6. Rose
6
ROSE
I’m reviewing the code of one of our interns when I hear Kristy’s angry voice before she marches into my room with Oscar following her. “Oscar, you listen to me!”
“Hold on, Kris. I’m not forcing her to do anything.” Oscar turns to me, clearly irritated with my best friend.
“W-what’s happening?” I ask as Kristy shoots daggers at our boss and friend.
“It’s about the presentation you sent yesterday.” Oscar stands at the other side of the table.
“Is something not right?” I fix my glasses and scour for the email in the sent folder.
“No, the presentation is good.” He gives me a tight smile before rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s just… I’ve always tried to make sure you feel comfortable here, Rose. You know that right?”
I’m surprised by the sudden change of discussion but nod in confirmation. “Um, yeah, and I…really appreciate it. But you are…scaring me at this moment. Did I do…something?”
Before he can reply, Kristy saunters toward us and stands behind me.“Did you hear? You’re scaring her,” she yells, and I almost feel for Oscar .
“God, Kristy. You’re scaring me .” He shakes his head before turning my way. “Zander has requested that you present the slides to him.”
“But…” I grab the edge of the table.
Oscar takes the chair on my left and speaks softly, “I know.”
I glance at him and he smiles—the same kind smile with which he encourages me whenever I feel I’m falling short.
“I tried to tell Zander about you. I—”
“You told…him…about me.” My voice wobbles, and this time, for different reasons.
I don’t want Zander to know.
“No, he didn’t,” Kristy replies on his behalf, and I fall back in my chair, filled with an unexpected relief.
“But like I said before, I do want Zander to know what an asset we have in you here.” Oscar lightly pats my hand. “But no pressure. Say no, and I’ll talk Zander out if it.”
Does Oscar even have that kind of power? Zander is the CEO after all.
When I don’t reply immediately, he says, “It doesn’t have to be a formal presentation. Just show him your findings in your office. Use your computer.” He nods at my PC.
Before I can think more about his idea, there’s a knock on the door, and we all turn to find Zander leaning against the doorframe.
“Good morning, Ms. Marlin.”
He smiles and my eyes fix on his dimpled left cheek. It somehow looks different in real life.
“Good… good… morning.”
“If it’s all right, I’d like to discuss the project proposals with you . It’d be better than going back and forth with a third person in the middle.”
I glance between Kristy and Oscar before giving him a nod.“Um… okay.”
“Very well.” Zander walks inside as Oscar leaves with an uncooperative Kristy.
Before I have time to prepare myself for this unexpected endeavor, Zander slides into the chair just vacated by Oscar.
I’m immediately hit by a woodsy scent. Generally, strong smells give me nausea and a headache, especially the kind that some men prefer to wear—smelling like a walking perfumery. But this smell is fresh. It’s subtle and nice, like… a forest.
“I hope you got some rest yesterday.” He slides forward in the chair, getting a good view of the monitor, and I’m momentarily distracted by his hands on the table.
He has beautiful hands.
Clean, long fingers. A light dusting of hair on the back.
I’m sure they smell nice too.
“Ms. Marlin?” His hands open and close, as he most likely caught me gawking.
My heart skips a beat, and I try to busy myself with opening the slides.
“Yeah…yeah.”
My right hand holds the mouse in a firm grip, almost breaking the plastic. The familiar unease settles in my gut, today mixed with a foreign warm, feverish feeling. My face is hot, my palms clammy. It feels as if all the air is sucked out of my lungs, and I’m unable to breathe. The last thing I want is to pass out in front of Zander.
“Are you okay? Do you need a minute?”
His words are a reality check for me.
What was I thinking?
As if I’d ever have a chance with anyone, let alone someone like Zander. I don’t even have the courage to sit with him alone in my office, a place where I’m at my best.
My eyes sting, but I push back the tears. It takes all my will to not keen. My mouth is dry, and with trembling hands, I pick up a glass of water from the table.
What do I do now?
What I want to do is run and hide someplace far away.
“You know, when I’m nervous, I take deep breaths,” he says in a soft voice. It’s so different from his Wolverine voice from yesterday.
I peek at him through wet lashes, and he watches me closely. I’m sure he’s guessed by now what a dork I am.
But he surprises me.
“Ms. Marlin, it’s perfectly okay to feel nervous when discussing the future of your team, your staff.” He pauses, giving me time to absorb his words. “I understand how you’re feeling.”
Oh, trust me, you don’t.
Thank goodness. He thinks team-restructuring is the reason for my nervousness. I clear my throat and look at the presentation, trying to pull his attention away from me and back to my work.
“Um, I did research on the grant applications and contacted some professors. I think…we can avoid major reorganization in tech.”
“Really?” His eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Are you sure?”
The anxiousness in my chest slowly subsides as I walk him through the data I collected last night.
“But this comes with a salary dip. Do you have some stats on the pay cuts?” He rubs his hand across his five o’clock shadow, and my breath catches at the prosaic act.
I pull my gaze away from his chiseled face and bring it back to the computer, then open the graph where I have some rough estimates on the net salary per position.
“Please note, this is not…comprehensive. I have used, um publicly available tax numbers for…rough calculations.”
“You think employees would still be interested?”
“I…think so. At least, this way you can give people some time…to wrap their head around the news.” I clear my throat when his eyebrows furrow as he glances at the slides hesitantly. “Some people…are not so good…with surprises, you know.”
I feel his gaze lingering on me as I close the presentation.
After a few moments of weird silence, he says, “That was very good work, Ms. Marlin. I’ll discuss with Oscar how your initiative can be implemented—Wow, is that Wolverine?”
My head jerks up at him in surprise as he points to my screen.
Crab. I’ve closed the presentation and there he is—my favorite superhero with his claws drawn and ready to attack.
“Yeah,” I reply sheepishly.
So much embarrassment for one day.
Way to go, Rose.
In the past hour, I’ve not only demonstrated that I’m extremely paranoid but also a superhero junkie.
“Are you a fan?” he asks in an excited throaty voice.
I nod, shifting nervously in my seat.
“Me too. I liked the movies, but they aren’t up to par with the comic books.”
“Huh?” My mouth falls open, and I have to remember to close it before a fly becomes my midmorning snack.
“I mean, they skipped a lot of details in the movies,” Zander explains as if I don’t know.
I can’t help but simply stare at him. Is he one of those rare people who shares my enthusiasm for Wolverine comics?
Not movies, but comics!
“Have you read the comics?” I don’t think I heard him right.
“Of course. I didn’t like how the relationship between Sabretooth and Wolverine was modified in the movie.” His forehead puckers in irritation.
“You have read the comics,” I squeal in excitement and end up laughing like a fool. There are very few things that can ease my anxiety, and Wolverine talk tops that small list .
“Of course. I can recall quite a few instances where I’ve been referred to as a Wolverine junkie.”
I look at him for the first time without fear or nervousness, and he’s grinning from ear to ear. I’m sure my face mirrors his expression.
I’m about to tell him that Kristy calls me by the same name when there are three brisk knocks on the door.
Kristy and Oscar look at us in confusion.
Oscar’s brows furrow, while Kristy raises an eyebrow and their piercing gazes zoom in on my wide smile. Realization suddenly hits me—I’m smiling and laughing with my boss, who I’ve met just yesterday and is an almost stranger .
Zander gets up and straightens his jacket. “It was very nice talking to you, Ms. Marlin. Keep up the good work.”
I’m momentarily amazed at how swiftly he switched from superhero groupie to serious CEO.
As the men leave the room, Zander looks at me over his left shoulder, and my stomach does a strange flip-flop when I see his dimpled left cheek.