She winced. “In my room. Running late, I left it behind.”
“Don’t do that again.” My voice came out hard. “I can’t be on every floor.”
“I know. I’m sorry. The meeting?—”
“We’re in it. Henri’s asking for you. Not happy about the fire or your posts.”
“He’s seen them?”
“Leo showed him. He admitted they’re impressive, but he’s asking questions. Background, where you’re from, qualifications.”
“Is that weird?”
“For Henri? Yeah.” We reached the executive conference room, and I swiped us in. “He isn’t concerned about individual employees. Just numbers.”
“Because I nearly burned down his investment?”
“Maybe.” But my gut screamed otherwise.
I opened the door and let her enter first.
Henri went white. Then red. And then rage flashed across his face before he smoothed it out.
But I’d seen it.
He knew her.
“Ms. George,” Orion said smoothly. “Thank you for joining us. We’ve been reviewing your campaign.”
“I hope it meets with your approval,” Tashi said, sitting between Leo and me. Her hands shook as she opened her laptop.
“It’s brilliant,” Leo said. “Show him the metrics.”
She turned the laptop for us to view the screen. The numbers flashed bigger now. She had received hundreds of thousands of views, with shares multiplying and positive sentiment crushing past negative coverage.
“As you can see,” she said, gaining confidence, “we’ve reframed the incident. Instead of ‘safety issues,’ the story is ‘leadership saves an employee.’ You’re positioned as hands-on, caring leaders who?—”
“Where are you from, Ms. George?” Henri cut her off.
She blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Your background. Hometown. I’m curious about the woman reshaping our image.” His smile was cold. “Reasonable question.”
“Connecticut originally,” she said carefully. “New York in the past few years.”
“Connecticut.” Henri’s jaw tightened. “Which part?”
“Does it matter?” I asked.
“Making conversation. Getting to know our new hire.” He gestured at her screen. “She mentions ‘a fresh start after personal challenges back East.’ I’m curious what brings someone from Connecticut to Vegas with such urgency.”
“A job offer,” Tashi said, voice cooling. “A fantastic one. Is there a problem, Mr. Saltz?”
“Not at all.” But his hands gripped the table, his knuckles turning white. Why were his shoulders tense? Why did it seem he was in fight-or-flight mode? “I simply like knowing who we’re trusting with our reputation.”
The room went tense. Leo shifted. Orion narrowed his eyes.
I reached across to point at something on Tashi’s screen and let my hand rest on her shoulder. Brief. Casual.She’s one of us. Back off.
