Page 27 of Endgame

I slowly place his phone back on the table in front of him and nod to it. ‘You know what to do.’

I wait quietly as he sighs heavily, looks at his phone, then unlocks it. The screen shows that he is calling ‘Fi’ before he slowly picks it up, puts it to his ear and stands.

‘Fi, I’m sorry…’ is all I hear as he walks away. I never imagined the day that I would feel sorry for Jasper would come. He has had almost everything he wants handed to him on a plate of privilege and power, but he has still managed to build a cage around himself that he struggles to see – let alone escape from.

I suppose we all have our battles to fight.

SEVEN

ARIELLA

I relish the nostalgia of walking into Ivory Bow’s office building. I stop at the café on the ground floor for what used to be my daily hibiscus tea, before making my way to the bank of elevators to take me to Ivory Bow’s floor. As I step into the company’s UK space, everything feels different. It takes me a few seconds to realise what it is. The normally busy, loud office, filled with laughter and people hanging around each other’s desks being distracting, is quiet. All I can see are the staff at their desks, with their eyes ahead, focused on their computer screens, immersed in work.

‘Ariella,’ Christopher says, beaming, as he walks towards me. As soon as he breaks the silence with my name, it feels like all the people on the floor lift their heads from their computers and look in my direction at the same time. It makes me shrink back.

‘You haven’t changed,’ he says with a laugh as he leads me to one of the glass meeting rooms. Dominic is already in there waiting. He stands when Christopher opens the door.

‘Aari.’ He gives me a big smile as he pulls the chair opposite him out for me.

‘Dom.’ I can’t help returning it.

‘Hi,’ he says quietly, planting a light kiss on my temple. It feels unnecessarily intimate, especially in front of Christopher.

‘Hi,’ I return, embarrassed.

Christopher takes a seat and quietly observes Dominic and me with a curious look on his face. When we are both finally sitting at the boardroom table, he pauses.

‘Is there anything either of you would like to share about your relationship that we might need to consider before having discussions about the future of Ivory Bow?’ he asks, looking very uncomfortable to be doing so.

‘Nothing of relevance,’ Dominic says with a cheeky grin and a brow twitch that suggests there might be plenty of relevance.

I’m mortified and shake my head quickly, which only makes Dominic chuckle.

‘Okay. As you know, Harrison is out and, consequently, sales have slowed. Clients aren’t dropping us yet but project enquiries coming through have dipped considerably. We’ve removed all the questionable clients and, while the company will be fine, it isn’t the roaring success it once was. We will be able to keep the team on their salaries, but bonuses will be a fraction of what they used to be and I suspect we will start losing people. Clearly, the vibrant energy of the office has disappeared.’

‘Sounds like you need a sales lead,’ Dominic offers.

‘I do.’

‘Can you promote from within?’

‘I could, but I need a specific personality type and no one currently fits the bill. Besides, Harrison had total autonomy in that area, so I’m concerned about promoting someone only for them to jump ship a few weeks later because of their loyalty to him.’

‘Are there any challenges you anticipate if you hire someone from the outside?’

‘Ivory Bow works in a very specific way. That could be the solution to our problem, but I’d need someone loyal with a proven track record, who knows the company inside out, to show them the way the sales side of the business works.’

‘You want Caleb,’ I conclude, when I realise where Christopher is going.

‘I need Caleb,’ Christopher confirms.

‘Caleb? Didn’t he significantly contribute to this current situation?’ Dominic asks.

‘Maybe, but even without the questionable clients he was still, by far, the most successful member of the sales team. I don’t see him replacing Harrison – I’d be jumping over two good people to do that – but he’d be useful when it comes to guiding the person we do bring in to replace Harrison.’

I’m relieved. If Caleb was asked to replace Harrison, he’d have to move back to the UK. Things may not be as they should between us, but I’d be destroyed if he had to leave Singapore.

‘What is Caleb currently focusing on in Singapore? Do you think he could take three months out to help Chris?’ Dominic asks me.

---