Maybe it’s because I had the worst weekend ever. I shake my head. I haven’t had such a rubbish weekend since … Well suffice to say it’s been a long time.
I reach my office. Bernie is sitting at her desk sipping a coffee, another one sitting on the corner of her desk waiting for me. I smile at her and pick it up.
“Look at you in early,” she grins.
“I didn’t know you were keeping tabs on my time keeping,” I snap.
The grin slips from her face.
“I’m sorry,” she says. “I was just joking.”
God I hate being so fucking cranky. Bernie says shit like that all the time and I just laugh at her.
“No, I’m sorry,” I say genuinely meaning it. “I had a crap weekend and I took it out on you.”
“What happened like?” she asks.
I sit down on one of the visitor’s chairs and glance over my shoulder to make sure there’s no one else in hearing distance.
“Nothing happened. That’s the problem. I went out for a couple of hours on Friday night and I just wasn’t feeling it you know? Saturday, I didn’t even bother.”
She raises an eyebrow and then she grins.
“So you didn’t get laid and now you’re pissed,” she says.
“Exactly that. You know me so well Bernie,” I say.
It wasn’t like there hadn’t been options. The bar I went to on Friday had been full of hot women. I’d targeted a pretty little brunette, and she was up for a night of fun. She had that air about her. But my heart wasn’t in it. I just wasn’t in the mood for more mindless sex. I don’t think she was too happy when I bailed on her. If only she’d known I wasn’t too fucking happy about it myself.
“Are you alright Sebastian?” Bernie asks, pulling me back out of my head. “Seriously. Has something happened? You’re … I don’t know. Different.”
“I’m just feeling a bit out of sorts. I think maybe the pressure of the Benton merger is getting to me a bit. But I’ll snap out of it. Don’t you worry about me,” I say, forcing a smile.
She doesn’t look overly convinced but she lets it go. She knows there’s more to it than I’m letting on. There is a lot of pressure surrounding the merger. It can take our empire to the next level, but I thrive on pressure. The higher the stakes, the more I come alive. Bernie knows that. But she also knows that when I’m ready to open up to her, I will do it in my own time, and all the questions in the world won’t make me open up any sooner. This time, I really don’t think I’ll ever be opening up about this.
I just need to hear word that Kimberley’s business here is done and that she’s gone back to wherever is home for her these days, and then I’ll be back on my game. I have to get back on my game now though. I have to hold it all together through this meeting and be charming. I can’t go in there biting people’s heads off.
I check my watch. I’ve sat here too long and now I’ve only got five minutes before the meeting starts. I get to my feet.
“Thanks for the coffee Bernie,” I say.
“Any time,” she replies, knowing I’m thanking her for more than the coffee.
I go into my office and grab the last few files. I have the most important ones on me, but I don’t want to leave myself in a situation where a question might come up that I can’t answer without these last few. I leave my office and almost run to the elevator. I go up to the tenth floor, and make my way to the big conference room. I step inside.
The meeting has already started, but a quick scan of the room shows me Matt, Chance, Bradley and several of the associates who will be handling the day to day parts of the merger. I breathe a sigh of relief. The client isn’t here yet.
I take my seat and Matt glares at me. I flash him a grin, ignoring his obvious anger.
“What did I miss?” I ask.
“We were just going over the brief one more time,” Chance says, pushing a folder towards me. I open it and start flicking through it, double checking everything is in place. “We want to start negotiating this deal from a position of strength and we all need to be on the same page.”
He doesn’t look as angry as Matt does, but I can hear the strain in his voice as he struggles to not snap at me. I almost comment that if we all need to be on the same page, maybe we should present a united front by not all sniping at each other, but I bite my tongue. We will be having some version of that conversation later on, but not in here in front of the associates.
Hayley, one of the marketing associates saves me from having to say anything else when she pipes up with a question. Matt starts pointing out parts of the report and explaining it to her as I take a more thorough look through the brief. I have seen several drafts of the brief, but I always like to go over everything and just make sure it’s all exactly as we discussed before starting a meeting.
As I’m treble checking the figures, the door to the conference room opens. I hear it in some far of place in my mind, but I don’t full register it. At least not until a voice I would know anywhere follows the closing of the door.
“Hi everyone. I’m so sorry we’re late. The traffic out there is
