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‘Yes, but you’re already taking care of three different situations. I’m not sure if you can take this on as well.’
I didn’t even utter a single word because now I could actually feel William’s anger coming in crashing waves.
‘I’m sorry, did we have any complaints that I’m not aware of?’
My dad frowned.
I didn’t even glance Kimberly’s way, but she and Dean weren’t making a sound.
Gayle bumped her shoulder to mine as both our gazes jumped from Dad to William. It was like watching an uncomfortable tennis match.
‘Of course not. But I don’t want you to be stretched thin.’
‘Let me worry about what my team and I can do.’
‘Ouch,’ whispered Gayle next to me, and I bit my lip to hold back my smile.
‘That is not your decision to make,’ my dad returned.
‘Oh? Is it not? I thought we had an understanding when I accepted your offer. I get to choose the companies I want to work with.’
‘And you have. But I don’t want you to take on more than you or your team can handle.’
‘I want to work with them,’ William repeated in a tone that allowed no discussion.
I almost, almost felt bad for my dad, but I knew he wouldn’t be easily persuaded.
‘I’d like to help, William,’ Kimberly jumped into the conversation from her side of the room.
William’s voice was steel when he responded. ‘This isn’t about help. Did they not get in touch asking to work with me, Douglas?’ He briefly glanced in Kimberly’s direction. ‘I’m sorry to say this, but you don’t have the experience to handle their situation. If Douglas was coming to me and saying I want Charlie to handle this, I’d trust her with anything. Not you. No offence, but I don’t know you. I don’t know your work.’
I had the sudden urge to grab his face and pull him down for a long kiss.
Kimberly’s back went straight, her eyes narrowing.
My dad spoke before her.
‘This is not for Charlie. She doesn’t have her own team. She isn’t there yet.’
‘Okay, you can fool yourselves into thinking that. This way I get to have her in my team. It’s my win.’
My dad paused. ‘Okay. Okay. Then it’s up to the airline to decide. I want you and Kimberly to talk to them together. We’ll let them know of both sides’ plans to fix their problems, and we’ll go from there.’
William shook his head. ‘This wasn’t our deal, Douglas.’
Dad rubbed the bridge of his nose. His telltale sign of stress.
‘Let’s do this my way.’ He looked up and met my gaze. ‘Charlie, you can leave. I didn’t need you here.’
I was holding onto my elbow with my hand, and I dropped it, glancing at Gayle briefly. ‘I was…’
‘I thought…’ Gayle started, but neither one of us got to finish.
William stiffened at my side. ‘I seem to be very confused today, Douglas. I thought Charlie was on my team. I thought we went over this multiple times, actually. I’m getting tired of having the same conversation, to be honest.’
That was news to me. The tension in the room multiplied.
Dad straightened up and got back into his seat.
‘Charlie, Dean, leave. I’m sure you have other problems that need your attention. I need to call the airline back, and having Gayle, Kimberly and William in the room is sufficient. They’ll fill you in if need be.’
I moved to leave, but William’s hand on my arm halted me, then he moved his hand away.
‘We’re both going to leave. I’ll let Kimberly know when I’ll be available to make the call. As you mentioned a few moments ago, my team and I are busy.’
You could’ve dropped a pin, and it would’ve echoed in the heavy silence. He didn’t let my dad get in another word as he gestured for me to move. I swallowed, trying my best not to show my discomfort and surprise at the turn of events. If William hadn’t interrupted, I wouldn’t have minded leaving them to handle the phone call. I did have other things I could be working on, so I wouldn’t have cared. But anybody could see how William’s shoulders had tensed up, his jaw set. I moved as quickly as possible, with him following at my back.
I chose not to meet anyone’s eyes, and Kimberly moved out of our way. Before I could, William reached for the door and held it open for me. As soon as we were out, I opened my mouth but closed it pretty quickly after seeing his furious expression.
He walked next to me all the way to my little office.
‘Hey,’ I said softly when we stopped just outside. ‘You okay?’
His gaze softened as he looked down at me, but I could tell it took some effort. He pushed his hands into his pant pockets as if he needed some kind of barrier between us.
