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I’m upset, but I don’t want to explode in front of Marama. “I’m sorry that Craig was so rude to you,” I say to her. “I’m not going to let that slide.”
She nods. “Let me know if there’s anything I can do.”
We head out, Damon and I go back into his office, and we close the door.
“Jesus Christ,” he says.
“I’m not going mad, am I?” I ask him. “I’m the project director. It was my decision to make, in the end?”
“Of course it was,” Damon replies. “Plus we’re directors, and he’s just a member of SLT. We don’t need his and Marama’s consent on who we sell to. You discussed it as a courtesy. He’s being an idiot.” He studies me for a moment. “Do you want to backtrack? Sell it to Sunrise instead?”
Anger sears through me. “I’m not letting Craig bully me into doing that.”
“Fair enough,” he says. “Fuck him.”
I give a short laugh, and his lips curve up.
“Are you going to talk to Saxon about this?” he asks. “He’d want to know.”
I hesitate. He’s had a huge amount on his plate lately, with Catie and the babies, plus he’s in Auckland every other week running Titus’s AI company while our cousin is in the UK. He doesn’t need more to worry about. “No. Let’s keep it to ourselves for now.”
“He’ll probably see the article.”
“You know what he’s like, he doesn’t read the trade news. He relies on me to tell him what’s going on.”
“He won’t be happy,” he says, but he holds up a hand when I glare at him. “All right. What are we going to do about Craig, though? He had no right to discuss anything with a reporter.”
“I know. I could fire him for it. I want to. I’m so angry with him. But there’s something odd about all of this. We’ve been friends for a long time. Why would he do something like that?”
Damon perches on the edge of his desk. “He’s always been your friend rather than mine. If I’m honest, I don’t think he’s quite the nice guy you think he is. He has a nasty streak. It stays well hidden, but sometimes it pokes through when he’s well oiled.”
I know he’s right. “I’ll talk to him,” I say reluctantly. “Hopefully he was just frustrated, and he spoke without thinking. I’ll try to talk him around.”
“If you can’t, we’re going to have to think about how we handle this.” He stops as the phone on his desk rings and picks it up. “Hey, Marion,” he says. He listens for a moment, then closes his eyes briefly. “All right, hold on, I’ll tell him.” He glances at me. “Apparently Lesley is on the phone for you. She says she’s in town and wonders if you’d like to catch up.”
It’s my ex. Damon gives me a look that says, ‘For fuck’s sake.’
“Want me to tell her you’re busy?” he asks.
I sigh. “No, tell Marion I’ll take it in my office.”
“Bro,” he says, “Seriously? She’s not good for you. You can do better.”
“I’m just going to talk to her,” I tell him. “Catch you later.”
I leave his office, walk through to mine, sit in my leather chair, and turn it so I’m looking out over the view of Alexandra Park. It’s the summer solstice tomorrow, so the sun won’t set until close to nine p.m. The sun is low on the horizon, its evening rays painting the park in shades of orange and gold.
I turn back to my phone and pick up the receiver. Line four is flashing, so I press it and lean back. “Hey, Les, sorry to keep you.”
“No worries,” she replies. “Hello, you. How are you doing?”
“I’m good, thanks.” I prop my feet on the windowsill, stretching out my legs. “How are you?”
“Yeah, all good.”
“You’re back in New Zealand?”
“Just for a few weeks.” So a visit then. She’s still not moving back.
