Page 9 of A Simple Mistake
“Dresses?”
“For the ball.They both have theirs already, and it’s important that your two match.”
Gareth sighed.“Match what?Gods, I can’t remember that far back.Send me pictures or colours or something and I’ll take the two shopping.I’m sure the tailor can figure something out.”Or maybe he’d call Skylar.He’d have to endure the snark, but Nico and Daniel would end up looking like royalty.
“Right you are.I’ll let Tara know what’s going on.We’ve thought about sending them to a private dance class, you know?”
“We did, too, but that would only mask the problem.”
“So we’re taking the rap for the rest of the class, is that it?”
“More or less.Can you make sure your girls are okay with that?”
“I’m sure they will be.They’ve been watching Nico, and he does it a lot.”
“He does what a lot?”Gareth asked with a sense of foreboding.
“Points out problems when he sees them.Whether that’s Mr Miller mumbling so nobody can understand what he says, or Mrs Tween enforcing the girls’ dress code more strictly than the boys’.I’m surprised you haven’t heard that one.I’m told it was a riot.”
Gareth hadn’t heard a whisper of anything amiss.He pushed the worry aside.This time, he hadn’t been buried in work and missed things, or Jack would have told him.They had an agreement, after all.“What did he do?”
“Wore pyjamas to class.”
“Oh, my god.No wonder they kept that one quiet.”
“He’s resourceful, your Nico.He likes to solve problems by himself.”
“He does that, yes.”But he told us about Manville.Gareth was now even more determined to find out what kind of man the dance teacher was, never mind that Fenton hadn’t ever mentioned inappropriate behaviour.
When he made it to his office, Gareth’s desk wasn’t the pristine, empty surface he’d walked away from on Friday evening.Someone—Julian’s PA, if he had to guess—had placed a stack of colourful folders next to the weekend reports from his team.
Gareth enjoyed the challenges that came with heading corporate security at Nancarrow Mining.The job stretched his skills in all directions, from managing people to managing threats to keeping buildings and employees safe.His mental flexibility served him well in a crisis, but on days where demands battered him from all sides, he wished for the comfort of routine.Maybe this was a holdover from his military days, where routine was the scaffolding supporting emergency responses.Or maybe he was just getting old.
Discontent had gnawed at him all through his commute.He hated to disappoint anyone, his family most of all.While he’d achieved his objective of getting the kids back into the dance class, he didn’t feel good about it.Especially after hearing that even Carol, who was nowhere near as high-strung as Jess, had called Manville a creep.
The sounding board he craved sat only a few steps away, but Gareth didn’t call out.Nobody was in imminent danger, so talking to Jack could wait.
Gareth set down his briefcase, checked on his herbs, and made tea.Soothed by bergamot-scented steam, he carried the teapot and cup to his desk and settled down to work.He’d read the team reports and drunk his tea when his desk phone rang.
“Morning, Gareth.Can you join me upstairs?There’s an oddity I need you to look at,” Julian said.
“I’ll be right there.”Gareth reached for pen and notebook.He wasn’t done with his stack of folders, but he was grateful for the call.Julian’s oddities often bloomed into headache-sized problems, and Gareth preferred to know about them sooner rather than later.
Jack’s desk was empty, and Gareth raised a questioning eyebrow as he passed.Frazer pointed downwards and Gareth nodded, aware that Jack and Frazer spent as much time in the server room as they did at their desks.He’d ask later what had needed Jack’s attention.For now, he had a problem to solve.
On a normal day, Julian was a neat freak who could moonlight as a fashion model.Today, his shirt was half untucked, his hair had come loose from its tie, and the messy office, the map-strewn conference table, and the desk an inch deep in loose paper more than hinted at trouble.
“What’s on fire?”Gareth asked.
Julian’s sigh came from the bottom of his boots.“I devoutly hope that you can tell me that.”He pointed at the map covered in red and black markers.
Julian wasn’t a newbie CEO.He’d steered Nancarrow Mining for a decade and a half, on top of the time he’d spent as his grandfather’s right hand.Seeing him this rattled told Gareth how serious Julian was.“What does it look like to you?”
“That either I’ve missed a new trend in the minerals market or that someone has it in for us.Neither of which makes sense.”
“What?”
“You have eyes, yes?In the space of three months, nearly half our active projects have acquired competition.”
