CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Tara
“Hey Tara,” Ray said, smiling when I stepped into his office. He’d asked to speak with me before the big meeting so I went straight to his office that morning.
“Morning,” I said. “You wanted to see me?”
“I did,” he said. “Have a seat.”
I sat down in the empty chair across from his desk and waited for him to speak. If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought I was in trouble. Ray smiled at me while he sat back down behind his desk. I breathed a sigh of relief. He was smiling. I definitely wasn’t in trouble.
“I just wanted to thank you,” he said. “Before we go into the conference and go over the numbers with everyone, I wanted to tell you how much you’ve helped us over these past few weeks. You’ve really turned things around, Tara.”
“Oh,” I said, blushing slightly. “It wasn’t just me. The whole company put forth so much effort.”
“True,” Ray said with a nod. “But you’re the real reason the numbers are up. You’ve been a miracle worker lately. All the work you’ve done with Sean… I never imagined he could become such a vital part of this company.”
“He has been amazing,” I admitted. “I couldn’t believe it myself.”
“It’s all because of you.” Ray smiled. His eyes twinkled. “There’s no way he would be half as good without your guidance.”
“Thank you,” I said. I wanted to argue more, to tell Ray it was more Sean’s doing than mine, but I knew now wasn’t the time. Learning to accept a compliment was a hard thing to do, but it was important at times like these. “I’m just grateful you gave me this chance. It’s been such a great learning opportunity.”
“You and Sean are getting along well now, aren’t you?” Ray asked. I swallowed. He wasn’t beginning to suspect anything, was he?
“We are,” I said. “In fact, there’s something I wanted to ask you about Sean.”
The thought occurred to me in the moment, but I knew it was a good idea. It would distract Ray from my relationship with Sean for the time being, and it might serve to answer a few of my unanswered questions.
“What is it?” Ray asked.
“Well,” I began slowly. “I don’t want to overstep, but I’ve been wondering what happened between Sean and Zach? There’s just so much tension there, and I never found out what caused it.”
Ray looked at me carefully. He sighed and shook his head side to side. I didn’t know if I’d been too forward with my question, but I didn’t care. I wanted to know the truth.
“It’s complicated,” Ray began. “I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you, but when Sean was married to Paisley’s mom—”
Just then, Ray’s office door swung open, and he fell silent. Zach stepped inside without knocking and looked from Ray to me and then back again.
“The meeting is starting soon,” he reminded us. “We should get to the conference room.”
Ray and I exchanged a look, but we didn’t speak. Our conversation would have to continue another time. Together, the three of us walked down the hall toward the conference room to start the meeting.
***
The rest of the employees filtered in slowly. I sat at the head of the table beside Ray, with Zach on Ray’s other side. We were silent while we waited for the room to fill. As everyone arrived, I felt my excitement grow. This meeting was one I’d been waiting for. Not only were we going to announce the growth in our numbers, but I would be taking most of the credit. My plan worked. Sean was a success. Everything was falling into place perfectly.
“Alright,” Ray said once everyone was seated. “Thank you all for taking the time to be here. I know we’re all extremely busy these days. I promise, this meeting will be worth your time.”
There were a few appreciative murmurs throughout the room and I smiled to myself. Everyone was going to be even happier once Ray presented the numbers.
“So,” Ray said. “As you all know, we’re here to discuss the new numbers that came out last week. It hasn’t been long since we launched our new ad campaigns, and things are already beginning to look up. Our numbers are rising fast. In just two weeks, our profits have skyrocketed.”
With that, Ray turned to press a button on his computer. The new numbers were then displayed on a screen behind him. He pointed to each column and explained them as he went. He told us that our stock value had recently doubled and that our profits were higher than they’d been in two years. It was all new, so everyone was ecstatic with the news.
“And,” Ray said. “Since this all happened so fast, we can only expect more growth in the months to come.”
The entire room broke into applause. I laughed and joined in. It was a day of celebration, and everyone was enjoying the tension-free atmosphere.
“Now,” Ray said. “There is one person in particular we need to thank for this success, and I think we all know who that is. Tara, stand up!”
I smiled shyly and began to rise from my chair, but Zach beat me to it. He jumped to his feet so fast that I almost didn’t see him move.
“I think everyone deserves a round of applause,” Zach insisted. “This was a team effort, after all. No one person deserves all the credit.”
I tried to keep my face impassive as Zach spoke, but I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me. In a way, he was right. The entire company pitched in to make this happen, but Sean’s ad campaigns were the biggest reason for the positive uptick in sales. Bringing Sean on had been my idea and mine alone. I was the one who spent all this time working with him and grooming him to become the face of the company. Didn’t I deserve some recognition?
