“She could be a starburst for all the press cares.” Nathan huffed out the door, probably in a hurry to get to the next issue.
I slackened my tie a fraction as I took the stairs down to Liya’s floor. She’d only recently gotten her position—certainly no one had told her how close the entire place was to shutting down during interviews. Maybe I had even been a little hard on her. It was definitely not her fault that her boss threw her into a sinkhole. She couldn’t have all the answers, not yet. And maybe she didn’t deserve my anger. At least, not the Liya Thakkar I had to work with. The Liya I saw outside of work, though? Well, there was no way we’d be friends.
According to Wendy, her assistant, Liya liked late afternoon breaks across the street at a café, where I found her at a small corner table sipping from a delicate porcelain cup and nibbling on a scone. Her head was bent over a tablet. Dark hair fell loose from her bun and framed an intent face.
She didn’t seem to notice my approach, but glanced up when I asked, “Are you busy?”
Her perfect lips opened in surprise, as if I’d unearthed a secret hiding spot. If she meant to keep this time to herself, then she should mention so to Wendy.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
Right. I needed a reason to be here. Lawsuits, remember? And apologizing for being a jackass wouldn’t hurt. I touched a chair opposite of her. “May I sit?”
“I suppose. Unless you hunted me down to elicit another fight for no reason.”
I sighed and sat down. “My job is to keep this company from drowning in lawsuits. You know that I’m only here to help, don’t you?”
She nodded, albeit reluctantly, as her focus wandered toward the window to my right. She tucked back some of the more wayward strands of hair behind her ear.
The café wasn’t busy, and we were far enough away from others that I was able to explain. “Reinli is on the verge of getting hit pretty hard. The company’s diagnostic reagents failed on many accounts, at many levels. The press will likely come after you, after anyone working here, and especially those in management and high up. Be prepared to answer or not answer. Once the company starts to fall apart, your department will be first to shut down.”
She stiffened and glared at me.
“Your department is the meat and bones of the company. Once that goes down, the rest follows. Do you see why I’m here now?”
“How do we fix this?”
“Maybe you weren’t paying attention during my meeting?”
She scowled. “Listen, jackass, I asked for your opinion, not your sarcasm.”
“Placing certain people in charge of various areas. Going over every detail from the lab with a fine-tooth comb to pinpoint errors. I need everything I can get to solidify our defense. Get this place together, correct all the issues that happened over the past few years so there are no cracks in our defense when we hit court. Every employee will have to work very carefully, meticulously, and managers will have to oversee every detail.”
She groaned. “Micromanage and be micromanaged?”
“Yes.”
She laughed. “Good luck with that.”
“That’s why we need all managers supporting the strategy. If employees see someone they trust supporting the effort, they’ll feel more comfortable working under a microscope. Especially if this department sees you on board and working with them.”
“What does that mean?”
“You were one of them just last week.”
“I’m not going to lie to them.”
“No lies. We’re about to get hit hard, and everyone needs to do their due diligence even more so than ever. Otherwise, we all lose our jobs.”
“Except the lawyers.”
I straightened my tie and replied calmly, “It’s because of guys like us that you even got this far. This company would’ve crumbled a year ago.”
“And yet it’s about to crumble anyway…”
“We have a chance to keep this company afloat, to keep people employed.”
“So, you’re asking me to keep up morale, rally up the loyalists, work my butt off another two hundred percent, micromanage, dig up research, and do my own work for the possibility of keeping my job at the end of the year?”
“Yes.”
She pinched her lips. “Don’t sound so upset.”
“I’m upset, trust me, and stressed beyond what you will ever know. Contrary to your belief, this company going under is more than just a mark on my record.”
“I doubt it.”
“I could lose my job, too, Liya.”
She paused.
“Imagine a young lawyer losing his job. It’s a big deal. You’ll find work elsewhere, because no one will think you shoved this company into the ground. They’ll know it was a long time coming and the timing of your promotion was unfortunate. But me? Not so easy.” I slid a folder across the table to her and stood. “Take a serious look.”
She tentatively took the folder and flipped through it.
“Congrats on your promotion, by the way. I hear it’s well deserved, although the situation it places you in isn’t. But if you ever need me, you know where to find me.”
She glanced at me disbelievingly. “Tucked away in your little office on the top floor?”
“Yes. You should come see me sometime.”
She paused. And there was that annoyance that made Liya Liya.
I smiled. “Two heads are better than one.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
I turned away to leave just as a man in slacks and a button-down shirt approached. He grinned at Liya and said, “Am I interrupting anything?”
“No,” she replied. “What are you doing here so late in the day?”
“Needed a pick-me-up. One of those days. Glad I ran into you, though. Wanted to see if you changed your mind about getting dinner sometime?” He flashed a smooth, devilish grin, and something inside me flickered. I had no idea why. I didn’t even like Liya.
Say no.
She met my gaze, and I realized how tense I’d become. It probably showed on my face because she frowned just a little.
“Probably not, but thanks for the offer,” she told him.
“Why do you always decline me?” he asked with a hint of amusement, and I suspected he was flirting.
“I’m not into dating right now, Mike.”
Good answer.
He laughed and took a seat across from Liya. “It wouldn’t be dating, just a meal.”
“You know what I mean,” she said with a teasing voice.
The way she wrapped her long, wavy hair around a finger, sat up pencil straight, legs crossed, and looked up at him with batting lashes and a smoldering smile, Liya definitely knew how to bait a man. And it was amazingly difficult not to fall into her tempting web.
I shook my head and silenced a laugh. Why would I ever be interested in a woman like her? Look at her. Flirting with another guy right in front of me. She obviously didn’t care about me at all…so then, why was I even the slightest bit jealous?
Whatever he said and whatever she giggled over, I cut right through their sickeningly sweet conversation and said, “Take care of that, Liya. If you need help approaching anyone, let me or your director know. I’d like to take care of this sooner rather than later.”