Chapter 6
CHAPTER SIX
MADISON
I step out of the elevator onto the top floor.
“Good morning, Miss Rothchild.”
“Good morning, Leanne.” I smile as I walk through the foyer and down the corridor toward my office.
“Good morning, Miss Rothchild.” He stands and opens the door to my office.
“Good morning, Hector.” I walk past him and he takes my jacket from me and hangs it in the coat closet and then goes to my coffee machine. “How was Germany?”
“Good.” I sit down behind my desk and turn on my computer. “How was your weekend?”
“It was okay.”
I glance over to him. Hector is my PA, the best damn PA I ever had, I might add. “Just okay?”
“Meh.” He sighs. “I’m officially becoming a nun.”
I smile as I open my email. “We look forward to welcoming you into our congregation.”
He passes me a cup of coffee. “I’m probably already the highest priestess.”
I smile as I take a sip and turn back to my computer. “Okay, let’s do this.”
He sits down opposite me at his laptop and crosses his legs. “Nine a.m. you have a meeting with HR.”
“Uh-huh.” I take my notes. “In regard to?”
“Julienne Shriver.”
“Where are we with that?”
“She’s rejected all offers and is demanding to go to court.”
“Okay.” I turn and pick up my phone and dial the number.
“Hello,” he answers.
“Warren, where are we with Julienne Shriver?”
“We don’t have an answer yet.”
Julienne Shriver is trying to sue me for unfair dismissal. In my defense she was lazy and unproductive, lied in reporting, not to mention having affairs with at least three married men in the building, so my conscience is completely clear.
I go through my emails and search for the documentation. “Nothing in my emails from you to notify me of that.”
“Ahh….” He hesitates and I know he’s scrambling to remember exactly where we are up to.
“You’re coming to this meeting this morning, right?”
“What meeting?”
My eyes flick up to Hector. “Does Warren know about this meeting?”
“He was emailed about it two weeks ago.” He goes through his emails. “Sent the calendar on the thirteenth.”
“You were copied in two weeks ago.”
“Oh, Meagan hasn’t sent it over to me. I need to be notified in person in future.”
Hector and I roll our eyes.
“Warren, fire that damn PA. She’s completely useless.”
“Well….”
“Get your ass up here for this meeting at nine.”
“I can’t….”
“Warren, this isn’t up for debate, but hear me when I say this, as my lawyer you need to get your fucking shit together. I’ll see you in ten minutes.”
“But….”
I hang up on him midsentence and turn back to my computer. “Unbelievable.”
“I swear to god they’re having it off.” Hector sighs.
“No doubt,” I mutter dryly. “What next?”
“Eleven thirty you have a meeting with the board. One p.m. you have accounts, two p.m. you are being interviewed by Time magazine.”
“Ugh, that’s today?”
“Yes, they already have the photographs for the story. I sent them over yesterday.”
“Thank you.” I tick off my list. “At least someone around here is perfect.”
He chuckles. “You should pay me more.”
“You already send me broke.”
“Then this afternoon at four we have the trial of the next-gen software.”
“Ahh.” I smile as I type. “I’m excited for that one.”
“Me too.” I begin to go through my emails. “And that’s your entire day.”
“Thank you.” I have a secret that makes me smile, the appointment I’m looking most forward to…. Tonight.
Andrew Watson, officially the best kisser in all of eternity. I’ve thought of nothing else since and if I close my eyes I can still feel his lips against mine, his hands on my behind pulling me toward him. Feel the excitement in the air between us.
Nerves dance in my stomach, tonight.
2:30 P.M.
“You’ve had a lot of success in your career but what would you put down as your biggest challenge so far?”
Ugh…these questions.
Why did I agree to do this? The absolute last thing I want to be doing right now is sitting in the conference room being interviewed by Time magazine.
“My biggest challenge.” Hmm, I pause as I contemplate my answer.
“Excuse me for interrupting.” I hear a voice. “I need to speak to Madison for a moment, please?”
I glance up to see Roman from Legal standing at the door. “Hello.”
‘Can I see you privately for a moment?”
“Now?” I frown. “It can’t….”
“No. It can’t wait.” He fakes a smile and I instantly know there’s an issue somewhere.
“Excuse me for one moment, please.” I stand and walk from the room with Roman following. Once in the corridor with the door closed behind us, I turn to him. “What’s wrong?” I ask.
“In here.” He pulls me into an office and closes the door.
“What’s going on?” I frown. “Spit it out.”
“We have a security system code red.”
“That’s impossible.”
“It should be.” He swallows a lump in his throat as his panicked eyes hold mine. “The entire system has been compromised.”
