Chapter 30
CHAPTER
THIRTY
SOPHIE
I try calling Liam before I have to go to the boardroom but he doesn’t pick up. Like the meeting room, the boardroom is on the top floor of the television station, but I take the stairs rather than take the elevator, mostly because the exercise will stop me from thinking too much.
Donald is already there, next to two men who are wearing almost identical dark suits and gray ties. Michael is on his right, looking annoyed as I walk in.
“Ah, Sophie. Take a seat, please.” Donald nods to the seat next to his assistant, Rhian. I don’t know her very well because she looks permanently harassed, but I nod at her and she does the same.
I wonder if she knows how much my job is in the balance. Probably she does, because next to her is Monica from HR. My chest constricts. HR never gets called into a meeting unless something is extremely wrong.
“Let me introduce you,” Donald says. “Sophie West. She works for Michael as our meteorologist. Sophie, you know Monica and Rhian, I believe. And next to me is Charles Faulkener of Faulkener and Spring. And Robert here is his associate.”
Both men nod at me. We’re too small a station to have a permanent legal department, so it’s outsourced to a local company.
“Hello,” I whisper as I situate myself.
“Well I think we all know why we are here,” Donald says. “Sophie, maybe you can explain to us exactly what happened.”
I take a deep breath and tell them about the report. About the email. About not realizing until last night that I’d sent it to our competitor. Rhian is scribbling down everything I say on her notepad, while Monica from HR is shaking her head.
“When did you become aware of it?” Donald asks Michael.
“Well, I found out yesterday that the report hadn’t been submitted,” Michael says, his voice even.
“And then Sophie told me it had been sent to the wrong address when I called her. Obviously I realized it was a catastrophe of the highest order, and with Sophie being away I took the initiative and called you.” He looks pleased with himself.
Donald nods and looks at me. “Did you raise the alarm as soon as you realized your error?”
“Yes I did.”
“But it doesn’t alter the fact that our competitor now knows what happened,” Michael points out. Rhian lifts a brow.
The lawyers nod.
“I have requested a call back from the network’s legal team,” Charles Faulkener says. “That should be taking place right after this meeting. We’ll then agree on an approach to the competitor’s team.”
“I’ve also got a call in to the CEO,” Donald says. “Sophie, we’re going to have to ask you to stay away from the station for the next few days.”
I blink. “I’m suspended?”
“We need to show the network that we’re taking this seriously. I understand it was human error, but the effect could be catastrophic.” He looks at Monica from HR. “Could you escort Sophie out?”
“But…” My heart is racing. “Michael can’t run the weather desk alone.”
“Madison can help me,” Michael points out. “I’ll be fine.”
“The weather team isn’t your concern right now,” Donald tells me. “Please just do as I ask.”
Monica stands and gives me a sympathetic smile. I follow her out, and as the door closes I hear the conversation begin again. Without speaking, Monica hits the button for the elevator, and when it arrives we both step inside.
“Do you have things to pick up from your desk?” she asks softly.
“My bag. And my laptop.” I frown. “Should I leave that here for now?”
“I’ll take the laptop. You just take your personal things.”
It sounds like the end. “Okay.”
When the elevator opens onto my floor, we step out and Monica walks slightly ahead of me. The sound of our shoes hitting the tiled floor echoes in the hallway. Lisa walks out of the sports office and frowns when she sees us.
“How did it go?” she asks.
I shake my head because I think I might cry if I speak.
“What’s happening?” She follows the two of us into the weather office. I unplug the laptop and hand it to Monica.
“Oh no,” Lisa says. “They fired you?”
“Suspended,” I say, my voice thick.
“This isn’t fair,” she tells Monica. “Sophie’s been working every free moment to finish that submission. She’s overworked and underpaid and has been covering for Michael for months.”
“She’s not being fired,” Monica says. “If that’s a possibility she’ll have the opportunity to defend herself.”
Lisa stands with me as I pack my things into my bag. Monica watches us from next to the door, my laptop in her arms.
“Is that everything?” she asks me.
I nod.
“I’ll walk you out then.”
“No,” Lisa says. “I’ll walk her. The last thing she needs is everybody staring at her because she’s being escorted out by HR.”
There are not many people here to stare but I appreciate Lisa’s sentiment.
“Okay.” Monica nods. “I’ll just need your badge.”
I unclip my ID badge and hand it to her. Lisa slides her hand into mine. “This isn’t right,” she mutters as we walk out of the office and down the corridor. We pass one or two people who give me a strange look.
And then we walk through the front entrance. Like I’d forecasted, the sun is bright, the air is warm. The kind of Sunday for sitting in the park with friends. My heart aches.
“Do you want to grab a coffee?” Lisa asks.
I shake my head. “I just want to go home.” So we start to walk to my car.
And that’s when I see him. Striding toward us, the sun behind him lighting up his hair. Liam’s wearing a pair of light jeans and a gray t-shirt and he looks exhausted and annoyed.
But he still looks wonderful to me. And that’s when I start to cry.
LIAM
She’s crying and it’s killing me. A woman walks next to her, patting her arm, but I only have eyes for Sophie.
