"No, thank you," I said firmly. Tara looked scandalized.
The rest of the meeting didn't go much better. Aside from the brief amusement Parker had from my predicament with Josie, for the rest of the meeting, he was mad about everything. Owen didn't seem all that pleased either.
"Please keep me informed on everything. I've allocated a lot of money and resources to this project," he said when the meeting was finally over that afternoon.
"It doesn't make any sense," Parker complained. "You see that, right, Owen? Also the graphics and everything are just plain ugly. You need to fire that marketing team."
"Tara recommended them," I said. "And they've done other really nice campaigns. Now that the team has more information about the gene therapy procedure, the next draft will be better. We'll regroup in a few days."
When I returned to my office, I looked through the notes and the presentation. Was it really that bad? I didn't have the best eye for marketing.
Josie came in from her office and looked over my shoulder. I could feel the puffs of breath on my neck. I remembered how hot her breath had felt against my crotch.
Do not go down that road…
"It sounded like there were some structural problems with this marketing campaign," she said diplomatically.
"They have some time. Hopefully this meeting helped Tara's team get on track," I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose.
"I could look at it if you want," she offered.
"Don't worry about it," I said. "I know you have a lot to deal with since I dumped Henry on you plus your other work."
"Of course," she said, straightening up. She seemed colder and more professional somehow. Gone was the funny girl who got lost in my house.
Did I say something? Was she upset by the incident this morning?We could not afford a sexual harassment lawsuit.
I cleared my throat. "I just want to apologize for this morning—"
"Don't worry about it," she said. "I'm disaster-prone." She smiled, but it wasn't quite as warm as usual. Maybe I was imagining things?
Henry also wasn't as well-behaved as he was yesterday.
"I don't think he likes being cooped up inside," Josie said when I complained to her about it. "Yesterday we did a lot of walking at the hydroelectric plant, and there were things for him to see. In addition, we had a nice long lunch. He had your attention for several hours when you weren't on your phone or staring at a computer screen."
I glared at her. "Look, I know this isn't ideal, but I don't need you to throw my shortcomings in my face."
"You asked," she retorted. "You can't complain about the weather when you're the one making it rain vegan nut bread. I know you think I'm the dumb girl who just hands out coffee, but even I can read a basic psychology book and see what's going on here."
"I never called you dumb," I snapped at her.
"Never mind," she said, picking up her computer and her coat. "I have some work to finish. I'm going to an empty conference room."
"What is wrong with her, Henry?" I murmured to my brother after Josie left. He didn't acknowledge me. He was running around from the back window to me to the piece of plywood covering the broken window on which he would scrawl with the large black sharpie he was carrying.
"Why isn't this fixed?" I asked aloud after Henry made a particularly squeaky black line across the plywood.
"I don't know. Why don't you ask someone whose job it is?" Garrett said, pulling the door open. Henry ran to him. Garrett plucked the sharpie out of his hand before Henry could scribble all over his pants. "I'm leaving," he announced. "Archer wants me to look at some property. We're going to grab food before. Coming?"
"I have that land-use meeting. Hunter wants me to go, but I have to take Henry home first. I'll walk down with you," I told him, closing my laptop. It took a moment to wrangle Henry, and Garrett looked on impatiently.
"We really need a new plan for his day," I remarked. I wondered if Hunter or Garrett had done anything about Payslee, Henry's mother, yet. I didn't want her to snatch Henry. But having Henry stuck in my office all day wasn't a great solution either.
When I walked out to my car, Henry trotting beside me, I heard loud clanks and a woman cursing. When we approached the next parking bay, Josie was bent over her rusted-out truck, the hood propped open.
"What on earth?"
She stood up when she heard me and blew a tendril of her hair out of her face.
