Page 45 of Not A Whisper

My stomach knots.

What if he takes one look at me and decides, given my reluctance to speak to him, not to give the library any additional funding? I swallow hard and drag my eyes away before either Gipson notices me.

I don’t think I can look at Grant right now without some type of visceral reaction.

Ms. Barbara enters right behind Grant and circles around the table to join me in the empty seat I saved for her.

She leans forward and whispers, “I have butterflies in my stomach. I should’ve just had you do this.”

ThankgodI’m not. With Garry in the room, I’d probablyget tongue-tied and make a fool of myself. As it is, my mouth is terribly dry and my heart is racing.

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. As most of you are aware, my name is Garry Gipson.”

Oh no… Is heleadingthis meeting? I force myself to look toward the front of the room to find that he is, indeed, running it. Sitting beside him, lounging back like a god who can’t be bothered with such trivial activities, sits Grant. Though his expression is one of boredom, his eyes are blazing as he stares directly at me.

Licking my lips nervously, I peel my eyes off Grant to stare at his father as he speaks.

“I’ve asked the dean for these more personal meetings so we can put faces to the names of each department. Also, by splitting up the departments to have a meeting with just a few a day gives each department ample time to give us all the information we need in order to make an informed decision as to where we’ll be shuffling funds to.”

His eyes roam over the room slowly, his smile strangely welcoming and warm. When our eyes meet, he doesn’t pause or show any indication that we know each other at all.

The tension in my chest doesn’t lessen in the slightest.

“So, without further ado, I would love to get this meeting started. Please feel free to decide who goes first.” He glances at Ms. Barbara, Jenny, and Stanely.

Jenny gets to her feet first. She looks down at the heads of the departments around me. “I’ll start, if you don’t mind?”

“Please do,” Ms. Barbara says, flashing her a smile of encouragement.

Stanely nods in agreement.

“Great.” Jenny nods and turns to face the room.

Garry takes a seat at the head of the table, beside Grant, and waves her on. “Please proceed.”

Listeningto the others plead their cases is interesting. Or at least, what I hear of their speeches. Try as I might, my focus keeps redirecting to the man at the end of the table. I don’t look at him. Not once. But I can practically feel his gaze raking across my face. I’m so hyper aware of it that whenever I feel his eyes on me, I hold my breath.

It leaves me feeling a little lightheaded over the course of the meeting.

I’m attempting to steady myself after a particularly long stretch of not breathing when suddenly Ms. Barbara turns to look at me. I blink, trying to collect myself as her face twists with worry. It’s then that I realize it's time for her to plead her case.

“Briella, you’re so much better at this than I am. Would you mind taking over?” she asks, wringing her hands and staring at me wide-eyed. Her face is pale, and her shoulders are stiff with tension.

All eyes in the room fall on me.

Two pairs in particular burn a hole against the profile of my face. I swallow hard. There’s nothing I want less than to be the center of Garry Gipson’s attention. Yet here I am, being asked to step into the limelight. I want to reach up and wipe away the feel of his eyes against my cheek.

Better yet, I want to stand up, turn to face him, and tell him to get the fuck out of his son’s life.

Squaring my shoulders, I force myself to get to my feet. I even manage to slip on a smile before I do a sweep, glancing around the room.

“Hello, my name is Briella Wilson. I’ve been working as a librarian in the Atwater Library for almost four years now. While my credentials are nowhere near as impressive as myboss’s here, I’ve made it my mission to find new ways to not only improve a student’s experience when visiting it, but also making it a place of solace for all of those that call Groveton home.” The words spill out a little too swiftly as nerves get the best of me. I run my hands down my blouse, taking the moment to collect my bearings. When I’m ready, I continue, “Recently, I’ve come across a new program called AERO that will make a seamless transition from?—”

The information tumbles out easily. Since I’m the one who found the AERO program, researched the company that created it, and knows how it works—my speech is ready, passionate and I’m confident about AEROs ability to change Groveton, and the Atwater Library, for the better.

“There’s so much we can do with this program which can help both the students and the staff here. But we’ll need funding in order to make the jump from the satisfactory system we have in place to a system that can help propel Groveton to a whole new level of success and productivity.”

I glance down at Ms. Barbara who beams up at me from her seat like a proud mother hen. I return the smile before giving the investors in the room a polite nod. When my gaze lands on Garry, it takes everything not to smirk.

---