I don’t care that I’m supposed to be pissed that she drove home while upset, or that I’m also pissed at myself for being an asshole to her when she called – because I can’t stand to see her in pain.
“Come here.” I pull her into my arms and she almost melts into them.
The woman with her looks up at me with interest. “Hey, you’re the auction guy.”
“Liam Salinger.” I nod at her over the top of Sophie’s head. Her face is against my chest and I can already feel the dampness of my t-shirt where she’s crying.
“Lisa.” She pulls her lip between her teeth and looks at Sophie again. “You want me to drive you home?”
Sophie pulls her head from my chest. “No. I can do it. Thank you, for everything.”
“What’s happened?” I ask her. “What’s going on?”
And I know there are things we need to talk about. I know there’s one big almighty fuck up I need to explain. But right now I need to know what happened and what I can do to help.
“I’ve been suspended from my job,” Sophie says. “While they investigate my errors.”
My first inclination is to go into the TV station and talk to Donald Regan. I’m pretty sure I can get her back in there in two seconds.
“Tell me everything, please.” I slide my arm around her shoulders. She feels frail, but I need to hear this from her. I’m good at solving problems but only if I know what the hell the problems are.
Her friend goes back into the building after kissing Sophie’s wet cheek. She’s still leaning on me and I’m here for that.
I’m here for her. She needs to understand she can’t push me away.
“I’m sorry,” she finally says. “For leaving without telling you.”
“We’ll talk about that later,” I tell her, because there’s a lot I need to talk about, too. “But first let’s deal with this. I’ll drive you home. My place or yours?”
“Mine. But I have my car…”
“Leave it. I’ll get somebody to pick it up.” I wait for her to protest because I know she hates causing extra work. But she doesn’t and it makes me realize just how upset she is.
She’s tearful the whole way home. There are no huge gasping sobs, but tiny little ones that stutter every now and then like she can’t quite catch her breath. They wreck me more than any screaming sob could. She’s so fucking restrained, even when she’s upset.
Somehow I manage to get most of the story out of her. And I’m even more pissed when I find out why she’s been pushed out of the building.
“Because of an email address? Seriously?” I shake my head. I wonder if I can buy the damn station.
But she’d hate that. And I love her so I won’t. Dammit.
“It’s a competitor.”
“That email might not even exist at the competitor. There’s no proof that it even arrived there.”
“You know how email servers work,” she says, her lip trembling. “It’ll go there anyway, especially since it didn’t bounce back. If the right person reads it then they’ll know all about the weather hub plans.”
“But they shouldn’t send you out of the building until they know for sure.” And yet there’s part of me that knows I’d do the same. I have a ruthless streak when it comes to most things.
“They did anyway,” she says wanly. “And they’re right, it is my fault. I should have checked that email. I always double check things. I was just…” She sighs. “Stupid, I guess.”
Guilt pulls at my stomach. I distracted her. And I couldn’t even tell her the truth about my life. We pull into her apartment’s parking lot and climb out, walking silently into the lobby. She pushes the button for the elevator, then leans against me. I take it because dammit I need the connection.
When we’re inside I make her coffee and insist she actually eats something because I know for sure that she won’t if given the choice. My own stomach is growling so I make us both a sandwich. She manages three bites before she gives up.
“I love you,” I tell her, because I need her to know she isn’t alone.
She nods. “I love you, too.”
“I could make this all go away,” I say, because it needs to be said out loud. “I know the right people. Just tell me to call them and I will.”
She blinks. “No. I don’t want…”
Of course she doesn’t. That wouldn’t be my girl. She’s gotten to where she is thanks to sheer hard work and grit.
But it’s killing me to see her like this.
“I think I’m going to take a shower,” she says. “And then maybe try to sleep. It’s been a long few hours.”
“That’s a good idea,” I tell her.
“Do you want to go home? There’s not much you can do here.”
“I’m not going anywhere.”
She gives me the smallest of smiles then walks to her bedroom, leaving the door open. A moment later I hear the shower running and I clean up the kitchen and then grab my phone.
I call Ava and Myles to let them know I’m with her. I call my mom and my dad to explain why I left in such a hurry. They’re all worried about her and insist that I do something to help.
So then I call Sam, my assistant, because she’s the only one I know who can do what I need right now.
And when I explain she laughs softly. “Only you would ask me to do that.”
“I know. And I’m going to put it in writing because if there’s any blowback it falls on me, not you.” She’s a single mom. I’d never let her do anything that risks her family’s security.
“Okay. I’m on it. But it may take a little while. And I can’t promise anything.”
“I understand,” I tell her. It’s a shot in the dark. “But if you pull it off I’m going to give you the mothership of all pay rises.”
“That’s music to my ears, boss.”
Ending the call, I walk into Sophie’s bedroom.
She’s curled up on the bed, her wet hair splayed out on the pillow, a white towel wrapped around her.
I climb in beside her and pull her against me, and after a couple of minutes I feel her relax, enough for her breath to even out and her eyes to flutter shut.
I stay with her while she sleeps because I want her to know she’s not alone. Even if it’s only a subconscious feeling.