The CEO's Ex-Wife

Chapter 5

*** Matthew Roberts ***

“Mia, where’s my yellow tie? The one that goes with this suit?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know? It’s your tie!” She snaps.

Ayla would have known where my tie is.

Urgh where had that thought come from?

Mia was feisty and a fabulous fu.ck, but sometimes I do miss Ayla. She understands me like no one else. It had been over a week now since she left. Busy drilling Mia constantly, I’d ignored the company and now my ingrate board of directors wanted to meet. Greedy, backstabbing assholes, they were always searching for weaknesses in me, and in each other. Business is lot like politics in that way. Lots of d**k measuring and fake smiles. Everyone is quick to claim credit for ideas but quicker to level blame when the s**t hits. Everyone wants to be you’re best friend when things are going well. They want a piece of your money and power. The second your success falters no one stands by you. They flee like rats from a sinking ship.

I find an adequate tie and drag my hot arm candy to the meeting. Mia chatters excitable the whole drive. She’s ranting about all the people jealous of her, looking at her, happy for her… or some s**t like that. I tune her out. When we arrive and are done greeting each other, she smirks as she slides into the seat where Mia used to sit. Technically, Mia doesn’t have seat at the table, she’s still my assistant. I recognize her statement for what it is. He’s mine. I’m here to stay. She has to demand respect, she doesn’t command it. Ayla had a natural charm that commanded a room’s attention and respect.

“Why is she here?” Askes Michelle. She was always a ballsy mother-fucker. And as the only other woman, besides Ayla on the board, she probably takes personal offense to my mistress’s attendance. Especially since Michelle and Ayla are friends. Michelle has been bugging me for Ayla’s contact information since she left.

“She is my guest,” I answer, my tone final.

I’ll admit, a wave of irrational anger flicked through me when Mia sat down at the opposite end of the table. I wanted to grab her by the throat and throw her out of Ayla’s chair. It’s Ayla’s chair! When she comes back she will be pissed to find out I let my girlfriend sit in it. I may have imposed my will on Ayla at home, but I never disrespected her at work. She was my partner. I’d never undermine her here. Everyone here respected her, I wanted it to stay that way. I needed it to stay that way. My hands twitch under the table. I honestly don’t give a s**t if anyone respects Mia. I don’t really. Maybe I shouldn’t have brought her after all.

Frankly, with the way Mia’s boobs are barely contained, spilling out of that red, skin-tight dress might be enough to distract these idiots from their business concerns. The strapless sparkly gown would be better suited to a ballroom than a board room. She looks like a blond Jessica Rabbit. What she was thinking when she chose that ridiculous dress for this occasion is beyond me. I imagine that all these men are hiding Hard-Ons under the table though. I didn’t call this meeting. I don’t like to be challenged. Imaging Mia’s voluptuous porn star-like body bent over the conference table might throw these geezers off their game a bit, tip the balance in my favor. I’ve already taken her like that after all, I don’t need to imagine it.

I smirk at the memory.

The meeting was dragging and not going well. That bastard Robert was pushing all my buttons. Nothing he said was directly confrontational, or untrue. That made it worse. His jabs would all seem like polite conversation to most people. But he asked about Ayla for f***s sake. I knew he would. The sudden loss of our CEO was the purpose of the meeting after all. Questions about her could not be avoided.

Still, the constant reminder of her desertion irked me. It felt like a stinging slap to the face. She has been a huge part of running this company for years, her unexpected exit left us scrambling. She was the lead on several major projects. Ayla was full of ideas, eager to apply her knowledge, eager to learn, a natural. I’m known as the ruthless, abrasive one. Working together we were perfect. Unstoppable. The board couldn’t understand why she disappeared so suddenly. I couldn’t explain it. I wouldn’t explain it. They were pushing for answers. A vicious circle. Round and Round.

My father founded this company. I’d been its sole CEO for almost a decade since his death. Then I met Ayla and quickly realized her potential I made her co-CEO not long after we married. It took these old sentinels of the board time to adjust to a 22 year old woman being placed above them, but they soon saw what I saw. And now these people think they can sit here and question my leadership, the ‘direction’ I’m taking the company without her. I’m tempted to fire all these jerks, f**k Mia hard and fast on the table - again, and get drunk - alone.

Unfortunately, the first part isn’t an option so the whole idea is jacked. Firing an individual board member is a procedural pain in the ass and usually results in a legal fight. Taking on the whole f*****g board is not worth the headache of the media and legal fallout. I smile at the daydream though.

“Enlighten us, that’s so funny about this situation? We have legitimate concerns. Since you’ve been seen with … Mia, there’s been a riot of rumors. People think you’re not focused on the company. We’ve lost our CEO. The stock prices have plummeted.” George says. He’s one of our largest shareholders, behind me of course, naturally his concern is the bottom line. And a valid concern it is. The papers were not kind to the “gold digger.” And they were right. I know why Mia’s with me. I’m not an i***t. Judging by the way George paused and sneered before he used Mia’s name he agrees. That was one of the things that first attracted me to Ayla. She was never interested in my money or power. She was the first woman to fall for the man, not the CEO. The only woman.

