Page 31 of Code Block
Silence descended, and the team exchanged wary looks. Claire's heart raced at the sudden tension in the room. What had she stepped into?
Shoot, shoot, shoot. Worst team meeting ever! Do not recommend.
She stumbled as she made her way blindly back to her office. She'd listened to Simon explain the events prior to her hiring. No wonder the team had treated her coldly. They'd hired her as a solution to a failure among their ranks. Once again, she was an outcast.
Her breath hitched at the thought. No, I refuse to be in that position again. And I've made progress here. She reached her office and shut the door.
After Stephan made her life miserable at work, simply because she'd refused to go out with him, she swore she would never again let herself wind up in a position where she was ostracized for something beyond her control.
She took a few shaky breaths and focused on the painting hanging on her wall. Her dad had given it to her one year for Christmas, claiming the colors of the West Texas sunset matched the fire in her hair. Breathe in through the nose, hold for four counts, breathe out through the mouth. Breathe in, hold, breathe out. It was the mantra Dr. Jane had taught her to help manage stress. The last thing she needed right now was a seizure. A strangled laugh escaped her. Especially after she'd just reassured everyone that her condition was under control. Wouldn't that be fun?
Once her heartbeat was calmer, she reviewed what she'd learned. This was a different scenario. Caprock's intrusion problem occurred before she was on the scene. She didn't cause this. She cringed, hearing Lucinda's voice saying she didn't cause the mess with The Jerkwad, either. And Simon's words made sense to a degree. Hiring an in-house developer at some point was a given. They were going to need in-house support eventually; they just moved it up in the timeline.
Okay, you can handle this. Now you know why they were hostile. But you've proven yourself, so they can go suck a lemon if they continue to be jerks about it.
The knock at her door interrupted her internal pep talk.
Noah slowed as he approached Claire's office. Through the vertical window alongside her closed door, he saw her sitting in her desk chair, her back to the door and her shoulders curled in as if protecting herself. He knocked three times and watched as she brought her hands up to her face.
Well, hell. She's crying. She'd remained quiet while Simon had given the history behind her hiring, but the consensus after she left was that she was upset. Noah wasn't sure how he got corralled into being the team rep, but here he was checking on her.
She called for him to come in and turned her chair to face forward. Her eyebrows rose when she saw it was him.
"Hey," Noah said as he took the guest chair facing her desk.
"Hey." She sniffed.
She looked so forlorn. His gut reaction was to gather her up and hold her close. What the hell? Get a grip, Raines. Shoving that thought ruthlessly aside, he gripped the chair's armrests and cleared his throat. "Look, I just wanted to let you know we think you're good at your job. It took a while for us to clue in, but we know you're a positive addition to our team." While he spoke, his gaze bounced around, touching on the objects decorating her office, before coming to rest on her.
She stared back at him, her eyes narrowing. "You've been the most hostile to me," she said.
Yes, he had. He looked down at his hands. "I'm sorry about that. I was worried for my friends, and I shouldn't have taken it out on you."
"You move away from me as if I'm carrying a disease."
Noah flinched and scrubbed his face with his hands. Did she expect him to act on the attraction? "I don't get involved with coworkers."
"What?" Claire's voice raised three octaves on the delivery. The color drained from her face and she clenched the edge of her desk, her knuckles going white.
Noah took in her defensive posture, his eyes probing hers. Something was wrong with her reaction. Was it possible she didn't feel the chemistry between them? Was he the only one affected? God, he felt like an idiot. "Never mind." He dismissed the topic with a wave of his hand and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "We should have told you about the security breach. It's important that you know why we do things the way we do. We're sorry. I'm sorry."
"I get it now. Why everyone was so cold at first? I mean, Simon made it all sound legitimate, like y'all were going to fill this position eventually, but then the timetable moved forward. But if I were in your position, I would have felt like they were bringing in a babysitter or something." Claire snorted. "And since my dad works here, y'all probably thought I was some kind of token hire. Great."
Noah cocked his head to the left. "Your father works here?" he asked.
"Yeah. My dad is the US-Mid regional manager. Don Broussard?"
Noah's eyebrows shot up. "Huh. I know Don. He's a good man. He's out in West Texas, right?"
She nodded, and he waited until Claire met his gaze. "Nobody's mentioned that your dad worked here. Also, I'm not sure it would matter at this company. Caprock has many second- and even third-generation employees who got their start here because of their parents." He tried to tease a smile out of her, but she was pretty glum-looking still. "Look, we had our doubts, but not because of you personally. And you've proven your chops by helping make our lives easier with your slick upload process. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Right." He stood to leave, but hesitated at the door. Her agreement had seemed reluctant, and she still wasn't looking at him. "You good?"
"Yeah." Her gaze flicked up to meet his. "Thanks for checking on me, Noah."
Noah smiled. "No worries. You want this open or closed?"
