Anna set the papers down on her desk with a smile on her face. She'd been interested in Highlands Publishing for quite some time, and with what she'd just read, it was time to move in. Her goal had been to expand Jenkins Publishing. She was ready to move from the middle of the pack, and join the big kids, and getting Highlands would help.

"Annabelle," the voice came from the phone buried under papers on her desk. "Cole is on his way up. He says it's an urgent matter."

"Thank you Elle."

No doubt if Cole was going to her directly without calling ahead, it was urgent. He dealt with much of the company, all the other parts that Anna wasn't quite up to speed with yet. She sat at the top of an empire built on the Jenkins name. A company that not only delved into the publishing world now, but reached into electronics and auto as well.

The door opened with a force that caused the blinds on the windows to flutter slightly. Cole stepped through, tense as ever. Sometimes Anna thought the man worked too hard. He was asked to keep an eye out on any problems that may arise with the other two thirds of the company while she took care of the publishing.

"You're needed in an auto safety meeting. There's talk of a recall."

"What's the matter?" Anna asked evenly.

"Faulty seatbelts."

Anger flared in the pit of Anna's stomach. Safety was Anna's number one concern. Faulty seatbelts was not something she wanted to deal with. It was unacceptable.

"Why wasn't I notified sooner of this problem?"

"You said to only come to you if necessary. And it was sudden."

"What floor?" She asked, getting up from her desk already with pen in hand, opening the bottom drawer to find her binder than contained information from past auto meetings.

"Third, ma'am." Cole held the door open for her and they made their way to the elevators. He pushed the button beside the number three, and they went down fifteen floors.

The heels of Anna's shoes clicked a cadence as she made her way down the hall and to the only conference room. It was already full of people.

Rick, their PR guy sat at the opposite end. Though his outward appearance was one of calm, Anna knew he must be in full-on panic mode. How in the world was he going to clean up this mess?

Another man opened the door "Miss Jenkins, thank you for joining us."

She didn't know the man's name or what his position was. He must work for her in some capacity though. She responded with a tight smile, and sat down at the head of the table.

"Tell me what's going on." Straight to business.

"There have been reports of faulty seatbelts. There's no confirmation yet on whether it's true, but the evidence we have so far doesn't look good," Rick said.

"What's the evidence?"

"There was an accident involving one of our vehicles. The woman went through the windshield, and there's evidence that she had been wearing the seatbelt."

"What's the evidence?" Anna asked again. She was losing her patience. This was the last place she wanted to be, and the last thing she wanted to deal with.

"The seatbelt ripped out." It was the man who had held the door open for her.

Anna turned to look at him. That same anger spread, moving out from her stomach, and heating her whole body.

"What are you going to do?" Anna asked.

"Ma'am?"

"Something must be done. What do you plan to do?" She turned back to Rick. "How are you going to clean this up? I know you're wondering that yourself. Seatbelts are the only means of safety people have control over. When they get into that car, they can't control whether or not the airbag will go off the way it's supposed to. They can't control how their car will crumple if they run head-on into something, but they can control whether or not they put that seat belt on. Now that's been taken away. So, my question is: what are you going to do?"

"That's why we've asked you here Miss Jenkins," a woman said.

Anna knew her name was Helen. She was one of the top employees in the auto faction of the company, and one of her mother's friends.

"You've taken over the company now. It's been two years since your assumption of the role, and it's time you take on the rest of the your duties, which include putting out the fires that arise."

Anna sat straight-backed in her chair.

"Okay. Then we will proceed by checking out these claims. I want to know if what is claimed, actually happened. We need to get ahead of this. Find out what year, make, and model it is. Make sure what's happening there isn't happening other places. Check everything. Double check. Get back to me when we know what's happening. Rick, I expect you to keep in touch. We're going to have to address this. Be on call."

The room was eerily silent. Annie wasn't sure what else she was supposed to do there, so she decided it was time to make her exit.

"Keep me informed. Cole, come with me."

When the elevator door closed behind them, Anna sighed.

