by Sloan Storm
But just when it couldn’t get any worse. It did. Much, much worse.
For no sooner had I returned to an upright position in my chair, than Gabe finished his conversation with Holly. As he did, he turned to face everyone seated at the conference table. Taking measured steps in our direction, he clasped his hands together behind his back for a moment and then began to speak.
“I’ll keep this discussion brief everyone. The document Holly gave to you will provide all you need to know about the new project, which we’re terming the Link Protocol. I’ll expect each of you to familiarize yourself with the details of it as it relates to your role in the project.”
As he started to speak, it was as if I witnessed a literal transformation take place before my eyes. Gabe appeared to be just as much at ease addressing a room full of people as he did making flirting small talk.
Just the idea of speaking to a large audience made me ill. But he rattled off commands with a mix of authority and elegance. It was as if he were talking to a room filled with his best friends. It’s not like he wasn’t irritating enough already with his charm and teasing.
Now this.
Bastard.
Frustrated, my worried state shifted a bit. As I listened to him speak, the reality was that if I hadn’t had the experience I did with him, I wouldn’t see him as anything other than what he was in the moment.
The boss.
Gone was the barfly playboy. In his place, a confident, articulate leader who was more than qualified to be in the position he was stood before us. Whether it was rehearsed or spontaneous, an excellent, well-reasoned description of the work ahead of us flowed from his lips.
Yet through it all, I didn’t dare look up.
Instead, as Gabe spoke, I scribbled in my planner, taking notes about things I didn’t yet understand and would have to ask Colin about later. But as the seconds ticked by, I noticed him circle around behind the people seated across from me until he stopped in place.
Swallowing, I drew my eyes up towards Gabe without lifting my head.
Without so much as an awkward pause, the icy blue of Gabe’s eyes locked mine for a fraction of instant. In the very next, he glanced down towards my planner, then back towards me with a slow nod.
And if I wasn’t mistaken, he winked.
GABE
A few hours after my meeting with the lab team, I sat in my office thumbing through a stack of briefs related to the Link Protocol.
Still, she kept popping into my head.
I smiled at my good fortune she’d interviewed for a lab position. Not that it would have mattered much. I would have spent time in pursuit no matter where she worked, but with everything going on right now, I would have been delayed at a minimum.
But no matter. The way was clear now.
And the look on Fiona’s face when she sat at the conference table. I have to say keeping my identity a secret had been well worth the wait. I’m sure if anyone noticed me noticing her, she would have been mortified.
The idea of it brought a smile to my face.
But as I sat there thinking about the situation, it occurred to me I hadn’t gotten Fiona’s last name yet. Not only that, but I really didn’t know anything about her beyond our brief interactions. And when it came to my romantic interests around the office, I preferred to have every bit of information at my disposal.
You see, the restraint I applied to Holly didn’t apply to everyone else.
In other words, I fished in my own pond on occasion.
And why not? After all, I’m single. They’re single. We’re all adults.
I had some rules of course, boundaries if you prefer. Most of them revolved around the woman’s expectations. I mean, I enjoyed an office dalliance as much as anyone, but the last thing I wanted was to get embroiled in some big misunderstanding or even worse, deception on her part should she try to ensnare me.
Even so, in spite of making my terms clear, some of them lied to me along the way. And lying, well, it’s just not something I can tolerate. The results of those situations resulted in termination. Like I said, I make my demands well known. In the end it’s up to them to decide whether or not they want the same thing.
The best thing about being lied to by a woman is it helps you understand what you really want. You know? In a way, it makes you smarter about people and in the position I’m in, being knowledgeable about the people around you is a must. And while I’d gotten smarter about liars and catching them, I still wanted to know as much as I could without having to depend on the words coming from the woman’s mouth.
Trust but verify, as is often said.
And so with that in mind, I took a short walk down to Human Resources to see what information I could gather about my latest addition to the lab team. I visited Mrs. Jameson, the head of the department, to get the help I needed. After a brief greeting, we got right down to the reason for my presence.
“What can I do for you Mr. Hawkins?”
“I’d like to see the file on a new hire in the lab.”
Mrs. Jameson nodded as she grabbed her tablet from her desk. Swiping it on, she continued, “Certainly sir. One second while I open the database. What’s the employee’s name?”
“Um, Fiona is the first name. Don’t know the last one. As I mentioned, she’s in the lab and reports to Colin Doyle.”
Mrs. Jameson pursed her lips for a moment as she typed and just then her face lit up as she remembered something.
“Oh yes, Fiona Matthews. She completed orientation this morning. One moment…”
I preferred pretty, smart women. And the prettier and smarter, the better.
Few things turned me on more than a beauty with wits to match. I suspected Fiona was a diamond in the rough in both regards, and while I waited for Mrs. Jameson to bring up her information, I considered how I might go about unearthing those qualities in her. A few seconds later, she finished typing and spinning the tablet in my direction, Mrs. Jameson offered the device to me.
“Here you are, sir.”
“Great, thanks,” I said with a nod of my head, as I took the tablet from her.
