I know his ignorance isn’t necessarily his fault – and I always want to give him the benefit of the doubt – so I’ve had to dig deep and summon every ounce of strength I have in me to keep from breaking my promise to myself and answering the door when he knocks. If we want to clear out the elephant in the room once and for all, it’s going to take a massive shift in how Compass does business. And it’s up to me to show Sawyer it can be done both responsibly and without any significant impact on the company’s bottom line – which I know is important to Sawyer.
So I’ve spent the last couple of weeks doing my research and due diligence. Also, not wanting to get fired, I’ve had Rider send me the work he needs me to do electronically, staying in contact with him when necessary, and have worked from home. It was the only way I could juggle all the balls I have in the air right now and still give myself the time and space I need to put together the package that will – I hope – save my relationship with Sawyer. This is my Hail Mary at the end of the game. With the office about to close for the holiday’s it’s now or never.
And if this doesn’t work, I just don’t know what I’m going to do.
I take a deep breath and let it out as the doors slide open, and I step off the elevator. Kyra gives me a frosty smile as I walk through the lobby – she still hasn’t quite forgiven me for blowing past and ignoring her my first time in this office. We’re probably never going to be BFFs, but whatever.
I head straight for Sawyer’s office with a determined stride – but a wild churning in my stomach, knowing that if this doesn’t work, I’m all out of moves, and it will likely be the end of our relationship.
“Hey Paige,” I greet Sawyer’s personal secretary.
“Hey Berlin,” she smiles. “It’s been a minute.”
“Yeah, I’ve had some things I needed to take care of,” I reply and motion to the office door. “He in?”
She shakes her head. “No, he had an off-site meeting today.”
“Huh. Who’s he meeting with?”
She shakes her head. “I don’t know. I only set the lunch reservation.”
“Berlin,” Rider greets me as he walks up. “What are you doing here?”
I look up and flash him a grin. “Last I checked, I still work here.”
He chuckles. “Touché. I just thought you were still working from home.”
“I was. Just need to talk to Sawyer.”
“Yeah, he’s not in.”
“I gathered that.”
“I can tell him to call you when he gets in, though,” he offers.
“That’s okay; I’ll just get some work done here until he gets back.”
“Don’t sweat it, we’ve got things under control here,” he tells me. “I’ll just have him call you.”
“No, it’s fine. I have a few things I can work on here.”
“He might be gone all day,” Rider says. “I don’t know when he’s coming back.”
Paige looks between us with a curious expression on her face. I look from Rider to her and back again. He’s acting strangely. I can’t help but get the feeling he’s trying to get me out of here. There’s a strange and awkward tension in the air that’s making me uncomfortable.
“What’s going on, Rider?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing, why?”
“Because you’re acting weirder than normal,” I say coolly. “What’s going on? Am I being fired or something?”
He waves me off. “No, you’re not being fired. I’m just trying to save you some hassle since I don’t know when Sawyer’s coming back.”
Paige turns back to her computer and starts working on returning correspondence or something – she looks like she wants to be anywhere but here in this moment. I have no idea what’s happening here, and I don’t have a good feeling about it, but my curiosity is piqued. But it’s obvious that I’m not going to get anything out of Rider.
“Okay,” I say slowly. “I guess I’ll get a couple of things from my office and go back home and wait for Sawyer to call me.”
Rider nods. “Great. Then we’ll talk to you later.”
“Yeah. See ya.”
He walks off, leaving Paige and I there to stare at each other. She cuts her eyes from me to her computer screen, a meaningful look in her eye. I turn and look down at her computer and see that she’d called up Sawyer’s calendar – and highlighted his lunch reservation for me. I turn back and give her a smile.
“Thanks, Paige.”
A conspiratorial smile on her lips, she tips me a wink. “For what?”
I reach out and give her shoulder a gentle squeeze before heading back to the elevators, my mind awash in questions. Why was Rider acting so strangely? Who is Sawyer meeting with? And why are they trying to keep it a secret from me?
Knowing Rider like I do – knowing he can always be counted on to carry the water and cover for Sawyer – I don’t have a great feeling about this.
The restaurant he’s at is called Tommy’s – a deli a couple of blocks away from the office. Since I already have a head of steam up, I make the walk in record time, my dark thoughts chasing me the entire way. I’m standing across from the restaurant when a crack of thunder splits the sky with a deafening roar. A slow drizzle starts to fall from a sky the color of a deep bruise – matching my mood completely.
I don’t know who Sawyer is meeting with in there, but it was obvious that Rider wanted to keep it from me. That fact sets the red flags waving in my
