HAGEN: 1. Revelations

by Jadhe HAMILTON

  In the middle of the crowd, feeling completely crushed and utterly disadvantaged by her 128 pounds, 5.3 feet silhouette, Tara lifted her chin so as not to suffer from the full impact of the odors emanating from the bodies around her. With her big hazelnut eyes and golden mane of hair, she looked like a Venus lost in the underground of modern society. When she reached La Defense station, not nearly soon enough in her opinion, a short walk still separated her from her workplace. Her office was located on the thirty-second floor of a glass and steel tower, next to the elevator. Throughout the corridor and serving all the offices, was a depressing gray carpet that led out to a large open space.

  She usually arrived early, like everyone else who desired to get ahead in their job. As a senior manager in a fast-growing consulting firm, her young age required her to become more involved in order to prove to her associates that she deserved her position. As a result of her charisma and skills, she had risen very quickly through the ranks of hierarchy. Now, after five years at Cesucom, she was only one step away from reaching the top: becoming a partner.

  Indeed, rumors had been circulating for some time that a new partner would soon be appointed. This news, apparently announced by the CEO Mr. Galland himself, had created a certain agitation among the five senior managers of which Tara was a part. Consequently, all of them were arriving earlier, leaving later, and exceeding themselves to increase their productivity, as well as that of their teams. However, and everyone knew it, Tara was the preferred candidate for the promotion as she was undeniably the best element that Cesucom had. It was clear that despite their relentless efforts, none of the other four candidates matched her skills or those of the team she had formed. Nevertheless, all thoughts of a promotion had slipped her mind that morning. Her mind was elsewhere, with Victor. She was barely aware that she had arrived almost two hours after her usual time.

  Once in her office, she hurried to take off her cashmere coat in which she felt much too hot, and discreetly exchange her warm boots for much sexier high heels. Winter was definitely not the season that made her look her best, she thought. In a hurry to get some air, she undid the first button on her blouse a little too quickly and without noticing it, the second button had come undone too, releasing her generous bosom from the fabric’s support. Finally, as she adjusted the skirt of her Chanel suit. Although she felt a little cramped in it, her outfit highlighted her generous shapes to perfection.

  A few minutes later, as she was finally beginning to concentrate on the files she had left on her desk the night before, a man knocked on her door and briskly entered the room without waiting to be invited in.

  Surprised, Tara lifted her head, throwing back her long and wavy, golden hair. The man who walked in was stocky, unshaven, and visibly damaged by the drunken evening of the day before. He was followed by another man of the same build, a little taller and much younger. The two men couldn't help but take a quick peek at Tara's blouse. As the young woman noticed their eyes on her bosom, she abruptly turned around to fix herself and then, more amused than uncomfortable, she turned to her superior again with a broad smile, as if nothing had happened:

  “Good morning Mr. Galland,” she said, as she quickly stepped forward to shake his hand.

  “Tara!” exclaimed the little man. “A little hard to wake up this morning I see!” he joked, referring to her exceptional late arrival. “Three cocktails and you were already smashed. You’re going to have to work on your endurance!”

  The CEO laughed copiously at his own joke and shook her hand vigorously, while Tara forced herself not to blush in shame. Had her colleagues seen her leave with Victor?

  After that, Galland turned slightly, reaching out his right arm to introduce the man who was patiently waiting behind him:

  “Miss Châvigner, I present Nicolas Lecoindre...”

  Nicolas stepped forward and exchanged a vigorous handshake with Tara. Visibly in a hurry, Galland continued:

  “Starting today, Nicolas is our sixth senior manager, recruited by Charles Metzen. He has a very interesting background but is not yet up to speed on what we do here at Cesucom. Given your skills, I’m entrusting him to you. I’m sure you’ll make an excellent asset out of him.”

  “Thank you for your confidence,” replied Tara flattered. “I’ll do my best.”

  “I don't doubt it!” replied the little man who turned to Nicolas. “I have work to get done so I'll leave you with Miss Châvigner.”

  Without wasting a second, Galland disappeared through the corridor, leaving Tara alone with this man who no one had ever spoken to her about before.

  “Pleased to meet you,” Nicolas said, visibly under her spell. “Have you been working here long?”

  “Five years,” answered Tara, returning behind her desk to consult her files. “Please, sit down. And if you don't mind, I'd prefer to be on first-name terms. We’re only formal with clients here. Where did you work before coming here?”

  Nicolas didn't answer. When Tara noticed his silence, she lifted her head to find her new colleague staring at her in a captivated gaze. Desiring to give their collaboration a chance, she pretended not to notice.

  “Nicolas?”

  “Oh yes! Excuse me... I worked for a few years at other consulting firms... Hernest & Moon, KCG...”

  “And why did you decide to come to Cesucom?” she asked, annotating a document while he spoke.

  “I wanted to join a smaller company because larger companies tend to repress their employees to better format them. That's not really my philosophy.”

  “Yes, I can understand that. Do you have an office yet?”

