How can he do this? Does he really hate me this much?
I spiral and close my eyes to stop my morning coffee from crawling up my throat, remaining that way until Victoria nudges her sharp elbow into my side and forcing me back to reality.
Elijah’s here.
He stands near the prompter with a polite smile on his face. His dark hair is combed away from his forehead and fluffed at the end, and his shirt is open a few buttons near the collar and lacking his usual tie. He looks different. More relaxed than I’ve ever seen him.
He looks good.
A sudden thought that I squash immediately.
“Good morning,” Elijah says with a polite smile. “Thank you all for joining me this morning. I know this meeting is short notice so I hope you will forgive me for calling you all here with no time to prepare. As I’m sure some of you have heard over thepast weeks since I’ve been here, there have been talks about a collaboration between Angelic Jewels and Amber Limited.”
Jimmy stands behind Elijah, chewing obnoxiously on a toothpick, but his expression is rather unreadable. I can’t tell if good news or bad news is about to come my way, but Victoria’s already planted the seed of doubt in my mind and I can’t keep still. My leg bounces under the table, a bounce that starts softly and grows more violent when I spot Chris standing behind Elijah like some kind of looming bloodsucker.
I hate lawyers.
“During my time here, I’ve learned that nearly every single person here is incredibly passionate about what they do, and I say nearly only because I haven’t met all of you, but I am sure that passion is the same. You all take pride in your work, and I have seen innovations across the board, from the website to the warehouse to the public-facing storefronts. Now, you may be asking why a gemstone company is interested in a business like this. Wouldn’t we be better fitted teaming up with a company that actually makes jewelry instead of a brand like this? And to a point, you are correct.”
A soft murmur of polite laughter ripples around the room, like a wave poised to drown me under the news that I’m out of a job.
“Amber Limited is looking to take a step into the market by expanding our gem acquisitions into actual creations and sales. Which is why, after some thorough investigations into everything you do here, I’m happy to announce that instead of a collaboration, Amber Limited and I are takingoverAngelic Jewels.”
There’s another murmur of sound, one of uncertainty as everyone shifts in their seats and waits with bated breath for the bad news.
“Now, this is going to result in some changes that you might find alarming. The stores as they stand are not working, and not where we as a company feel is the best use of time and resources.”
“Hold on!” Victoria suddenly lunges to her feet and draws all eyes to her, including Elijah’s.
My heart starts to pound as Elijah, for a brief second, locks eyes with me and then glances up to Victoria. “Yes?”
“What do you mean, the stores aren’t working? The stores are the backbone of this business!”
“Sure,” scoffs someone from the warehouse crowd.
Victoria throws them a brief, sharp glare and continues. “If you want to look at failure, then just look at the subscription department. I mean, what is this, the nineteen fifties? No one cares about the mail anymore, and sure, you all like to order online. I get that. But I’m being honest, they don’t do even half the work we do or deal with as many customers.”
“Victoria,” Elijah says gently. “If you would let me explain?—”
“Yeah, go on then,” she snaps. “Explain why you’d choose to get rid of the money maker when there’s a drain right here?”
A pulse of offensive shock moves through me, and I momentarily forget about my worry. “Vic, that’s a bit harsh.”
“Harsh but true,” she snaps. “This is you, isn’t it?” She suddenly turns to me with fire in her eyes and my heart squeezes tightly.“You’ve been sleeping with him to save your department, haven’t you? That’s why you never had any news for me, because you were so busy screwing us over by sucking his cock to keep your stupid job!”
My mind goes utterly blank and I pray as hard as I can that the ground opens up and swallows me.
37
CALLIOPE
The silence is deafening. All eyes turn to me as Victoria finishes her rant and gasps as if the words took every ounce of strength she had.
My lips part, but any kind of excuse I can think of just sounds incredibly lame.
I should say something.
Anything.
