Page 112 of Feel It in the Air

“Why don’t we just invite Margeaux while we’re at it?” Carl mutters, circling the desk.

“If she’s interested…” Auggie remarks, not giving in to the sarcasm.

“She’s not.” I shake my head. I tried to convince her, but she wasn’t having it. “Said she thought it would be better if we kept it to those who were in the original meeting.”

“At least one of you is being mature about this.”

Biting my tongue, I gesture for Carl to lead the way. He doesn’t need to know that Margeaux has a plan of her own for confronting Teresa when all is said and done. That’s information best kept to myself here.

I follow him and my father down the long hall toward the legal department, as if on autopilot. I’ve made the journey more times than I can count, yet somehow this is different.

Stopping just shy of the last turn, Auggie turns to me, giving me a knowing look and a hearty nod. My heart leaps, my body suddenly on high alert.

It’s go time.

“Y’all,”Auggie greets, walking into the room like he was taking the stage at Rhythm and Brews. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think he’d been studying Dustin’s moves and was trying to do his best impression. “I apologize. I had a meeting run a little over.”

“Happens to the best of us,” Percy says with a smirk.

Silently, Carl and I prepare to take a seat on either side of my father, his symbolic right and left hands, letting our presence be known. The two on the other side of the table don’t say anything else, but Teresa’s expression when she sees me says it all.

I probably shouldn't take as much joy as I do from watching the smile slip from her face as we all pile into the conference room, one right after the other, like clowns unloading from a miniature car. Her complete lack of poker face betrays her, letting us all in on the fact that the only person she was expecting to join her and Percy in this meeting was Auggie.

And if seeing me walk in deflated her sails, then the sight of Carl made her hackles stand straight up. This was not the meeting she expected. Clearly she doesn’t know HR procedure as well as she thinks.

“Miss Parrish,” Auggie begins. “Last week, you met with Gus and Percy to discuss a vendor establishment contract for Sapphire Sands. Is that correct?”

“Yes,” Teresa answers, her bright, kiss-ass smile plastered firmly in place. The same one she had at the start of our meeting.

“And during this meeting, you made the accusation that Gus was having an inappropriate relationship with an employee, that you felt resulted in favoritism. Is that correct?”

“He is. I provided proof.”

“I understand the nature of the complaint that you made in your discussions with Human Resources,” Auggie replies, nodding to Carl. “I’m verifying whether or not you made that complaint during the meeting I mentioned.”

“Yes, I did.”

“And why did you feel that was the moment to bring this matter forward?”

Teresa flinches backward, physically caught off guard by the question. “He’s breaking Hayes policy. That needed to be brought to light.”

“But why that moment?”

Auggie remains steadfast, his normal laid-back features stoic and trained on Teresa. I know what it’s like to be on the receiving end of that look, and there’s no doubt she’s feeling the heat.

“He’s fucking an employee!” she exclaims, her voice rising in pitch as her body lurches forward. Catching herself, she sits back, inhaling deeply to regain composure. “It’s inappropriate and unfair.”

“The nature of Gus’s relationship with Miss Finnegan isn’t a factor of today’s discussion, as it’s a part of a confidential HR matter that has now been resolved. Although I am still curious as to why you felt that the right moment to discuss whatever concerns you might have about said relationship was during the discussion of the Sapphire Sands contract.”

Boom.

Teresa shifts uncomfortably in her seat. The room stills, the only sound filling the air coming from the vent above us, making the silence louder than cicadas in the dead of summer. We all wait for what feels like forever, each second that passes growing longer and longer.

“It needed to be brought to light.”

You fucking said that…

Auggie nods. Slow, steady, like he’s chewing on the answer, trying to digest it. “Well, it’s out in the open now. So, we can continue the discussion about Sapphire Sands.”