"You really have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

Cole was the only person who ever saw inside her office, and therefore saw the real her. She couldn't afford to let anyone else see that part of her. They would know the truth, the truth he knew.

"Does anyone?" Anna asked.

"Fair point, but you're over your head. Auto and electronics are beyond you. Is that why you invested so much time into starting the publishing company? So you would know at least part of what you were doing?"

"And if that's why?" Anna knew better than to admit.

"You can officially appoint someone to that task you know. You're in charge. Whether it's orthodox or not, you can do it. Just create a new position that assumes those roles."

"I could only give a role like that to someone I trust."

"That is a wise choice. It would be quite a bit of power for one person. They would work closely with you."

Anna nodded. "You."

"Me?" They stepped out of the elevator and walked back to Anna's office.

"Yes. You're the only one I trust that much. My father trusted yours as well as you, and he was a good judge of character."

"Well thank you for the vote of confidence, Annie." Cole gave a sly smile with the use of her nickname. It was one only he knew. In the office she was either Annabelle, or A.F. Jenkins.

Annie looked at the plaque outside her door. It was one of the few things left from her father's days. Andrew Frank Jenkins. He'd died in a plane crash just over two years before. Annie had decided to keep the plaque and name. It made her feel like her father was still with her.

"It's a job you've been doing already, Cole. It will just officially be on paper."

"How will it be done?"

Annie shut the door behind them and took her place behind the desk.

"Quiet as always. No need to make a big spectacle. We've been quiet from the beginning, we don't want to ruffle feathers now."

"People are going to think you're up to something."

"People don't even have their eyes on me. I've enjoyed my privacy, and I'm not ready to give it up."

"Okay, so you're really doing this? And you're giving it to me?"

"Unless there's a compelling reason I shouldn't. Are you going to take advantage and try to ruin me or this company?"

"Annie, Annie, Annie. I would never do such a thing. Cross my heart." Cole made a cross over his heart with his finger like a little boy, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes. Only in the safety of the office would either even dream of acting in that way.

"Then I'll have the paperwork drawn up and it will be official by next week."

She pressed a button on her phone and voice messages started to play. The first was her mother reminding her they had a lunch date for that afternoon. Annie looked at the clock. She was supposed to be there in five minutes, and it would take at least fifteen to get there, and that was if the traffic was good.

"Shoot. I need to run. I really hate to do this, especially when you've already got your hands full with the other parts of the company, but do you think you could be the middle man for this deal with Highlands Publishing?"

"They're selling?" Cole asked surprised.

"Not exactly. I have everything in the folder there. The meeting is at the Harte in an hour. I know this lunch is going to take longer than that."

"Alice does love to talk," Cole said jokingly.

"She would also love to think I'm not responsible enough to run the company. I need to get going." Annie already had her purse in hand and was on her way out the door. "Everything you need should be there. Money isn't an issue."

"Believe me, I know."

"Thank you so much Cole. I owe you."

"One of these days I'm going to collect," he said jokingly.

Annie down the hall, shaking her head. She pressed the button that took her to the ground floor where her car was parked. A few others filled the spaces in the underground car park as well, but most parked out back.

She hopped in and pulled out, taking every short cut she knew. She was still seven minutes late, but it could have been worse, much worse.

Annie brushed her fingers through her hair before getting out, making sure she looked tidy, and smoothed her skirt after locking the car. A man held the door open to the restaurant, a five star. Her mother never settled for less than the best. She'd grown accustomed to a certain style of living when she married Annie's father. The grass is always greener she supposed.

"Jenkins," Annie said to the hostess up front.

"Right this way, the others are already here."

Others? Annie had no clue what the woman meant by others. It was only supposed to be her mother.

There was indeed another face sitting at the table though. It was her brother Alexander.

"Mother, Alex."

Alice stood from her chair and the two women kissed cheeks. The woman had fully assimilated into the high society, and she'd trained her children well, though one wouldn't know it by Alex's behavior. He stayed sitting, offering a slight tip of the head in greeting.

"I didn't know you would be joining us," Annie said glancing from her brother to her mother.

