Chapter 6 Calliope
CALLIOPE
An hour after walking into the utter disaster of a store room, I sit in the break room wrapped in several towels, dressed in Victoria’s dry gym clothes, and nursing a cup of terrible coffee thats only purpose is to warm me up.
What the fuck.
What a terrible start to the New Year. I can’t even count how much stock we lost. I overheard Jimmy mentioning something about drying it all out, but all that water damage and the risk of rust or water staining to the jewelry and stones, never mind the risk of illness from wherever all that water came from… It’s enough to make my head spin.
And somehow, worse than the burst pipe, the water damage, and the lost stock is the fact that I was saved by Elijah.
What the fuck is he doing here? Did I fall asleep and wake up in some crazy, alternative reality where the world has gone to shit and somehow, Elijah Baird is in my office building saving me from getting crushed by falling debris?
I sip my coffee and close my eyes.
It’s all just a bad dream. A really, really bad dream.
“Hey, girl, you need anything else?” Opening my eyes, I see that Victoria appeared before me with her face warped by concerns. “Should I call a doctor? I don’t know what to do about something like this.”
“I’m fine,” I assure her. “Just very, very cold.”
“Are you sure? What if you’ve caught something from the water? I saw this movie once where a girl lost her leg because she got cut underwater and she ignored it and it got all infected and everything and they had to chop it off.”
“Was she in an office building?”
“Nah, she was on a ship.”
“Then I think I’ll be fine. Thank you, though, for the clothes and everything.”
“Of course! You give me the perfect excuse to skip my New Year’s resolution of going to the gym every day.” Victoria laughs, but she quickly sobers up when Jimmy storms into the break room.
“Out,” he barks at her, and she scurries away. “Explain.”
I stare at him over the edge of the cup. “What more do you want me to explain?”
“How the hell has this happened?” he slams one hand down on the table in front of me, making me jump.
“How much product have we lost? How could you be so fucking careless? Do you have any idea how incompetent you looked, how you’ve made me look on such an important day?
Did my call yesterday not give you any inclination that today was a day we all needed to be at our best, and yet somehow, Cal, you’ve managed to fuck up not just your own reputation, but mine along with it! ”
Every word draws a subtle flinch down my spine and warmth stings behind my eyes, mingling with the anger that I was even placed in a situation like that. His call yesterday didn’t hint that anything important was happening, not to me.
“You called me in here for an emergency meeting, nothing else! I came in on my day off because I thought something bad had already happened, not that I was going to wade into the middle of it by taking five minutes to double-check an invoice!”
“Cal—”
“It’s Calliope!”
“Calliope?” A deeper, much softer voice rises from behind Jimmy, who spins around abruptly.
Elijah stands there, half-dressed in an expensive blue silk shirt and a pair of cotton joggers he gained from somewhere.
His sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and dark brown hair stands on end, flat near his forehead, where his hand and the water seem to have deflated some of the volume.
He’s as handsome now as he was back then. More so.
“That’s me.”
“Are you alright?” Such warm concern fills his dark green eyes that my heart skips a beat, and for a moment, I’m unsure how to answer.
He isn’t acting like he recognizes me. Does he not remember me?
Maybe he hasn’t spent as much time dwelling on that night as I have, but given the results, I can’t be blamed.
I stare at him in silence until he walks forward, moving past Jimmy like he isn’t even here. “If you need medical attention—”
“No, no,” I jump in hurriedly. “I’m fine, I promise.” That’s also an expense I can’t afford, so I’m fine, regardless of whether that’s true or not.
“I spoke to the building manager. The team he has called explained that there was a blockage from the offices above. The water pressure, plus the extreme cold these past few days, split the pipe, and the water had nowhere to go but down. He suspects the water was building over the past day and the ceiling just finally gave way. They’ll know more after a thorough investigation, of course. ”
It takes all my strength not to turn to Jimmy and spit out a told you so. It’s unbelievable that he tried to blame me, but at the end of the day, what else can I expect from a man like him?
“How much is that going to cost?” Jimmy demands. “It surely should be covered by the insurance because there’s no way I’m accepting liability.”
“Whose offices are upstairs?” Elijah asks with only a glance at Jimmy.
“Well… Marketing, technically, but we share that floor and a couple of others with an accounting service!”
“Hmm.” Elijah turns back to me and then holds out his hand. “I’m Elijah Baird. CEO of Amber Limited.”
He doesn’t recognize me. Of course he doesn’t. Why would he? It was one crazy night six years ago, and then we went our separate ways never to see each other again.
Until now.
I accept his hand, fighting to ignore how my heart flutters once more as his warm palm envelopes mine. “Calliope Locke. Thank you, by the way, for saving me.”
Elijah squeezes my hand and smiles warmly.
“You did more than I would have done, that’s for sure.
With your quick thinking, getting several of those boxes on top of the filing cabinet, I think you saved quite a lot of stock.
Granted, there’s irreversible damage, but without you, that entire room would have to be written off. ”
I sink my teeth into my cheek and smile, fighting the sudden warmth that sweeps up my neck. “It’s nothing.”
“You should be proud,” he says, and he finally releases my hand. “Not how I wanted to introduce myself, but I suppose it’s memorable.”
“You said you were from Amber Limited?” I set down my coffee. “I’ve heard of you. What are you doing here? I thought Amber Limited was all about gemstone acquisition and supply. That’s not something we typically deal in.”
“We don’t have to talk about that now,” Jimmy interrupts, but Elijah brushes him off and takes the seat across from me.
“We’re doing some check-ups on stone quality and how it survives from source to sale.
We’ve had an uptick in complaints, and I wouldn’t be a very good CEO if I ignored something like that.
I know this place doesn’t deal directly in gem acquisition, but we often stone the jewelry you sell, so I’m doing the rounds. ”
Despite the honesty in Elijah’s voice, the look of relief on Jimmy’s face tells me I’m not getting the whole story.
Is Amber Ltd. here to buy us out? I can’t work out why they’d even be interested in a business like us since last I checked, they operate out of New York and, as Elijah says, they deal solely in gemstones.
So why is he here?
I’m burning to ask, fueled by the chill resting in my bones, but I can’t ask anything more direct without revealing I overheard the phone call. That’s the only ammo I have, and I’m not revealing it just yet.
“And that’s something the CEO does personally?” I ask, daring to push the issue a little further.
“I’m a hands-on CEO,” Elijah says, giving me the same charming smile that caught my eye six years ago.
It’s distracting, and I force myself to look back at my coffee, trapping the dwindling warmth between my hands. Mistakes were made six years ago, and I’m not falling for the same smile twice. “So, you came to check on stone quality and instead found a burst pipe destroying some of our stock.”
“Ironically, it will be a testament to how the stones survive. None of that stock can be sold, but the stones can indeed be salvaged and the precious metals melted back down. That wouldn’t be something we’re in charge of, though, but it’s something I will be monitoring closely.”
Elijah talks with a quiet smoothness that keeps the conversation going, preventing Jimmy from jumping in no matter how often he steps forward with something to say. It’s an enviable talent since I know he’d cut me off the second I spoke for too long.
“Well,” I reply with a dry laugh. “If you truly wanted to check out stock, then you’d be better off at the warehouses than here at the office. That’s such a small sample size.”
“No,” Jimmy jumps in finally. “There’s no need for that.”
“Actually,” Elijah replies, “that’s exactly what I wanted to do, but you” —he turns to Jimmy— “told me all the stock was moved here for the holidays.”
“Well…” Jimmy scoffs, sniffing deeply. “What I meant is that all the important stuff is here.”
“All of it is important.” There’s an edge to Elijah’s voice that’s so subtle, but it makes Jimmy recoil. Elijah swivels back to me. “How familiar are you with the warehouse?”
I lock eyes with him, surprised. “Fairly. I mean, I spend maybe two-thirds of my time there.”
“Excellent. Can you give me a tour?”
My mouth hangs open and I glance between him and my boss, unsure of what to say. Ideally, spending more time with Elijah opens me up to a whole host of memories I’d rather avoid. But if I want to know more about their secret deal, then this would be the perfect opportunity to get him alone and ask.
“I don’t think—” Jimmy starts to say, and it’s finally my time to cut in.
“Yes. I can do that. I can tell you everything you want to know.”
Jimmy’s face darkens with anger as Elijah smiles and stands. “Excellent. I’ll see you in a couple of days once you’ve had time to recover. I trust Jimmy will be giving you some time off to do just that.”
“Sure,” Jimmy chokes out. “Without question.”
As much as this secret acquisition could spell the end of my job, it’s almost worth it just to watch Jimmy squirm in the face of a man he can’t bully.