I choose my words carefully, I speak slowly and clearly.

“I’m the CEO.” I pause to make sure that sinks in. I know Ayla was invaluable, but these fuckers better understand. I will not allow them to disrespect me.

“I’m sure these rumors will blow over.” I continue. “We have friends in the media. Let’s have them spin us a nice tale.”

“Perhaps, if Ayla would consent to remain on the board...” Robert begins. He’s my Chief Financial officer. He shits me sometimes, but he is brilliant and he does put the company first.

I sigh, “I’m not sure that’s an option.”

My mind wanders again, remembering the private investigator I hired to watch her.

I smile as I flick through the report. She’s staying with her mom…A shitty job at a shitty diner… No money… No friends… She’ll come home soon.

Scanning the many photos, a suck in a quick breath as one catches my eye. Ayla is standing on a street, couple of plastic bags with food containers by her feet, her face set in a grimace. She’s lifting her shirt high up revealing dark bruising along her sides. How did that happen? Who the hell touched her? My fists clench, bending the photos in my tight grip. I’ll kill bastard who did it. Realization smacks me like an arctic shower, was it me? I can’t remember much from the night she left. I woke up at the bottom of the stairs, uninjured but with one hell of a hangover. I remember there was yelling, grabbing maybe… no s*x, I remember that much. Something must have happened to her after she left me. A car accident? Did her mom do something to her? I’ll have Jackson find out.

That had been a week ago. Jackson still had no idea how she’d gotten hurt. She was still living with her mother, still working at the crappy diner, there was no man in her life, no friends - she’ll come back.

“She’s exceptional. If nothing else, we need to keep her on our payroll so no one else can snag her. I haven’t seen or heard anything about her signing with another company. I’ve been asking around. She’s privy to a lot of strategic information, Matthew. Not to mention private information.” Robert adds.

Stifling a groan, I know he’s right. Alya knew too much about the company, about me. She was persistent and her ability to apply lateral, unconventional thinking to problems and ideas helped grow this company exponentially. At first people thought I made her co-CEO because she was hot and my wife, but her brain was the real reason. Her defection could prove disastrous for the company’s continuity of our internal operations as well as for the company’s competitive position. f**k!

I flick a glance at Mia. She’s not an i***t but she lacks the leadership and grace of Ayla. She thinks she can fill Ayla’s shoes. She’s even said so. She can’t. It’s like when Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles got together. The public thought the world of Princess Diana. It wouldn’t have mattered how wonderful a person Camila was, she was always seen at the home wrecker. Always the bad guy. At least Mia’s smart enough not to have tried to assert herself into this discussion.

We’re essentially at a stalemate. The board wants Ayla back now, but I know that I need time for her to realize her mistake in leaving me. I need them to give her time. Give me time. f**k. I feel like walking out. Ayla never would have left this table without getting exactly what she wanted. My thoughts wandering to her again.

So dominant in the board room, submissive in the bedroom. I tried encouraging her to be a little wilder… Mia’s wild. f**k, now I was picturing railing a spread-out Ayla on the table. I’ve never had this problem in a board meeting before. That runaway wife was messing with my ability to focus. These assholes were right, I am distracted. This is affecting the company. Well, if she wasn’t planning on coming home on her own, maybe I need to go get her. But first I had to do the CEO thing. Be the main point of communication between the board of directors (namely my wife), making major corporate decisions, (about my wife), manage the overall operations and resources of the company (the resource being my wife). That sort of thing.

“I’ll speak with her about maintaining her board position, Robert. Thank you all for raising these issues with me.” I pinned each one of them with my steely gaze in turn. “You are all right, if my personal life affects the company’s success, action must be taken. Please stay in touch.” There, I’d heard them out, pandered to their egos; now we can get the f**k out of here. This s**t could have been an email though. Or a private house call. Or a f*****g text. No need to wrangle the whole damn board to drag my personal life onto the business agenda. What a f*****g waste of time. I need to call Jackson and see if he’s found out anything new about my girl. The board members realize they are dismissed and won’t get much more out of me tonight. Slowly they filter out of the room.

Hearing the door close I glance up and see Mia staring, a flirtatious smirk on her sexy lips. Slowly she stands, places her hands on the table, and slides herself on top of it. She stands on the table and slinks toward me. I lean back in my chair and watch. When she reaches me, she lowers herself and crawls on all fours for just a second, the long dress wouldn’t allow for more. She reaches toward me and grabs my tie, pulling me toward her. She leans toward me for a kiss. At the last second skims past my lips and nibbles on my ear. Soon our hands and mouths are exploring each other.

The meeting didn’t end so badly after all.