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“Goodnight, Grandmother. I love you.”
Still not looking at me, she nodded and whispered a reply. “I love you too, Fiona.”
With that, I turned to leave her room, and as I pulled the bedroom door closed, my thoughts drifted back to him. This whole situation with Gabe was making me feel something I couldn’t stand… out of control. Between my unexplained feelings of jealousy and my grandmother’s not-so-subtle hinting, it was becoming obvious I was allowing this to affect me.
I walked down the hallway, shaking my head as I attempted to devise a plan of action. There was really only one logical way forward.
I had to protect my job, my grandmother, and most of all, myself. I’d shown Gabe something I hadn’t intended to, mostly because it was below my awareness. But now it was out there. The only question was, could I salvage any part of it or would things be different between us for good?
I had to back away… play it cool, or there was no telling what disastrous direction this might lead.
GABE
Hunched over a fund-raising brief on the Link Protocol, I pinched the bridge of my nose between my fingertips. I squeezed my eyes closed tight. They were sore from back-to-back eighteen hour days of reading, writing and rewriting. I rubbed them as I sputtered my next thought.
“Okay, well, I’ll have to call him,” I said at last, turning and looking up at Holly as I did.
The crunch was on. And even though there was a part of me that relished the challenge, there was an equally motivated side that just wanted to get it done. With the presentation fast approaching, I’d been under maximum pressure to put together an updated prospectus for the investors. In recent days, it had gotten to the point where it ate up nearly all my time. I reached for the phone, wrapping my fingers around the hard plastic as I tugged it from the cradle.
“Gabe,” Holly began, as she stood upright. She placed her hands around her hourglass waist and said, “You’ve got the meeting with the lab team. You don’t have time to make that call right now.”
“Shit,” I muttered. “I forgot.”
She remained silent for a moment or two. “Should I reschedule them?”
I leaned back and exhaled. Dragging my fingers through my hair, I muttered a reply. “No. I’ll deal with it. What time are they going to be here?”
Holly twisted her arm, rotating her wrist in line with her eyes as she glanced at her watch. “Ten minutes.”
I nodded and attempted to shift my focus. I had no interest in having even one more conversation on the reason for their visit. Even so, I had to hear both sides of what this had turned into, or risk having it get worse.
“Should I get anything ready for the meeting? Some coffee or snacks?”
“No,” I said, standing from my chair. I reached towards my neck and crushed the fine silk knot in my tie, straightening it with two quick jerks. “We’re not having social hour. This won’t take long and once I’m done, I need to get on those calls.”
“Okay,” Holly said with a nod. “So, I’ll just send them in when they get here.”
“Yes. Do that.”
As I finished my thought, Holly turned to walk away.
“Oh, Holly. There is one more thing.”
She stopped mid-stride and turned her upper body towards me. “Yes?”
“As soon as I’m done. I’ll need Fiona up here as well. Put her on standby for me.”
“Okay. Anything else?”
“No.”
Fifteen minutes later, I stood with my hands on my hips staring down the length of my conference table at them. Accompanied by Amanda and Melissa, a group of junior scientists sat in my office for one reason… Fiona.
One by one, they took turns lodging their grievances. With each successive complaint, I dragged my hand through my hair and even once wiped my palm down the length of my face. This was the last thing I needed to deal with right now. After the third team member spoke, I raised my hand, interrupting the story.
“Folks, have any of you voiced your concerns to Fiona?”
I paused for moment, unsure of the response I’d get. Each of them looked towards Amanda and Melissa. As soon as that happened, I realized I’d seen all I needed to from the group.
“All right,” I began with a nod. “Everyone out. I’ve listened to your concerns. You have my assurances I’ll speak to Fiona.”
Amidst a smattering of throat clearings and chairs sliding about, the assembled group began to stand from the table. As they did, I turned my attention towards Amanda and Melissa.
“You two stay right where you are. I want to speak with you in private.”
I studied their reaction to my request. They’d each only just begun to stand from their chairs as I gave them my instruction. After a brief, but obvious, exchange of nervous slash guilty glances, they returned to their seats. I folded my arms across my chest, and as I did, an instinctive flex came to my biceps. I glared at them in silence for several moments before summoning my assistant as the last of the scientists filed out of my office.
