Chapter 30
LONDON
B y dawn on Monday morning, Liam and I were in the office setting up a bagel bar and coffee station. Our staff would be arriving shortly for their very first day and we’d wanted to do something to make it special.
“We have to remember to go over the day’s agenda before they get here.” I stood with my hands on my hips, examining our handiwork in the lobby. It looked good, with a big blackboard next to the spread that read Welcome to the A-Team! in white chalk.
Colorful pops of fresh flowers were nestled between the platters on the table and we had every popular topping one could possibly think of putting on a bagel. From smoked salmon, to cream cheese, to avocados, cold cuts, sweet spreads, and hot jams, I was pretty sure we had it covered.
The scent of freshly brewing coffee hung in the air and we had a variety of teas for those weirdos who didn’t like the good stuff. I’d also grabbed some hot cocoa just in case. The only thing that was missing was tiny marshmallows, which I’d thought would be cute but Liam had vetoed the idea.
He stood next to me, his hands in the pockets of his tailored suit. His head shook as he glanced at the blackboard. “The A- team? I’m still not sure about that. At the very least, it should probably have been the W-team for Walker .”
I sniffed. “Well, maybe you should’ve come up with that before I wrote it down.”
“It’s chalk. You can change it in literally ten seconds. Just change the A to a W.”
“The W-Team isn’t really a thing, though,” I mused out loud, inhaling deeply and then wishing I hadn’t done it when I caught a whiff of his aquatic cologne.
I’d noticed that he’d been switching scents on me recently, sometimes going with that spicy, expensive cologne I’d gotten to know on him back in New York, but also trying this much fresher, cleaner scent sometimes.
Unfortunately, both worked really well on him.
I sighed and decided to leave the blackboard as it was.
“Finally kicking off with our new staff is a huge milestone for this branch. Maybe we should hold off on a name for the team so we can pick one in consultation with them, since they’ll be the members. That seems more collaborative to me.”
He groaned. “We need to start working, London. I get that morale and company culture are important too, but the pitches we have to come up with are piling up and we need to get to work on the Carrington campaign.”
“I know that,” I snapped at him, spinning to look into those gorgeous eyes even though I’d been avoiding looking right at him since Saturday night.
“We will get to work on all of that as soon as humanly possible, but you can’t shove people into a chair, tell them to build a pitch, and expect them to come up with something amazing.
They need to get to know us and the company they’ve signed on with. ”
“I thought that was why we were doing all this.” He waved his hands in the direction of the spread and widened his eyes at me.
“My suggestion is that we use this little breakfast session to do our welcoming speech in full, so that by the time we go upstairs to the conference room, we can start divvying up the work that needs to get done.”
I mulled it over in my mind and finally nodded, not too proud to admit it probably was a good idea.
“Okay, so we’ll scrap the official welcome meeting we had planned for later and conduct it informally here, but I think we should ditch the session in the conference room then as well.
Just tell them what’s going to be happening today and what to expect out of their first tasks while we’re having breakfast.”
“So we’ll do the whole first day, dog-and-pony-show informally?
” His head cocked as he thought it over.
“Yeah, I like that. We’re not stuffy old dinosaurs who only need to conduct meetings in a boardroom.
This will be a good opportunity to show them who we are, how we like to do things, and at the same time, we won’t be wasting hours with formalities that would’ve eaten up half the day. ”
“Exactly.” I smiled up at him, taking in the way the soft sunshine filtering in from outside was making him glow a little bit and simultaneously highlighting all the sharp contours of his features. “Good work. I think we’re ready.”
As I turned back to the food to make sure we were all set up, my phone rang and I slid it out of my back pocket, not surprised to see that it was my dad. I hit speaker, already knowing he wanted to talk to both of us. Then I waved Liam closer.
Sweeping my gaze across the table once more to satisfy myself that we weren’t forgetting anything, I grinned as I picked up. “Hey, Daddy. Don’t worry. We didn’t oversleep and we’re at the office, ready and eager to welcome our new hires.”
He chuckled. “Good morning, darling. Hi, Liam.”
“Hey, Nate.” Coming to stand next to me, he hooked his thumbs into his belt loops and angled his head down toward the phone. “We were just finalizing our agenda for the day. What’s up?”
“I wanted to wish you both good luck. It’s a big day for the firm, but an even bigger day for the two of you. I have no doubt that you’re going to knock it out of the park. You’re our dream team.”
I flushed at his praise, not too old to love it when my dad complimented me. “Thanks, Daddy.”
“We won’t let you down,” Liam added. “Keep an eye on our socials today. We have quite a few fun posts planned to let the public know we’re officially open for business.”
“I’m looking forward to it.” Dad cleared his throat.
“That’s actually another reason why I called.
I’d like you two to drive up to Orlando later this week to meet one of our new clients.
It’s an ice cream brand that signed on with us before the branch opened, but I wanted you guys to take the client on directly. ”
Mentally flipping through our calendar this week, I glanced at Liam and held his gaze. “We can drive over there on Thursday?”
The corners of Liam’s eyes tightened for a moment and I knew he was trying to figure out if we had anything going on then, but after the beat, he nodded.
“Yeah, Thursday should be good. I proposed a meeting with another potential new client that afternoon, but I’ll move it up to Wednesday.
Sooner is better than later. I’m sure it won’t be a problem. ”
“Excellent.” Dad had a smile in his voice as it gentled. “Have a wonderful day, kids. We’re all so proud of you and we know you’re going to be another amazing success story for the firm.”