  “Yes, it's right across the hall. But our CEO said I'll have to work with you for a couple of months to get to know the company and its clients better.”

  “I'm sure I have nothing to teach you,” replied Tara, trying to hide her lack of enthusiasm.

  It was out of the question that she remain stuck with this guy for “a couple of months” while he devoured her with his eyes like she was some kind of forbidden dessert! Nonetheless, she forced herself to be a good sport and took a few minutes to get to know him better. The new consultant seemed very open-minded, and even rather comfortable for a first day on the job. After their introductions, she decided to put him to work immediately: the sooner he was independent, the sooner she could get rid of him.

  To test him, she asked for help on a sensitive case for which she had already found several solutions. This would allow her to clearly identify the skills of her new partner.

  “A patent company?” asked Nicolas surprised.

  “Yes,” answered Tara, opening a file of several hundred pages. “They specialize in anything related to solar energy.”

  “How big is the company?”

  “Not very big, they have around 50 employees, sixteen of which are trainees that are renewed every six months.”

  Nicolas took the file and began to leaf through it.

  “It's quite long,” Tara warned, as she watched him begin to read through the enormous heap of paper. “I can ask Patrick to make you a copy so you can take it home.”

  Immediately, Nicolas closed the file and pushed it towards Tara before slumping back down in his chair:

  “No, I'm fine, thank you. I'm not a big fan of reading, I prefer to manage the “human” side of the consulting business.”

  “I see...” answered Tara, shocked by his lack of commitment.

  “Do you want a coffee?” he asked as he got up.

  “No thanks, we need to move forward on the Anatol file alongside this one...”

  “I'll be right back,” interrupted Nicolas who hadn't listened to her.

  Tara, offended by his attitude, watched as he walked away. When he disappeared into the corridor, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The exhaustion she felt after her eventful night did little for her patience. If Nicolas already refused the work she gave him on his first day, preferring to run to the coffee machine instead, they were definitely not going to mak
e a good match.

  A few moments later, deciding that she wasn’t going to allow the newcomer to interfere with her productivity, she went back to her files, trying to forget about Victor and his Greek godlike body at the same time. However, she was so overwhelmed with work that she quickly delved into her files. It wasn’t until an hour and a half later that she realized her new coworker still hadn't returned.

  Intrigued, she set aside her work and went looking for him. By virtue of her rank, Tara was one of the few employees who had the privilege, not only of owning her own office, but of owning one with a view of the famous Esplanade de la Defense. She entered the corridor with its cold white walls and walked towards the main room which was organized as an open space for around fifty consultants. She heard Nicolas' voice, followed by the laughter of some of her colleagues. Annoyed, she entered the open space with a firm step, determined to bring this man, who thought he was here to take it easy, back down to Earth.

  But, what she saw made her stop dead in her tracks instead: Nicolas was comfortably leaning against the coffee machine, happily chatting away with the CEO, Mr. Galland himself, surrounded by a dozen other colleagues who had also joined in, hoping to make their presence known by the boss. When Galland saw Tara, he invited her to join them exclaiming:

  “Miss Châvigner! You have a lot to learn from this young man!”

  Then, turning back towards Lecoindre:

  “Tell us more about KCG!”

  Tara was speechless. Nicolas was putting Galland in his pocket by revealing the secrets and setbacks of the competition!

  Unable to refuse her boss's invitation, she reluctantly joined her promotion-seeking colleagues and spent nearly an hour listening to uninteresting gossip, punctuated by the loud guffaws of those who wanted to mark their presence around the CEO. Were these the professional qualities that had earned Nicolas a direct entry into Cesucom as a senior manager? This day was definitely full of surprises.

  When 9 p.m. struck, she finally left the office, not arriving home before 10 p.m. By 11 p.m., she had showered and finished eating dinner. Her cat Max was lazily lying on her lap while she watched her series from the laptop that was sitting on the living room coffee table.

  Since she had started working at Cesucom and had set herself the goal of becoming a partner, her days were all the same, starting early, finishing late, and leaving no room for entertainment or romantic encounters. As a result, her celibacy had extended alarmingly, and had gone totally unnoticed on her part, until this evening.

  As the plot of the series unfolded before her eyes, her thoughts wandered regretfully back to Victor’s embrace, the handsome stranger she had thrown out of her home without even asking for his phone number. What was the point of staring stubbornly into a screen when the only film that was going on in her mind was her encounter with him this morning...?

  Why had she refused his offer to get better acquainted? She had ruined everything. How much longer would she continue to work so hard, not allowing herself to enjoy her youth? Was she even happy in this job?

  Unable to enjoy her series, she abruptly closed her laptop and ran to her room. With a heavy heart, she plunged under her duvet, feeling more alone than ever before in her big double bed. What she wouldn't have given at that moment to see Victor again.

  The next morning, she arrived at the office very early, trying to drown her sorrows in her work. She barely noticed that Nicolas didn't arrive until two hours later. Like the day before, her new colleague refused to involve himself in their files, and like the day before, Tara worked alone with her team.

