Chapter 12: How to Piss Off Your Billionaire Boss with Minimal Effort

“‘I own you,’ he says. What the hell? Can you believe it?” The grip of Octavia’s knuckles around the edge of Lauren’s desk tightened.

On the other side of the desk, Lauren sat in her chair listening to the rant Octavia had begun ten minutes before.

Though Lauren knew both Adelaide and the gentleman being discussed at that moment were out of the office, the anxiety she felt when it came to her employer overpowered the sympathy she felt toward her colleague.

“What a douchebag! I mean, seriously,” Octavia continued. “Who the hell would say something like that? I mean—really.” She straightened and began pacing back and forth in front of Lauren’s desk.

Lauren cleared her throat with a quiet “ahem” and spoke with hesitation. “…Are you sure Mr. Kentworth said those exact words? Maybe…maybe you misheard him?”

Octavia crossed her arms over her chest. “I heard him loud and clear. How could I not? He was practically hissing right into my ear,” she said with a sneer.

Lauren gave Octavia a dubious look. “…He…he was?”

“It’s nothing, really.” Octavia gestured with her hands as if waving away her words, sweeping them into the realm of irrelevance. “Why the hell does he have to be such an overbearing dick?”

Lauren couldn’t help but gasp at Octavia’s words and then glance around nervously. She was fairly certain there were no recording devices around to capture Octavia’s blasphemy.

But still, Lauren had an irrational belief that Mr. Kentworth saw, heard, and knew all.

“I’m sure he didn’t…mean it…that way,” she stammered out.

Octavia snorted in response.

To calm her inner panic, Lauren adjusted the legal pad and the red, blue, and black ballpoint pens she had arranged on the desk before her.

As much as she liked Octavia and appreciated having her in the office, she didn’t want to be involved in a conversation about her boss that he might overhear through whatever supernatural abilities he might possess.

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” Lauren suggested. “Besides, for the next few months, Mr. Kentworth will probably be too preoccupied with his new business deal.”

Octavia groaned and slumped into one of the two chairs in front of Lauren’s desk.

“Oh yeah, that. It’s been nonstop preparation for the meeting that’s supposed to happen with this big-shot dude the tech-billionaire moron might be going into business with. Who is this person anyway?” Octavia asked.

Lauren shrugged. “I have no idea. Everything’s been kept pretty quiet. Adelaide didn’t even tell me. But she did have me file some receipts for the Regency Hotel and a limo service.”

Octavia scowled and sank farther into a slouch in her chair. “Whoever this person is, the poor guy is supposed to meet with the Great and All-Powerful Jackass this afternoon.”

Lauren was able to stifle a gasp at this…though the impulse to make the sign of the cross gripped her.

“Um…shouldn’t you be…helping with something?” she asked.

Octavia shrugged. “Already finished all my tasks.

“The only thing that the Deplorable Ass said before he left this morning was that he’d be back before the meeting at three and that I better have finished my assignments before then,” Octavia said.

“It was just collecting data, sorting through some schematics…that kind of thing.”

Lauren racked her brain for a suggestion that would send Octavia on her way.

“Um…what if you, um…took his suit to the dry cleaners?” she suggested.

Octavia looked at Lauren as if she’d grown a second head.

“He might appreciate that. And then you wouldn’t be in trouble,” Lauren added hastily.

“I’m not in trouble. And if I am, I don’t care,” Octavia said, “but you’re right. I should leave and let you get back to work.”

“I’m not trying to get rid of you or anything!” Lauren said even more hastily, though she was lying.

Octavia stood and gave her a genuine smile. “You have every right to. I just needed to rant. Thanks for listening.”

Lauren returned the smile, though hers was burdened with a twinge of guilt. “Anytime, really. Maybe I can finally get you that coffee sometime, and then we can talk,” she said.

~Someplace at least twenty miles from this building…preferably in a soundproof room,~ she thought.

“Sure, why not?” Octavia left with a wave and then walked the short distance back to her office.

Once at her own desk, she picked the thick folder full of all the information the Deplorable Ass had asked her to print out and have ready for him before his big 3 o’clock meeting.

She strolled to his office, opened the doors, and walked in.

Triggered by her motion, the fluorescent lights in the office turned on, growing from a dim glow to their full luminous blaze. The large, empty room and all its furnishings were bathed in the electric light.

Octavia walked to the desk and tossed the folder onto its surface, then turned to leave.

But she suddenly stopped, turned around, and stared thoughtfully at the large desk before her. Then she strolled around to the other side of it, drew the thronelike leather chair back, and sat down.

~Man, this chair is comfy,~ Octavia thought. She leaned back and rested her hands on the armrests.

Then she spun around in the chair a few times, enjoying the whirl of alternating views—the solemn, austere office space, then the sights of the city out the wide window.

After a few spins, Octavia stopped and noticed the suit jacket draped across the back of the chair.

A mischievous smile curled on her lips, and she snatched the jacket up and slid her arms through each sleeve, then shrugging it onto her shoulders.

“Damn, this jacket’s comfy too!” she said aloud. She once more leaned back in the chair, this time picking her legs off the floor and setting her feet on the desk’s surface.

She smiled at the sight of her worn sneakers set against the large monitors on the desk.

She could see the reflection of her face in the blank, dead screens as well. She knit her brows together, taking on a sardonic look.

“I,” she said in a forced deep tone, “am Mr. Raemon Kentworth. THE Raemon Kentworth. The greatest male being to ever walk the earth!”

Becoming even more amused, she dove further into character.

“I am a technological genius! A brilliant business mogul! A god among mortals! And I OWN you! Mwuhahahaha!!!”

Octavia threw her head back for the villain laugh and wound up collapsing into giggles. She could only imagine what she looked and sounded like.

“Is that meant to be an accurate impression?” a voice across the room asked.