Chapter 7 #2
“I’m Lex Luthor.” And Junie finished her coffee, setting it back down on the table with a sigh.
“What time's her presentation?” Liam asked, cutting in, but harmless enough that Junie wasn’t going to just dismiss someone from their ranks.
“Eleven. She's presenting this massive report on our PR marketing spending–no mention of me, of course.”
“That has to hurt,” Ryan observed. Junie didn’t answer–she set her sights on that croissant Connor had brought for her, starting to dissect it for the chocolate on the inside.
Connor felt his smile fade.
“You get used to it,” he said, speaking for her. Speaking for himself, too.
But he didn’t linger on that. He nudged Junie with his elbow.
“Maybe see if she’ll let you take the rest of the day after her panel. No sense in sitting around all day.”
Junie shook her head.
“No, she’ll want me for the board of directors and the afterparty. Show off that we’re an all-women team. Berkshire hates that.”
“Berkshire?” Ryan asked.
Connor smiled, a little envious. Oh, to be in finance, to be entirely removed from this world they had to survive in, the world of the C-Suite. Surrounded by spreadsheets and numbers and–yes, the antics of one Tan Atkins–but how peaceful that must be.
“Ms. Ronaldo calls him puffed up,” Liam offered, and Junie laughed while Ryan gave them both a baffled look. “You know. Puffed up. Arrogant. Like a blowfish.”
“It doesn't seem like you like your executives,” Ryan commented.
“It depends on the day,” Connor answered smoothly, giving Junie a look while she rolled her eyes.
Some days, Junie only referred to Elle as “Ellie”. Others, well, she was like this.
Not that he had any right to judge her. He could only imagine what someone as strict as Elle Thornton could put Junie through on a day to day basis, much less in the lead up to such an important event.
Hard not to be grateful for Nate. As stressed as he was, he knew to stay out of Connor’s way so he could complete the bulk of their presentation. The rest had just been coaching, which wasn’t so bad.
Compared to the last Spring Forward Summit…
But Connor didn’t have a chance to ruminate on his time under Berkshire, because he spotted Nate’s face among the slow trickle of Alarie Inc. personnel entering into the ballroom, red leather briefcase tucked under his arm like a beacon. It was new, classy, and expensive.
As was the rest of his ensemble.
Nate always dressed well. That was something Connor never missed, but today he shone like a polished jewel in a mine of uncut gems. The ruby red of his slim-cut suit seemed radiant in a sea of safe blues, blacks and grays, a hint of a gold contrasting thread making him practically glitter under the warm lights.
The tailoring seemed only to accentuate his above-average height, the broadness of his shoulders, his slender waist.
And for once, it seemed care had been put into more than just his suit.
His curly hair, which normally reached as long as his collar, had been clipped to his ears and neatly styled.
More than that, for the first time since Nate had started at Alarie Inc.
, he bore no shadow of his usual stubble.
He was completely clean-shaven, showing smooth and supple bronzed skin.
Connor found himself wondering, for just a moment, how it might feel to brush a thumb over his jaw without even a scratch of short-hairs beneath his touch.
Then he wondered why the hell he’d even wondered that at all.
Like a snake in the presence of a charmer, he was entranced, spellbound as Nate made his way through the throng. Not unlike the feeling he’d get seeing a ballet, captivated as he stopped every few steps to greet someone, to shake a hand, to offer a warm smile.
Beside Connor, Liam and Ryan were deep in their own conversation debating the value of pursuing an MBA in the current market. It was no doubt a chief concern for someone Liam’s age and rank, although Connor only caught bits and pieces as he watched Nate circling the ballroom.
Was he looking for someone?
Perhaps. If Connor didn’t know any better, he would have said that Nate looked lost, the shell of that charismatic facade seeming so fragile, like it wouldn’t take much at all for him to crack.
“I have all these gaps in my skills, you know? I can talk theory for department management until the heat death of the universe but I can’t run a department yet-” he heard Liam say.
“But you won’t be running it for a long time,” Ryan pointed out while Liam shook his head.
“But if I did get an MBA, then maybe she’d let me trial it.”
“I think it’s just a foot in the door. You have that - it’s not like my CPA.”
“‘Cause you’re not stay-ow!” Ryan must have kicked Liam under the table, but it went unnoticed.
Junie continued to scroll her phone with half-hearted interest. Her capacity for social niceties and polite conversation had long since run out.
All the while Connor couldn’t bring himself to pay any attention to much of anything at all.
