Page 136 of It's Not PMS, It's You

I had to put my foot down. “No.”

Gary blew out a breath. “I don’t like where this is going. This is not like you.”

Just because I was showing compassion and didn’t want someone to be fired? Just because I was finally starting to have a life?

I had something I was sure would make Gary change his mind. “There are two other potential companies we can acquire instead of Mathors Aerospace.”

Gary leaned against his desk. “You said we could make a ten-million-dollar profit off Mathors Aerospace without batting an eye. Now you’re telling me we should just flush that money down the toilet?”

“I’m telling you we’ll get that money from a different source. Why does it matter where it comes from? And that wasn’t even the purpose of this meeting. You wantednewrevenue streams.”

“But that doesn’t mean we give up on the old.” Gary shook his head, the first time I had ever seen him so disappointed in me in ten years. “Ruth, there’s a lot of pressure on me from the board to bring in more income.”

I couldn’t believe I was hearing this from him.

I sighed. “I can’t, Gary.”

He nodded, deep in thought. “Sounds like you need time off to think about things.”

Unbelievable.

Another man who wanted me to take time to do some thinking.

“This will give you time to clear your head and think about your role at Stansfeld,” Gary added. “You need to figure out what’s most important to you and reevaluate your priorities. Take a couple of days off and let me know what you come up with.”

I placed my hands on my hips. “You can’t be serious.”

“I am.” Gary sighed. “Maybe your priorities have changed, and if that’s the case, there’s nothing I can do about it. But I need to know ASAP where your head is. I need to make an informed decision about the future of this company. The ball’s in your court. Let me know what you decide.”

Gary turned and walked out of the conference room.

Staring at the back of the door, I stood there deep in thought.

What just happened?

I had come into this meeting with high hopes of showing everyone an amazing new revenue opportunity, something that should have made the company happy, and Nick as well.

It was supposed to be a slam-dunk.

In the end, my idea got bounced to the curb like a basketball.

Maybe I did need time to think about why this was all happening to me.

I needed to tread carefully with Stansfeld and with Nick.

One wrong move and I could lose everything I had worked so hard for.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Two Days Later . . .

RUTH

I flipped over the pancakes on the grill, smiling as my mom cooked bacon, and my dad prepared the coffee. I hadn’t done this in years and had forgotten how much I enjoyed it.

It was my second day off, and I still hadn’t been able to process my thoughts and figure out what my next step was. The pancakes would make up for it, or at least they would give me temporary pleasure until I had to start thinking about work again.

Yesterday, Nick called to chat briefly. He said he wanted to hear my voice, which was a good sign after what had happened at the party. He was busy helping his parents with some home project for most of the day, but then his mom got on the phone and invited me to have dinner with them this evening. It was a little awkward, but there was no way I was going to say no.