Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Nikolas
Present Day
“Niko, our COO, Kimberley Wells, was called away for an unexpected meeting, but you’ll meet her and your executive assistant, Marshall Keys, later today,” Luke said, leading me into a conference room. Leyla followed, her arms crossed, lips in a tight line.
I had gotten better at reading body language over the years, and it was clear that she didn’t want to be in this meeting. It wasn’t like she was being discreet.
As I sat down on the buttery-soft leather seat, my nerves calmed slightly. This was what I’d prepared for. A meeting with my team and a clear overview of my new position. Finally.
The rest of the offices were almost entirely glass, and I wondered how people got much done with that kind of distraction. But the conference room had walls, most likely for privacy. I hoped the lab had those too.
Luke sat next to me, offering me a coffee, which I declined, and I waited as Leyla sat at the head of the long table. She was looking over a file she’d brought in with her, so I took the opportunity to glance at her.
Besides a few laugh lines near her mouth, I’d never have known nine years had passed. I wondered if Earth Organix had a cream for that. Best not to ask, but I made a mental note to look into it. I learned that lesson with my mom a long time ago. Women didn’t like that sort of thing, apparently.
Her hair was a little longer now, but was still sun-streaked. I hoped she still surfed since she loved it so much back then. Forcing my mind away from my musings, I waited for the meeting to begin.
“Well,” Leyla said on a loud exhale. “We have a lot to go over, and I have a very busy day. Jaz, my assistant, will bring you a laptop in just a minute. The badge you were given downstairs allows you access to the elevator and will also serve as your lab pass.”
“That doesn’t seem secure,” I said, wondering why there weren’t more precautions in place.
Leyla’s mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out, which amused me. Luke groaned next to me.
“Are you saying we’re lax on security? That we don’t have safety measures in place? That we don’t know what we’re doing?” she asked incredulously, her voice growing louder and higher-pitched as questions poured from her mouth.
“I only stated a fact.”
“Of all the arrogant…” she growled.
“There is no reason to get personal about this. The labs I’ve previously worked in gave me an ID that got me into the office and another one that was only given to those allowed in the lab,” I answered, not understanding why she was responding this way.
Luke put both hands up as if he were breaking up a schoolyard fight and said quickly, “Niko, the badge you received downstairs is the one that only laboratory employees receive. Everyone else has a different one. We found that by doing that, those in our labs didn’t have to keep track of two passes. ”
“And if one of them does lose their badge, there is a significant penalty for it, besides knowing everyone has to get a new badge when it happens, and the codes have to be changed. Which we do quarterly anyway. Does that satisfy your fears?” Leyla asked, her voice tinged in frustration.
I didn’t understand why some things I said in conversation upset or offended others, especially my new boss. But I’d learned how to alleviate the tension.
“My apologies to you both. It was not my intention to insinuate that you weren’t taking precautions. I should have worded it differently,” I said with a nod.
“No offense taken. Let’s move on,” Luke said, but he was looking more at Leyla than me. She shook her head and side-eyed me.
“As I was saying,” she said with exaggerated politeness that I remembered from school, “today’s meeting is to review a few pressing objectives before we show you the lab area. Your first ninety days as head of R&D will involve assisting the team with our current formulations.”
The woman I’d seen Leyla speaking to when I first arrived knocked and walked in, holding a laptop.
“Sorry to interrupt. This just arrived from IT,” she said, handing a laptop to me.
“Niko Demir, this is Jaz Lopez, Leyla’s executive assistant,” Luke said, standing as he took it from her.
The woman eyed me curiously. “Nice to meet you. You’re different from what I expected.” I stood as well, my hand offered, baffled by her statement. Their casual, informal attitude in the office was going to take some getting used to.
We shook hands, and she raised her eyebrows at Leyla in some kind of silent conversation before leaving. I was unnerved, feeling like I was dropped in the middle of a group chat come to life.
“Thank you for the laptop.” I tried to steer the conversation back to workplace topics. “You were about to share my first objectives, Leyla. It would be helpful to have them in writing, please.”
Leyla sneered and went to speak, but Luke interrupted her. “Niko, in the box you’ll find your work email and password, which we strongly suggest you change immediately.”