  The days that followed went by in the same way: while she and her team sacrificed their evenings to be able to offer their clients the best solutions, Nicolas was content with reading the meeting minutes. On the other hand, he always made sure he accompanied them in person to appointments with their clients. As he communicated more and more with Galland and was very friendly with the rest of the team, Tara was convinced that her boss would soon attribute her progress to Nicolas' presence, which she had to admit, concerned her to a certain degree.

  One morning, when she had just settled down at her desk, a cup of coffee in her hand, Nicolas knocked on the door. She raised her head and smiled, happy that her colleague had decided to arrive early. Had he finally made up his mind to get down to business? Apparently so, since he entered with an energetic and conquering stride:

  “Tara, I've got great news!”

  Pleased with this announcement, she stood up with a broad smile on her face:

  “I'm listening.”

  “I have just been made the new partner at Cesucom!”

  Tara stiffened. While making a phenomenal effort to keep smiling and looking at her colleague in the eyes, her heart began to tear apart as her soul screamed in pain.

  As if this torture wasn’t enough, Nicolas gawked at her with a smile. He was obviously waiting for congratulations, a handshake, some inspiring words... but she remained literally paralyzed.

  “Tara?”

  “Yes! It's... unbelievable!” she finally uttered, without losing her smile.

  She did her best not to let her voice break.

  “You think so too! I'm so happy! Tonight, we're celebrating and it's my treat, I'm inviting all of you out!”

  She crossed her legs to hide her tremors. Never before had she found it so hard to suppress her feelings.

  “Tonight...?”

  “You have to be there Tara,” Lecoindre insisted as he approached her. “All of this is thanks to you.”

  Tara nodded. She had to keep smiling at all cost. And above all, she had to repress her tears. She couldn’t cry. Not now. Not in front of the man who had managed to reap the fruits of her hard work while sucking up to Galland. How cruel was that!

  “I can’t be there tonight,” she finally replied. “I have to go to my sister's birthday party.”

  She wasn't lying. As her muscles tightened into a forced smile, she noticed a sincere look of disappointment on Nicolas' face.

  “Very well,” he said. “In that case I'll invite you out to lunch later in the week.”

  Without delay, he turned around and walked out of her office.

  Once alone, Tara collapsed into her chair. She wanted to scream and cry her agony in the face of this unfair turn of events. She suddenly regretted all the hours she had sacrificed for this company, all the evenings she had spent on the premises, all the years of her youth that she had wasted... all for what? To fail miserably. What an idiot she had been to deprive herself of daily pleasures and lose herself in her job, only to end up penalized for it.

  Trembling and struggling to breathe, she did her best to concentrate on her files, but to no avail. Devastated and in a state of tormented self-analysis, she prayed that no one would enter her office, for she knew she wouldn’t be able to hide the grief that deeply marked her face and eyes.

  She swallowed with difficulty, holding back her tears. She couldn't cry here. All she longed for now was to go home and surrender to her pain and remorse.

  Thus, when it was finally time for lunch, she was the first to leave the building, hoping to find refuge in the icy winter air. She wasn’t hungry at all. She usually took thirty minutes for lunch, but today she decided she would take two hours. In fact, if she could leave the company for good and never go back, she would willingly do so.

  Worn-out, she walked with a troubled stride through the district of La Défense, without noticing the passers-by or the buildings that surrounded her. She wasn't looking for a restaurant. She walked briskly and mechanically, unconsciously moving away from the Cesucom tower.

  After a while, as she came out of her trance, she was surprised to find herself at the Arc de Triomphe on the Champs Élysées. She had walked for almost an hour, yet it had seemed like only a few minutes.

  Exhausted, she entered a beautiful art nouveau-style brasserie with tiled floors. When the warm air enveloped her, she instantly felt better. For the first time since Nicola
s had come to tell her the news this morning, she breathed peacefully.

  A waiter came to help her take off her cashmere coat and set her up under the heated verandah, handing her the menu. She was sitting at a table for two with a magnificent view of the Arc de Triomphe. Examining the plates of the other clients and smelling the delicious aromas in the air, she realized that she had chosen the ideal restaurant to recover from her anguish. She studied the generous menu while salivating profusely.

  “Are you expecting someone?”

  Tara, too busy reading the menu to look up, politely replied to the waiter that she was alone, without taking her eyes off the menu. Suddenly, she saw the chair in front of her move away from the table and a tall man sitting down in front of her. She immediately stopped reading, intrigued by the presence of this unexpected individual at her table.

  When their eyes met, she felt her heart leap against her chest and her breath cut short. Wide-eyed, she looked with disbelief at Victor who was staring straight at her with an irresistible smile.

  “You missed me,” he noted, looking at her with a kindhearted grin on his face.

  Dumbfounded, Tara didn’t know what to say. He had returned. She had thought about him so many times, hoping to find him standing on her doorstep every evening on her way home and every morning on her way out. Her dream had finally come true. Even though she hadn’t the slightest clue how he managed to find her, nor why he was alone on a working day, she refused to let this second chance pass her by: