30. Will
30
WILL
I glanced at the clock nervously as I waited in my office, pacing. Allen told me the board was planning to speak directly with me and Beth and it set my nerves on edge. When it was just them hounding me with meetings and strategy sessions all week I could handle it. But dragging Beth into this place and demanding answers from her crossed the line, in my opinion. She had nothing to do with this.
"They're ready," Sarah said, poking her head into my office. She had been coming in late, leaving early, avoiding me. Every time she looked at me I saw guilt in her eyes, but I had nothing on her. No proof she'd been involved. And the board kept me on my toes all week too, too busy to really confront her.
"I need to speak with you, please," I told her, and her face got pale. Maybe right now wasn't the best time, but I needed answers.
"Allen's here, sir," Sarah said, and she looked down. Before I could say another word, Allen pushed the door open.
"Will, let's go. Ms. Reid is here and the board is waiting." Allen's gruff voice and nature pulled me out of my pit bull-like trance and I turned away from my cowering secretary.
"Can they wait a second?" I asked, and Sarah backed out of my office past Allen.
"Do you really want to push your luck?" he asked, and his eyebrows rose. "Honestly, Will, you act like this is a minor issue. You could be facing extinction here." Allen's massive palm splayed on the door and held it open as I scowled.
I walked past him into Sarah's office and passed through, I noticed her sweater was missing and she was not there anymore. It only seemed that much more suspicious. I wish I'd have taken time to investigate the root of these rumors a long time ago, the way I promised Beth I would. Something told me there was something deeper going on with Sarah than I knew, and I wondered if she was the one sending those hateful emails to Beth on company servers when no one was looking.
I followed Allen to the boardroom with anxious energy fluttering in my chest. Beth and I had barely spoken for days now. After the gala she took the week off, and I'd been so swamped with unnecessary things the board threw at me all week, I didn't even have time to spend with Abby, which I knew was a problem. Beth had become a fringe concern and I hated it. By the time I was able to call her in the evenings, she was too tired to talk. And I felt like I was losing my mind.
When I walked into the boardroom she was seated along the wall in one of the spare chairs. She wore a white sweater and dark red leggings. Her hair was down loose around her shoulders and she didn't smile when she saw me. I would never have known she was pregnant if I hadn't seen her in that fitted gown last weekend. She was carrying it well so far, though I knew she was still early on. And my God, she was more radiant than the first day I laid eyes on her.
"Well, William…Beth…" Carl stood at the head of the table and addressed us, and Beth stood and waited for me to join her. Allen ducked out of the room and it was just me and my accusers. I stood at the head of the conference table, trying to keep my cool, though I could feel the anger radiating from every corner of the room. The board members, usually the calm, collected decision-makers of our firm, were now a pack of wolves circling, waiting for me to slip up. They fired questions at me, one after another. I argued each point, but one name kept repeating.
Nevil Banks. He was like a plague, infecting everything we had built. And Beth—Beth and I—had made it worse. I ran my hand over my face, trying to mask the frustration that had built up over the last hour of back-and-forth accusations.
"Will, you need to get a handle on this," Carl barked. "We're hemorrhaging shares, and you're sitting here like you don't care. The board can't make decisions with all this uncertainty swirling around."
I wanted to retort, to tell him I did care, that I was doing everything I could to fix this, but the words stuck in my throat. Every accusation felt like a slap, and worse, they were right. My relationship with Beth—our relationship—hadn't just been a personal failure, it was now a liability to the firm.
"Will, if you don't put an end to this soon, you're going to be out of a job," Janet, the head of legal, chimed in coldly. "Nevil's circling like a vulture, and you're letting it happen. You're the one who should have seen this coming. If you don't fix it, we'll have no choice but to vote you out."
I glanced around the table, seeing faces I'd worked with for years, faces I had trusted, now looking at me with thinly veiled contempt. The weight of the room bore down on me.
"Beth," Janet continued, now shifting her attention, "you're to take a one-month leave of absence. No contact with any clients, no company business. Your actions—whether you were directly involved or not—have done enough damage. You'll stay out of the spotlight until the shareholders' meeting in March. After that, if the dust hasn't settled, we may have no choice but to terminate you."
