Beautiful Rose (Elixir Billionaires #1)

3. Zander

3

ZANDER

The two women from before enter the conference room, and they couldn’t be any more different from each other.

I watch as the redhead glides into the room. There’s a wide smile on her face as her long legs, covered in a tight gray pants suit, slide onto a chair across from me on the other side of the table. The way she sits tall, shoulders pushed back, leaves no doubt that she carries herself with great self-esteem.

And then there’s couch girl, who’s unlike any girl I’ve seen. She takes the chair next to her friend and places a laptop in front of her on the table. And immediately opens the flap before pulling on the sleeves of her flannel shirt, which is buttoned up all the way to the collar. The loose-hanging fabric eats up her frame, and it’s hard to make out anything about her. But it’s her face, her innocent, devoid of any makeup face. She can’t be more than twenty-five, which surprises me. This is a senior management meeting, after all.

Her continuous fidgeting makes it obvious that she wants to be anywhere but here. I glimpse a hint of pink on her cheeks, a shade I’ve never seen before .

Unlike every eye in the room, which is fixed on me, hers are focused on the laptop screen. Her shoulders are slouched forward, like she just wants to be invisible.

“Zander, meet Kristy Asher, one of our senior managers, and Rosemary Marlin, our tech wizard. Rose holds a PhD in computer science, and all of our software goes through her keen eyes before a live release. I’ve requested her to join us in this meeting.” Oscar’s warm voice is filled with pride as he makes the introductions.

My nod is returned by Kristy’s enthusiastic smile but goes unacknowledged by the couch girl.

The door to the conference room opens softly, and after giving Oscar a gentle nod, two guys pull a small food cart inside. They arrange coffee, bagels, and pastries on a side table.

Upon my request, Oscar has arranged breakfast for the group. “Everyone, please dig in,” I say. “I must admit, those cinnamon rolls are quite addictive.”

The managers chuckle at my remark, and in groups of two, they amble toward the breakfast table.

“Zander, can you give me a few minutes? I need to have a word with Rose.” Oscar is already up from his chair, and couch girl’s wide eyes trace his movements before she vacates her seat in a rush and follows him out of the conference room. Oscar closes the glass door behind him, effectively preventing anyone from hearing their conversation.

Uneasiness and anxiety thrum in my chest as I watch Oscar talking to her. His shoulders are bent forward, his stance friendly. Unlike in the room, she meets his gaze and shakes her head to whatever he’s saying.

My control snaps when he places a hand on her shoulder.

I close the door behind me and join them outside. “Is everything all right?” His hand on her shoulder drops.

“Yeah,” Oscar replies.

A weird relief hits me when I see that he’s not irritated by my interruption; instead, concerned.

“Unlike you, Rose isn’t a fan of cinnamon rolls.” He smiles, but the girl’s face remains impassive. “Are you sure I can’t order something else for you?”

The extent of Oscar’s concern for this woman’s breakfast confuses me, but we’ve been friends for a long time for me to know that he doesn’t do things without a reason.

“I saw a café down the street,” I chime in. “We can place an order for you, Dr. Marlin.”

With her eyes glued to the floor, she whispers, “Please, you don’t… have to call me doctor, and please don’t bother. It’s all right. I…prefer a very…um, precise breakfast anyways.”

I watch as her fingers tug the cuffs of her shirt, her knuckles turning white. Her almost scared reaction surprises me, but the nervous lilt in her voice does something funny to my chest. I’m almost tempted to rub it away.

“That’s no problem, Ms. Marlin.” My words come out overly tender.

I search for the café on my phone and place a call. When I ask the female barista about a special breakfast order, she readily agrees.

“We can deliver the breakfast in thirty minutes to your office, sir. We have smoothies, oatmeal with soy milk, French baguette sandwiches—what are you looking for exactly?”

“Can you please give me a second?”

I repeat some of those breakfast specials to the couch girl.

“I’d like a simple omelet. Um, half onion and half tomato. And, um…cooked in two teaspoons of butter,” she replies, startling me once more with her words.

She runs her sweaty palms over the denim of her jeans.

“Can you, um… please also ask for five strawberries, and…five blueberries, and…five raspberries.” Her shoulders slouch further. “Can you please also tell them not to make the omelet any other way? That’s all. Thank you.” The entire time she recites her, as stated, precise order, her gaze doesn’t move an inch from the floor.

I explain her order to the barista, who says, “Sir, I’m sorry, but the kitchen doesn’t have blueberries today. Can I replace them with five extra strawberries?”

“Give me a second.” I put my palm over the microphone and turn to the enigmatic couch girl. “Is it okay if they replace blueberries with strawberries? Or something else?”

I watch as her eyebrows furrow. The simple change of fruits somehow affects her immensely, which in turn surges my curiosity for her several folds.

I quietly take a few steps away from Oscar and the couch girl, before whispering into the phone, “Can you arrange the fruits as requested? Please add whatever extra expenses you incur to the bill.”

I hang up and after we return to the conference room, the meeting starts slowly.

After some presentations, it’s Kristy’s turn to show the progress report of her team.

