The Executive Consultant (4 page)

My meeting with Rachel was finished and I breathed a sigh of
relief. My contract was signed and my salary was more than generous cemented my
decision to take the offer from Gates Industries. I felt much better than I had
in the last couple of days. I was due to start work officially the following
Monday but would need to come in that week for orientation. The first thing I
learned was that everyone was on a first name basis. For a company of their
magnitude it was refreshing. I made my way out of the building with a huge
smile on my face. After the weekend I had just had life was beginning to feel
good again.

Some peace was restored inside me knowing that my parents were
happy only if I was content with whatever decisions I had made in life. They
would continue to support me. I had spoken to my mother again on Sunday night
and she had told me that they had decided to do whatever had to be done for the
business before they left. I had told dad that maybe an option would be to sell
the business. I thought that would have been the best solution with the way
things were at the moment. They would not have the stress of worrying about
what was going on with the business, because they would be completely safe in
the knowledge that it was no longer their responsibility. Mom warmed up to the
idea, but dad had too many sentimental problems with this idea. I was going to
stay with them for a few days as I gave Mark space to clear out his things.

I was happy until I turned on my phone on and saw a dozen missed
calls from Erin. I huffed and rolled my eyes.

Does she
really have nothing better to do but stalk me and fuck my fiancé?

I was just about to slip the phone back into my purse when it
rang again. I did not need to see the caller ID to know who was calling.

“What?” I said abruptly.

“Lea?” She sounded like a fragile child.

“What?” I repeated loudly. People stopped and stared at me. I
had only spoken like that, because people were around. Otherwise, I would not
have been able to control my temper.

“I just want to talk. Starbucks near the apartment,
p-l-e-a-s-e?” she begged.

I sighed and replied, “The apartment where you fucked my fiancé?
Sure, give me thirty minutes.”

I did not give her a chance to respond nor did I give her a
chance to deny it. I had had enough of them both lying to me the whole time.
The only reason all the confession was happening now, was because they had been
caught. It was obvious that Mark had only used me to get to my parents because
of the business. It all made sense now. He led a very expensive lifestyle for a
potential consultant. He was always trying to go on elaborate holidays or buy
unnecessary things for the apartment. I could see, now, that it was for the
money that he never had, only mine.

As I arrived at Starbucks I spotted Erin looking like a wounded
soldier. Her once bright flowing hair was unwashed. She reminded me of what I
had witnessed with Mark earlier. I did not even bother to get a drink: I did
not plan to be there for long. I just sat opposite her.

“What did you want? Speak.”

“Lea, why are you being so cruel.” Just hearing her voice pissed
me off. I was hanging by a string. I started to get up and her eyes widened in
panic.

She started to sniffle. “Please, please. Forgive me.”

I sat back down. I listened to her talk about how we first met
and how much she loved me and would never do anything to hurt me. She then
started going on about how Mark had made a pass on her. She carried on talking
and eventually I just went numb. I remembered we were friends and that this was
how I had treated her all the time: as a friend. I had never stolen anything
from her. But she had felt no compunction in doing that. She had made it a
habit over the years to steal everything from a pudding cup to a history
project which she had tried to pass off as hers, not knowing I had already
handed it in. I don't know why I was surprised that she had moved on to
stealing bigger things, like my fiancé. This thing with Mark should not have
come as a surprise. It had been an accident waiting to happen and as much as I
wanted to blame them both, I was at fault as well. I should have known to keep
my friends close and my enemies closer. This was the motto I had always lived
by but somehow she had slipped under the radar. She had treated me like an
enemy for so many years and I had excused her behavior. Each and every time.
But not this time. I was done. As I got up and walked out I did not even care
if she had finished talking or what more she had to say. I knew one thing: I
never ever wanted to see her again.

I went home and packed. I never bothered to check to see if Mark
had taken everything. I suspected he had not and would be back with more lies.
I spent the next few days with my parents going over all their options with
reference to a sale or someone else to look after the company.

The more dad went over the options of who could be trusted, the
more the idea of the sale seemed more and more appealing. We all felt more
comfortable with this idea. They drew up contracts with the accountant and
started putting the business on the market. One thing we had decided was that
the family home was not to be sold. They would need somewhere to stay whenever
they came to the States. Which is great and will still come to the states on a
regular basis.

