Chapter 10
TEN
CALEB
‘Ariella!’ Tristan, the youngest boy, shouts, and runs up to her as she walks into the gym.
Yup, I’ve lost the class. There will be no more training after this. When we got together, Ariella came to a few training sessions with me as my assistant. I eventually had to ban her because she was a hugely disruptive influence on my mostly hormone-riddled students.
‘Hi, Tristan.’ She smiles, squats and opens her arms to hug him.
‘Tristan! Get back here!’ I instruct but he ignores me.
‘I want a hug too, Ariella,’ one of the older boys says, making the other boys around him snigger.
‘Then come and get one, Shekhar,’ she agrees, and stands. She beckons him over as Tristan runs back. The look I give him makes him freeze on the spot. Good.
‘Actually, nah. Fuck it,’ he says as he chooses to ignore my threat, decides he’s fine with the consequences and bounces towards her.
Really?
‘You got so tall,’ she says as she hugs him.
‘I’ve grown, Ariella. Everywhere,’ he says, raising his eyebrows at her. What the fuck?
‘Shekhar. Honey. Mat. Now!’ I instruct. Honey has been kicking their butts all evening even though she is shorter than most of them.
Shekhar groans.
‘Show Ariella what you’ve learned.’ I smile.
‘That’s not fair. You know Honey’s going to win.’
‘Maybe, maybe not.’
‘Come on, Shekhar, I’ll be gentle,’ Honey says, then chuckles and waves to Ariella as she steps on the mat from the side. This UK trip has lightened and opened Honey up. It’s been wonderful to witness when we’ve seen each other.
My daily training sessions may have gone out of the window but it has been nice to have Honey join me and Phillip, the trainer I hired to look after the boys while I’m in Singapore. She has helped out with both of the Wednesday sessions in the UK. When she first turned up, the boys thought it was a joke. It took two and a half minutes of them watching her demolish me for the laughter to die.
I ignore Shekhar complaining very loudly about how unfair I am being as I walk towards Ariella.
‘Hey. What are you doing here?’ It has been a couple of days since she made us dinner at Em’s and left.
‘I wanted to talk to you. I also missed the boys, and wanted to see how they are doing.’
‘They’re the same. Annoying. Hard work,’ I moan, and she laughs.
‘Can I watch the rest of training and maybe come back home with you?’
‘Of course. We’ll have to cab it back because I’m going to drop Honey off at her hotel first, but yeah.’
Aari sits in a chair I get for her, present but also far away. She cheers the boys on, even against me. I was wrong about training. This is the hardest I have ever seen them work.
‘I’ll order us some food while you’re in the shower. What would you like?’ she asks, following me into our flat. It’s an hour later.
‘Burger. Big. Dirty. Everything on it,’ I plead. I kiss her temple, then retreat into the shower. I stay under the warm spray for a little longer than I need to because a substantial part of me is hoping that she’ll come in and join me, especially after the way she kissed me a couple of days ago. When I realise it’s not going to happen, I get out and quickly pull on some soft jogging bottoms and a T-shirt. She’s sitting silently still on the sofa so I sneak up behind her and make her jump.
‘Caleb!’ she reprimands as she places a hand on her heart. I snigger. It’s been a nice night. I’d like for it to stay that way.
‘Did I not tell you very politely that you weren’t welcome at training any more?’ I remind her as I hop on the couch next to her.
‘It was a visit. I haven’t seen the boys in a while. They are so big! They’ve really shot up!’
‘They have. Phillip has been good for them. He actually likes teaching.’
‘I can tell they’ve missed you though.’
‘Not sure. Phillip is kind and patient with them. I usually spend half the time swearing silently and wishing it was over.’
‘That’s not true. You love them.’ Ariella pokes me softly.
‘I do,’ I admit. ‘So, you want to talk. Tell me. What’s up?’
‘I want to apologise for lunch the other day. I didn’t do that properly before the zombie house. What I said was cruel and it wasn’t helpful.’ She means it.
‘It’s okay. You were just being honest. It’s one of the things I admire most about you, even if it can be heartbreaking.’
Unexpectedly, Ariella’s lips find mine as I finish the sentence. I live for this girl’s kisses. Whether it’s a quick one on her way out, one of the longer ones we have that welcomes the other home, her tentatively suggestive ones when she’d like me to take her clothes off or the shy ones she returns when she responds to me suggesting exactly the same. This one feels different. It’s loaded. Heavy. I feel the need to pull away, and do so slowly.
‘Tell me what you really want to talk about, Aari,’ I ask, fearing the worst.