“One of our biggest accomplishments this fiscal year is the software we released this weekend. The entire development and production were led by Rose.”

Hearing Kristy’s words, I glance toward couch girl, but her entire focus is on her laptop. This isn’t the first time someone has pointed out her name and how she single-handedly implemented some of our most critical projects. Oddly enough, all of her work is presented by other people.

“These new changes put us in a very strong position among our competitors,” Kristy continues.

When she mentions the couch girl for a second time, I can’t resist myself from asking, “Ms. Marlin, would you like to add something, as this project is your brainchild?”

Her hand on the mouse jars upon hearing my voice. There’s a weird silence in the room, which stretches for several more minutes until she replies.

“There isn’t…much to add. The slides…um, contain everything.”

After her quick, throaty reply, the meeting progresses as before.

Every time her name comes up, I glance in her direction and some other times, like now, my eyes automatically find her.

What is this weird effect she is having on me?

As much as I’m haunted by her name, there’s something mystical about her.

Or am I just shit crazy this morning?

“And now Zander has a big announcement,” Oscar says, breaking my weird chain of thoughts.

I get up from my chair. Straightening my jacket, I address the group. “First of all, I’m very proud of the work you all have put in over the years. I apologize for not visiting sooner, but I promise I’ll be seeing you more often.”

My gaze falls on couch girl, who’s still buried behind her laptop.

“Regarding the news, as you all are aware, we’re soon opening our third office of Elixir. This comes with restructuring of staff both at St. Peppers and Cherrywood. Some of the employees will have to relocate to the new location. There might be an option to move back in the future, but when, we don’t know.”

As expected, there are some pale faces, and I notice couch girl’s fingers stopping over the keypad of her laptop.

“There’s no need to panic,” I assure the group. “The reorganization won’t be in management, so you’ve nothing to worry about, but we’ll have to let some of your junior associates go. I must also add, as the overall headcount is lower in Cherrywood, there will be fewer changes here. ”

“How many?” Kristy asks.

“I don’t have the exact numbers yet, but I want to rearrange the staff and funds with minimal disruption to everyone and also not hamper our current production and research. As I’ve learned now, Ms. Asher, you and Ms. Marlin have the largest team, so I’d like to discuss first with you ladies.”I try hard to keep my gaze fixed on Kristy.

Oscar looks at me in confusion and mumbles, “This was not planned.”

I avoid his gaze, not knowing how to reply. I don’t particularly like keeping him in the dark. But I hadn’t planned on meeting couch girl today. I hadn’t planned on feeling this weird pull toward her.

I now wait for a response from her. She can no longer avoid me. I saw something in her eyes when they met mine for a second. It was a pure, rare innocence. I’d like to know if it was real or fake.

Can someone even fake such innocence?

“Is there…an alternative?” she asks in that same delicate voice, her gaze fixed on the table. A smile breaks on my face just hearing her voice.

I fucking smile.

“Not to my knowledge. Do you have any ideas?” My full attention is on her and her fingers clutching the armrest of her chair. I wonder if it’s my presence that’s scaring her or if she’s always this timid.

“What if the employees bring external funding, um…maybe in collaboration with the university? This might…give them an option…to choose if they want to move immediately or not.” Couch girl continues staring at the table as if it’s the most interesting thing known to her.

When no one responds to her suggestion, she looks up hesitantly, but not at me. Her gaze searches Oscar.

The uneasy feeling settles again in my chest as I watch her familiarity with my friend. There’s no doubt she trusts him, and he nods for her to proceed.

“We receive regular inquiries from professors…for collaborations.” She tugs once again on the cuffs of her shirt, and I’m guessing it’s a nervous habit.“Due to…lack of policy, um…we decline such offers.”

I’m not fully on board with her unconventional idea, but I want to hear more. I’m not sure if it’s because I consider the idea great or if it’s my desire to know more about this skittish girl who appears to be completely ill at ease in this meeting room.

“Can you give some numbers on this, Ms. Marlin?” I ask.

“It’s…hard to say at the moment. I…need to do…some analysis.”

Her voice is getting stronger word by word, but she’s still looking at the stupid table. For a brief second of insanity I wish I was that table.

I quickly shake my head to clear the crazy thought.

“That’s no problem. Can you prepare the data? I would like to discuss further, possibly tomorrow morning, if that’s all right with you.”

She gingerly nods as the meeting ends.

My heart warms with a foreign feeling of anticipation for the next day.

As everyone leaves the conference room, I notice I’ve an unopened text. It’s from the café, alerting me that couch girl’s breakfast order was delivered to reception.

“Ms. Marlin, shall we pick up your breakfast? It’s at the reception desk.”

Her wide blue eyes meet mine, but before she can reply, Oscar intervenes.“Why don’t we let Rose pick up her breakfast alone ? I’d like to have a word with you, Zander.”

My jaw tenses upon the unwanted interruption. I swallow the unexpected irritation down and give him what I hope is a friendly smile.“I just want to make sure Ms. Marlin gets her promised blueberries.”

“Of course you do. But it’s urgent, Zander.”

Urgent, my foot.