And They Had a Great Fall

Chapter Eleven

chapter eleven

K at opened her eyes as Jake ran his hand up and down her arm to wake her up. She smiled at him and sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

“Hey. How long was I out?” she asked.

Jake handed her a cup of coffee he had set on her nightstand. “Kat, it’s 5:45 in the morning. You slept all night.”

“What?” she asked, looking around and taking in the unmistakable gray of early morning light. “I can’t believe I slept that long. Why didn’t you wake me?”

Jake shrugged. “You needed it,” he said as he pushed a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear. “You need a break, Kat. You looked so peaceful. I wasn’t going to wake you.”

She smiled and took a sip of coffee. She did the math: she’d slept for over twelve hours. She couldn’t remember the last time she had gotten that much sleep. “I’m going to get in the shower,” she said and glanced at the nightstand. “Where’s my phone?”

Jake jumped up. “I’ll find it.”

Kat stretched her arms and got out of bed. She was still in her sweats from the night before. She’d fallen asleep on top of the covers, and it looked like she hadn’t moved all night. The jet lag—plus a few late nights and early mornings—had finally caught up to her. She felt rested and no longer had the sluggish feeling she relied on coffee to mask.

“It’s on the kitchen table,” Jake called from the kitchen. “Dead. I’ll put it on the charger in here.”

“Okay,” she called. She would check her phone after her shower. It was Monday morning in Copenhagen, which meant it was still the middle of the night in the US. She had to admit, not only did it feel good physically to get that much sleep, but it was also nice to ease into the morning without the normal onslaught of emails from work.

After a hot shower and extended time getting ready, Kat walked into the kitchen. She was in her self-imposed work uniform of dark jeans and black suit jacket. Her hair was pulled into a low knot at the base of her neck. She looked professional, but approachable and appropriate for a tech company where the wardrobe tipped more to hoodies and sneakers.

As she grabbed her laptop off the table and unplugged its charger, it hit her how excited she was to finally go inside the PathMobile Copenhagen offices. She’d taken a photo outside the office during her and Ben’s honeymoon visit. She felt as giddy now as she did back then. She’d come a long way from the newly graduated MBA student, paying her dues in the PathMobile finance department. Being new to the company, she hadn’t gone in but had sent her boss the picture. She’d been proud to see the birthplace of the company where she wanted to build her career. Today, she would finally walk through those doors.

Jake was busy working, his laptop open, notes around him, and the Zero Code novel fanned upside down in front of him. It looked like he had found a lot of material that was inspiring him. She even saw some sketches spread out on the table. She leaned down and gave him a small kiss. She couldn’t stop smiling. After the last few days with Jake, topped off with an actual full night’s sleep, she felt better than she had in a long time. She was going to ask him to catch her up with the Zero Code novel when she glanced at her phone on the counter. It was a sea of green text bubbles and missed calls.

Her heart dropped and panic set in as she grabbed it and unlocked her device. She scanned the names to make sure it wasn’t about Becca. Finding a smidge of relief that nothing had happened to her, Kat refocused her brain to the messages.

“Shit,” she said as her heart raced.

“What?” Jake asked, looking up from his laptop.

“Shit,” she said, unable to say words beyond the singular expletive. As she read the chain, Jake leaned over her shoulder to see what had happened.

E: I just got word from the sticker manufacturer. Their estimate for new adhesive is three to four weeks. Minimum.

E. This is a problem. You know we don’t have that much of a buffer on the timeline. We won’t get enough stock out to retail and we’ll be delayed on shipping pre-orders.

E. I looked into pivoting to other manufacturers, but they’re quoting me an even longer timeline.

E. Let me know when you’re available to talk. We should discuss this tonight.

E. Kat, sorry to keep texting you, but are you there? I know we need to loop in Will ASAP. I thought you might want to tell him.

E. Kat?

E. Okay, I’m just going to loop Will into this situation and start a group chain.

W: Emily, please write all this up and construct a worst-case scenario timeline. Kat, please let us know when you are available so we can talk live. I think it’s 8:00 p.m. DMK time, so hoping we can chat tonight.

W: I talked to Poul, CEO of Denmark. You will meet him tomorrow. Instead of going through the Denmark launch plans, he is going to work with you on solutions.

W: Please make this your #1 priority.

W: He will meet you at the office at 8:00 a.m. sharp. I haven’t heard from you, but assuming you will be there.

Tears pricked her eyes. She hadn’t been available when this had blown up, and Will had had to take over, giving Emily direction and getting in contact with the Denmark office. She slammed her phone down. She’d been MIA and made her boss step in. Get your head in the game, she internally berated herself. This is not a vacation . She started packing her bag, throwing things in at a rapid pace. She had less than a half hour to get to the PathMobile offices to meet with Poul. A tear fell, and she brushed it away with a shaky hand. “I can’t believe this happened,” she said to herself. “I fucked up.”

“Kat …” Jake started, approaching her like a wounded puppy. “You didn’t fuck up. You were sleeping. On a Sunday.”

She glared at him and zipped up her overstuffed bag. She didn’t want him to make her feel better. She wanted the situation to have never happened. She snatched up her phone and shot off a text to Will and Emily with an apology, an explanation, and a confirmation that she would meet with Poul this morning.

“I called a car for you,” Jake said. “It’s waiting downstairs.”

“Thanks,” Kat said as she grabbed her bag and ran out the door.