Soon enough, I’d scanned through the record. But aside from a few details about her schooling, where she lived and the fact that her grandmother was listed as the beneficiary on her retirement plan, I didn’t have much more knowledge about her than I did when I walked into the HR office a few minutes earlier.
“Anything else I can help you with, sir?” Mrs. Jameson asked, as I perused the data.
I rubbed the corner of the tablet between the tips of my fingers as I looked at her. Thinning my lips in concentration, I extended it back to Mrs. Jameson, “No, that will be all.”
She took the device from me with a gentle tug. “All right, sir.”
After thanking her, I turned to walk back to my office, and as I did I realized I’d need a different sort of help to get to the bottom of my questions about Fiona. The simple fact was it was rare for a hire in her position to slip through without me knowing much about them. And judging by the information in her file, this was especially true of someone with an academic pedigree like hers.
You see, despite my business being worth billions, the industry itself was a relatively small world in terms of the people working in it. In other words, there are a lot more short order cooks on the planet than theoretical physicists, and so I’m usually well-informed about the available talent pool, especially when it's local.
Yet, I’d been consumed with the Link Protocol, so the bottom line was I was playing catch up when it came to Fiona. But that’s okay. I had a secret weapon. And so it was that just after four later that day, I placed a call to the one person who could help. Leaning back in my chair, I ran my fingers through my hair and grabbed a handful of it, holding it in place as she answered.
“Well as I live and breathe, Gabe Hawkins.”
“Danielle, my love, how are you?”
“Much better now,” she cooed.
Danielle Wilson once w
orked for me. But her true calling was academia. After I made a particularly large grant, I lobbied hard for her to take over as head of the Physics Department at the state college. While I’m sure my contribution helped, in the end she was the one who got the position. She was a brilliant researcher and a beauty as well.
And no, we didn’t… if that’s what you're wondering.
I chuckled at her melodic greeting. “And how is Mr. Wilson? The kids?”
“Oh he’s fine. They all are. How are you, handsome?”
“Excellent. Never better, actually.”
“Oh, well, that’s good to hear,” she said. Danielle let out an exhale as she finished her reply. “What can I do for you?”
“What makes you think I want to do anything except spend the rest of my day talking to you?”
Danielle chuckled. “I wish.”
“In truth, I could use your help with something.”
“All right,” she replied. Her voice grew deep, even throaty as she continued. “You know I’d do anything for you.”
Smirking, I stood from my chair, stretched and got down to my request. By the time I’d finished, I stood near a wall of windows on the opposite side of my office, overlooking downtown. The late afternoon sun warmed my face as I stared into the distance.
“Can you hold for a sec?” she said. “I’ll see what I can find out.”
“Sure.”
A few minutes later, Danielle returned.
“Okay…” she said, as she began to speak once more. She hummed a bit as she looked through the records, just loud enough so that I could barely make out the sound of her flipping through pieces of paper.
“Anything?”
“Hmm, no,” she replied. “Nothing out of the ordinary. Terrific student. Looks like you’ve got yourself some serious talent, Gabe.”
“Mmm, hmm. Okay. No unusual details, though?”
“Umm, no. I’m not seeing anything here…” her voice trailed off for a moment. I almost interrupted her to cut the call short. But then, she spoke up once again. “Wait, here’s something.”
“What?”
“Well,” Danielle said as she began to summarize snippets of text from the file. “It looks as if she received treatment for depression and anxiety at various times while she was a student here. She also experienced a good bit of illness which forced her to complete some of her classwork from home.”
“I see. Is there any mention as to the reason for the anxiety and depression?”
Danielle stopped shuffling paper as I asked my question.
“Now Gabe, you know I can’t reveal that information to you.”
“What’s wrong Danielle? Don’t you trust me?”
“Of course I do. That’s not the issue. It’s confidential.”
“I understand.” I said as I turned my back and leaned against the sun warmed glass of my twentieth floor office window. “Well, if it's any help, the project she’s involved in here will likely require some government clearance. If that’s the case, I’ll have to get access to the records anyway.”
Danielle moaned. “Ugh, really?”
“Yes. Really. If there’s something serious in the file, I need to know, Danielle.”
She hemmed and hawed for another moment or two. Finally, she let out a deep exhale before she continued, “I wouldn’t do this for anyone but you, Gabe. This doesn’t go any further than us okay?”
“Of course.”
“All right.” She said. “Well according to what it says here, the issues underlying her anxiety related to health care costs for her grandmother.”
“Oh?”
“Mmm, hmm. Apparently she’s been dealing with cancer off and on for the better part of two decades. At some point, Fiona assumed financial responsibility for her care.”
“Wow. That’s rough. How much debt are we talking about here?”
“Doesn’t say. Something like that though… It’s got to be hundreds of thousands, at least. If not more.”
“Hmm, true.” I said, as I nodded in agreement. “Well, I could see why she’d be anxious. What about the depression?”
“Um… let’s see.” Danielle leafed through a few more pieces of paper until at last, she gasped. “Oh dear. Oh my, this is so sad. Poor thing…”
“What?”