Beth's face went pale; her usual confident demeanor cracked for the first time. She was as shattered as I was at hearing that. I could see her hands trembling slightly, but she remained silent, her eyes flicking to mine, almost pleading.
"Wait, you can't—" My voice rose before I could stop it. I was trying to protect her. She didn't deserve to be treated like this. "Beth hasn't done anything. We don't know if she?—"
"Enough!" Carl slammed his palm on the table, cutting me off. "This isn't about what we don't know, Will. It's about what's happening right now. The company is at risk, and you're too distracted to lead us through it."
I took a deep breath, forcing myself to calm down. I couldn't argue with them—not here, not now. If I didn't play my cards right, I'd lose everything.
I was livid, my anger boiling over. "You're all so damn quick to point fingers!" I shouted, standing up.
Beth's hand landed gently on my arm, pulling me back down. "Will, calm down," she whispered.
"You think I don't care? You think I'm the one letting this fall apart?" I shouted, eyes wild. "I'm doing everything I can, and you?—"
Before I could say anything more, Beth moved quickly, her fingers tightening around my arm, pulling me away. "Will, stop," she whispered urgently. Her voice was steady but insistent. "You're not helping yourself." I jerked my arm, but she held firm, her presence grounding me, reminding me of what was at stake.
"Let go of me," I hissed, but she didn't. Instead, she stepped closer, her eyes meeting mine.
"You're going to make it worse if you keep this up," she said quietly, her words cutting through my anger like a blade.
I didn't want to listen, but I could see the panic in her eyes. The same panic that had been in mine earlier. She was right. I was losing control, and if I didn't walk out now, I'd never recover from this.
With a sharp exhale, I let her guide me toward the door, my blood still boiling but my head starting to clear. She stopped just outside the boardroom and shut the door behind us, and though they could see everything, she placed both of her palms on my cheeks and looked me directly in the eye.
"I love you," she said firmly, "but we have to do things the right way."
Right way? Was that what she thought I was failing at? Why she rejected my proposal? She thought I was handling this the wrong way?
"Beth, I?—"
Her lips cut me off, brushing over mine. It was a very soft kiss but insistent nonetheless, and I let my hands rest on her hips. I was acutely aware that the entire board was watching, probably planning my termination while Beth's lips were on mine still, but I knew Beth was only trying to help me.
"It's going to be okay," she said quietly.
"They're giving you the shaft. It's not right. You don't deserve this." I shook my head, ready to go back into that room and fight for her honor, but she put her hand on my chest and sighed.
"Will, I promise. Things will be okay. Please, take a deep breath. Try to stay calm. Do it for me…Do it for the baby," she said, and my heart pinched.
"For the baby," I repeated, and looked down at her hand on my blue button-down. There was so much more at stake than just my position as CEO or the integrity of my board, or Nevil Banks…I got lost in the chaos of it all and the stress of holding it all together was a weight I hadn't handled very well.
"I'll call you later, alright?" Beth breathed in deeply and took a step back. "Go on…"
I didn't want to leave her side. I wanted to take her hand and march her back to my office and tell her how I really felt, what I really wanted. But standing outside the boardroom knowing they were waiting on me, I knew it wasn't the right time to have that conversation.
"I'll expect it." My eyes lingered on her as she turned and walked away. Her shoulders sagged. I couldn't imagine what she'd do if she was actually fired. I, of course, would insist on helping her, caring for her. But she had a stubborn independent streak. She'd probably reject my help and try to do it alone. I just didn't know how to make her see…
I turned and walked back into the boardroom to face them all. Now I had new suspicions about what really happened, and I wasn't going to shy away from telling them. If they wanted the truth, they'd have to look somewhere besides Beth. My gut told me Sarah was involved, and while I had always appreciated her and the work she did for me, I wouldn't tolerate a rat.
The cat was on the prowl now, and I was going to track down the truth if it was the last thing I did.