Page 5 of One Night Only
No. “Of course!” I hit send and grab the latte.
Will gives me a pitying look as I follow him. At least no one else is in to see this.
“It’s about your plan for the Grayson Group,” he says as we enter his office.
He shuts the door and my mood drops. Harvey’s door is always open. Always. He only ever shuts it for serious moments. HR moments. Bad-news moments.
I sit in the worn leather armchair in front of his desk, trying to steel myself for what’s to come.
At least I can always rely on him to be straight and to the point.
“They want to move in a different direction.”
Of course, a little easing in wouldn’t be too bad either.
“Oh.” I muster up a smile. “Did they say why?”
“They did. They felt it was uninspired.”
“Right.” I can feel myself growing defensive, but I can’t help it. “I’m following the brief.”
“I know you are.” A pause. “I also know you’ve got your vacation coming up.”
“That’s not a problem. I’ll give them a call. Take a look at things before I go.”
“I’m going to give them to Matthias.”
Any attempt at professionalism drops. It’s impossible to hide how disappointed I feel.
Harvey sighs, sitting back in his chair. “You’ve got a week off. I want you to enjoy that time. Take a break. You’ve been working hard the past few months; don’t think I haven’t noticed. But I need you fresh. I need you at your best when you get back.”
I force back my annoyance at his words. Best for what? Grayson was supposed to be my focus for the next few months. And now it was Matthias’s. Just like that.
“You okay?” Harvey asks when I don’t say anything.
“Yes.” I try to brush it off. Try not to let it hurt me as much as it is. “I’ll take a break. I promise. And in the meantime, I will get to work.”
“Thanks, Sarah.”
I smile brightly as I leave the office. It drops as soon as I’m in the corridor. Working hard the last few months and nothing to show for it.Not only am I not moving forward here, I appear to be moving backward.
“Watch it,” I snap on instinct as I almost walk into someone rounding the corner.
It’s Matthias, carrying a croissant in his hand.
“Sorry,” I mumble at the shock on his face. “I haven’t had my coffee yet.”
“I thought you were a morning person.” He smiles. “You’re in even earlier than me these days.”
Is that a dig? One look at his face tells me it’s not. Of course it’s not. He’s being friendly. Because he’s Matthias and that’s who he is. Mr. Friendly guy. Mr. Talented, super nice—
“I left breakfast in the kitchen if you want some.”
“Sounds great, thank you.”
He opens his mouth to say something else but I’m already walking away, forgoing the chat and the pastries to go back to my tiny, cloistered cubicle where I belong.
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