The week of orientation was spent by my parents'. By that
weekend I was back at the apartment. There was evidence that all his things
were now gone and I breathed a sigh of relief. It was hard to believe that it
was just a little over a week ago that I had been on top of the world. Now that
world had crumbled and I had to start anew. The next day I had a new job and
with it came a new lease on life.

There was a spring in my step the next morning as I swiped in.
Most of the day would be spent with Steven as my space was right outside his
office and on the twentieth floor. Higher managers are at the top of the building
and the day-to-day staff are at the lower end. I was looking forward to today
as I knew that I was about to be plunged into my real job.

Steven greeted me warmly and I settled in quickly. I quickly
found him to be a pretty interesting guy. He had been completely different in
my interview. Then he had not spoken much and nothing about him had been
appealing. But as I watched him in action today it made my whole conception of
him change completely.

He had worked with Asian corporations and African ones too. He
was well traveled and conversant in four languages: French, English, Spanish
and Mandarin. As we sat down for lunch in the canteen, I watched how people
greeted him as a friend, but back in the office, they tended to greet him as a
manager. Absolutely amazing!

I was struck by his latent power and maybe his blue eyes and
blond hair had a little to do with it as well. I was not usually a fan of
light-haired guys, apart from Brad Pitt of course. I found that there was a
striking resemblance between them both. When I told him he laughed.

“Do you know how many ladies have told me that?”

I thought cheekily as I bit my tongue before responding.

No, but I’m
sure you slept with every one of them
.

“Please! Don’t tell me that you never found it to be a compliment?”
I smiled as I realized I needed to take my eyes of him for one moment. I
flipped my spoon 'accidentally' and it fell to the floor. As I bent to retrieve
it so did he and our heads bumped. We paused and looked at each other. This was
my first confirmation that it was rhetorical. He was attracted to me and I
never knew it. Wow, working here may not be as easy as I thought.

I cleared my throat and continued to eat. When we arrived back
at the office, something stuck in my head as he tried to remain as professional
as he had been before we bumped heads in the canteen.
Never mix business with pleasure.

The first day was exhausting. I went home and kicked of my shoes
and went straight to bed. In the morning, I checked the closets and the bathroom
to ensure that all of Mark’s things were gone. Erin had stopped calling as
well. I breathed a sigh of relief. This job was going to be stressful enough as
it was. I did not need a complicated life on top of it to make matters worse.

The next day I had a few meetings to attend with Steven. As I
walked in at eight, I was surprised to see him already in his office.

“Good morning,” I said as I stood by my desk.

“Good morning.”

He nodded as if he was lost for words. Strangely, after our
encounter we had not really spoken again. I waited for him to say something
else but he did not.

I sat at my desk to settle my nerves as I thought about all the
meetings we had today. They felt like they were back-to-back and I was way out
of my league. Two coffees later I had bolstered enough nerve to walk into
Steven's office. I had my head down as I read through the agenda for the first
meeting. He was just on the verge of walking out. Neither of us were paying
attention to where we were going and bumped into each other.

“Sorry,” I apologized profusely.

“No. I’m sorry. We can’t be late. It’s down on the tenth floor.
Come on.” He touched the arch of my back and shivers rippled down my spine as
we made our way to the elevator.

We walked into the elevator in silence. To break the ice, I
asked a question, that I didn't even think about. The CEO was listed as
attending the meeting, but he was in China. So, how was that possible?

"How is Nathan going to attend?"

Steven looked at me as if I was a child.

"The same way the CFO and CLO will do later, by conference.
Not being in the same country, doesn't mean that we have to cancel meetings.
It's a global company." He said as the doors opened.

I wanted someone to dig a hole and bury me in it. His voice had
been cold with an undercurrent. I sensed that something deeper was going on,
but I could not ask why. I just could not handle anything emotional at the
moment. I needed to keep my head straight and focus on work and only work.

As we entered the boardroom, I gasped. I could not believe what
was in front of my eyes. I felt like I did not belong here. I know I had
applied for the position of COO position, but being in this room with the
mahogany table, which could seat up to thirty people or more, made me glad I
had not been successful. It was intimidating. There was a wide screen on one
end of the room with views of Manhattan similar to the one from Nathan’s office
on the other side.

