8. Think Of Innocence
THINK OF INNOCENCE
The bantering ping-pong ball bouncing back and forth between the sisters was more entertaining than he’d thought it’d be.
Though he wasn’t positive London was going to be in this meeting.
Unless she was here for moral support because it seemed as if he should have brought chocolate with him for this.
Paris was definitely flustered and he hadn’t seen this once.
He’d even purposely stared at some art on the wall that held no interest while she got her fill of him.
It was as if he could feel her eyes burning into his back, but he held still and let her go.
If it made her feel better, it’d only make this conversation easier for them.
“Why don’t you walk me through what happened on Friday? Your words.” He pulled his phone out and put it on the table. “It’s easier for me to record this and go back after.”
“Is that something you did at your last job?” she asked.
“Does it matter? I’m not at that job anymore.”
Her face flushed. Maybe he didn’t need to say that, but he didn’t want to spend any more time in this room with her than he had to.
She unnerved him more than anyone else had in his life.
And seeing her dressed in that long skirt, open toe thick-heeled shoes and the white sweater made him think of innocence.
He always thought she was fresh and sweet. Happy.
More than he’d ever been.
But today, yeah, it was almost angelic.
Until she opened her mouth and a snake came hissing out.
“Sorry. You’re right. Around three, Rick Majors came into the office asking for me without an appointment. Since it was only Molly and me, the office was quiet and I overheard him, then decided to go up and see what was going on.”
He listened while she talked.
While she explained everything to the best she remembered it.
He was impressed at how clear and concise she was. More controlled for sure now that she’d calmed down.
“What do his previous employers have to say about him?” he asked.
“Nothing,” she said. “I told them what Rick did and they glossed over it. Just said it wasn’t their problem anymore.”
He didn’t like hearing that. “I’ll be reaching out to them also if you can pass on that information.”
“I’m not sure that is wise,” she said. “We’ve got a contract with them.”
“Do you really think this hasn’t gone through legal already?” he asked, his eyebrow lifting.
“I think my sister isn’t thinking clearly,” London said. “To not realize that. That all our contracts cover our butts in just about every situation.”
“I’m sure this was an isolated incident,” she said, “but of course, we’ll get you that information. Can I email it to you now that I’ve got your address?”
“That’s fine. Anything else you want to add?”
“I’m good.”
“Then if you don’t mind, I’ll talk with Molly.”
“I’ll get her,” London said, leaving the two of them together.
Now that they were alone, he reached his hand over the table, not to touch her. She was too far away, but to tap the table lightly and get her attention.
When her blue eyes lifted, he said, “It won’t happen again.”
“You can’t control people’s actions.”
“No. They can still come and talk to you, but they won’t have access to you. You’ll be safe. West feels bad about this.”
“He has no reason to. We’ve never had anything happen like this before.”
“You’ve only been in business for a few months,” he pointed out.
He was privy to all of that information.
She let out a breath. “I meant even at our other jobs.”
“You were basically remote at your last job unless you were on site somewhere.”
“Wow, I guess you know a lot more about me than I thought.”
His lips twitched. “Just remember that.”
Molly came in with London, and Paris stood. “If you don’t need me here for this, I’ve got things to do.”
She walked out after that with her sister, not giving him a chance to say one way or another.
Twenty minutes later, Molly’s story was very similar to Paris’s but not nearly as detailed.
Molly at least thanked him for everything and was looking forward to the changes, then lowered her voice and praised her boss with how calm and in control she’d remained in the situation.
He was positive that was in Paris’s DNA. Then she’d melt down when no one was around to witness it.
He got up and left the conference room, stopping at Paris’s open doorway and popping his head in.
“Come in,” she said. “Did you need anything else from me?”
He moved into her office, looked around at the soft green paint, the art on the wall. The room was calm. Peaceful.
Nothing like an office he’d ever worked in.
“It’s almost soothing in here.”
“It helps when you get people yelling at you. Or you’re writing up proposals and recommendations that you know are going to result in job loss.”
“If it bothers you, why do it?”
