Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
S unlight stung my bleary eyes. I yawned, stretched, then realised something was wrong.
Why is it sunny?
At this time of year, the sky was dark when I got up for work. It wouldn’t be sunny unless…
I fumbled for my phone on the bedside table and peered at the time.
No. It can’t be.
I rubbed my eyes, hoping it was just my blurry eyesight playing tricks on me. But it wasn’t. The time was twenty minutes past eight. My stomach bottomed out. The meeting would begin in ten minutes, and I was still in bed. Even if I made it to work as fast as humanly possible, missing a large chunk of the meeting was inevitable.
I didn’t have time to contemplate why or how my alarm didn’t go off. All I could focus on was getting out of bed and off to work ASAP. My bare feet found the carpet as I shed the duvet. No time for breakfast. I threw on the same outfit I wore the day before, unable to dedicate a smidgeon of brainpower to thinking about what clothes to wear. I didn’t brush my teeth or wash my face. Dragging a brush through my hair was the extent of my grooming. I put on a pair of boots and threw on my wool coat and a scarf. My bag was still fully packed from yesterday. I pulled it over my shoulder and walked out the door in record time.
I ran from my building to the train station. Just as I arrived on the platform where the city-bound train awaited, a whistle blew, and the train doors shut with a thump.
No! Just my luck.
I glanced at the departures board and saw that the next train would depart in ten minutes. Defeated, I collapsed onto an empty bench and checked my work phone. One missed call from Neil. I half-heartedly called him back, knowing he’d be unlikely to pick up because he’d already be in the meeting by now. As I suspected, the call went through to voice mail. I texted him instead.
My alarm didn’t go off, and I’m running late. Sorry. I’ll be there as soon as I can.
Ten minutes passed with no sign of another train. Fifteen minutes…
There it is. Finally!
The train screeched to a halt at the platform.
Safely on board, all I could think about was how Neil would react when I slunk in late. I had already screwed up so many times in my short period of employment, and now this. As a perpetual perfectionist, it bruised my ego. This had never happened before. I wondered if Neil regretted his decision to hire me. Maybe I’d become the next Bridget. People would say, “She didn’t last long,” whenever someone referred to me. The thought made me recoil.
As soon as the train stopped at Britomart station, I legged it to the Luxmore building. The lobby was quiet. Everyone had already arrived and gone to work. The meeting was on the seventh floor. I checked my phone on the way up. Neil hadn’t responded to my text. I wondered if he had even seen it. I had already missed forty minutes of the meeting. Maybe it would be better to skip the whole meeting than to turn up this late. Then I remembered Neil’s words—how he expected my attendance.
Better late than never?
The seventh floor was vast, and I didn’t know where to go. I had to ask a random staff member where the meeting was, and she pointed me towards some closed rooms. A sign on one of the doors read “meeting in progress.” I took a deep breath, then pushed open the door.
There were more people around the table than I expected. The conversation stopped, and all eyes looked at me. But Neil Kingston wasn’t anywhere to be seen. That’s when it dawned on me…
I grimaced. “Sorry. Wrong room.”
None of the other doors had the same notice up, but I could hear voices coming from one of them. Once again, I took a breath and entered. I spotted Neil straight away. Everyone glanced towards me, except for him. He seemed determined to ignore me.
“Excuse me.” I said. “Sorry.”
There was only one spare seat at the table—next to Neil. I sheepishly settled down beside him. He looked unamused, seething with palpable disappointment. It felt worse than if he were to say something aloud. I took out my notepad and pen, but I had little idea what anyone was talking about due to missing so much context.
When it was over, Neil said nothing on our way back to the twentieth floor. It was up to me to break the awkward tension. “I’m sorry for being late this morning. My alarm didn’t go off, and I accidentally slept in. I know you wanted me to attend this meeting. I let you down.”
“You demonstrated a serious lack of professionalism.”
“It won’t happen again.”
“If you’re ever running late for an important meeting, take a taxi and expense it.”
“A taxi wouldn’t have been fast enough. Could I have expensed a helicopter?” I regretted the snark the instant the words left my mouth.
Neil scowled in response.
Note to self: Don’t use sarcasm on Neil. Or any kind of joke.
Time for a different approach. I returned Neil’s silent treatment with my own. It worked for a while, then my stomach betrayed me. It let out a loud gurgle. I clutched the offending body part, my eyes wide. Neil stared at me.
“I didn’t have breakfast,” I explained.
“Get yourself something from the cafeteria.”
“Now?”
“Yes. Go. Put it on my account.”
“O-okay.”
I backtracked to the lift. Neil’s behaviour confused me. One minute he was cold fury, the next he was, dare I say, a little bit understanding. A tiny bit. I couldn’t make sense of this, let alone whatever secrets he was hiding.
I bought myself an egg-and-cheese bagel, returned to my desk, and wolfed it down as I worked. Neil left me undisturbed until the afternoon, when he approached me with a request. “Amelia, I need to ask you a favour.”
“Of course. Whatever you need.”
“I have a huge load of paperwork to get through by tomorrow morning. I’m going to need to stay late tonight. I won’t ask this of you often, but can you stay a while this evening and help?”
His request made sense. I was late to work this morning; it was only fair that I stayed late to make up for it. I was about to agree, then I remembered I had other plans. Cleaning . I couldn’t cancel the appointment at this late stage. I’d lose the client—my only client. As much as it pained me, I had to deny Neil’s request. “I can’t. I already have plans. But I can get here extra early tomorrow, if that would help.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
Neil walked off.
Ugh. Why do I feel so bad about this?