Everyone greeted each other and nodded as if they were in some
secret society. Steven held me close and as I inhaled his cologne I felt lost.

“The table over there, is where you need to sit.” He pointed as
I was about to sit next to him.

Another
mistake again, I really need to keep it together.

Nathan came up on the screen via video-conferencing and the
meeting started. Everyone knew each other and they started discussing the
problems with the company to date. The main focus seemed to be on the operating
procedures. That was Steven's domain and I began to make notes to discuss with
him afterwards. I was completely lost, and at some point, I turned to face the
view, trying to spot as many tourist attractions as I could.

The meeting dragged for over thirty minutes if not more. I could
not make out the time on the clock on the wall from where I sat and I did not
want to keep looking at my watch. The meeting was scheduled for an hour. I
recalled Nathan saying that the hour was up and due to the time difference he
had to leave and trusted that everything was in hand.

After he was disconnected, the topic seemed to be around each
everyone's holidays: where they had been or where they wanted to go. No one
seemed to be discussing anything which I felt was relevant to the actual
agenda. It was then that the window became my new best friend. I was seated in
a room full of twenty men. Yep, I had counted them all
.
Most of them were in their mid-thirties, and a few were a lot
older. Then there was little old me. I felt insignificant.

When the meeting was over they all stood up. Steven introduced
me to no one and said nothing except, “Come on, let’s go.”

The nice, friendly guy that I had met seemed to have jumped out
of the window. Why did I have this effect on men? Did I have some sort of curse
or something? I frowned briefly as I realized we were not going up to our
office, but downstairs.

“Steven, where are we going?" I screeched as he took me
gently by the hand and led me out of the building. He did not answer until we
were outside. It was my second day and yet, I felt like I was on a whirlwind.

“To talk. As they say walls have ears so I prefer to do this in
the open.”

Wow, I thought as we went to a little coffee house around the
corner. He seemed more relaxed and the sparkle I saw in his eyes earlier had
returned as we ordered and sat in a corner.

“So, this is a bit too much. I know you only just started, but
we need to work together on this one.”

I really did not have a clue what he was talking about. I could
agree and pretend I knew and ask for help, or disagree and eventually he would
tell me what was going on. Lost was not the word to describe how I felt at that
precise moment. I said the one thing that could save me.

“Break it down for me.”

“Well, we need to collect all the data and assess them for the
inefficiencies in the company's operating procedures."

I nodded, safe in the knowledge that for the first time today I
had said the right thing. He smiled to reassure me.

"I've been difficult. Things are a bit...complicated at the
moment. But I'm here to help. Don't ever feel otherwise."

The Steven that I had flirted with and found attractive had
returned. The ugly monster that had showed his ugly head had gone. I breathed a
sigh of relief. This was not my first time working for a corporation. Studying
had probably made me forget what all the stress was like and how at times, you
felt like banging your head against the wall.

When we returned to the office I started to pay attention. I
listened attentively and took notes on my tablet as the CEO and CLO discussed
the issues faced to date and what needed to be addressed. I felt like I had a
sense of importance and achievement as I finally left the office at seven.

I grabbed a taxi home. I could not wait to get my heels off. My
business suits looked great in the morning, but by the time I got home, it was
a different story. My hair was no longer strongly secured in a bun, but was
lose with strands dropping like little drops of rain. My make-up was no longer
fresh, but smudged. The day was too stressful, I had no time to keep going to
the bathroom to top up.

Gosh! I did not even remember eating lunch. It had just been one
meeting after another. As I jumped out of the taxi I got a text from Steven. As
exhausted as I was it put a smile on my face. I kept reading it over and over
again trying to remember if I had given him my number. I tried not to read a
double meaning into it. The stress of losing both my fiancé and best friend at
the same time had me feeling vulnerable.

I stepped out of the elevator with a hint of a smile still on my
face. It was wiped off as soon as I opened the door. There on the kitchen bench
lay seven red roses with a note.

Seven,
because it’s seven days since I last saw you.

Love Mark

Xoxox

I put on my slippers took the roses and headed to take them out
to the trash.