Amanda
“Why aren’t you sending me the paperwork?” I asked James. I stood in his office on Monday morning. He was in early for a change. He’d been doing that lately. It was like he cared about his job. If he’d been drunk this weekend it didn’t show. I would have been thrilled about it if he hadn’t been stalling our plans to branch out.
“I wanted to be sure I agree with it,” he said. “I would like to go over it one more time.”
I shook my head. “You’ve had it for two weeks. What have you been doing?”
James kept calm. He looked at me with a level gaze, his green eyes clear. There was no trace of alcohol. He had dark circles under his eyes, though, as if he hadn’t slept at all.
“There’s no need to rush into this,” he said. “This is a big leap. I want to be sure I know what I’m getting myself into.”
I wanted to sneer at him that he’d never cared before. He’d never bothered about where his money went and why. He’d left all the important meetings and arrangements to me. I couldn’t get upset with him for caring about the company, though, so I bit my tongue.
“I really need to put the paperwork through, James,” I said. “We said we wanted to kick off by the end of next month with the first step.”
James nodded. “I did say that. But there’s no harm in waiting a little longer.”
I wanted to scream. He was being extremely obtuse. There were times when I was frustrated with him when he felt like a dead weight doing nothing but drag me down. I didn’t complain about it because I wanted to move forward and James had always given me what I wanted.
This time, he was being difficult. I took a deep breath through my nose and blew it out my mouth. Calm, I had to stay calm. Having a temper fit about this wasn’t going to make things any different, judging by the steely look on his face. What the hell had gotten into him?
“I don’t understand what’s the holdup,” I said. “I thought we talked about everything.”
James nodded. “We did. I just want to make sure I understand everything. You have a very savvy business mind, and it is to be commended, but not everyone is as comfortable with the procedures as you are.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. He was complimenting me. I wasn’t under the impression that he was telling me the truth – I had the feeling he knew exactly what he was talking about. He was stalling and I had no idea why.
“I want to get this thing going as soon as possible, James,” I said. I couldn’t say anything else.
“I understand, Amanda. I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”
He had me in a corner, unable to take him on. James was diplomatic. He knew exactly what to say and how to say it. He’d been playing this game a lot longer than I had, given his background.
I turned and left his office. There was nothing else I could but hope that he would figure it all out soon. If that was what he was trying to do.
I didn’t believe it at all.
Back in my own office I closed the door and opened the bottom drawer of my desk. I retrieved a yellow envelope that Derek had given me. It contained copies of the pages I’d given to Caleb about the expansion. Derek always gave me double so that I knew what was going on without it looking like I didn’t trust Caleb.
I opened the envelope with a silver letter opener and flipped through the pages. It was the usual – financial projects, figure proposals – everything that Caleb would need to consider our position to move forward with our plans.
The last two pages caught my attention. These weren’t supposed to be in here. This was between me and Derek.
I read over the information and the further I read, the more my stomach sank. Had these been a part of the envelope I’d given to Caleb? Had he read this? If he had he’d said nothing to me as our advisor but I couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t say something to James.
And James was stalling…
No. I couldn’t do this. I would drive myself crazy about something that might not even have happened. I was panicking but I had to find out what was going on, first.
I picked up the phone and dialed Derek’s personal number. He was still on leave and I wouldn’t be able to reach him at the office.
The call when directly to voicemail.
I tried twice more with the same result. I was starting to really freak out. My breathing was fast and shallow, my stomach turned to stone and I had the horrible feeling that this was over for me.
I couldn’t think like that. I had to find out if Caleb knew anything. Of course, I couldn’t ask him directly. That would only be suspicious. I had to find out some other way. I had to talk to him. If I setup another meeting, asking for advice, maybe he would let something slip. That was the only way I would be able to do it. I didn’t want to wait until Derek was available again. What if it was too late?
I had to take this into my own hands.
I picked up my handbag and walked out of the office. I needed to get to Caleb’s offices as soon as possible and demand he see me. I would figure out what I would say to have that happen on the way there.
I swallowed hard and tried to slow my breathing. Calm, I had to be calm. I had to look like I was in control when I saw Caleb. My stomach turned and the familiar tug of stress bunched my stomach into knots.
I focused on breathing. In. Out. In. Out.
Caleb’s offices weren’t very far from ours and I was there in a flash. I walked to the reception desk. The blond receptionist looked up. She was a timid little thing, a woman that would never be more than what she currently was. If you wanted anything in life you had to fight for it. This one didn’t have a lot of fight in her.
