Page 20 of Tell Me What you Think

"Yeah, yeah." A blush spread up her skin like a lit fuse. "I just got a little scattered."

"Come on, it's Friday. We've got one last push this afternoon and then you've got the whole weekend to relax."

Olga wasn't sure whether there was something to read between the lines there—whether Marina was genuinely trying to cheer her up or subtly telling her to get her act together. Not knowing only made it worse, and she nodded with a smile and walked quickly back to her desk to grab her bag and go get something to eat.

Marina got a sandwich from the vending machine in the hallway and a bottle of water. It wasn't the most nutritious lunch, or even a pleasant one, but she wanted to have everything locked down and not miss a thing—because of the two partners who'd come, one seemed too green and the other had enough experience to try to play games.

An hour and a half later, she was in her office finishing up an email when Jordi walked in without knocking and dropped a couple of hard candies on her desk.

"The Nauta people are already waiting outside conference room twelve," he announced casually, unwrapping one of the candies and popping it in his mouth.

Marina grabbed the other one and checked the time.

"We've got five minutes," she said, and stood up. "Ready?"

"There's a small problem."

She stopped dead and turned to look at him.

"Are you going to tell me, or am I supposed to die of suspense?"

Jordi smiled, then bit his lip.

"Room twelve is taken—HR has a training session in there until five."

Marina frowned and started thinking fast. She'd asked Olga to book that room on Wednesday morning, when the meeting with the Nauta partners was confirmed, but it was obvious she hadn't done it. She could have walked out and laid into her about leaving ten people standing in the hallway waiting for a room they couldn't use, but that wasn't her style. Calling people out in front of others wasn't something she did; she handled corrections in private. So she decided she wouldn't even bring it up, because given the state Olga had been in all week, the most likely outcome was a complete meltdown. She'd handle it herself.

"Tell them there's been a room change," she said, pulling up the schedule on her computer. "Take them to room twenty—it's free right now. I'll reserve it through six."

"Done," Jordi said, and walked out.

Marina crunched down on the candy and crushed it to get it down before heading out.

"Ready, Olga?" she asked, and her assistant jumped up from her chair, spinning back around when she realized she'd grabbed her pen but left her notepad behind.

The meeting ran until six-thirty. Marina spent a few minutes at the entrance to the conference room making small talk before seeing the partners off, then went straight to her office—and on the way she caught the mortified look on Olga's face from behind her desk.

"I'm sorry about the room—you asked me to book room twelve and I—"

Olga didn't know what to say. When she'd walked with Marina to the meeting and they'd passed room twelve and seen it full, her stomach had dropped to the floor.

"Oh my God." She'd pressed a hand to her mouth.

"It's handled—I moved it to room twenty. Let's go." Marina's response had been neither harsh nor warm.

"I looked for another room when I saw that one was taken, but I never confirmed the reservation," she said finally. "I'm really sorry. I don't make mistakes like that—I don't know what's gotten into me."

"Come in for a minute," Marina said, gesturing for her to follow into her office.

She waited by the door and closed it once Olga—red as a beet, this time from embarrassment—stepped inside.

"Sit down." Marina pointed to one of the chairs, and to her assistant's surprise, she sat in the other one instead of going around to her side of the desk, crossing her legs to one side.

Olga got lost in that image for a moment, heat crawling up her neck, then forced her eyes back up.

"The room situation got sorted out and nobody died," Marina began.

"Then—"