36. Plan B
Plan B
The next morning, Noah and Claire arrived ready to face the team. Noah planned to speak to Jackie—and Simon, if possible—before the two o'clock project meeting, where they would announce their relationship to everyone.
The halls buzzed with a nervous energy that had Noah studying the faces around him for clues. Something was up. He steered Claire to the war room to get the skinny and found the same tense undercurrent vibrating through the project team.
"What's happened?" he asked Rick as they entered.
"Not sure. Something with the Caprock leadership team, but I don't know the details.
" Rick shrugged. Noah got it. As far as Rick was concerned, he was there to do a job for the client, not get wrapped up in office politics.
Plus, he was busy wrapping everything up before he headed out for paternity leave.
He scanned the room to see if anyone else seemed knowledgeable, but they were all busy, aside from the project coordinator, who glared at him.
Or was it Claire she aimed her menacing scowl at?
Before he could ask Vicki anything, Simon entered the room, with Larry strolling in behind him.
Noah raised his eyebrow in question at Larry, who shot a shit-eating grin his way.
Well, that can't be good. He directed Claire to an open seat and took the chair beside her.
"Okay, settle down. Since you're all here, we've got company news. It shouldn't affect the project, but it might affect some team members." Simon's gaze met Noah's before sliding back to the room's occupants.
"What's happened?" Noah growled. He sounded like a parrot and was tired of repeating himself.
"Duncan Brooks has accepted a position in one of Caprock's sister companies," Simon announced.
"Duncan Brooks, the Chief Operating Officer?" Claire asked.
"Yes. He has accepted the position of president of Tubular Products, another subsidiary owned by our parent company. He's leaving Caprock."
Noah inhaled sharply and sat back. Shite! When he focused on the room again, he found Simon watching him. "Mitch Talbot is replacing Duncan as COO," Simon said.
Noah exhaled as time slowed down. All eyes on were on him. "And Mitch's replacement as plant manager for England?"
Simon smiled briefly before replying. "No announcement has been made, but I think we all know who's first pick for the opening."
Noah grabbed the edge of the table as his head spun, and the surrounding conversation faded. Had Jackie known about this when she made her offer last week? He needed to talk to Mitch and find out exactly what was happening. Who should he call first? Jackie or Mitch?
He looked at Claire, whose gaze bore into him. She smiled timidly and he tried to smile back, but was afraid he'd only bared his teeth at her. His phone rang, bringing his erratic thoughts under control. Mitch was calling him. He excused himself from the room to take the call.
"Congratulations, Mitch. I just heard," Noah said. He walked toward his office, where he could shut the door and ensure privacy.
"Hmph. I had hoped to speak with you before they made the announcement, but it appears someone leaked the news.
I won't beat about the bush, Noah. It's midafternoon here and I've been caught unaware.
They should have handled this better. I've given your name as my intended replacement as the England plant manager. "
Noah sat in his chair and rubbed his temple. He tried Claire's trick of breathing calmly to slow his racing pulse.
"When is all this going into effect?" he asked.
"It depends on how fast Duncan moves to Tubular.
I don't think it's public knowledge, but the man he's replacing was recently diagnosed with a severe illness, and I believe they want him to step in immediately.
They'll likely use quarter end as the official date, but I imagine Duncan will move over quickly.
Perhaps as early as next week, so he can learn from his successor before the man leaves.
" Mitch sighed. "And since we're sister companies, they assume I can transition quickly into my new role, thinking Duncan will be available.
They're not usually rational when setting timelines on things like this. "
"What about the MADS project? I'm embedded deeply. Am I supposed to drop it and go back to England?" Noah asked.
"Yes." Mitch sounded surprised he'd asked.
"You can't do both." His tone softened. "You've done a great job splitting your time between the project and running the shop, but the weight of the divided responsibility was already showing.
No one—not even someone as talented as you—can keep up two full-time jobs concurrently. "
Noah blew out a breath and thought of Claire.
Her laughter last weekend as they'd watched a group of children playing in the water at the park near her apartment.
Her shy smile waking up next to him in bed.
Six months ago, he'd have been ecstatic at being able to choose between two promotion prospects. Today, it was a terrible burden.
"We need to figure out who is the best person to replace you on the project and get you back to England, so you can start running the show there." Mitch had continued while Noah's head drifted to other places.
"Mitch, were you aware Jackie offered me a job in IT?"
The older man paused. "I see. She'd questioned me a while back about your leadership skills, but I didn't realize she planned to poach you from operations. She's quite sneaky, isn't she?" A brief silence sat between them while Mitch considered the implications. "And are you taking her offer?"
Noah hesitated. He had two solid opportunities on his plate. He didn't want to lose one by saying the wrong thing here. "Can I get back to you on that?"
Mitch laughed. "Time is of the essence, son. Things are moving quickly here, as they usually do."
"I understand." Noah took a deep breath, then gave voice to the thoughts he'd been entertaining this past week.