She smiled at me the way they trained all of them to do.
“Morning, Ms. Fowler,” she said, recognizing me. “Do you have an appointment with Mr. Thompson?” She looked down at her book.
“I don’t,” I said. “It’s urgent that I see him.”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “He’s not in his office right now. I believe he’s with a client.”
“It’s very important,” I said again. I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. Panic drove me and I wanted to speak to Caleb, have him set me at ease at least if nothing else.
“I’m sorry, Ms. Fowler. He’s not available right now.”
I shook my head and walked to the elevator. I wasn’t going to take no for an answer.
“You can’t just go up there,” she called after me. I ignored her. I could do whatever I wanted. I paid this company a hell of a lot of money. I was practically a shareholder.
There was no answer when I knocked on Caleb’s office door. When I tried it, it was locked. I took a deep breath and tried to calm my thoughts. When I came to see Caleb at his offices – usually with James – Caleb often took us to the lunch room. Unless he was somewhere else, visiting a client, that was where I would find him.
I had to speak to him. I knew I was being pushy, panicking about something that was probably not even a problem, but I had to find reassurance. I couldn’t let information like this slip out. It could ruin my reputation within the company.
When I entered the lunch room I looked around. I spotted him soon enough. He sat at a round table in the far corner where two full-length windows met in the corner to give the illusion that you weren’t inside. He sat with a woman. She was talking and he was very interested in whatever she had to say.
I walked closer to them. Caleb’s back was to me. When I was within earshot I picked up bits and pieces of the conversation.
“The problem is keeping something like this quiet. If it comes out, it could kill the company even if we’re trying to fix it.”
I frowned and slowed my step.
“What are we talking about here?” Caleb asked.
“Bankruptcy. At the very least. It could be even worse, but that alone is enough to have it fold. And with all the branches…”
She had dark hair and dark eyes, a smattering of freckles that made her look younger than she probably was and she was dressed in a beige dress suit as if she belonged in this environment. Whoever she was, wherever she came from, Caleb seemed to hang on her every word. All his attention was on her and she spoke with an authority that made even me sit up and notice. I wouldn’t have thought her to be a threat in any way had I not heard her speaking about something that might be important to me.
She looked up, dark eyes making contact with mine and she stopped talking. I wanted to know what she was talking about. Caleb turned in his seat to see what she was staring at.
“Amanda,” he said tightly. “What a surprise.”
I nodded, taking a big step forward. “I’m sorry to interrupt. I have to discuss something very urgent with you.”
Caleb shook his head. “I’m sorry, I’m in the middle of something. This is Miss Ava Fischer. She’s my trainee and she’ll be working on some of the projects with me.”
I blinked at her. A trainee? I hadn’t known that Caleb would lower himself to take on apprentices. “If you’re very urgent you may join us? Ava is sworn to secrecy.”
The woman nodded. She had an air of belonging, something about her screamed that she was comfortable with who she was. I didn’t like it. I hated people who were confident. You couldn’t move them no matter how hard you tried. I decided that I disliked Ava Fischer.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I would prefer to talk about this in private.”
He glanced at his wristwatch. “I have appointments until two but I can see you after that. Will that be okay?”
I wanted him to kick her out and see me right now. I wanted to know if I was in danger.
“Don’t you have time any earlier than two?” I asked.
Caleb looked at the woman before he shook his head.
“I’m very sorry. I’m in the middle of something with Miss Fischer. It’s just as important, unfortunately.”
How did he know what was more important than my own business? I couldn’t put my foot down. When I finally got a chance to speak to Caleb it would be questions that I was asking, dancing around the topic until I could get him to slip up. This wouldn’t be a straightforward questioning. I couldn’t make it sound like it was life or death, even though, to me, it felt like it was.
“Alright,” I said, “I guess I’ll have to wait. I’ll be back for our appointment at two.”
Caleb nodded. “I’ll see you then. Thank you, Amanda.”
The woman – Ava – raised her eyebrows ever so slightly. It was the smallest gesture but it was there. What did she know about me? Who did she work for? I shook off the thoughts. There was no reason to be paranoid. This was all just a misunderstanding, I was sure. When I finally managed to reach Derek, I would give him a piece of my mind.
He couldn’t reckless. He was a friend and we’d worked together for a long time but I had no problem withdrawing my loyalty if I felt that he was jeopardizing my career. I would throw him under the bus in the blink of an eye. This was a dog eat dog world and I was looking out for myself, first and foremost.