CHAPTER 24
Tobias
“Good morning, Mr. Gentry.”
I looked up in a daze, taking a moment to figure out who was talking to me. My secretary stared at me, her expression perplexed.
I tried to force a smile, but my jaw muscles wouldn’t function. “Good morning, Courtney. How are you?” I said, my thoughts a million miles away. I had almost opted out of even going to work, not wanting the hassle of maintaining the façade that everything was fine. Yet, as the CEO, I simply couldn’t stay away too long. The fact remained though, that when I stepped into the building, it practically felt like a foreign environment after all that I had been through in the past couple days.
“I’m fine,” Courtney said, almost making me jump. I had zoned out right in front of her, nearly forgetting she was there. She tilted her head and her eyes narrowed at me. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yeah,” I said.
Courtney glanced at the clock on the wall behind me. “You’re running a little later than usual.”
“I know. I’m sorry. It’s been a long couple of days.”
“Well, the meeting starts in a few minutes. Do you need time to get yourself together? I can send a message to the conference room postponing the meeting for a few minutes.”
I blinked. “Meeting?”
Courtney raised her eyebrows. “Yes, the meeting.”
“What meeting?”
“Mr. Gentry, how could you forget that the company’s quarterly meeting is today? The one that Libby has been relentlessly preparing reports for. She emailed them all to you and left the hardcopies on your desk so that you can go over them. You’re supposed to be providing updates regarding where the firm currently stands.”
“Shit,” I said, running my hand through my hair. The headache I’d been dealing with on and off for the past few days immediately started to return.
“Mr. Gentry, I’m sorry, but this isn’t like you. Are you sure everything is okay? It’s a little too late to cancel the meeting at this point, but is there anything I can do?”
I sighed and shook my head. “No, it’s too important. It can’t be cancelled now. I just…It just slipped my mind, that’s all.”
“I understand if it’s none of my business, but is everything all right with your family? I can tell you’re worried about something…”
I scratched my ear. “No, everything’s fine,” I said, turning my back to her. “Send a message to the conference room letting them know I’ll be there in a little while. Give me about ten minutes.”
“Yes, sir,” Courtney said, rushing off as I headed to my office.
Just as she’d said, Libby had left several hard copies of various reports on my desk. Slamming the door behind me, I hurried inside and began pouring over the papers, trying to cram in as much information as I could. It was a futile effort though; my brain refused to stay focused. Staring at the reports, I knew the meeting was going to be a disaster and I felt there was nothing I could do about it.
Seven minutes later, I picked up the phone and called Libby.
“Tobias?” she answered. “What’s going on? We’re all waiting for you.”
“Libby, can you come to my office for a second?”
Less than two minutes later, she was there. She nervously glanced to the reports in my hand. “What is it? Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” I said. “Not at all. You’ve been perfect. I already owe you, and I’m going to owe you even more soon. Listen, I’ve been kind of distracted lately. To tell you the truth, I forgot about today’s meeting. I’m going to need you to help carry me through it. Do you mind presenting these reports? I get a feeling you know them better than me at this point.”
Libby blinked, stunned. But then she nodded her head. “Uhm…yeah. Sure,” she said. “But is everything okay, Tobias? You’ve seemed off for a while now.”
I shook my head. “Things are far from all right,” I said, standing up and handing her the reports, “but I don’t really feel like talking about it right now. It’ll all come to light sooner or later though. Let’s go.”
Together we headed to the conference room.
It had been a Godsend when Joanna befriended Libby because I would have been completely screwed without her. I made a mental note to give Libby a huge bonus by the end of the week for all the extra assistance she’d been giving me. She definitely deserved it.
“What?” Libby said, noticing me looking at her as we reached the conference room door.
I shook my head. “Nothing,” I said. “Just…thanks for everything.”