Chapter 27 Name it
AIDEN
I don't know why though, I just brought up the idea.
And although she said she was going to think about it, I already knew the answer.
Whenever Liana said she was going to think about something, it meant yes, she didn't think about things she was going to say no to.
Three days later, she called to confirm if I was in my office and when I said yes, she said she was on her way.
A knock sounded against my office day by noon, and before I could ask her to come in, she walked in.
“Good morning Aiden,”
“Morning, Liana.” I replied, leaving back into my chair. “Please sit”
She nodded and sat down. “Thank you”
“I'm guessing you're here with regards to the last conversation we had.”
“Yes,” she nodded. “I've had enough time to think through it.”
“And?” I asked.
“I have one condition.” She said, and because I wasn't expecting any condition, I put my pen down.
“What's the condition.”
“That you don't use this,” she locked her eyes with mine. “Now, or later or ever… whatever happens in America stays clean. You don't hold it over me, or make it personal, you don't make it complicated.”
I looked at her for a moment.she did say one condition, and now she's named over five conditions.
“Agreed.” I finally said.
She put her hand out. I looked at her hand, then at her eyes, then something moved in her chest that I wasn't willing to name.
I shook her hand.
"Good." She said, stood up, then walked out.
I stood there for another second after she left then picked my pen back up, and that was it.
Miles.
He was the next person I dialed, and he picked up on the second ring.
“Clear my schedule for the rest of today, and come to my office now.” I said.
“Any problems sir?” He asked, and I could already picture him raising an eyebrow.
“Nothing much, just that something significant is happening.” I replied, and dropped the call.
Barely five minutes later, he walked into my office.
“Please sit,” I said, and he did.
“We're moving our headquarters” I started.
He stared at me with his brows slightly raised. “To where? It's not in any of our plans, not even for the next twenty years.”
“I know, but let's just say there's been a change in plans,”
His gaze lingered on me, more intentionally, like he was trying to put the words together, or trying not to let his questions sound offensive.
“So where are we moving it to?” He asked again.
“To America,”
He casted a quizzical gaze at me. “But we don't have an American branch.”
“That’s why we are going to be building one,” I said, wondering why he was asking rather lame questions. “In America”
He looked lost.
“The board's been discussing for a while now,” I said which was true enough. The American expansion has been on the table for the last two years, especially because about fifty percent of our clients came all the way from America.
I'd just moved the timeline up considerably.
“How considerably?” He asked, making me realize that I had said that our loud.
“Start pulling the preliminary groundwork.” I said, “licensing, property options, staffing structure, and everything else. I want a full and comprehensive report by the end of next week.”
His eyes held a lot of questions, but he didn't object, instead he kept writing down everything.
That was one of the things I liked about Miles, he always had Lou's opinions, but he knew how to keep them as well.
“That would be all.” I said ,na she nodded, turning around to leave.
He paused when he got to the door, and turned to me. “Does Dr. Whitmore know?”
“Of course she does,” I replied,knowing that he knew, he was probably just trying to add things up in his head. "She'll be co-relocating."
“Miles” I glared.
“I didn't say anything, Dr.” He laughed, and walked out of my office.
The weeks that followed were the busiest I'd had in years.
A lot of paper works, property surveying, board approvals and the likes.
Moving a branch was certainly not an easy task, especially because it was a significant decision and I needed to justify it before the board, in a way that made complete business sense without making reference to a balcony conversation or a woman who deserved to go home on her own terms.
‘America was our largest market by patient reach, the expansion made sense regardless of anything else.’
Liana handled her own side quietly, I'm guessing that she told Felicity first because first thing the following morning, she called me.
“You're a good man, Dr. Korran” she said, “take care of Liana”
I didn't know what to do with it, mostly because if looked like from the beginning, she's been foreseeing a ship.
I went back to work again.
Chloe found out the same day, and sent me a voicenote that was mostly screaming and only partially words.
Although I listened to it twice, I couldn't make any single word from it.
I eventually replied with a thumbs up.
Moving to America, was never really a part of the plans. I'd spend the last seven years of my life, living in this mansion.
I'd come here from Edinburgh, from a research position that was good but not quite right, and I'd built something in London that was better than right.
The department, the company, the work…
And somewhere in the middle of all of it, without particularly meaning to, I'd built something else as well.
I wasn't going to name it. Not tonight, not when I have a few hours to move out to a new place.
Then I stood up, checked the time, and went to bed…