‘Caleb, why didn’t you tell me what Melissa did?’ she asks quietly as her eyes start to fill. Fuck. Em must have told her. I did think she looked shifty the other night after Aari left. That’s why she disappeared so quickly.
‘Aari…’
‘I’m sorry I’ve been so furious with you. We’re going to be navigating the consequences of what happened for a while and it’s hard not to be reminded. I wish you’d told me that you were dealing with the consequences of her actions too.’ Ariella strokes my arm so tenderly, I have to move it away. ‘There is no way we are going to her wedding. I’m going to do whatever it takes to minimise contact?—’
‘Aari. I didn’t tell you because of this,’ I say, wiping a falling tear from her cheek with my thumb. ‘What Melissa did is a completely separate issue to what we are trying to get past. I really need you to forgive me, Aari.’ I look into her eyes for a moment before I continue. ‘I will do almost anything for things to go back to the way they were, Mason. I’ll run through the fire of your anger. I’ll even continue to take the suffocating disappointment from you that frequently resurfaces; but I don’t think can I carry the weight of your pity.’
‘This isn’t pity, Caleb. She did something horrific to you. The Ivory Bow agreement with her includes some extended contact with us; the biggest being attendance at her wedding. I can’t let you go through with that, and I never want to see her again after what she did to you.’
‘You have to. Don’t worry about me. We’ll do it for the team. If her crimes and our cover-up somehow become exposed, she’ll get five minutes with an ankle bracelet; and that’s only if she isn’t quick enough to pick the jet she wants to disappear with. And she has a fleet on standby. We won’t be so lucky.’
‘Caleb, she hurt you.’ Ariella is losing her fight to be strong for me as little sobs start to emerge.
‘I know,’ I say, pulling her into me. ‘Sue went out of her way to make sure that I understood what she did. It was tough.’
‘Sue? The counsellor from the shelter?’
‘Yeah. I spent a lot of Saturday nights there, volunteering on your behalf, when you were gone. We had some hard but good chats.’
‘Tell me what I can do to make it better,’ Ariella pleads.
‘Nothing. I’ve battled through a lot, but I’m never going to truly get over it. Working things out with you will help, because I feel lost and alone without you, Aari. However, that means we have to deal with what’s actually going on between us, and we’re not going to resolve it by making an unrelated side issue the scapegoat.’
‘Can I stay?’ she asks quietly.
‘No. You can’t. Not for the reasons you want to – but we can cuddle, keep talking and watch a couple of Walking Dead episodes. I’ll put you in a car when you start making snoring noises.’ I smile at her.
‘I love you, Caleb.’
I don’t doubt for a second that she means it.
‘I love you too, my little Mason.’ I kiss her forehead and pull her into me.
She falls asleep just over halfway through the episode we are watching and I pull her closer because I miss this. Just before I call her a taxi, I shoot Em a text.
That was bang out of order, Em. But thank you.
It was an accident. That girl loves you, Caleb. Don’t fuck it up by keeping the things she needs to know to yourself.
I text it before I think it.
I want to marry her Em.
I get nothing for a few minutes, then, just as I close the app, a vibrating alert comes through.
You’re going to have to stop being a dick first. Or at least pause long enough for her to forget you’re a bloody liability. Stop texting my wife and getting her excited. It’s late. She just screamed so loudly, the idiot that just moved in next door might call the police. – Tim.
I open the taxi app and, after almost a minute of staring at it, I shut it again. I turn the living room lights down from my phone, use the remote to switch off the TV and gently place Ariella’s hand over my heart. Then I hold it there, close my eyes, and fall asleep right next to her.
When I open my eyes the next morning, her little familiar morning wriggles tell me that she’s already awake.
‘Morning,’ I say softly, kissing the top of her head.
‘Good morning, Caleb.’
‘What are you thinking about?’
‘I’m trying to figure out what happens now.’
‘We need to find a way to forgive each other. You’ve hurt me too. I need to find a way to move past some of that and forgive you.’
She nods.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’
‘No, not yet, but I promise I will as soon as I’m ready.’
‘When do you head back?’
‘Honey and I fly on Saturday so that we can sleep off the jet lag on Sunday. You?’
‘I’m going to be here until Tuesday, so I’ll see you at work on Thursday.’
I nod and stop myself from asking if Dominic is staying for three additional days as well.
She plants a long, loving kiss on my forearm before she extracts herself from my embrace and stands. She silently gets her coat from the hook behind the door and wraps her scarf loosely round her neck.
‘I love you,’ she says sadly as she opens the front door quietly. She doesn’t wait for a response, she just steps out of the flat and shuts the door behind her.