“I didn’t say it bothered me. I said it’s soothing when I’m doing that.”
“I stand corrected.”
“Did you hear that, London?” she shouted, his hands almost going to his ears. “Fletcher almost apologized.”
“Damn, I’ll pick up more chocolate,” London said.
Her face flushed. “Sorry. I’m a little out of sorts to be hit with this first thing on a Monday.”
He turned and put his hand on the open door. “Do you mind?”
“Go ahead.”
He shut the door and took a seat. “Don’t beat yourself up over those things. You never know how you’re going to react in the face of adversity. Molly was impressed.”
“She told me. Multiple times. I did it for her. Or more like I did it because I knew reacting the way I wanted to was only going to escalate the situation. I’m not cold. I felt like crap listening to what he had to say.”
“But you weren’t surprised over what happened, were you?”
“Not in the least. I had hoped I would have been wrong, but it wasn’t my decision what they did.”
“Aside from you calling them on Friday, have you had any other communication since you delivered your report to them?”
“Only from their HR Director. She was nervous but never said what option would be chosen. She was asking advice on how to handle different situations. I helped as best as I could, but again, that has to come from her employers.”
“Doesn’t sound like they did that great of a job.”
“They are looking for profits. They weren’t taking employees into consideration. But I wasn’t surprised either. Are you going to let me know what your next step is?” He remained silent. “Oh, let me guess, you’re reporting to West and West only.”
“He is the one signing my paycheck.”
He stood up after that. No reason to stay any longer and risk saying something else stupid.
Like offering more comfort when she didn’t appear to want it.
He wasn’t sure why he was even trying.
Maybe because he felt there were so many times in his past he didn’t try hard enough to make someone feel comfortable.
Not even in his last job.
He was there to solve crimes, not always soothe victims.
Others were better at it than him. Or that was the excuse he’d told himself for years.
“Then I guess I’ll find out more if West wants to share. Sorry if you wasted your time with this.”
“It’s not wasted,” he said.
He left after that, went back to the front, looked at the best spots for the cameras, took a few more pictures, explained what he was doing to Molly when she asked, then sent it off to Foster and his team and returned to his office.
At lunch, he was eating a sandwich he’d picked up in the cafeteria when he felt a presence and looked up.
“Hey, Nelson.”
“I heard what happened.”
He wasn’t surprised it was making the rounds in the family.
The youngest Carlisle had had his own share of issues in the past few months that he’d dug into and got resolved quickly.
“Should only be a one-time thing by the sounds of it.”
“Hopefully. I wish Paris would have told someone on Friday, but she’s always been that way.”
“What way?” Fletcher asked. Nelson liked to chat and since he was looking into this, it wouldn’t hurt to know more about the players involved.
“Internal. London, you know what she’s thinking or feeling just by looking at her face. But Paris is a bit hard to get a read on.”
“She always seems friendly to me.”
“Of course she does,” Nelson said, laughing. “It’s that Southern politeness. Paris got it all.”
“She isn’t always so polite with me.”
Not lately.
“She’ll end up apologizing for it once she realizes.”
“Nothing to apologize for.”
He had pretty thick skin.
After what he went through with his ex, a few sarcastic words over messed-up nerves was nothing.
“I’m glad you’re on it,” Nelson said. “Your predecessor, he was good for some things, but didn’t always get answers fast enough.”
It didn’t bother him in the least the last guy was let go with a hefty severance.
No one told him the reasons, but he’d looked into it himself, and all he found was the guy loved the fat salary and stayed in his office.
You wouldn’t find Fletcher sitting in here if he could get out and move around the building.
Always checking for gaps, loopholes, and threats.
Maybe it was just what he was used to doing.
“That won’t be an issue for me.”
Nelson grinned and shook his head. “And you’ll be able to get to it faster if I leave you alone. Good chat, Fletcher.”
More humor with a twist of sarcasm, but he wasn’t the least bit offended.
They didn’t hire him to talk.
Nor did they hire him to look and think about Paris Westerly as much as he was.