Apparently, Zach didn’t think so. He led another round of applause, and I fell back in my seat. I forced a smile on my face and clapped along with everyone else. With a glance at Ray, I knew he didn’t appreciate Zach’s interruption any more than I did, but we were both too professionally minded to say so.
The meeting ended and everyone filtered out slowly. A few people congratulated me as they left, and I felt my mood begin to lift. No matter what Zach said, he couldn’t take this moment away from me. The company was a success once again, and it was almost entirely because of me.
Still, as I watched Zach leave the conference room, rage filled me. If I was ever going to confront him, now was the time. I marched out of the room and down the hall, not stopping until I reached his office. Without knocking, I stormed inside and closed the door behind me.
“What the hell is your problem?” I demanded. My eyes locked on Zach’s and I saw red.
“Excuse me?” Zach asked with narrowed eyes.
“Just now,” I said. “In the meeting, you completely discredited all the work I’ve done. Why? What was the point?”
“I just don’t think we should be praising one person over everyone else,” Zach said bluntly. “It’s not like you’ve done more for the company than the rest of us.”
“This entire thing was my idea!” I said. I could feel my pride getting the best of me, but I didn’t care. I was finally ready to put Zach in his place.
“Yeah,” Zach scoffed. “Bringing Sean on was your idea, and we’ve yet to see if it was smart call.”
“Are you kidding?” I laughed. I did my best to keep my voice level so I wouldn’t start to yell. “Did you not see the numbers? Our profits are higher than they’ve been in two years. Whether you like it or not, your brother is a huge success!”
“So, that’s what you’re upset about,” Zach said. He rolled his eyes and walked over to me. He stopped right in front of me and stared into my eyes with a mocking expression. Not for the first time that day, I wanted to slap him. “You just don’t want anyone insulting your boyfriend.”
“My boyfriend?” I laughed. “Please, Zach, this is about business. Nothing more.”
“Really?” he asked.
“You just can’t stand to admit that I was right,” I snapped. “You hate the fact that my idea was a good one, and that it’s actually working! I’ve spent years doing your job for you. Now it’s finally starting to show and you’re threatened.”
“Threatened?” Zach raised his eyebrows and exhaled sharply. I’d hit a nerve. “By you?”
“Yes.”
“Tara,” Zach said slowly. “Listen to me very closely. You are nothing to this company. Nothing. I could have you fired with a snap of my fingers and don’t ever forget that. You’re only here because I allow you to be, and the second that changes, you’re gone. My father doesn’t care about you. This company doesn’t need you. You. Are. Nothing.”
“And you are just a scared, insecure, child who can’t admit when someone bests him,” I fired back without missing a beat.
I spent so many years hating Zach. All those times I bit my tongue and forced myself to remain calm flared up inside of me in that moment. I didn’t even care if he fired me, I’d had enough of him.
“Be careful, Tara,” Zach warned. “If you lose your job, what will you have left? My brother? Don’t think for a second that he actually cares about you.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said with anger in my voice.
“You’re screwing him, right?” Zach asked with a laugh. “I know you are.”
“Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I snapped. I wasn’t going to give Zach the satisfaction of knowing he was right.
“Be careful,” he said again. “Or he just might knock you up and leave you to raise a baby on your own. It’s what he did to his ex-wife, after all.”
“You’re full of shit,” I said with disgust. “It’s no wonder Sean doesn’t want anything to do with you. If I were related to you, I would be just as ashamed as Sean is. You’re pathetic, Zach.”
“Whatever you say.” Zach laughed. “But I know the truth. I know my brother better than you ever will.”
“I doubt that,” I said. I turned to leave, but I suddenly realized I had more to say. “I know who Sean is and I know what kind of father he is. He loves Paisley, and I know he loved her mother. Whatever happened between them wasn’t Sean’s fault.”
“You sound so sure of that,” Zach said. “But have you ever stopped to think that maybe you don’t know the whole story? That maybe, just maybe, Sean hasn’t been completely honest with you? That he isn’t the saint he pretends to be?”
“I know who he is,” I said again. I turned to face the door, walking quickly toward it. I’d had enough of Zach, and I wanted nothing more than to be away from him.
“For your sake,” Zach called after me. “I hope you’re right.”
I ripped open his office door and walked out into the hallway. I slammed the door shut behind me and marched to my office. I was still fuming when I sat in my chair and closed my eyes. Zach’s smug, sickening face was imprinted on my eyelids. My eyes flew open and I fought the urge to scream. In all my life, I had never hated anyone as much as I hated Zach.