How could he, when he couldn’t take his eyes off Nate?
Still, Nate came closer, circling through the throng until he was only a few handshakes away.
This close, Connor couldn’t help but notice the dark bags beneath his eyes.
Like Junie. Had he been up too-late going over his presentation?
Had he stayed up practicing deflection techniques and pleasant non-answers?
Or had worry grabbed hold of him and kept him from finding any rest?
“I just think you’re overcomplicating it. You do this, you know. Blow things out of proportion. Ask these two. I don’t think they have MBAs,” Ryan said emphatically to Liam, who still seemed unconvinced.
“I do,” Junie answered out of the corner of her mouth. “Connor doesn’t. He’s the smart one.”
“Would you do it again?” Liam asked, desperate for someone to validate what he seemed to think was his only solution to the bump he believed he was facing in his brand new career.
Junie only laughed, bitter, scoffing.
“Hell no. Next time, I think I’ll just put $30,000 in Ellie’s car and set them both on fire. Make marshmallows.”
“S’mores,” Connor corrected, not really meaning to.
“Yeah, those. Don’t do it if Ronaldo isn’t paying for it,” she advised, switching between apps on her phone as she kept scrolling.
“Do you think she would?” Liam asked, not dropping it.
“How would I know? Ask her yourself,” Junie muttered.
“But can I… just ask that?”
“Why not? Do you think she ever stops to think if she can ask you to do something?”
Connor still wasn't paying much attention to them. Instead, he noticed that Nate was wearing a vest–a vest–that peeked out just beneath his suit.
Ridiculous, he thought, shaking his head. Still, the mental image of Nate slipping off his jacket and standing at attention in his crisp, white shirt and ruby red vest cemented itself in his mind. He swallowed, realizing his mouth had gone dry. So Connor reached for his coffee and took a sip.
“Do you want one?” Liam asked.
“Huh?” Connor blinked, realizing Liam was speaking to him. “Sorry, want what?”
“An MBA. That’s what they’re talking about,” Junie cut in, a little kinder to Connor, though she scrolled through reels without looking up at either of them.
“Huh. Maybe.” That was all Connor managed. He still wasn’t paying attention, because Nate finally spotted him, his handsome, troubled face lit up like a full moon on a dark night.
He slipped between two groups exchanging introductions and ducked a third before grabbing a stray chair, hesitating before he pulled it over to Connor.
“Hey, uh, morning, I mean,” was the first thing Nate said, shifting his weight from foot to foot as he so clearly considered the other three. Like he wasn’t sure if he could sit or not. “You get in okay?”
Liam and Ryan paused their conversation at his arrival, exchanging nervous glances with one another.
They knew the rule about assistants to the C-suite not cavorting, but there wasn’t one that explicitly prohibited their friendship.
Regardless, this wasn’t something that would be heavily sanctioned at a conference where everyone is expected to be networking.
Liam and Ryan didn’t know that, but Connor did–as did Junie, who didn’t look up from her phone at Nate’s arrival.
“I did, thanks,” Connor said, even finding a polite smile. This close to Nate in that suit, it took everything in him to keep his gaze at eye-level. “I made an itinerary for you. Just a summary of the important panels today and some notes going into yours this afternoon.”
Nate’s expression softened.
“What would I do without you? Thanks, Connor. I mean it.”
“That’s what I’m here for, you know.” And it was, and Connor couldn’t even say he resented that right now. That was a first, wasn’t it?
“I know you’re–uh–settling in still, but do you think I could grab you for a few minutes?” Nate asked, his fingers drumming over the back of the chair, like he still wasn’t sure if he could sit. “I’d like to go over–uh–what we were working on for the IR panel.”
He wanted to practice answering questions. Connor didn’t know how he knew that–he just did. But just as he started to say yes, Junie slapped her phone down on the table and gave Connor a look.
“You just got here.”
Only four words. Four little words, but it was so unbelievably out of character for her. Junie, who would never speak out of turn to an executive. Junie, who only ever smiled and embraced the worst of their role while burying her irritation for later.
“And I’m available for this meeting,” Connor said, trying to sound pleasant but coming off with just a little more edge than he wanted.
It wasn’t malicious. It couldn’t be malicious, coming from Junie.
No doubt she thought she was helping him, standing up for him when he wouldn’t stand up for himself.
Perhaps the way she wished someone would with Thornton.
But it wasn’t what Connor needed and more than that, it was the exact opposite of what Nate needed to hear.