Chapter 4 #2
I let myself wonder once more what had happened to precipitate Cassandra taking the fall for her previous company’s wrongdoings.
It was clear from Brynn’s research that that’s what had happened when she’d stepped down, with apologies to the shareholders.
She had a stellar track record before that and was known for business practices not normally seen on Wall Street, like helping people move up through the ranks, hiring diversely, and privately capping her annual salary while offering bonuses to even the lowliest of staff.
She was fierce, but she had a kindness to her, too.
Most people like that got chewed up and spit out in business, but she’d persevered.
She’d killed it for over a decade. Then she’d stepped down, split from her long-time partner, and taken over her family business away from the bright lights of New York City.
It felt strange, knowing that bit about her ex.
But Brynn always gathered personal information about our clients.
Nothing that wasn’t public or easy enough to discover, but I did always know more about my clients than they knew about me.
A lot more. Our data collection was designed to help us understand our clients’ motivations and to tailor our approach to their personalities and lives.
But even before I met her, I knew I’d wanted more on Cassandra than I had.
I’d resisted, until just before this meeting.
I’d looked up her ex to determine what kind of idiot would leave Cassandra Kelly.
He was an investment banker, and just last month he’d been featured in the social pages of Manhattan Magazine with his current girlfriend, a woman who used to work for Cassandra. That had explained a lot.
“Alright, any questions?” Lila asked.
Shit, she was wrapping up.
“Will you be following the rec team?” Jude asked. His siblings threw daggers at him as he lowered his phone. “Sorry if you already explained this,” he said sheepishly. At least the guy was humble enough to know when he’d messed up.
Lila smiled graciously. She had already explained it. But we never made clients feel bad for anything. Ever. “Yes, we’ll be following all departments, and as much as we can, all staff. We’ll have Blake start with a full walkthrough with Cassandra starting next week.”
Cassandra’s eyes darted to mine. Did I imagine it, or had a flush gone up her cheeks?
“We’ll be starting in the head office, going over the business planning with Cassandra and books with Eli,” Lila continued, “Then we’ll do the departmental walkthroughs after that…” Lila went over the schedule in detail again, but this time, all I saw was Cassandra, dropping items into her bag.
She was getting ready to go. Nervous energy shot through me—I needed to catch her now.
“… then we’ll deliver a final report with our findings and recommendations after our review concludes,” Lila finished.
“Are you going to be staying at the hotel?” Chelsea asked.
“No,” I said, eager to wrap up. “While we’ll be spending the bulk of our time here, we’ve rented a home in town. We’ll be up in your business, but not all up in your business.”
Now it was Jude who laughed. “I like you guys,” he said.
“Great,” I said. “That’s always a nice bonus.”
I spent the next few minutes answering questions, my eyes returning constantly to Cassandra, who now looked eager to leave.
It occurred to me that she knew I’d try to talk to her.
That she might be trying to avoid me. That stung, but it made sense.
But it was too bad. There was no avoiding me now that the project was officially on.
“I have a question,” Eli said. People were getting up now, Cassandra saying something to her sister.
“Sure,” I said.
“This one’s for Cass. How are we paying for all this?”
Cassandra folded her hands on the table as a sudden awkward coolness slipped into the room. This was normally the place where we’d bow out—financial discussions didn’t need to include the ones being paid.
“We’re running tight as it is—” Eli began.
“Eli, these questions really don’t require the Harringtons’ presence,” Cassandra said, echoing my thoughts. “But to be succinct, I’ve negotiated a deal with the best consulting firm on the East Coast. The costs will be covered out of contingency A.”
“Contingency A?” Eli repeated, bunching his brows.
“A fund under my accounts. If you have more questions, please come to me directly.” Then she stood. “I believe that concludes this meeting.” She wanted out of here. “Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Harrington, for the comprehensive presentation.”
Eli didn’t look pleased. He opened his mouth, but I spoke first.
“How about dinner?”
