Page 4 of The Rebel

But before calling Beckett, I pulled up Dorothy’s number as I got in the car. Apparently, she was having some concerns that she hadn’t shared with me. That ended today.

“Hi, Anthony,” she answered after a couple of rings.

“Hi, Dorothy. Sorry for calling you on Sunday.”

“That’s fine. Honestly, I was expecting a call the second yousaw the email. I figured it was better to warn you so you don’t come into the office tomorrow and wonder why you have no assistant.”

“It’s good that you emailed. Thank you,” I assured her.

“You have nothing to worry about. I’m already on it.” She hesitated. “I got a recruiter to help us out this time.”

“Why would a recruiter bother with an assistant’s position? It’s not even worth their money.” Recruiters usually searched for candidates for senior positions.

Dorothy cleared her throat. “It’s just going to make things easier.”

“What are you not telling me, Dorothy?” I pressed. Usually, I’d let this go. I wasn’t prone to micromanaging, and really, all I cared about was having an assistant. I never even got involved in the interview process. But this was bothering me, and I needed to know what was going on.

“We’ve been having trouble finding assistants,” she said smoothly.

“For everyone in the company?”

There was a pause. “Depends.”

My grandparents weren’t bullshitting.

“Chad needed a new assistant last month. Did you use a recruiter for him?” I asked point-blank.

She sighed. “No. The thing is, we’ve had a lot of turnover this year. That’s… working against us.”

“You mean against me? How would people even know that the position is for me?”

“I have to mention the industry. I don’t just put The Orleans Conglomerate. I tell them it’s for our music venues.”

The Orleans Conglomerate was huge. My brother Chad ran the restaurant branch. Julian focused on bars, Beckett on bakeries, and Zachary on the shipping business. Xander was the odd one out and decided not to take over any branch. He was the CFO of the conglomerate. Of course it made sense to put down which industry the assistant was needed for, as thepotential employee would like to know where they’d be working.

“So, let me get this straight. People don’t apply because they don’t want to be my assistant.”

Dorothy hesitated.

I was slowly losing my patience. “I spoke to my grandfathers.”

She gasped. “I’m so sorry about that. I’m not even sure how I ended up having that conversation with them. They were in the restaurant the day your last assistant quit, and one thing led to another, and?—”

“You are not to discuss business with my grandparents.”

“No, of course not. I never do. But I was concerned, and… never mind. I promise it won’t happen again.”

“Good. So, now that you know I spoke to them, be honest.”

“The thing is, word travels.”

“New Orleans isn’t a small town. How can word travel?” I asked.

“I don’t know, but it does. It was a huge hassle to find someone for you last time. That’s why I want to work with a recruiter.”

“That’s fine by me. As long as we get someone who’s good enough.”

“The thing is, we need to address the demands you make of your assistants. Exit interviews indicate you’re very difficult.”