Things move quickly when we get back to Singapore. The very day Ariella returns to the office, the identity of our new CEO is revealed and everyone is on edge because we don’t know what to expect. Ariella, in response, suggests we give him a chance and invites us all to dinner at her new home in three weeks for a Friday night review. She also takes the opportunity to remind us that we will always be a team, whatever happens.
No matter how much we attempted to anticipate what was coming, we were severely underprepared for the changes about to hit us.
When Samir Hussein steps on to our floor the following week in his sharp, expensive suit, bank-breaking watch and shiny shoes, I immediately know that everything is going to change. He spends most of his first week silently observing, quietly asking questions and getting to know the business. He keeps his cards so close to his chest that we have no idea what to expect when he calls a staff meeting the following Monday. The fact that he called it a ‘staff meeting’ rather than a ‘catch-up’, ‘kick-off’ or just a random time like ‘the 2p.m.’ should have been enough warning. It doesn’t help that he is ten minutes early, and pacing the room as he watches us all file in.
‘This company is run like a day-care centre,’ is his opening line. I try not to laugh as I watch everyone’s faces drop. Ariella is silent at the back of the room as she fixes her expressionless eyes on him.
‘There is more focus on employees having fun than actually doing your jobs. There is no project structure, effective tracking, efficient collaborative software and no disaster recovery plan. There’s too much independence here, and individual accountability is easily handed off to your COO – who has indulged that, perilously.’
He walks up and down like a predator, with everyone’s eyes trained on him. I’m warming to him.
‘There is no discipline. This meeting started late. You are all meant to be here ready to start at the allocated time. You do not waltz in chatting and laughing at the time it was meant to commence. We lost eight minutes this morning. That is hardly surprising because, as there are no time sheets, you all come in and leave whenever you like?—’
‘Excuse me. We work hard and we work late, often attending events,’ Sian interrupts abrasively.
‘We must be much busier than I thought. So, these projects you often work hard and late at – we’re being paid to deliver all these, are we?’
‘Not always, we go out to raise awareness and network for the company,’ she argues.
‘Oh really? And how much in sales have these so-called projects dragged in? Is there a business case for these evening events you attend? Is there a return-on-investment projection drawn up?’
‘No, but the PR value is immeasurable,’ she counters.
‘Everything is measurable. Only the laziest PR companies sell you immeasurable PR. While we are on the subject, I’ll be terminating the agreement with our PR company. We are engagement specialists, not college students running around Singapore having romances and getting drunk with celebrities. I’ve seen your expenses. We are not a hospitality charity for our clients to feed on freely and the dry-cleaning bills stop now. The only person who has a permanent solid reason for being out on the town is Caleb. If you are not Caleb or supporting him, I want to see a business case and pitch for every single after-hours event you decide is worth attending.’
Let’s face it, Ivory Bow as we know it is fucked – but I like this guy. I love the team but we need this. Ariella has done an exceptional job getting us to this point, but he’s right. We do work our butts off, because we have fun while we are at it, but we should be more focused. It’s our job and we are being paid to do it. Loving it is a bonus.
‘I am introducing digital time sheets. I want you all clocking in and out. Project team, your diaries are a mess. I want to see all your appointments scheduled and diarised. No more time blocks with “Popping to the venue for a cheeky lunchtime drink with the client”. That is not an appropriate reason for a meeting.’
‘Well, there goes my calendar,’ Jess says and the project team all titter between themselves.
Samir silently folds his arms until they have finished. The laughter stops as quickly as it starts.
‘I will be reviewing the structure and job descriptions of all the staff this week and in all cases you will be reinterviewing for your jobs?—’
‘No, they won’t.’ Ariella lifts her head from scribbling in her notepad and speaks calmly, for the first time, before the room gets a chance to react.
‘This company will be restructured and?—’
‘I understand that. I can see why you would like to make the changes you’ve listed thus far. I am willing to accept that I was severely underqualified for the job and have made some significant errors, but you’re not touching the team,’ she says quietly and respectfully. Without giving him a chance to respond, she turns to Bryce and Lydia. ‘Bryce, please could you send Samir all of our updated employment contracts, and Lydia, can you please send our HR consultant’s details over too?’
Lydia and Bryce both nod and Ariella goes back into silent mode at the other end of the table. Her calm but firm interruption makes two things clear. Firstly, that Samir’s power is not absolute. Secondly, not that it would ever be her intention, but Ariella has made Samir understand that she could stage a coup if she wanted to, and she’d win. She has never been sexier to me.
After Samir finishes scaring the shit out of all of us by laying down the law, he dismisses everyone else but holds Ariella and me back.
‘Caleb, your performance since you joined has been exceptional. I’d like us to look at building a team to sit under you. There is a lot of work out there and we need more “you” to get it through the door. Ariella, is there a reason why you haven’t done this already?’
