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“Uh…” The nerve beneath his eye is twitching and the letter opener is now moving at some pace.
I turn to Rebecca. She nods and her smile is almost as gullible as Caitlin’s.
“It’s your own company, for Christ’s sake!” I bark at my business partner. “You’re not a consultant for your own fecking company!”
“Now, no need to use such language. What’s done is done.”
“No wonder this company has been haemorrhaging money.” I run my fingers through my hair. The cheek of him! I point to Finbar then to Rebecca. “From now on, I want to look over the accounts every month and sign them off.”
“There’s really no need…” Redness creeps up Finbar’s neck.
“Oh, I think there is.” I can’t believe this, Finbar has literally been stealing from the company. I have to leave before I do or say something I’ll regret. “Right, this meeting is over.”
I motion for Rebecca to leave. Her shoulders drop and she twists around so fast that she stumbles on her own feet. I grab her elbow to steady her and lead her out of the office. This time I don’t hold back but slam the door. I hate that man somuch. Breathing heavily through my nose, I swear to myself that I’ll win this design competition. I’ll rub the victory into his ruddy face while going behind his back with his daughter, and I’ll relish every moment of it.
Through the red mist of anger, I hardly notice that Rebecca has slowed her steps. She glances at me through the side of her eye and whispers, “You may also want to check his lunch expenses.”
“Why is that?”
She shrugs and looks away. “It’s not for me to say. Maybe heishaving lunch with clients several times a week…”
“Oh, for feck’s sake. Is the company paying for his daily lunch?”
She doesn’t respond but scurries in front of me to the safety of her office.
I growl quietly. Finbar may be feasting on the company’s expenses, but I’m going to be feasting on his daughter.
9
Caitlin
For the hundredth time, I adjust the height of the chair. I probably need to get a footrest as my feet don’t reach the ground. My brother has his own room here on the second floor, but Aidan had an extra desk set up in his office when I came in this morning. I don’t mind.
At all.
“We’ve agreed to present your and Junior’s designs at the RDS jewellery fair in August,” Aidan says, pacing in front of my desk. “We were already going to have a double stall at the fair, so it’s perfect, really.”
“Okay.”
Aidan and Dad have apparently set out the rules for this so-called design competition between Fin and me. It sounds more like a competition between Dad and Aidan. But I don’t care as long as I get to do what I love. Although presenting my designs at Dublin’s historic showrooms in front of industry experts is daunting, to say the least.
“The winner will be the one who can secure the highest sales at the fair minus expenses.” Aidan pauses for a second, hischeekbones highlighted as he clenches his jaw. I wonder what he’s thinking of.
“Okay.”
He shakes himself out of whatever was on his mind and continues his pacing. “We need a full range before then. Some prototypes will have to be created as soon as possible to allow us to do a photo shoot for promo material, posters etc.”
“Okay.”
“We have to think of the subject matter of the photo shoot.”
“Okay.”
Deep in thought, he taps his lips. Pale pink lips that have been pressed against mine. “A subject matter that will fit the price range of the pieces.”
“Okay.”
“So we need to decide on the pricing.”
