I smiled. Inside, my gut did a little victory dance, but my shoulders and heart sagged in relief.
Chapter Six
Abbey
I started work almost two hours earlier than I needed to, restocking my drawers with stationery and sorting my desk. I checked the CEO’s office, which was now Oliver Northby’s office, and ensured it had everything he needed. The office also had a butler’s pantry and an ensuite, which I gave a quick once over, ensuring things had not fallen apart in the weeks I was away.
Oliver had messaged me on Sunday night.
Abbey, I’m thrilled you are on board and look forward to us working together. We’ll have Nick in my office for the first two weeks, and then we’ll fly solo. Wouldn’t mind you joining the executive meeting, if you are free? I’ll chat to you about it tomorrow. Oliver.
I came back to over a hundred emails, and I worked through them diligently to see what changes had occurred. The Northbys, it seemed, had retained everyone with the exception of our old financial controller, and given what had been occurring that seemed only fair.
Eric had always been an early starter, but I must admit it took me by surprise when Oliver arrived early. He was carrying two coffees and breakfast for the two of us.
‘Uh, I’m pretty sure this is my job now. That I am essentially yourpersonal valet,’ I quipped.
‘Old habits,’ he said, grinning. ‘Thank you for coming back. I need to apologise. That meeting was fucked up. Nick let Alana and her team go. I want to assure you they won’t be around anymore.’
He had immediately endeared himself to me by apologising and swearing, but I confess I was surprised by the decision to part ways with their lawyers. It made me feel slightly better knowing I wouldn’t have to bump into that viper of a lawyer in the hallway. I was also pleasantly surprised that Oliver the CEO was exactly the same person as Oliver the valet.
He was dressed very stylishly in a bespoke dark-grey suit. His crisp shirt was a light blue and his navy tie knotted perfectly at his throat. He looked more like a model or heartthrob than a CEO, but richer, and I was instantly aware of the amount of buffering I would have to provide for him, running interference from would-be admirers. That would be interesting.
‘Well, then, shall we get started?’ I asked.
We cheersed our coffees and spent the first hour of the day on either side of his desk, eating breakfast and speaking about the business and his vision for it. It afforded me the chance to observe him closely and predict the potential strengths and weaknesses of him and his management style. Oliver was a great guy; he was affable, cheeky and easygoing, but drive and a desire to prove himself tempered this. He seemed to be a natural leader.
Nick arrived at eight on the dot that morning. That first morning, God, that first morning was hard. I was still so mad at him. I had relaxed with Oliver over coffee and a bagel (honestly the best bagel I’ve ever had) and, to some extent, I could see that he and I working together was going to be fine. But thenhewalked in.
Nick floored me. He looked beautiful in a mid-blue suit. His shirt was the same colour as Oliver’s, but he had a light-green tie which made his eyes sing. His brown accessories matched perfectly and my gaze was drawn to the undo-ability of that belt and how perfectly tailored his pants were to his thighs. It was difficult to remember I could undress him (and not just mentally) two weeks ago and I dragged my eyes up and reminded myself that I loathed the man.
Truth was, Nick was stirring huge emotions in me, and that made me uncomfortable. Our two-week fling had left us in a weird place. Were we exes? Or were we just pretending it hadn’t happened and were now just colleagues? I’m not sure either of us knew how to navigate it and so it was, naturally, awkward as fuck.
‘Morning,’ Oliver said as Nick walked in.
Nick said nothing. He just looked at me. The silence stretched for way longer than I was comfortable with and, not coping with it, I broke first by standing up to leave.
‘You ready for the exec meeting?’ Nick said to Oliver.
‘Sure am. I invited Abbey to attend. I need a radar on the room, what they’re thinking of us, how the temperature feels from somebody we trust who was here before,’ Oliver said confidently, shooting me a dimpled, lopsided grin as I stood at the door.
‘I’m not sure that’s necessary,’ said Nick, his eyes dark, looking pointedly at Oliver and clearly trying to communicate something to his brother.
‘I’m sorry, Nick. Is there something you want to say to me?’ Oliver asked in a firm challenge. He stood and put his hands on his narrow hips. I had no idea what they were talking about, other than it was obviously about me.
Nick did not answer. He turned his head sharply towards the window, opened his mouth and closed it. I took pleasure in seeing him uncomfortable and struck dumb for words. I hid my grin.
‘See you at nine in the boardroom, Abbey,’ Oliver said smugly.
***
The executive meeting started badly, in that I was late and so was Oliver, but everyone else was on time. I wish I could say that we were late because of something important, but he had called IT because he could not get a password to work for the accounting system. He needed to learn to call me instead.
I walked into his office without knocking to give him a five-minute reminder for the meeting and he looked at me helplessly, pointing to his phone on speaker. I walked over and popped his end on mute.
‘How long?’
‘Nine minutes so far.’