I was ready to throw her a supportive smile at this confirmation that our decision to recruit weeks ago was the right one, but the harshness of his last sentence has stopped me.
‘We’ve talked about it and Caleb is currently?—’
‘Who is “we”? Weren’t decisions like that yours? Didn’t Caleb report to you?’
‘Well, yes, but we also got a lot of steerage from?—’
‘It looks to me like you’ve been coasting. The way this business has been set up is weak, at best. Your job was to establish, solidify and grow the business. Instead, you seem to have been lazily taking instructions and direction from someone who has no experience whatsoever in the industry and focused on dangling your private life in front of anyone who cares on social media in an effort to gain some kind of popularity. Your staff are out there partying indiscriminately, as if they don’t care about the projects clients are paying us a fortune to manage. You have failed on almost every possible count in your role as COO.’
It looks like I’m not going to like this guy after all.
‘Samir—’ I start, ready to defend her.
‘You’re not wrong. What happens now?’ Ariella interrupts, subtly putting her hand on mine.
‘I see the decision to demote and replace you as COO has already been made. You will stay on and babysit the role until a new COO is found. Caleb, you will now sit on the same seniority level as Ariella does, and report directly to me. Ariella, I see that in your last role you managed event operations in London. Let’s make a home for you leading the project team while you stand in as COO. Once that person is hired, they can work closely with you to straighten out your team and get this company going in the right direction. You will report directly to the COO. I also expect…’ Samir trails off as his attention is caught by Dominic Miller walking in with lunch for the team. Prick.
‘Excuse me.’ Samir clears his throat and walks out of the meeting room. Ugh. Of course he is going to suck up to Dominic. Just when I was beginning to think he was different. No surprises there then.
‘How can we help you, MrMiller?’ He stops in front of Dominic with his hands clasped behind him. We can hear every word of the conversation through the door he’s left open.
‘I was just dropping some lunch off for the team.’ Dominic grins.
‘As generous as that may be, this needs to stop. It is a significant distraction. Everyone employed here is paid more than enough to get their own lunches. If by some miracle they are struggling, then we would have to put together a consistent staff lunch programme to supplement their generous remuneration. You are a client and an investor, MrMiller. This makes an already murky relationship more difficult to wade through. There will also be no more extended visits to Miss Mason during office hours. You cannot date my employee on my time. You have weeknights, if she is free, and the whole weekend at your disposal. Although, I would strongly suggest you reconsider your intentions as she is now also, indirectly, your employee.’
I try to hear what Dominic says in response, but I don’t catch it. He follows it with a relaxed nod and extends his hand. Samir immediately shakes it. Dominic drops lunch on one of the tables and leaves.
‘He’s a bit hard isn’t he?’ I comment to Ariella, trying to disguise my glee that Dominic has just been kicked out of the office for good.
‘No, he’s not. He’s just doing what needs to be done.’ She sighs.
It doesn’t take long for Samir to return to the room.
‘MrMiller has dropped lunch off for the team. He has been asked not to return. We are going to change the landscape of this business and turn it round completely to a fully functioning, thriving investment. I know I need your help to do that, but you must understand that we will no longer function this way. Trusting everyone to do their job to the best of their ability is not enough. We need effective internal processes and our external messaging must be clear. I am going to need support. Are you both on board?’
‘Absolutely,’ Ariella responds without missing a beat. I agree.
‘Thank you, both,’ Samir concludes, and leaves us both standing there.
Things at work after that are turbulent and sometimes explosive. Lydia is moved into a team manager role for the project team, and often inputs their diary entries for Samir’s approval; while Ariella helps the staff acclimate to the new Ivory Bow by keeping the peace and quietly setting up systems that meet Samir’s demands.
By the end of his third week in the role, Ivory Bow is running smoothly with all the new changes – and Samir is operating under the assumption that it was all his doing. The only people Ariella couldn’t save were Eden and Ruby. They have been dismissed with three months’ pay and an open freelance contract giving them first consideration should their skills be required. Getting Samir to sign off on that was like pulling teeth, but Ariella just kept on at him.
I, on the other hand, am doing great. Samir has got me out with him almost every night at functions aimed at senior leaders in influential companies. The opportunities are fantastic because not only does Samir know everyone, the ‘everyone’ he knows are the cheque signers, and they all trust and respect him. We’ve settled into a perfect working relationship. He gets me in the room and leaves me alone to build lucrative relationships and haul money into the company. It’s time to revisit the list of applicants I abandoned to follow Ariella to London, and fast. I am going to need a team more urgently than we thought.