Page 67 of Five Years
“Yeah, mine too!” Colin called out.
“Let me speak with Mr Green. I will email you a solution by the end of the day.”
They turned back to their desks, unsatisfied by her response, but it wasn’t her decision to make.
Carl from the business insurance team appeared from nowhere. His stature was short and wide, the grey beard could do with a trim, and the Christmas tie he’d worn every day for the past week had a brown coffee stain on the snowman’s bum—which oddly didn’t concern him.
“We’ve got a business insurance claim of severe importance, Leah. I could do with fifteen minutes of Mr Green’s time, as soon as possible. I did try and schedule some time on Monday, but I’ve had no response. We did a very specific tailored insurance solution for this client, and now it’s going to bite us in the ass.”
“Do you think there’s foul play?” Leah asked.
“I would bet a month’s wage on it.”
“Shit! Okay, I can probably squeeze you into his schedule this afternoon. Leave it with me.”
Leah rushed the remainder of the floor until she reached the conference room at the far end. She needed time to prepare, regroup, and assess with no distractions. She needed an unoccupied room with nothing but the sound of the newly purchased air purifier.
She changed the sign on the outside tooccupiedand slid inside. The sound of the door clicking into the frame was a welcome one. A sigh of relief escaped her lips. Finally, all she needed was an hour—was that too much to ask?
One hour—
“We really should stop meeting like this.”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Leah turned to find a smirking Ariana flanked by a man and a woman who looked to be from the same company—the lanyards around their necks indicated so.
“Erm, hi,” Leah stuttered. “I didn’t realise this room was occupied. I apologise.”
“It isn’t anymore. We were just finishing up,” the man to Ariana’s left said, gathering his belongings from the table.
“We will get out of your hair, Miss Green,” the lady smiled.
“Can I talk to you for a minute, please?” Leah glared at Ariana. She nodded, allowing her colleagues to leave.
“Are you doing this on purpose?”
“I had no idea you would be here.”
“You had no idea I would be at my place of work at 1 p.m. on a Wednesday?” She rolled her eyes.
“Nope. You could’ve been on dinner.”
“Please, Ari, you and I both know the chances of me taking a dinner hour in the lead-up to Christmas is slim.”
People assume if you work in a corporate job at Christmas time it’s easy. Offices are full of overpaid workers drinking poor coffee and counting down the hours until they clock off for the holidays—but the Douglas Green Advisory Group didn’t stop. December was the month of planning and preparation for what would be a jam-packed January.
“Well, you should really talk to your boss about that, because I think it’s unacceptable. Or better yet, come and work for a different company—we not only get a dinner hour, but it’s paid for,” Ariana grinned.
“You think you’re funny, don’t you? I’m drowning today, and the last thing I need is your sarcasm.” Leah dropped her bag on the table and began to remove her belongings.
“What are you doing here? I didn’t see your name on the meeting schedule for today.”
“Your dad offered our company the use of your facilities whilst our building is being renovated. They tore down the meeting rooms yesterday. The new owners are going for a more open-plan concept. I can’t say I like it, but one of them was clearly inspired by whatever leadership conference they went on.”
“He didn’t tell me that.”
“He is friends with my boss; they vacation at the same spot. I think it was just an unexpected friendly offer. It’s only for a week or so.”
