Chapter 4 Surprise

I hardly slept and I looked it.

Despite my efforts with the concealer, the bags under my eyes were evident and the stress was manifesting in overly frizzy hair.

Still, I did my best. I wanted to look good for my execution, but had to settle for being on time and not looking like a puppy caught out in the rain.

My hands shook on the lobby door handle. I needed to get some tension out and decided to take the stairs up the four flights to our division.

It was a popular choice. My colleagues liked to stretch their bodies before and during a day sitting at desks, and I could hear a few people a few floors above me.

Getting the blood flowing and my legs pumping helped my nerves. I began to breathe deeply and felt it relax my muscles.

Then I heard my name echo down through the concrete stairwell.

"I don't think Elena would do that," came the first voice. "She's kind of a sheep."

"That's what she wants you to think. She plays all demure, but underneath all that mildness she's sharp. She'd be a perfect Beta, flying under the radar but secretly getting everything done. And done her way."

"But is she sharp in the way that she'd sabotage Craig? I've never known her to be malicious."

"I didn't think so, but you never know how people will respond if they feel threatened."

"It's kind of an obvious play, isn't it?"

I leaned inward trying to see who was above me. All I could see were hands holding the railing. One of them had burgundy fingernails.

"Like I said, desperation."

The rest of their conversation was cut off by a door scraping opening and booming closed.

Whatever solace I'd earned from the little bit of exercise was gone. Now I was trying to hold back angry tears.

I pulled open what I suspected was the same door and walked into my department. Two women stood by the entrance to the cubicles with a few others.

They turned and saw me. The woman with the burgundy nails had the courtesy to look guilty, but the rest looked openly hostile, even the two I'd recently thought were starting to become my friends.

I held my head high and walked by without saying good morning as a voice over the intercom said, "Attention everyone, please gather in the conference room in ten minutes."

I put down my bag, turned on my computer and found the company had stopped sending me anything directly after the time of my meeting with Craig yesterday morning. It seemed they had taken a side, just like my colleagues.

I decided to get a seat at the conference table rather than stand around the perimeter, so I grabbed my notebook and went through the tense, quiet cubicles.

As I neared the elevator, I heard it ding.

Who'd show up late today? I wondered. Only someone especially confident.

The doors opened and wafted a vetiver scent so powerful in my memory that I stopped in my tracks.

Charles Rafe stepped out of the elevator, two beautiful women, one light, one dark, who smelled like pine and cedar, came after him, briefcases, folders, and coffee cups in hand. The group moved like a sleek, powerful pack, and I felt myself stepping back.

Charles stopped and sniffed the air.

He turned slowly and his blue eyes found mine. Even from ten feet away, I could see the pupils in his eyes widen as he came toward me.

The women with him seemed momentarily unsure what to do, so stood watching.

My heart began to pound. His smell brought back years of longing and unfulfilled dreams.

And I thought this day couldn't get any worse.

"Elena Laurentia?"

My breathing stopped and my jaw fell open. He remembered me.

For a moment I simply stared.

Do something you idiot! I raged.

"Hi."

"Hey."

Just like in Mr. Sellers' class.

He took another deep inhale and smiled. "I knew it was you."

He smiled, and I thought my knees were going to buckle. "I'm sorry we have to meet like this after all these years. It's not a fun day for anyone when you have to do layoffs."

I cleared my throat. He was all business now, it seemed. "I imagine it's not."

"I'll see you in the conference room, then."

He smiled and turned to the assistants, gesturing toward the conference room.

I couldn't go in while he was in there setting up. I was almost pinned to the ground by his beautiful, vetiver scent just from the brief encounter. I couldn't imagine being in a smaller, enclosed space with him.

Instead, I watched through the windows as his assistants put his coffee cup at the head of the table and presented him with papers while he checked his phone. They set up laptops and began to gesture and talk about the projection system while Charles frowned down at the notes on the top of the file.

He glanced up and out the glass windows in my direction but I looked away, starting back down the aisle toward my cubicle.

So much for getting a seat.

A few minutes later, the speaker announced that everyone was expected in the conference room.

I joined the crowd filing quietly into the room.

Charles sat, radiating power and looking around, meeting eyes and nodding here and there.

I kept my eyes down and was, as expected, unintentionally bumped and shouldered into the furthest corner, blocked from Charles' blue eyes by taller, wider colleagues.

I was okay with that. For the first time in a long time, I appreciated my ability to hide.

I heard a chair creak and head Charles clear his throat. I assumed he was standing from the sound.

"Good morning. Before we start, can we please get the shorter people toward the front or in chairs so everyone can see? Back there?"

There was a shifting around me and the people next to me looked surprised to find me there, gesturing for me to move to the front.

"Thank you. I'm sorry to be having to do this."

He continued to speak for a moment about the company's intentions. Then he looked at the blonde assistant who nodded at him.

"An email has just gone out to people I'd like to stay here in the conference room with me. It has the terms of your severance package, which I think you'll find generous, and we will discuss other opportunities or companies in our conglomerate that could be options for you."

He looked around the room. The scent of about two dozen people had suddenly increased and I found myself getting dizzy.

"If you don't have an email, feel free to return to your desks. I'll take a moment while you check your phones."

Everyone's hands and faces jerked as we all grabbed our devices. I opened my mail app and held my breath.

Nothing.

I refreshed the page. Again nothing.

I looked up in confusion, but Charles wasn't looking at me. Very slowly, a few of us began to edge toward the door. I took a few tentative steps, refreshing again just to be sure.

"Sir, I think there's been a mistake." Craig was looking at his phone, his face turning red. He was glaring directly at me. "How is she staying? And I'm not? This isn't right."

"You're right," Charles said, leaning forward over the table. "I'm sorry Elena. I forgot to mention you aren't going to be working here either."

Craig's face set into a smug smirk.

"You'll be joining my team. I'll be needing a third assistant."

There was a simultaneous gasp around the room.

What???