I am very much aware of Kimberley’s presence as she flicks through my file, tapping a red nail on the desk. Her tapping is something she’s always done when she’s concentrating and the memory brings up another wash of resentment that fills my throat like bile. I force myself to swallow it down. I promised myself I wasn’t going to screw this up. I won’t let Kimberley get to me.
“Where is …?” Kimberley starts.
I hold up one finger and cut her off mid-sentence. Why the hell did I do that? God I’m such a fucking douchebag when I’m not in control of a situation. I pretend to really focus hard on the figures in front of me for a moment and then I glance up.
She still has one perfectly in place eyebrow raised when I look up. I flash her a quick grin that I hope will ease the tension, but the look on her face tells me it didn’t work.
“Sorry,” I bark. “I just thought we should both go through everything and save any questions for the end.”
“Whatever Sebastian,” she says with a sigh.
I risk another glance up at her after a moment has passed. She’s back to focusing on the folder in front of her and I allow myself to relax a little bit again. The crisis has been averted. She hasn’t bolted for the door and ran to tell Matt she can’t possibly work with me. I can still pull this back.
I continue on with the file, forcing myself to lose myself in the numbers. They’re good. Very good. And it’s clear to me that Kimberley is very good at her job. There isn’t a single thing I can question in the figures. That’s probably a good thing. The less conversation we have to have, the less chance there is of me saying something stupid and blowing things up between us. The less time she is here in my office, the less chance there is of me reaching out and tucking the loose strand of her hair behind her ear and stroking her porcelain smooth looking cheek.
What? Why am I even considering doing that? I look back down at the file quickly, losing myself in the figures, a place of safety and very much my comfort zone.
I finish looking over the accounts and I quietly close the folder and take a sip of my coffee while I wait for Kimberley to finish up. Is she just being thorough or is she going to have a list of complaints that will be completely unfounded? I think of earlier when she tried to ask me something. It started with where is and then I cut her off. Where is what? There’s nothing missing from the file, of that I am certain, and if she starts making accusations of me hiding anything from her, then she’ll be out of the door. End of. Matt can moan all he likes but I don’t do business with people who accuse me of anything underhanded.
She finishes reading through the file and closes it. She looks up and nods her head.
“It all looks to be in order,” she says.
Did something she saw after speaking answer her question or has she actually found something and plans to use it against me later? I should let her. There’s nothing off in that file, I know it with a certainty that’s beyond anything I’ve ever felt before. I made damned sure everything was perfect for this. She will make herself look so stupid if she questions me in front of her boss and I shoot her down.
But that’s not how to start a good business relationship and I remind myself yet again that I promised myself I would do this right and treat Kimberley like any other potential associate. And if it was anyone else, I would give them the chance to ask their question privately.
“It is,” I say. “You were going to ask me something earlier though.”
“Oh. Yes,” she says. “I was going to ask you where the bathroom is.”
“Oh,” I say feeling like the biggest jerk in the world for making her wait until we’d finished going through the files to ask that. I point to the door behind me. “It’s back there. Or if you’re not comfortable using that one, there’s a ladies’ room by the elevator.”
“Thanks,” she says.
She gets up and heads for my private bathroom. I can’t help but watch the muscles in her calves move as she walks and the way her hips sway from side to side. She goes into the bathroom and closes the door behind her. I pull my eyes away and run my hands over my face.
Ok this could be going better, but it could be going worse as well. Just tell her everything looks good at her end as well and then tell her you’ll be in touch. Keep cool, keep professional. It’s almost over.
Kimberley comes back out of the bathroom, interrupting my pep talk with myself. She sits back down.
“So do you have any questions or issues with our books?” she asks.
I shake my head and force another smile.
“No, it’s all good,” I say. “I’ll talk to Matt and Chance later on today and let them know we’re good to go on this end.”
“Perfect,” Kimberley says. “I’ll do the same with Joe and Gary.”
“Great. Say by five? Then I can give Joe a call and set up a meeting with him and Gary to get the ball rolling on the next stage of the negotiations.”
“Just Joe and Gary?” Kimberley says, raising that perfect little eyebrow again.
Actually, I meant the four of us, but the ice cold tone she uses when she thinks she’s been excluded gets under my skin again. Why didn’t she
