, and we got along well, so I'd just treat it like buying a friend a coffee.

When I ordered, the server asked if the receipt should still go under my old company name. I gave an awkward smile and said no receipt.

The client was sharp. She caught the scent of something right away, asked me what was going on, and said if there was a problem, she'd cover it.

Her name was Athena Gray. We'd been doing business together for ten years, and we'd always gotten along.

On top of that, our kids went to the same school, and we'd helped each other out plenty over the years. She was practically a close friend.

So I didn't try to hide it. I told Athena straight out about Kayla.

Athena knew Kayla. She gave a helpless little laugh and said,

"She's got a name in this industry for being impossible. If you're not comfortable there, you could always find a new place. With your contacts and your track record, you should've moved on to something better a long time ago."

I didn't want to drag my mood into work, so I kept going over the renewal details with Athena.

Kayla, though, wasn't done with me. She kept firing off messages:

"Cassandra Fox, you think skipping reimbursement means you can just coast around out there?"

"This counts as absenteeism. I can write you up for it!"

When I didn't answer, she went straight to blowing up my phone.

I picked up, resigned. Her voice was vicious, almost a shout.

"Cassandra Fox, get back to the office and see me in ten minutes, or you can forget about keeping your job here!"

I gave Athena an apologetic look. She waved me off.

"Go deal with the office first. We'll set up another time."

I'd barely stood up when Athena added one more thing.

"Don't worry, Cassie. At that company, you're the only one I deal with. And I'll only sign the renewal with you."