And better she sit here than one of her female colleagues, someone he would flirt with and charm.
She sent messages to Rachel and Anna, then scrolled through her inbox. Nothing remained that Janna couldn’t deal with. Her gaze lifted to the man next to her. After his apology, he’d turned and spent the last fifteen minutes peering out the window without saying a word.
He had actually apologized. She had to give him that. Most of the men she worked with would have blustered and made excuses or told her she was overreacting.
Victor shifted slightly next to her. She did have to feel a bit sorry for the guy. He was wedged into his seat tighter than a Kardashian in a playsuit. His knees were jammed against the seat in front, his quads folded up toward his chest. And his shoulder was pushed against the window. The bus was clearly not designed for someone either his height or girth.
She looked down at the small gap between their seats. Not a single part of him encroached on her space. That had to be taking deliberate effort.
Maybe he…she shook her head at the thought trying to encroach. No, whether he had changed or not was irrelevant. He was the competition. Everyone was the competition.
Tapping her screen, she drafted a quick email to her assistant with the remaining tasks that she’d need to be on top of in Lacey’s absence. At least Janna would have a peaceful week. The only people left in the office were assistants, junior staff, and interns.
Her phone buzzed with a text from Rachel.
I was just researching the BWCA. Group sizes are limited to nine, and there are restricted entries, so you could all be split up. What if you have to choose your own teams? Do you know who you would want to be with?
Lacey opened her browser and did a quick search. Rachel was right. No more than nine people in a group. And each entry point had daily restricted numbers on a first-in, first-served basis. Permits for the most popular entry points were booked out months in advance. May was still off-season but only just.
Turning her head she did a quick count of the bus. Twenty-four people excluding the driver and some woman up the front with a clipboard that she didn’t know. Four teams of six or three teams of eight, assuming each team had a guide. Not even Meredith would send a bunch of corporate softies into the Minnesota wilderness without professional supervision.
Assuming this had been pulled together in the last few weeks, the odds were that they would be split up to different entry points. They weren’t in New York now. No corporate schtick could usurp US Forest Service regulations.
Lacey sat back on her seat. If she was Meredith, what would she do to keep people constantly off-kilter? She scanned the people across the aisle from her. Most were on their phones. A few were chatting to the person next to them. The rest were gazing out the window or into space. All of them looked like people who assumed that once they got off this bus, they would be told exactly what to do.
If she was in control, she would make people pick their teams. With a time limit of thirty seconds. And all teams would have to be a mix of Langham and Wyndham. That would send people into mass confusion and panic.
Jen. The HR director had grown up in the Bronx. She looked like a beauty pageant contestant, but steel ran through her. That was how she’d made it as the only black woman in a senior position in the firm.
Lacey pulled out her phone and opened up a message to Jen.
If we have to pick our own teams when we get off this bus, then we need to be together.
Blue dots appeared. Then, Got it. Do you know something?
No, just a hunch. Who’s next to you?
Some guy from Wyndham.
Would you want to be with him in the wilderness for a week?
That would be a negative. Who’s next to you?
Lacey glanced up. Victor hadn’t moved from his position staring out the window. Her mouth lifted slightly as she typed out. Adonis. Then quickly added. Just FYI, he has a reputation as a womanizer.
Who cares? Jen’s response came back quickly. If we’re going to be in the wilderness for a week, we need someone who is strong and can carry stuff. He has to be a better possibility than any