“Obviously,” I answered, grateful the company was following protocols I was accustomed to.
I was pretty sure Leyla growled. Maybe I had annoyed her again. I wasn’t sure.
Luke bit his lip, and I couldn’t place whether he was upset or holding in a laugh. “Yes, well. Okay. What was I saying? Oh yes. You’ll find all the files on your desktop for everything we’ll go over. They’re marked clearly so you can access them easily.”
“Obviously,” Leyla said, her teeth clenched.
“I appreciate that. Is it all right if I open the document with the priorities now? I like to take notes,” I said, choosing to ignore her comment.
Her usually creamy skin on her face was turning bright red.
I wanted to mention it, but thought it best I kept my mouth shut.
Maybe she was frustrated that this was taking too long?
“Absolutely. I believe the file is named ‘first ninety days’. You’ll find Leyla and my cell numbers and emails, as well as some key people on your team,” Luke said. While I powered up the laptop, I could see Leyla in my peripheral vision, her breathing shallow, her nostrils almost flaring.
When I opened the file Luke mentioned, I looked up at them expectantly.
“As you can see, our first objective is to finish the research and development of our new sunscreen. This is our first offering of one, and we want to make sure it’s ocean safe.”
Nodding, I recalled some research I’d done on this subject last year when trying to find an ocean and reef-safe sunscreen for personal use.
“I assume the UV filters are non-bioaccumulative so it can truly be called reef and ocean safe. I don’t see any oxybenzone or octinoxate in it, which is great.
They have too many environmental concerns and really aren’t necessary anymore.
Is it mineral-forward? Because consumers hate anything chalky, which means they won’t use it.
Using minerals would be challenging, though.
Particle dispersion, slip agents, the right film-formers,” I said while quickly scanning their research document and experiments.
When neither answered, I jerked my head up to look at them.
Both Leyla and Luke were staring at me slack-jawed, which made me nervous.
I cleared my throat. “Did I say the wrong thing again? Forgive me if I did. It’s just that, as a surfer, I looked into the different formulas that were on the market. I tend to get carried away when it’s something I’m really interested in.”
Luke, snapping out of his stupor, said, “No, no. Niko. That was, well, quite insightful after just a quick peek at what we’ve been working on for the last year. By the way, Leyla and I are both surfers, too, so we have that in common.”
My eyes slid to Leyla. Seeing that I had impressed Luke, I hoped I’d had the same impact on her. But she shut her mouth quickly as our eyes met. So quickly, in fact, I feared for her teeth.
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. You need to spend some time with all the data before you can make assumptions or any type of evaluation,” she said curtly.
“Of course. That will be my first order of business. Is there anything else on the list of urgent projects I should also give my attention to?”
“For now, I’d like the sunscreen project to be your top priority for the next few weeks. Sounds like you’ll be invaluable to our research,” Luke said. His smile and kind words proved he was pleased. “Do you agree, Leyla?”
“Yes, I agree that is where you need to spend your time,” she answered, ignoring his comment about my skills.
“As you wish,” I said, remembering the quote from her favorite movie.
I couldn’t miss her sudden intake of breath and the way she pulled her dress away from her neck. Luke put a fist to his mouth, but it didn’t hide his growing smile.
Interesting.
I couldn’t tell whether quoting her favorite movie had been the right thing to do. My intention was to make her smile, not Luke. As usual, it looked like I had botched another attempt at frivolity.
“Okay there, Leyla?” Luke asked, still grinning. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but when she blushed and then glared at him, I got the impression my words had affected her even though it seemed she’d forgotten her confession about loving that movie.
I may have watched it once or twice. Or a dozen. It was research.
“I need some coffee,” she said, jumping up from her seat like it was on fire and leaving the room, her sweet perfume floating around me like smoke tendrils as she passed me.
I closed my eyes, the same citrusy fragrance bringing back memories of our time together. I may have visited the perfume counter at the mall to find the one she wore. Again, just more research. Not a big deal.
“Okay there, Niko?” Luke asked, chuckling behind his coffee cup.
My eyes snapped open, ignoring his pointed stare and smirk, and I tried to focus on the laptop in front of me.