“No pressure, Daddy,” I joked.
Quiet chuckles came through the line. “None whatsoever. Remember to have some fun with it, too. That’s what we’re known for, after all, our passion for our own people as much as our jobs.”
Liam and I both nodded before we said our goodbyes, and not five minutes later, the first of our staff started arriving.
Nina Kent, our brand new receptionist and assistant, smiled nervously when she walked through the doors, followed closely by Sammy Adams, a web developer, and Lulu Lake, our social media guru.
We made the introductions as they arrived, waving them toward the sitting area and the breakfast spread.
I smiled after greeting each one of them.
“Please help yourselves and get comfortable. This place is going to become your second home, so feel free to chat and get to know each other, and we’ll take you up to show you your desks as soon as we’re done here. ”
The others trickled in one by one, and after I’d said hi, I went over to Lulu.
Her job started right now, but we’d prepared her for that.
A natural blonde with pink and purple highlights in her short, spiky hair, she was exactly the outgoing, fast-witted personality we’d been hoping to find for the social media role.
“Are you ready?” I asked when I joined her where she was making herself a bagel.
“We’d really like lots of pictures to post today as we move through our morning.
It’s a reveal and a welcome all in one and we’re hoping to make a bit of a splash about the fact that we’re officially opened for business. ”
She grinned at me. “I’m already on it. I managed to get some pics of this before the vultures descended and I made a little video on my way into the office today. I’m also planning on doing short interviews with everyone this morning and taking more videos as the day goes on. I’ve got you covered.”
“You’re awesome. Thank you.” So happy that I nearly moaned out load, I headed over to the white couches in the sitting area and spent some time talking to every person until they’d all arrived and helped themselves to something to eat and drink.
Not wanting to waste any time, Liam and I strode to the front of the room and I looked out over our first ten employees, all seated and happily munching. One by one, their gazes swung our way. I spread my arms out to my sides and smiled.
“Welcome everybody. We’re so excited to have you all here and we can’t wait to get to work with all of you.”
“And don’t worry, you’ll only be sleeping in the office about five nights a week,” Liam joked, sparking a round of chuckles.
“On a more serious note, we thought long and hard about exactly what kind of people we wanted with us when we started this new adventure and we were so pleased to find that in each and every one of you.”
Effortlessly bouncing from the platform he’d provided, I sat down on the edge of one of the unoccupied armchairs.
“We’re not some ordinary, soulless corporate firm where every employee is just another brick in the wall.
We truly value every person here for the skills and knowledge you bring to the table and we want to encourage you to be open with us.
If you think you’ve got a better idea for a project we’re working on, we want to hear it.
If you see potential for ways to do things better, let us know, and if you have complaints, go to Liam.
He’s probably the one you’re going to be complaining about anyway. ”
He laughed, shaking his head as he pumped his eyebrows at them. “Our fearless leader, everybody. Already making her problems mine.”
Laughter rang out across the room, but as we humanized ourselves, I saw our people relaxing and starting to look like they were actually glad they’d taken these jobs.
Liam and I really did make a great team at work and we also happened to be a powerhouse at teaching staff members how our company worked.
We’d been giving training to new employees together for years, and despite everything else, I knew I couldn’t and wouldn’t have wanted to do all of this without him. As the laughter subsided, I jumped back in.
“Right, so unfortunately, today isn’t all about getting to know each other and having some fun with teambuilding.
Our first big task is going to be starting as soon as we’ve shown you to your workstations, and that’s taking a look at our current and prospective clients and dividing them up between you.
We need you to start learning about the different brands and to start working on these accounts right away. ”
“We know we’re throwing you in the deep end, but we’re confident that you’re all going to swim.” Liam grinned. “So eat up, drink up, maybe bring about an extra gallon of that coffee with you, and let’s get the show on the road.”
To my surprise, applause rang out when we were done and I saw Lulu furiously typing on her phone. The next thing I knew, notifications started pinging on my phone and I glanced at it, almost bursting into tears of joy when I saw that she was already working her social media magic.
Once we got upstairs, the others fell into their own roles equally as effortlessly and seamlessly, and then we were off, immediately seeing people begin to huddle after they got settled at their desks.
The day flew past in a blur, but we’d been way more productive than I’d ever have hoped, and I was exhausted, but oh so satisfied with our choices on our way home.
The only problem I had now was the guy sitting next to me in the truck, humming quietly under his breath with his shirt sleeves rolled up and his jacket and tie long forgotten. He glanced at me when we got to our own neighborhood.
“What’s going on with you? I can tell that you’re stewing. You can’t be unhappy about something at the office already. I know you have high standards, but shit. That was an amazing first day.”
Not in the mood to be poked at, I sighed and tried to play it off as nothing, but in the end, I finally gave it up. “So I guess since you’re potentially seeing or have slept with the waitress from the other night, our arrangement is over? I just need to know so I can find a new friend .”
He chuckled, eyebrow raising with humor twinkling in his eyes when he glanced at me again. “I didn’t sleep with her. I came home straight after the date you forced on me. Drinks and nothing else.”
I tried to hide my shock, but my mouth desperately wanted to fall open. “You’ll forever be alone if I don’t throw you to the wolves—I mean women—every once in a while.”
“Nah. I have you.”
I rolled my eyes. “As if.”
But as I looked out the window at the bright green palm trees lining the street, my heart was beating out of my chest. Maybe I’ve been wrong. Maybe it won’t end right when things were starting to get good after all.