balm for my bitter soul.
Two empty seats as the afternoon resumed, and the sight made me a little uneasy. I looked at my watch and was contemplating sending a search party to the toilets when Katie made her way across the room.
She looked like shit, scraping back hair that was clearly dishevelled and twisting it back up into a bun only to find her hair tie was missing. She checked her wrists for another, and I saw her curse under her breath. She abandoned her efforts and let her hair fall free, and someone had clearly had a go at it. It didn’t take a genius to work out who that someone was.
I didn’t see the scratch on her face until she took her seat, and the sight of it knocked me for six.
Verity appeared just a moment later, and I shot her a look that could sour milk. She walked with the same Verity swagger, but her eyes were dark and wired. Unlike Katie, she still looked immaculate, her hair still hanging in a perfect plait, her makeup pristine without so much as a smudge.
“Prepare some notes,” I said to the group, deviating entirely from my plan for the afternoon. “Upselling opportunities — list any you can think of. See what ways you can envision maximising value on an introductory call.”
I waited until the thrum of activity was in sway before I approached Katie. She turned away from me and pressed her palm to her cheek, as though that would cover anything.
“What happened?” I whispered.
“Nothing,” she said, and her smile was big and fake.
“Bullshit,” I hissed. “Did she hit you?”
“You don’t sound all that surprised at the prospect,” she said. And I wasn’t. I’d known Verity long enough to know she was a tantrum-thrower. A little madam who lashed out when she didn’t get her own way. Katie sighed. “I’m fine,” she said. “Don’t make a scene.”
But it was too late for that, I was already headed for Verity’s desk. I grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her to her feet and was already frogmarching her out of the room by the time I beckoned Katie to follow. She shook her head, but I continued regardless, relieved when she shrugged and followed in our wake.
I led Verity into one of the meeting rooms and virtually forced her into a seat.
“You’re out,” I said. “Dismissed.”
She shot me a look full of hate. “What? Why?!”
Katie opened the door and I pointed straight to her face. “How about assault?”
Verity laughed. “It was an accident, I slipped. Didn’t I, Katie?”
Katie’s eyes were like fire and her jaw was gritted. “Something like that.”
“You’re out,” I repeated. “You can get your things and leave. Now.”
“You can’t fire me!” she snapped, and then she laughed. “This is my dad’s business! It’s mine! Or it will be!”
“Not yet, it isn’t,” I said. “It’s my call, and your father’s.”
“He’d never fire me!”
I picked up the telephone extension on the desk in front of me. “Let’s see, shall we?”
I pressed for David’s extension, but Verity reached out and pressed call cancel. “This is stupid! It was a stupid accident.”
“I’ve seen plenty of your accidents over the years, Verity, but not on my watch. I want you gone.”
Her mouth flapped like a fish. “But you can’t! I’m not leaving!”
I went to grab hold of her again, but Katie reached for my arm. Her touch was light and delicate and stilled me instantly.
“Don’t,” she said. “Don’t make a martyr out of the little bitch. I can handle her.”
“She’s out,” I said. “She assaulted you, on work premises, on my watch.”
“Yeah,” she replied. “And I slammed her into the wall and now we’ve got each other’s measure. I can handle her,” she said. “She doesn’t need to leave, and I don’t want her to, not when I’m about to outperform her spoiled little ass.”
“Outperform me?!” Verity sneered. “As fucking if.”
I looked at Katie and the scratch on her pretty skin gave me the rage, deep inside. I was all set to ignore her and throw Verity out regardless, but I noticed the fire in her eyes. There it was. Resolve, and hunger and drive. The drive to win.
And she could win this.
It would be blissfully fucking sweet to see her win this.
“I mean it,” she said. “We’re cool now, we’ve clocked each other’s form.”
I glared at Verity as though I could burn her alive. “If this ever happens again. Ever. If I hear so much as a peep of any kind