"I've been thinking about our global operations for a while and have an idea of how we could address some of our issues, but need to flesh it out fully before I present it.
Can you give me some time to pull it all together? "
Mitch's keyboard clicked in the background. "Let's see… today's Friday. How about Wednesday next week? With this breaking open today, I expect they'll want me in my new seat first thing Monday morning."
"Sure. Um, also, it would help if I knew what the salary package and job description is for the plant manager position, since I'm looking at two different options here." Noah cringed at piling onto Mitch's plate. "Sorry for the added work."
Mitch chuckled, and he relaxed at hearing his boss's sense of humor was still in place. "No worries. You're entitled to know what the job entails. I'll email you the specifics."
Noah released the breath he'd been holding. "Okay. I'll have something to show you by Wednesday."
"Cheers, then. Talk Wednesday." Mitch hung up before Noah could respond.
Noah placed his hand on his stomach, willing the overactive butterflies to calm down.
Ever since Jackie had hit him with the job offer, he'd been rolling a few ideas in his head.
They were taking shape into something that would work for both the company and his relationship with Claire, if he could convince Mitch.
He'd need Claire's help in pulling together the data to support what his gut was telling him.
He grabbed a notepad and started organizing his thoughts.
Claire snuggled into Noah on her couch. The TV he'd brought over for their working supper last night was now hooked up to her internet, and a murder mystery show ran in the background at low volume. She looked exhausted.
"Tired?" Noah asked.
"Yeah. It's been a crazy year for me, and the last few weeks have been high stress. Then today, with the huge about-face on your job, things ratcheted up to the next level."
He grew concerned and pulled her closer. "Any seizure activity? You doing okay on managing your stress?" he asked.
"Yeah, I'm doing okay. How about you? You must be tied up in knots. Today was wild with everyone unable to focus. Everywhere I went, people were speculating about all the upcoming personnel changes."
He kissed the top of her head. "I'm okay. It's going to be okay."
She leaned back and pierced him with a look. "Is it? I mean, first my new job was whack-a-doodle, then it settled down and my personal life took off to crazy town."
"You think we're crazy town?" He kept his face straight and fought the grin threatening to take over.
"Not crazy crazy, just… unexpected and moving fast." She smiled up at him. "It's funny. When I first met you, I thought you were my code block. But now? Now, I think I'm yours."
"What on earth do you mean? Isn't a code block a chunk of programming?" He raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.
"Yeah, not like that. Code block like roadblock?
Never mind, it's stupid nerd humor." She sat up straighter on the couch and faced him.
"Look, I know when we met, you were focused on your job and looking for advancement.
And now, you've got not one, but two promising offers to consider and I'm what's holding you back.
And you've known me less than six months.
I'm a roadblock for you. I'm your code block. "
He laughed and kissed her. "You're not my code block. You're the light at the end of my tunnel." She was adorable when she worried.
He watched the blush creep up her neck to her face. She fanned herself and exaggerated her West Texas drawl. "Oh my, you sweet charmer, you."
He touched those red cheeks and brushed her hair back. "Listen, Claire. I meant what I said about having a life with you. I love you. And I have an idea to propose to Mitch about a new position in operations that will give us that life."
Claire raised her eyebrows, but he continued, "Until today, I'd planned to accept Jackie's offer as long as she let me negotiate you not reporting to me.
Even though I still had doubts about us working in the same department.
What if some management thing came up that I knew about, but couldn't share with you?
Like, I don't know, someone about to get laid off, or some major policy change?
That would put us both in a weird place. "
"Oh. Yeah, that would be awkward. I never thought about that."
"Exactly. I've been thinking about how useful it's been to have someone with a global perspective—someone who understands the big picture but also knows how the pieces fit together on the ground.
I didn't realize it, but I've been forming an idea for a new role.
It's been churning in my head for a while and I'm going to pitch it to Mitch. "
"You are?"
"Yes, but I need your help to pull some numbers out of the system so I can justify the role."
Noah shared his idea and the information he wanted to gather for Mitch.
Claire listened to everything he had to say, then said, "I think you need Randall's help, too."
"Accounting? Why?" he asked.
"Because Randall is a cost accountant, meaning he knows where all the hidden costs are and how to find them. While I can pull data out of the system for you and stick them in a report, he'll understand better than me exactly where it comes from and what other information you'll want to include."
Noah leaned back, fully relaxing for the first time since Jackie's offer last week. "Yes, that's brilliant. Let's talk to him first thing Monday morning so we can put together a presentation for the leadership team. I have a feeling I'll be pitching to more than just Mitch."
Claire turned around and leaned against him. He snaked his arm around her middle and pulled her close. This was about as close to heaven as it could get. And once they got this job situation squared away, they could begin making plans for the future.
"And since you're not really invested in this show, what do you say to relieving some of your stress?"
"Oh?" she asked. "You have something in mind?"
"I have an idea or two." His fingers trailed lightly up her arm.
Her head tilted up, a slow smile curving her lips. "You're just full of ideas today."