Chapter 7 One Room
The first sign that Monday was going to be a long day came at seven thirteen in the morning, when Orm's phone vibrated across her bedside table and woke her from a perfectly comfortable sleep.
She reached for it without opening her eyes, expecting another reminder from the office or perhaps a message from Bow asking about a file that had somehow become urgent overnight.
Instead, the screen displayed a message from P'Cherry that was short enough to be alarming.
Orm opened one eye.
She stared at the message.
Then she read it again.
Pack an overnight bag.
There was no greeting, no explanation and, most importantly, no indication that this was optional.
Orm pushed herself upright, her hair falling messily around her face as she typed a reply.
P'Cherry answered almost immediately.
Orm frowned.
That wasn't necessarily a problem.
She had joined Veyra knowing that the job would involve travel, meetings and the occasional last-minute request that would completely destroy whatever personal plans she had made.
Besides, the Aurelia campaign had become one of Veyra's most important projects, and with the campaign expanding into discussions with regional partners, it made sense that members of the creative and executive teams would occasionally have to travel.
One night wasn't unreasonable.
She could handle one night.
Then another message appeared.
Orm stopped breathing for approximately three seconds.
She slowly lowered the phone.
"No."
Her bedroom remained silent.
She looked at the ceiling.
"Absolutely not."
Her phone vibrated again.
Meeting at nine. Don't be late.
Orm dropped back onto her pillow.
There were many things she had expected when she joined Veyra.
She had expected deadlines, demanding clients, long meetings and the occasional disagreement with people who had been in the industry longer than she had.
What she had not expected was to become the centre of a relationship scandal with Veyra's Executive Director, pretend to be in love with her for the sake of a campaign, and then discover that apparently the universe wasn't finished laughing at her.
She had already survived Ling criticising her proposal when they first met.
She had survived the company ball.
She had survived the photograph.
She had survived the rumours.
She had survived the decision to turn those rumours into a carefully controlled publicity strategy for Aurelia.
And she had certainly survived watching Ling become jealous of Pete while insisting, with an expression of complete innocence, that she was merely protecting the campaign.
One business trip should have been nothing.
One night.
That was all.
Orm stared at the ceiling again.
Then one thought occurred to her.
"Hotel."
She sat up.
"Oh, no."
?
By nine o'clock, Orm was seated inside one of Veyra's conference rooms with an overnight bag beside her chair and a laptop open in front of her.
The meeting had already started, but she had barely heard the first few minutes because she was too busy wondering why everyone seemed suspiciously calm about the fact that she and Ling were travelling together.
Khun Dew stood at the front of the room with a presentation displayed behind her.
As one of the senior executives responsible for overseeing Veyra's major accounts, she had the unfortunate talent of remaining composed even when everyone else was falling apart.
She had a reputation for being sharp, practical and frighteningly good at spotting problems before they became disasters, which was why Orm had immediately trusted her judgment when she first joined the company.
P'Cherry sat near the end of the table, checking the travel arrangements and client documents.
As Veyra's senior project coordinator for the Aurelia account, she was the person who somehow knew everyone's schedules, everyone's deadlines and everyone's mistakes before they happened.
P'Cherry had also developed the habit of smiling whenever Orm was about to discover something unpleasant, which Orm had begun to regard as a personal betrayal.
Fluke was sitting nearby with a cup of coffee, looking far too comfortable.
And at the other end of the table sat Lingling Kwong.
Veyra's Executive Director.
The woman Orm had spent the past several weeks insisting she couldn't stand.
The woman she was pretending to date.
The woman who somehow looked perfectly calm while Orm's life became progressively more complicated.
Ling was reviewing the itinerary as though nothing in the world could possibly bother her.
Orm stared at her.
Ling didn't look up.
"You're staring."
Orm immediately looked down at her laptop.
"I wasn't."
"You were."
"I'm reading."
Ling glanced at the screen.
"Your presentation hasn't changed."
Orm looked down.
The same slide had been open for several minutes.
"I was thinking."
Ling's lips curved slightly.
"That's dangerous."
Orm frowned.
"Why?"
"Because you usually ask difficult questions when you're thinking."
"I'm going to ask one now."
"I know."
Orm looked toward Khun Dew.
"How long are we staying?"
"One night," Khun Dew replied.
Orm nodded.
"Separate rooms?"
The room went quiet.
It was subtle, but Orm noticed it immediately.
