Page 19 of Twist of Fate
“I thought I recognized you! I used to watch your content all the time. It was good. Really good.”
“Thanks,” I manage to say, feeling all sorts of embarrassed. She must notice something in my expression—or, like most of my followers—knows why I stopped uploading new content because she shifts her attention to Damien, who begins the introduction, rambling off much of the same information he shared with me earlier.
Finally, when we’re all probably acquainted, Niall turns to Nora and asks, “Did you warn them?”
“Yes,” she replies. “Well, sort of. I advised them to be ready to jump in with both feet. I didn’t elaborate much beyond that. I thought I’d bestow that honor on the two of you since you’re the reason they’ll have to work so hard.”
Shea and Niall look at each other and grin. “Do you want to talk, or should I?” Niall asks her.
“Go ahead.”
“Okay,” he begins, leaning forward in his chair. A chunk of his overly long golden-brown hair falls across his face, and he swats it away. “So, as you know, we’re a new task force. Our mission?—”
“How many times do I have to tell you, Niall? It’s not called a task force; you’re simply a new group that I happen to be leading.”
Niall rolls his eyes, which I find incredibly endearing. It also helps ease some of my nerves. It’s the casualness of it. The fact that after a week here, he feels comfortable and safe around Nora.
Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.
“Okay,” he laments. “But ‘task force’ sounds much cooler.”
“I’ll be sure to let them know upstairs.”
Everyone laughs as I lean back in my chair, feeling relaxed and even a little excited.
“As I was saying. Our objective is to attract new customers to O’Connell Tours—specifically younger ones. The average age of our typical tour participant is sixty-two. This has been the case for many years and has benefited the company well. But, if we want to grow—and we do—we need to start considering ventures beyond our current strengths.”
“And that’s why we’re here,” Shea interrupts him.
“Who better to draw in a younger audience than a team of young employees?”
We all know this. It was explained during the interview process, but I see what he’s doing. He’s trying to hype us up—get us excited about our initiative.
And to a certain extent—it’s working.
“Since Shea and I arrived last week, we’ve been going through satisfaction surveys from customers over the past few years, trying to determine patterns and potential issues we could address. While we primarily focused on younger customers, we also considered feedback overall, and it has been determined that although our tours are culturally rich, they lack a certain?—”
“They’re boring,” Shea cuts in.
“I was going to say it a bit more eloquently, but yes. Younger customers want history. They want culture, but they also want something…more.”
“And you four,” Nora says, pointing at us, “are going to figure out what that ‘more’ is. Now?—”
A knock sounds at the door, and Nora jumps up just as it opens slightly.
“Hi,” a deep male voice says softly from the other side. “Is this a good time?”
“Yes! Of course!” she replies, gesturing for whoever is on the other side to enter. “Thanks for coming. I know your schedule is packed. They’ll be thrilled to meet our acting CEO.”
Suddenly, everyone in the room jerks up in their seats. Niall finally fixes the chunk of hair that has been dangling in front of his face for ten straight minutes. Shea nervously clicks her pen and sets it on the table.
Is this guy really that intimidating? I don’t know much about the old man, but—wait, did she just sayactingCEO? What happened to the other guy? When I checked the website, the CEO was an older man with the last name O’Connell.Obviously.
“I’m not so sure about that,” the male voice replies, sending a shiver down my spine, and not because I’m scared of meeting the boss.
No, it’s becausethatvoice sounds eerily familiar.
The door swings open, and suddenly, I feel as if I’m stepping back in time. Stolen glances, long walks, a forbidden kiss.
