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She added a couple of lines to the report and then considered the options on the screen in front of her. Accept or reject. There was no grey area where this computer program was concerned. If she rejected the application, Guy would not get his permits. He could appeal the decision with revised plans, or he could forget the idea of building on Le Bijou altogether.
He had hinted last night that that was what he had wanted.
She shook her head. She couldn’t let that influence her. This had to be based on the facts. The evidence. The science.
* * *
Meena looked up at the sound of the heavy knock on her office door and started when she saw Guy standing there. His face was drawn into hard lines, and she swallowed, nervous for a moment before she squared her shoulders and stood, refusing to let him intimidate her.
‘Guy, what a—’
‘What the hell is this, Meena?’ he asked, brandishing a piece of paper.
She couldn’t actually read it, with him waving it around, but she didn’t have to be a genius to work out that he had received the email formally informing him that his planning applications had been rejected on environmental grounds.
‘You tell me, Guy.’
‘You rejected the application? Why?’
‘The information is all there in the report. The potential harm to the environment of Le Bijou is too great. I couldn’t approve the development.’
‘But we’ve been working together on this, Meena, and you never suggested...’
‘I never suggested what, Guy? That the application might not be successful? If that were the case then we wouldn’t bother with a report at all. We would just rubber-stamp the application of every billionaire developer who happened to take an interest in our country.’
‘Take an interest? What’s that supposed to mean?’
‘I didn’t mean anything. What do you think it means?’
‘I think it means that you’re angry that I’m back. That I’ve chosen to develop an island that used to mean something to us. That you’re letting our personal relationship cloud your judgement.’
Meena placed her hands on her hips. ‘I wasn’t aware that we have a personal relationship,’ she stated, angry that he could accuse her.
‘You know what I mean,’ Guy said, grinding the words out. It was clear that he was as angry as she was. But she would not let that make her change her decision. ‘Our history,’ Guy continued. ‘Our history on Le Bijou—that’s why you rejected the application.’
Meena crossed her arms, not bothering to try to assuage her anger.
‘You are accusing me of being unprofessional. It is not acceptable to come to my office and make those sorts of accusations. If you have a complaint, you can make it in writing,’ she told him. Adding, ‘To my boss,’ to make her point. Guy was the one bringing their relationship into this. It had never been a part of her decision-making process. She’d only ever been thinking of Le Bijou, she told herself, and what was best for the ecosystem there. Never about him.
‘Fine. I’ll do that,’ he said, turning for the door.
Meena was about to watch him walk out—storm out—without either of them mentioning that kiss on the island. Fine. It clearly meant nothing to him. But that wasn’t the only thing that had happened that night. They had talked. Specifically, they had talked about the fact that Guy wasn’t even sure that he wanted this development to go ahead.
‘Guy...’ she said, and he paused at the doorway. His shoulders dropped slightly, some of the tension leaving his body, and she guessed that his initial anger was fading along with the adrenaline that had no doubt fuelled his outburst.
‘What?’ His voice was still hard, though, the word pushed through a tense jaw and gritted teeth.
‘If you wanted to stop the development...this would be a way.’
She knew that she was taking a risk, saying the words out loud. But she wanted him to know that he didn’t have to fight this if he didn’t want to. He could back out of the development gracefully, without losing face, if he accepted her report and didn’t push back.
He stared at her, a muscle ticking in his jaw. ‘You’ll be hearing from me.’
Guy stalked out of her office and she collapsed back into her seat, trying to control the shake in her hands.
As the sound of Guy’s footsteps faded down the hallway, she pulled up her emails and started drafting a note to her boss, reiterating why she had made the decision to deny the application and backing it all up with evidence. If Guy wanted to fight this, fine. She would treat it just as she would any other application. And that meant defending herself to her boss if her judgement was called into question.
She hadn’t been expecting him to be so angry. Perhaps she should have... After that kiss, maybe he thought that she’d go easy on him. That he would get special treatment. Maybe that was why he had done it in the first place. But if that were the case, he was going to be sorely disappointed. Her only interest here was Le Bijou.
