Okay. Ryan pulled her close, kissed her temple. Okay, but for the record, you're terrifying when you're determined. Good, Victoria replied with a slight smile.
Maybe the board will remember that tomorrow. The next morning, Victoria dressed in her sharpest suit, armor for battle. Ryan watched her prepare, wanted to say a thousand things, settled on. Good luck.
We're proud of you. I know, Victoria replied, kissing him quickly. That's why I can do this. She left for the board meeting, and Ryan spent the entire day anxiously checking his phone, unable to focus on anything.
Emma's school called at noon to say she'd had an anxiety triggered asthma attack. Minor, but concerning. Ryan picked her up, held her while she used her inhaler, and wished Victoria was there to help him not panic. His phone finally rang at 400 p.m.
Victoria, "How bad is it?" Ryan asked immediately. "Board voted," Victoria said, her voice strangely calm. "5 to four. I'm staying as CEO, but there are conditions." "Conditions?" Ryan repeated his heart pounding.
"I can continue as CEO," Victoria explained. But any relationship with company employees must be disclosed formally to HR and the board, and you specifically cannot be promoted to any position where I'm directly involved in the decision-making process. Ryan's stomach sank. So, I withdraw from the director interview.
Not quite, Victoria said. The board agreed to remove me from the hiring committee for this position only. The decision will be made by the other executives and the outgoing director. You'll be evaluated entirely on merit without my influence.
If you get the job, it'll be because you genuinely earned it, not because of our relationship. And if I don't get it, then we figure out next steps together," Victoria replied firmly. "But Ryan, you're going to get it because you're the best candidate and everyone knows it, even the executives who hate that fact." The interview happened the following Tuesday. Ryan faced five executives, including two who'd been vocally opposed to Victoria's leadership.
They grilled him for 90 minutes, testing his knowledge, challenging his lack of formal education, questioning his management philosophy. Ryan answered honestly, drew on his years of practical experience, and refused to be intimidated by titles or condescension. When they asked how he'd handle the awkwardness of dating the CEO while managing facility staff, he met their eyes directly. the same way I'd handle any potential conflict of interest with transparency, documented processes, and by making sure every decision can be justified on merit alone. My relationship with Victoria doesn't change that I'm good at my job.
It just means I have to work harder to prove it to people who assume otherwise. They offered him the position 3 days later. Ryan called Victoria immediately, his voice shaking with disbelief and joy. I got it.
They actually gave me the job. I knew you would, Victoria replied, and he could hear her smile through the phone. Congratulations, Director Carter. You earned this.
That evening, they celebrated with Emma, who insisted on making a congratulations banner with too much glitter and questionable spelling. Victoria showed up with takeout from Ryan's favorite restaurant and a gift for Emma. Art supplies the eight-year-old had been wanting. "You didn't have to do that," Ryan protested.
"I wanted to," Victoria replied simply. Emma's excitement about your success deserves celebrating, too. After Emma went to bed, buzzing with sugar and happiness, Ryan and Victoria finally had a moment alone. "The board conditions," Ryan said carefully.
"Are you okay with them having to formally disclose our relationship, having restrictions on promoting me?" "The restrictions aren't about promoting you specifically," Victoria corrected. "They apply to anyone I'm in a relationship with. And honestly, I'm fine with it. It removes any appearance of favoritism.
You'll advance based on your own merit, which is how it should be anyway. And the disclosure requirement, Victoria shrugged. We were going to be public eventually anyway. This just makes it official.
Though, fair warning, we'll probably end up as a case study in business school ethics classes about workplace relationships. Ryan laughed despite himself. Great. My relationship will be a cautionary tale or an aspirational one, Victoria countered.
Depends on how we write the ending. She moved closer, settled into his arms on the couch. I talked to the board member who supported me, the one who swung the vote. Want to know what he said?
What he said? Watching you and Emma at the arcade that day convinced him I was making sound decisions in my personal life, which suggested I was making sound decisions professionally. Apparently, his grandson was there for a birthday party, saw us together, told his grandfather about the nice lady who played air hockey with the girl who has asthma. Ryan blinked in surprise.
Emma's asthma came up. She had a minor episode while we were there. Remember? You handled it calmly.
I helped. She was fine within minutes. But it impressed him. Said anyone who could handle a medical emergency in public while making sure the child felt safe and not embarrassed had judgment he respected.
"So Emma saved your job?" Ryan asked with a slight smile. Emma reminded a scared board member that I'm a human being with a life outside corporate politics. Victoria corrected. Sometimes that's what people need to remember.
They sat quietly for a moment, processing everything that had happened. The mistletoe kiss that started everything. The job offer that changed Ryan's life. The relationship that somehow worked despite all the reasons it shouldn't.
The crisis that nearly ended it all. And now this new beginning where they both had careers they'd fought for and a relationship they' chosen to protect. So what now? Ryan asked.
Where do we go from here? Victoria smiled, kissed him softly. Now we keep building. you in your new role, me and mine, both of us figuring out how to balance career ambition with the family we're creating. It won't be perfect.
We'll have challenges and complications and probably more board meetings where old men questioned my judgment. Sounds terrible, Ryan said lightly. Sounds perfect, Victoria corrected. Because I'll have you and Emma, and that makes everything else worth fighting for.
From her bedroom, Emma called out sleepily. Are you guys being mushy again? Because that's gross, but also I'm happy about it. They both laughed and Ryan called back.
Go to sleep, Emma. Only if Victoria promises to come to movie night next week. Victoria raised her voice slightly. I promise.
Now sleep. Satisfied silence from the bedroom. Ryan looked at Victoria at this woman who'd walked into his life with an outrageous proposition and somehow become essential. Thank you, he said quietly.
For taking a chance on me, for fighting for us, for loving Emma like she's yours. She kind of is mine now, Victoria replied softly. You both are, which is terrifying and wonderful and nothing like what I planned for my life, but it's exactly what I needed. One year later, Ryan stood in his office on the executive floor, no longer just maintenance, but director of facilities management, overseeing three locations and a team of 40 people.
Emma's asthma was under control thanks to the specialists they could finally afford. Victoria's leadership had proven itself with three consecutive quarters of record profits, silencing most of her critics. And every Thursday evening, without fail, they gathered for movie night in Ryan's apartment that now felt like home for all three of them. The mistletoe proposition that had seemed insane at the time had led them here, to this life they'd built together, despite all the people who said it wouldn't work. Sometimes the craziest chances led to the most perfect outcomes.