‘Someone who was perhaps more pally with you, Friedrich?’ I felt my blood boiling again.
Jed pulled out his phone and tapped a few times. ‘Chester Reece-Jones. Ring a bell?’ He looked towards me.
‘Yes, it does. Assuming it’s the same Chester Reece-Jones who was Friedrich’s mentor at university?’
‘That doesn’t mean anything. The job went to the person most qualified,’ Friedrich snapped, the tips of his ears now tinged with pink.
‘Except you’re not, are you? Which is why you wanted to add me to the team. The “specialist knowledge” backup.’
Jed gave a small tilt of his head. ‘Interestingly, that was what I was here to talk about today.’
‘Well! Looks like you came on the right day!’ My hands were still clenched on my lap. Jed hadn’t made his billions by not being astute.
Friedrich shoved his chair backwards as he stood from the table. ‘You have no need to be here, Lizzie. This is none of your business. As the lead on the dig—’
‘Joint lead.’
‘What?’ his voice was sharp and thin.
‘I thought I was to be the joint lead.’
We’d already been through this but I’d now reached pettiness level on the argument scale and I wanted Jed to realise what a snake he was investing in. Assuming he didn’t know already. He was hot as hell, and from all accounts and dealings with him in the past, he had a brain as sharp as his cheekbones. Most definitely not how Friedrich had referred to him at the restaurant.
‘You know that’s not true,’ Friedrich snapped.
‘But that’s what you told her?’ Jed interjected.
Friedrich’s head spun towards him, panic registering on his face momentarily before he smoothed it away. ‘It was merely a misunderstanding.’
‘Yes, you know,’ I butted in. ‘The kind of misunderstanding that happens when someone tells you one thing and then you find out totally by accident that actually, none of it is true. And that not only are younotbeing given the position you were promised, you’re not even going to be paid a wage.’
Jed’s face lost all expression and he turned back to Friedrich who was now practically purple with barely suppressed rage.
‘If you hadn’t been snooping on my desk, you wouldn’t have known that anyway!’
‘That’s not really the point, is it, Friedrich? Assuming it’s true.’ Jed’s melodic southern drawl was measured and calm.
I remained silent, although with difficulty and only because I knew Jed believed me.
‘She’s misunderstood.’
‘In what way?’ Jed answered, his tone reasonable but with a hint of ‘I can guarantee if you mess me about you’ll regret it’.
‘Well, umm, it’s more a matter of Lizzie misunderstanding what I said originally. I never promised her the lead. Obviously that was always going to be me.’
‘Yes,obviously! Thanks to you being chums with the bloke organising it. Funny that,’ I mumbled.
Jed swung me a look. I’d moved from petty to petulant on the scale now.
‘Sorry.’
The blue eyes gave the briefest flicker of amusement before he turned his attention back to the other side of the table. I looked up at the clock.
‘Look, I need to get back to work. I’ve got all the answers I need here. I have a pile of stuff to do and I’ve wasted enough time on this.’
Jed stood. ‘Yes, of course.’ He gave me a quick hug and saw me to the door. Friedrich stood up.
‘Can you hang on there a moment, Friedrich. Lizzie may have her answers but I still have a few questions of my own.’ Friedrich’s high colour once more paled until he matched the bleached whale bone that served as an art installation in the room. I turned and left. I may have been smiling.
