It’s after eleven when I finally leave the office and I want nothing more than to go home and crash, but I know no matter how tired I am, I won’t be able to sleep until I’ve had this out with Matt. If I drop the Bradley thing on him in the morning, he’ll only argue with me and it won’t do to have the whole company seeing us go toe to toe with each other. And I still want some answers as to why he thought not mentioning that Kimberley was a part of this merger was a good idea.
I head out to Matt’s apartment building and get out of my car. His doorman recognises me and doesn’t question why I am there. I ride up to Matt’s floor and storm into his apartment. Matt is sitting on the couch, his laptop open on his knee and a glass of wine on the coffee table beside him. There’s no sign of Callie and I figure that’s a good thing. She doesn’t need to get pulled into this shit.
Matt looks up and frowns as I storm into his apartment.
“What the hell are you doing here Seb? It’s gone one o’clock in the morning.”
“I’ve just finished work and we have some things to discuss,” I say.
“I’m kind of tired and I was just finishing up here and going to bed. We’ll talk tomorrow,” he says.
“No we won’t. We’ll talk now. Or are you plotting some other fun little game behind my back that you want to spring on me at work in front of everyone?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Matt snaps.
“Oh come on Matt. Why didn’t you tell me Benton’s CFO was Kimberley? Did you think it would be fun to drop that little fucking bomb in the middle of a meeting the way you did?”
“I didn’t think you’d care. Since when have you ever cared who’s on the other side of the fence? What is it you say? Oh that’s right. One face inside of a suit is the same as the next one.”
“This is different and you know it,” I say.
Matt just shrugs.
“Whatever. I should have told you. I’m sorry. Now is that it? Because like I said, I want to go to bed. I’ve got an early start in the morning.”
“Oh I’m sorry the most important merger our company has ever worked on is inconveniencing your beauty sleep,” I say.
Matt rolls his eyes. I ignore the gesture.
“Unlike you, I happen to think there are some things that should be done behind closed doors rather than in front of the people who work for us. Which is why I’m here to tell you in person behind closed doors that I won’t be in the finance meeting tomorrow. Or any of the other Benton meetings. I’ve showed my face; Joe Benton knows I’m on board. Bradley will be handling all the financial stuff from here on in.”
Matt jumps to his feet.
“Are you out of your fucking mind Seb?” he shouts.
His face is rapidly going red and the vein in his head that stands out when he’s particularly stressed is coming up fast. I was expecting an argument, but I didn’t expect this level of a one. I actually thought he would get it, and that he would be relieved to have the loose cannon out of the way.
“Not at all. I just trust Bradley to handle this,” I say.
It’s not a complete lie. I do trust Bradley, but Matt and I both know I would never pass something so important off to someone else, not even someone I trust, under any normal circumstances. But nothing about these circumstances are normal.
Matt sits back down and sighs loudly.
“Look I trust Bradley too. But not with this. You said it yourself Seb. The Benton merger is the whale. We can’t afford to screw this up. You will be in that meeting tomorrow and you will not only go through those books like your life depends on it, but you’ll answer any questions Kimberley has about our books properly.”
“Wait. Did dad die and no one told me? Because unless that happened, I’m pretty sure you’re not the boss and you don’t get to call the shots.”
“You really want to bring dad into this? You really want me to call him and tell him you can’t handle the fucking heat on this thing so you’re palming it off to one of our accountants?”
I don’t. I should never have mentioned dad. I dread to think what his reaction would be if he knew the extremely thin line I’m walking with Kimberley. I’m not ready to concede yet though.
“Sure. Call him. Why don’t you tell him I pulled your pigtails as well?” I rant, pacing up and down in front of Matt where he still sits looking up at me like I’m some animal that needs reigning in.
“Look just take a moment to calm down Seb. I’m not going to call dad and you know it. Just think about this rationally for a moment.”
It irritates me no end how Matt can sit there so calmly. It irritates me even more when he tells me to calm down.
“Are you crazy Matt? You seriously think me and Kimberley can work together? After everything that happened between us? Or is there something else you’re not telling me?”
“Like what?”
“Oh I don’t know. Like you want this merger to fail for some reason and you want someone to blame for it if it does.”
“If I wanted the merger to fail, I would have suggested sending Bradley to the meeting instead of you,” Matt says quietly.
Touché.
“So what is it then? Do you want everyone to be as miserable as you are?”
Matt actually laughs.
“What makes you think I’m miserable? I’ve never been happier than I am right now.”
“I don’t know Matt. I don’t know what’s going on in your
