Page 7 of The Butterfly Effect
“Fraternize… ?” William crossed his arms and tilted his head when he spoke. I couldn’t tell if he was mocking me or if it was a genuine question, but indignation stirred in me.
“What would you call it?”
“Fucking.” A wide smirk pulled at his mouth when he said it, and my knees gave in slightly, making me instantly regret wearing heels.
I couldn’t stop the blush from growing on my cheeks, and I turned away from him to take a couple of deep breaths. “I need to get back to work.” In a few steps, I closed the distance between me and the hollow wood door. As I turned the knob and pulled the door open, I hoped the blush would go away.
“See you in a few minutes,” he taunted.
I turned back to him with my eyebrows raised. “What?”
“I called a meeting with your boss and all project managers to assign some new accounts. You are a project manager, correct?” He was amused with himself. How quickly would I be fired and escorted out if I slapped the new CEO?
I filled my lungs with a deep breath and nodded. “I am. See you soon, Mr. Carlisle.”
I rushed by my desk and continued to the bathroom. Once inside, I locked the door behind me and leaned over the laminate counter that housed two shallow sinks. My lunch threatened to come back up, so I took three deep breaths.You can do this.I turned on the water, desperately needing to cool down. The cold water was a shock to my face, but the drops that made their way down my neck were already warm. A few deep breaths and a minute to calm down were like an eternity, but I needed to regain my composure. I still had to work with the man, so whatever had happened between us over the weekend was irrelevant.
Katie’s eyes were wide when I got back to my desk. “What the hell, Jules? Are you okay?”
“I’m good. I only have five minutes before I have to go to a meeting. He wants to meet with the project managers.” I held back my eye roll and put on a small half smile, but Katie tilted her head to the side, clearly not going to believe me. “I just really don’t want to talk about it.”
She nodded as the door in the corner opened. William stepped out of his office, adjusting the sleeves of his suit jacket. Had he taken the one I dropped on the floor to the dry cleaner? I chuckled to myself. The suit he’d worn had been expensive, probably even more than I realized based on his cars and large mansion.
He glanced quickly at me before turning and entering one of two conference rooms. Sandra appeared from her office and made her way to the conference room, jerking her head to the side in an effort to hurry the rest of us along. After her botched greeting when he arrived, she was desperate to make a better second impression.
I sat at the opposite corner of the table from William, setting my notebook down and placing my pen at a diagonal angle evenly across the page. While I waited for the others to get settled, I kept my head down as if I was reading something on the mostly empty page. When Sandra started to speak, I turned my attention in her direction. She sat a seat over from William, almost close enough for their elbows to touch, and I had to work to avoid turning my gaze to him. “William, I want you to meet our project managers,” she started.
“I thought I was the one that called this meeting.” Sandra stammered at his interruption, and he stood, making his way around the table to the teammates next to me. “William Carlisle. And you are?” He held out his hand expectantly, ready to shake their hands.
“Jared.”
“Adam.”
They spoke at the same time and then let out a nervous synchronized laugh. William nodded and one at a time, shook their hands. “I have already met Ms. Thomas here.” He nodded at me before sitting back down, and I returned the gesture.
William cleared his throat before speaking again. “We have several new accounts coming in that could be game changers. These are clients referred directly to me from various contacts, so I’ll be heavily involved in all three of these accounts. I will expect your full attention and effort on these jobs, even if that means working some extra hours. You will be compensated accordingly, of course. If you are able to get the account, there will be a handsome commission upon the successful execution of the contract. Let me know if any of this is an issue.” He paused and shuffled three files in front of him.
Jared and Adam nodded, and I glared at him. He knew I would have a problem with him being closely involved with an account when I wanted him as far away as possible. He had the upper hand and would use it to his advantage.
He handed accounts to both of the male PMs, explaining them briefly. When he turned to me, he passed me the final file. The tab on the side read Great Lakes Brewing. “This account may be the most important to me. I think this brewery has a lot of potential, but their digital presence is going to make or break them for national distribution. It’s going to be up to you to come up with the strategy that wins them over, and then you have to pull it off. I think you can handle it.”
When he said it, Sandra chuckled sarcastically. “I don’t mean to be brash here,” she said, “but are you sure you don’t want this account to go to one of our moreseasonedPMs?”
“Is Julianna incapable?” The directness of his tone stopped her in her tracks, and my stomach sank at his assumption.
“Well, it’s not that shecan’thandle the account. I just think that maybe Jared would be able to handle it… better.” She shrugged at me when she said it as if that made it any less offensive, and I scoffed at the accusation.
He looked at me. “Do you think you are able to successfully take this account?”
“Of course.” I closed the file in front of me and tapped it against the table. “I look forward to the challenge.” His smile was brief before the emotionless expression returned to his chiseled face.
Sandra looked at me apologetically, and I glared at her. She opened her mouth to speak when Jared, Adam, and I stood up, but William interrupted her. “Sandra, I’ll see you in my office. The rest of you, I suggest you get to work.”
We filed out of the conference room without looking back. Jared and Adam walked coolly back to their desks, while I practically ran to mine. Partway there I debated going back to the bathroom, again nervous I was going to throw up what was left in my stomach from lunch, but I landed in my chair at my desk. “Oh my god. You guys won’t believe this.”
Katie, Grant, and Sasha all stopped what they were doing and looked at me eagerly. “Don’t make us ask, Jules!” Sasha whined.
“We have a new account. Apparently, it’s thebiggestnew account. It’s Great Lakes Brewing.” Their faces were shocked as I spoke, probably still hung up on my emphasis of the importance of the account. “We have to be on our best game. We’re the best team here, and we know it. We just have to prove it.”