"He happened to be around, and I thought what better than to get the whole family together. It's been so long since I've seen the two of you together."

"That's probably because we don't mesh well, mom," Alex said.

"How is school going, Alex. What is it you're doing again?" Annie asked lazily

"I'm a musician."

"Right. Music. That's it."

"And how's your royal throne, sis?"

"The company is doing quite well, thank you for asking."

Annie sipped her water, and her mother looked between the two.

"Couldn't you both just get along for once?"

"When we're from different worlds that seems a little impossible," Alex said as he crossed his arms.

"That is completely ridiculous. Different worlds? You were raised in the same house. You did the same things growing up, you had the same privileges"

"And I'm a musician and she's a big bad business woman."

"Well you can't fault her on that, Alexander. You didn't want the company. Heaven knows you should have taken it." Alice shook her head. Annie wasn't oblivious to the stab her mother had made.

"Because I didn't want to ruin lives."

"Instead you'd like to be a starving artist, right?"

Alex threw his hands up in the air and the waitress came over to take their orders, momentarily putting water on the growing fire of a family lunch.

They went around in turn, going in customary order, first their mother, then Alex, followed by Annie. A habit she'd grown used it. The head of the family down to the lowest on the chain. She'd always been the lowest, something she'd been trying desperately to fix.

"I'm finally going to be getting Highlands Publishing," Annie said as soon as the waitress left.

"How did you manage that? Have the guy killed off?" Alex jabbed.

"No. Cole is currently on his way to discuss business with the owner."

"Honey, you know you should always handle things like that by yourself. I know you think this Cole is trustworthy, your father liked the family as well, but you can never be too careful."

"I know what I'm doing, mother. I have this under control."

"What's this about an accident caused by faulty seatbelts?" Alice asked jumping topics.

Annie knew it wasn't random. She was using it as another weapon to her inability to run a company.

"Who told you anything about that?" Anger sprouted up, at not only her mother's knowledge of the situation, but that it had even happened.

"I've been talking to Helen. We do yoga together Tuesdays and Thursdays." Alice brushed her hand through the air, dismissing her daughter's concern.

"I'm handling it," Annie said through gritted teeth.

"And how exactly are you doing that? Do you know how to fix the problem? Do you know how to address the public? Something like that could ruin a company if handled incorrectly. Are you sure you're ready to handle such a thing?"

She looked to Alex who seemed disinterested in the topic entirely.

"I know it's not the best of circumstances to be put in right out the gate, but it's not too late to phase you in, Alexander. I'm sure you'd do well. The company would thrive under you. Hardly anyone knows Annabelle is the owner anyway. I think that was your first mistake, darling." She looked back to Annie with that smug look. She had no filter, she just spoke her mind, and in her mind, Annie was unfit to run a company. Not because she didn't have the background for it, because she'd gone in with her father frequently, but because she was a woman.

As if a woman couldn't run a company just as well as, if not better than, a man.

Annie sat, fuming silently. The waitress came back, and unloaded the tray of food, placing each dish in front of them.

Needing something to do, Annie cut into the steak, the juices seeping out onto the plate.

Alice shook her head again. "You know you shouldn't be eating like that. You should eat more greens, be healthier. More ladylike."

"Protein is good for you, mother. You should try it sometime."

"Watch your tongue, young lady."

"Why should I? You never do." Annie bit out.

Alice's face turned red, and Annie stood from the table.

"Well, as always, this has been lovely. But I think I should join Cole for that meeting."

"We aren't done yet. We're having lunch."

"You two can continue. My part in this lunch is finished."

Annie turned from the table and made her way back out to her car. The man at the door smiled and thanked her for visiting. She gave a quick smile back out of sheer politeness.

When she started her car, she pulled out and made her way to a fast food restaurant, ordering a cheeseburger and fries. Ladylike, her mother had said. She'd show that woman ladylike.

The meeting was definitely off the schedule. Though Annie was excited for the acquisition, she couldn't handle something like that after dealing with her mother She wasn't a fan of those meetings anyway. She found it difficult to focus. No. Quiet time alone in her office was just what she needed. And time to eat.