All eyes turned to me. I realized, when Cassandra’s eyes went wide, that it sounded like I’d asked the question of her. I’d only been trying to deflect Eli’s questions for her. It was clear she hadn’t talked funds with him and I’d put her in a shitty headspace to do so.
“The Kellys and the Harringtons,” I said, as if it was obvious. “It’ll be a chance to get to know each other in a less formal setting,” I said. “On our dime, of course.”
I glanced at Lila. Though it wasn’t at all out of the ordinary for us to have a kick-off event, it was one more thing I’d sprung on her without asking.
But Lila knew as well as I did that things always went better with these reviews when we developed a personal rapport with our clients first. They tended to be more friendly and less formal, and therefore more candid with our questions during the review.
She smiled. “Great idea, Blake. If the Kellys are amenable.”
“We should definitely celebrate,” Chelsea said.
“For sure!” Jude agreed.
Cassandra’s face made it clear she’d rather do anything else, but she gave a polite smile. “Sounds good. Saturday at L’Aubergine?”
“How about somewhere in town?” Eli said, looking vaguely uncomfortable.
“Why’s that, Eli?” Jude asked, looking at his brother point blank.
Now it was Eli who looked like he wanted to do some stabbing, but Griffin was the one who stood up next. “Eli needs to suck it up. I don’t love eating there either, but we could use the business.”
I was confused by the whole exchange but too distracted by the fact that Cassandra was heading to the door to try to sort it out. I shook hands with the four remaining Kelly siblings, hoping it wasn’t obvious I was trying to bolt out after their sister.
“Blake,” Lila said.
My partner, on the other hand, could read me like a book.
I froze, then turned and smiled. She was standing over by Brynn on the far wall.
It was fine; I’d just have to catch up with Cassandra at her office.
If that’s where she was headed. I could find it easily enough.
I was sure Lila was going to give me shit for going off-script—she was a planner and didn’t like surprises.
We were far enough away from the remaining Kellys—themselves deep in conversation—that no one but Brynn could hear.
Instead she said, “Good job back there,”
“Yeah, that was awesome, even for you,” Brynn said.
My shoulders relaxed, just slightly. “Thanks.”
“Why was she wavering?” Lila asked.
Just like that, my shoulders tightened again. Of course. Lila knew I’d only stray from our carefully thought-out meeting agenda if there was something wrong.
“It’s complicated,” I said.
I’d only told Lila about pulling Cassandra out of the river briefly.
She’d been incredulous, but had immediately looked at it as a good thing—how could this morning not go well after I’d rescued the CEO?
But she knew something else was going on, I could tell.
I couldn’t say it was nothing. But couldn’t tell her the truth about what had happened either.
She’d lose it, and rightly so. It could very easily have lost us this account.
It could have lost us our whole business, if word got out.
The longer I hesitated, the tighter their faces grew with concern.
They could be so happy if it weren’t for our situation.
They were so happy, I thought. They made it work.
I thought about Lila’s parents; how their faces had dropped when we told them last year we wouldn’t be trying for a baby.
If only they knew that wasn’t even the biggest issue.
I hated them for how they’d put Lila in this position. I hated myself for nearly blowing it.
“I didn’t know it was her at first,” I said finally. That, at least, was the truth.
“Oh shit,” Brynn said.
“And I didn’t get a chance to check in with her when we figured it out,” I continued.
Lila’s eyebrows were bunched together. “Surely not recognizing her wouldn’t be enough for her to pull out of the project?”
“Unless you said something that insulted her?” Brynn said. “When you rescued her?”
Lila’s mouth fell open as she turned to Brynn. “I can’t believe you’d bring that up.”
Thank you, Brynn.
Once, we’d almost lost a client when Lila had expressed her frustration at a lunchtime debrief over how the CEO wasn’t following any of her advice. As it turned out, he’d been at the table next to us.
“Listen, I have to go,” I said. “We can talk later.”
“Alright, see you at home,” Lila said, loud enough for the others to hear.
But I was already out the door.