Danielle stifled an audible swallow. After clearing her throat, she continued, “Well, it seems her entire family, her parents and two brothers were killed in a boating accident when she was young.”
“Jesus.” I replied. Well that certainly explained the depression. I mean, losing your entire family at such a young age. It’s understandable. “So she survived somehow?”
“Um, it doesn’t mention anything about what did or didn’t happen to her.”
We both fell silent for several seconds. I’m sure Danielle thought of her own family in the moment and as for me, well, I had a new understanding of my bright young lab hire, Fiona Matthews.
FIONA
Since I’d been caught in the midst of staring Gabe up and down as if we were little more than a piece of meat in the conference room the other day, I’d buried myself in my work, keeping to myself as much as possible. Even so, the women who’d caught me ogling him, a couple of my co-workers in the lab, Amanda and Melissa, prodded me about him and what, if anything, was happening between us.
I can’t explain it but something about the two of them made me uneasy. Anyway, despite my misgivings, I made the decision to reserve judgment about them, for the time being.
I put their annoying inquiries off until doing so any longer would make them unduly suspicious, so when they asked me to have lunch with them a couple of days later, I really had no alternative. I just hoped I could keep them from asking too many questions because I had no idea if I could trust them, or anyone else, for that matter.
Noonday sun streamed in from the skylights overhead, warming my shoulders and upper back as we sat in the company cafeteria. Regrettably, one of the many perks afforded us at Hawkins Biotech was free food. And much to my dismay, all of it was delicious. Worst of all, hand-made chocolate candy and more than a dozen flavors of fresh churned ice cream tormented me on a daily basis.
So far, I’d managed to keep the temptations at bay.
Anyway, I sat hunched over a bowl of chicken noodle soup as the women talked. I swallowed down the salty strands as what was supposed to be a discussion about the Link Protocol devolved instead into a gossip fest between Amanda and Melissa about my new boss. In the background, chatter from two dozen other tables drowned out our conversation. Even so, I left my planner open on the table in case someone happened by and wondered what we were discussing.
“What would your husbands say if they caught you talking like this?” I asked during a brief pause in the conversation.
They scoffed in unison.
“If he knew what was good for him… nothing!” Melissa exclaimed. “Pssht, all the things I do for that man. He’s lucky I don’t run and tackle Gabe in a hallway.”
Amanda giggled. “You’re terrible.”
Melissa wrinkled her nose as a mischievous smile flashed to her lips. “I know.”
Shaking my head at their antics, I spooned another mouthful of soup as the women bantered with each other.
“What did you mean earlier, Amanda? Make waves?” I asked, in reference to something she’d said about Gabe.
As I spoke, Amanda took another pull of her iced tea through a straw. After swallowing, she licked her lips and leaned in towards me, propping her elbows up on the table.
“Well, it’s not exactly a secret, Fiona. Everyone knows.”
I arched an eyebrow. The muscles in my upper back and neck tensed. “What isn’t?”
Amanda made a slow turn of her head and to make certain no one eavesdropped.
“You’re good.” Melissa said in low voice, encouraging her. “No one's listening. Go ahead.”
“Well, I wouldn’t exactly say the fox is in the hen house when it comes to Ga
be and the single women around here, but it’s close...”
“I would.” Melissa snorted, interrupting her.
Amanda pressed her index finger to her lips as she hushed her. “Shhh, quiet.”
Melissa nodded and made a zipper motion across her lips.
As she finished, Amanda turned her attention back towards me. “And since all of us girls in the lab are married, we only hear things.”
I let go of my spoon and as I did it clinked against the inside of the bowl. “Things? Like what?”
Over the next several minutes, my jaw drifted open in disbelief as the two of them relayed the tales of Gabe’s conquests. The rumor was he was an incredible lover. And, for those women who didn't demand anything beyond that from him, perks aplenty followed his seduction.
I wasn’t sure whether I should feel intrigued or disgusted. I sensed both emotions at various times as they spoke. Office politics, gossip about romance and the boss’ sexual prowess were all new territory for me. Frankly, they seemed to be… infatuated with him.
As they finished, Melissa directed a comment at me.
“We both saw the way you looked at him in the conference room the other day. What was that all about?”
Still processing the meaning behind their story, I hesitated for a moment before I answered.
“What? What do you mean?”
“Come on, Fiona.” Amanda added. “If there’s something going on, you can tell us.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I hadn’t given them any reason to be suspicious. And besides, it’s not like he expressed any interest of the kind in me. What had happened so far amounted mostly to him teasing me and being annoyingly charming at the same time. It was hardly the start of a romance. Anyway, I didn’t want to even entertain the notion with them, and so I dismissed it.
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not be involved in office innuendo about him. I need this job.”
The women traded devious glances.
“It’s not gossip if it’s true, Fiona. And anyway, you can trust us,” Melissa chided after a few moments of silence.
“Yeah,” Amanda began. “You mean to tell me you don’t think Gabe is just… mmm.”