Chapter 16
After a relaxing, if short, weekend away, Andi had thought she was ready to get back to work.
Not even another flight in the back of the plane, in a middle seat, no less, could dampen her enthusiasm.
Thankfully, the flight was only six hours to London, so it was a much shorter flight in an uncomfortable seat.
The bathroom visits weren’t as odiferous this time either, since only one meal was served on the flight.
Still, she was more frazzled than her teammates by the time she walked into the conference room. Plus, they’d arrived four hours ahead of her. So, they’d already spread out and were deep into their research by the time she hauled her laptop, as well as her suitcase, into the conference room.
“Hey, Andi,” Jennifer called out, clipboard tucked under her arm as she prepared to head out for her factory inspections. “Why the suitcase? Didn’t you want to settle into the hotel first?”
Andi shoved her suitcase into a corner, then sighed heavily as she pulled her laptop out and set it at the opposite end of the table from everyone else.
After two miserable flights, plus the fact that they’d obviously been here for a few hours, she was feeling…
disconnected was the only word that popped into her mind.
Before she could answer, Laith walked into the conference room, a scowl darkening his handsome features. Andi had to hide her excitement at seeing him again by turning away to take off her coat.
“Nice of you to join us,” he commented disapprovingly.
Andi’s mouth fell open and she glanced at the man standing just behind Laith. Jonas, the arrogant ass, ignored her and tapped something onto his tablet.
Andi didn’t have time to explain that she hadn’t been on the same flight as the others, and even if she had been on that flight, she would have been in the back of the plane instead of the front where she could disembark and get through the checkpoints ahead of the crowd.
Instead, Laith started handing out assignments, explaining what he suspected were the issues in the London branch operations. Andi listened carefully, but she was still fuming from his previous comment.
“That’s it,” he finished. “I hope everyone had a good weekend because this office is going to be tougher to work with than Singapore. The people here are suspicious and most likely unwilling to offer information. Jonas is ready to run interference for anyone if you aren’t getting cooperation from your individual departments. So, use him as a resource.”
Andi looked away, terrified that if she looked at Laith, he would see the yearning, the desperate need, in her eyes.
She’d missed him terribly over the past few days.
It was silly, of course, but she missed his arms around her and the way they’d talk about things.
She also craved the sweet warmth in the aftermath of sex with him.
So instead of looking at him, she ducked her head and opened her laptop. It had been a fling, Andi reminded herself firmly. Just a fling. And if she didn’t hide her reaction to his close proximity better than this, then her whole career would be destroyed.
When she finally looked up, Laith was gone. Andi’s heart slowed and she sank lower into the leather chair, feeling…deflated.
Shaking her head with disgust at her rioting emotions, Andi forced herself to concentrate on her work.
Thankfully, Andi found solace in the data.
Diving into the numbers allowed her to focus on something other than her personal problems. When she ran into a delay in getting some of the reports she needed, Andi didn’t bother going to Jonas for help.
Instead, she went to the person responsible for the report and asked for it.
Several of them replied that they’d already sent the information to Jonas, which only confirmed her suspicions that Jonas was purposely trying to sabotage her.
Should she go to Laith? Andi debated that option, but in the end, she wanted to show him that she could do this job. She wasn’t going to complain to the boss, especially since she did eventually receive all of the reports she needed to get the job done.
She’d do her job without that jerk’s help! If he got out of hand though, she’d expose his sabotage. No way would she be fired because some wimpy prick thought he could interfere with her career!