“How bad?” I begin to hear my heartbeat in my ears as panic pulses through my bloodstream.
“Twenty-two million people’s credit card details have been uploaded to the dark web.”
“That’s impossible, the system is fail-safe. I encrypted the code myself. It has a five-step verification process, nobody can get through that type of security.”
“They did. We have confirmation. We’ve blocked the server and closed everything down until we can rectify the problem.”
“Closed down the server?” I breathe. “We are the main financial institute for fifty million businesses, and you are telling me we have closed down the fucking server?”
“We had to. Credit cards are getting drained as we speak, this is a catastrophe of epic proportions. We need to put out an urgent press release before it leaks.”
The earth moves beneath me. “My god,” I whisper. “How has this happened?”
“I don’t know but….” He shrugs, unsure how to answer.
“Meet me upstairs.” I storm from the room and back into the conference room where the Time magazine reporter is patiently waiting.
“Hello, my apologies.” I fake a calm smile. “We have had a situation arise that needs my immediate attention. We will have to reschedule to another time.”
“Oh.” He glances at his notepad. “I only have a few more questions.”
“That I am unable to answer now. Thank you for coming and we will be in touch to reschedule.” I pick up my computer and walk from the room and straight to the elevator.
This is a disaster of epic proportions.
HOURS LATER
I pace back and forth as the legal team sit around the boardroom table, our statement goes out to the media in an hour, and we are in major damage control. Our systems are still down, and our software engineers are upstairs scrambling. We know they got into our system, but we still can’t find how.
I’m waiting for their call to tell me the problem has been rectified…what is taking them so long?
I’ve never been so stressed, the carpet is threadbare from my pacing.
“Here, drink this.” Hector holds out a glass of water.
“I’m fine,” I snap.
Pound, pound, pound…. My headache is becoming unbearable, and I hold my temples to try and ease it.
“You are not fine,” he whispers. “I’m getting you some Tylenol.” He rushes from the room.
“Like that’s going to help,” I mutter dryly.
Buzz buzz…. Buzz, buzz, my phone vibrates in my pocket, and I scramble to answer it. They’ve found the bug.
“Fuck.” I instantly remember where I am supposed to be and I screw up my face; I glance at my watch.
7:05 p.m
Shit, shit, shit.
“Hello,” I answer.
“Hi,” his deep voice replies. “I’m downstairs in the foyer.”
“Umm.” I walk out of the office and close the door behind me. “I’m….” My throat is so dry I can hardly speak. “I’m still at work,” I reply softly.
“Oh.”
“I just….” I close my eyes as I try to think of a reply, I can’t tell him what’s going on until we address the media. “An emergency came up that I’ve had to deal with.”
“Okay…are you going to be long, I can wait upstairs.”
“I….” I close my eyes. “I can’t do tonight.”
Silence.
“I’ll be hours here.”
“I’ve driven all the way down here and am standing in your foyer with a giant massage table. You couldn’t even call to let me know?”
Fuck.
“I lost track of time.” Guilt fills me. “I’m sorry.”
Silence.
“We’ll reschedule,” I offer. “Another time perhaps?”
“No,” he snaps. “I’m good.”
I roll my lips, annoyed at his tone. “What does that mean?”
“It means don’t call me.”
I roll my eyes, I don’t have time for this shit. “Don’t be so dramatic.”
“Okay. I won’t.”
Click…. The line goes dead as he hangs up on me. Adrenaline surges through my body and I march back into the catastrophe zone.
Lawyers are fighting, people are scrambling and my head is now pumping so hard I would be surprised if I’m not in the early stages of an aneurism.
How.
Dare.
He.
Nobody gets to hang up on me.
I’m good.
Who the hell does this guy think he is?
“No. This is a catastrophe, we cannot go out with that. It will be financial suicide.” I’m brought back to the present moment to raised voices and people arguing about the statement we’re releasing.
I listen to them for a while before my thoughts return to the man who just hung up on me.
I get a vision of him standing in the foyer with his massage table over his shoulder, calling me, and I wasn’t even there.
I imagine him leaving, walking to his car in the dark and then driving home alone.
I was so focused on work that I didn’t even call him to cancel.
I didn’t even remember that we had a date.
What the fuck is wrong with me?
This is an emergency, something completely out of my control, I couldn’t help it. Of course I’m not thinking about a stupid date, I have a huge responsibility at work and if he can’t understand that then….
He’s not the first but perhaps this time…he’s the last.
Confirmation of what I already knew begins to filter through my bloodstream, like a raft weighted down in the water. Sinking to the bottom until it isn’t visible anymore.
My life isn’t compatible with dating.