Free Poor Little Rich Slut by Lizbeth Dusseau Page A

“Good morning, Garrison.”
    I slipped into the seat beside my father, avoiding any closeness to the man who made a woman of me just hours before. I felt a little guilty, even embarrassed, although I certainly didn’t want to communicate that fact to my father.
    “I didn’t know you were planning to stay,” I added.
    “I invited him, darling. We have a few things to discuss and since I decided not to return to town until Monday, I thought it would be just as well if we had our discussions here.”
    “Discussions? What kind of discussions?” I asked suspiciously.
    “Oh, you know, the marketing plans for the magazine.”
    I suddenly felt defensive.
    “And were you planning to include me?”
    I could see by the look on my father’s face, that he had no such plans. But he recovered quickly by jumping right back in and denying what I knew was true. “Of course. You should be there,” he said with an all too patronizing smile.
    “Yes, I should. I’m beginning to wonder if I have your respect or if I’m just window-dressing.”
    Garrison flashed me disapproving glance that I ignored.
    “Ellie! After all the nice things I said about you last night,” my father retorted.
    “That was last night. Today you’re planning a marketing meeting with my second in command that I know nothing about. What’s going on here?”
    “You’re being way too sensitive, sweetheart.”
    “No, I am not. This is my company, or so I thought! Either you treat me as the CEO of Country Manor , or you remove me from the post and I’ll go elsewhere.”
    All three of us sat there stunned. Although I was not surprised; the explosion had been building since I began the job ten days before, bolstered by off-hand remarks, gossip I overhead at the water cooler and conversations between Daddy and Garrison that I knew took place. There were memos in my email written to my staff as if I’d known about their decisions and approved of them. Now this! I had to conclude that Country Manor was being run behind my back and Daddy had no plans for giving me complete control.
    “That remark is just plain juvenile,” Garrison finally voiced his bristling disapproval.
    “I’ll thank you not to comment on this.” I turned to him smoldering. “The conversation is between Daddy and me.”
    Garrison’s eyes were shooting darts, which it seems, had the effect of not only making me angrier, but startling my sexual body—exactly the last thing I needed at that moment.
    But by then, even I didn’t want to pursue the conversation; I was afraid of where it would lead with both men.
    “Excuse me,” I said, now trying to sound conciliatory. “Maybe I’m just tired. It was a long night.” I pushed from my chair and rose to my feet, exiting the morning room as quickly as I could without looking totally foolish.
    I sulked in my room for the next hour until I heard a knock on the door.
    “Who is it?”
    The door opened without me giving my consent, and Garrison stepped inside.
    I turned my back on him like a petulant adolescent, realizing how miffed I still was.
    I waited a few moments for him to speak. “Well, that was quite a display,” he said at last.
    “And was I wrong?” I turned to him.
    “What? Wrong that we’re running Country Manor behind your back? Yes, you were wrong. Dead wrong.”
    “I don’t believe you.”
    “That’s your problem, then. Remember, your father is an Old World man. Your taking the reins of a prize possession may be the right thing to do, it may be fashionable to give a woman that kind of power, but it’s not something your old man is used to. There’s no need for you to be part of our discussions today—most of it’s going to be about the Japanese office anyway, not Country Manor .”
    “Is that so?” I said, coolly.
    “Yes. And right now, you’re going to apologize to your father and excuse yourself from the meeting. You’re going to be otherwise occupied.”
    “Occupied?” Just that one word and I could