P'Cherry suddenly became very interested in the documents in front of her.
Fluke took another sip of coffee.
Khun Dew glanced toward Ling.
Ling looked at Orm.
Orm's eyes narrowed.
"What?"
"Nothing," P'Cherry said.
"Why did everyone just look at each other?"
"No reason."
"There is absolutely a reason."
Fluke coughed.
"I think you should wait."
Orm turned toward him.
"Wait for what?"
Fluke looked at P'Cherry.
P'Cherry looked at Khun Dew.
Khun Dew sighed.
"Can we please finish the meeting?"
Orm leaned back suspiciously.
She knew something was wrong.
She just didn't know what.
Khun Dew changed the slide.
"The regional partners want to review the next phase of the Aurelia campaign. The campaign has performed significantly better than the original projections, and the partners are interested in discussing how Veyra can adapt the creative direction for additional markets."
Orm straightened slightly.
This part mattered.
The Aurelia campaign had started as one of Veyra's major client projects, but after the unexpected public attention surrounding the campaign's association with Ling and Orm, it had grown into something considerably larger.
The photograph from the company ball had created a wave of interest that Veyra's marketing team had managed to turn into momentum rather than a crisis, and the campaign was now attracting attention from regional partners who wanted to understand exactly what had made it so effective.
Orm was still the newest creator at Veyra.
That mattered.
She wanted people to remember her for her work.
Not just the photograph.
Not just the fake relationship.
Not just being the woman who supposedly dated Veyra's Executive Director.
She wanted to prove that she belonged.
Khun Dew continued.
"Because Orm developed a significant portion of the creative concept and Ling is overseeing the campaign at the executive level, both of you need to attend the meeting."
Orm nodded.
"Understood."
"The client dinner is tonight, followed by an internal review. Tomorrow morning will be the main presentation."
"Okay."
Ling closed her folder.
"Anything else?"
Khun Dew shook her head.
"That's all."
P'Cherry finally looked up.
"Except the hotel."
Orm immediately turned.
"What about the hotel?"
P'Cherry hesitated.
"Nothing."
Orm narrowed her eyes.
"Why does everyone keep saying nothing?"
Fluke laughed.
"Maybe because there is nothing."
Orm pointed at him.
"You are the least convincing liar in this room."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"I know."
Ling stood and gathered her documents.
"Let's go."
Orm picked up her bag.
As they walked out of the conference room, she caught up with Ling.
"You knew about the hotel."
Ling continued walking.
"I knew we had a reservation."
"That's not what I asked."
Ling looked at her.
"What did you ask?"
"You know exactly what I asked."
Ling smiled.
"I don't."
Orm narrowed her eyes.
"You're hiding something."
"I'm not."
"You are."
"You'll find out soon enough."
Orm stopped walking.
"That was a very suspicious answer."
Ling continued toward the elevator.
"You'll survive."
Orm stared after her.
"That's what you always say."
Ling glanced back.
"Because you always do."
?
The drive out of Bangkok was surprisingly peaceful, which made Orm suspicious all over again.
She sat in the back seat beside Ling while P'Cherry and Khun Dew discussed the schedule in the front. Fluke had travelled separately with some of the equipment, leaving Orm and Ling with a little more space than usual.
For the first hour, they behaved exactly as colleagues should.
Ling answered emails.
Orm worked on her presentation.
Neither spoke unnecessarily.
It should have remained that way.
Unfortunately, they had become far too familiar with each other's habits.
"You're doing it again," Ling said.
Orm looked up.
"Doing what?"
"Frowning at your presentation."
"I'm concentrating."
"You look like you're preparing to fight the slide."
Orm glanced at the screen.
"I don't trust it."
Ling laughed softly.
"It's a PowerPoint presentation."
"Exactly."
"You can't fight it."
"Don't underestimate me."
Ling shook her head and returned to her emails.
A few minutes passed.
Then she said, "Your presentation is good."
Orm looked at her.
"What?"
"I reviewed the revised version last night."
"You did?"
"Yes."
"When?"
"After dinner."
Orm stared.
"You didn't tell me."
"You didn't ask."
Orm sighed.
"Why do you always answer like that?"
"Like what?"
"Like everything is obvious."
Ling smiled.
"It was obvious."
"Not to me."
Ling closed her laptop.
"Your presentation is strong. Your concept is clear, and you've improved the structure considerably."
Orm's expression softened.
"Really?"
"Really."