Tristan gives a slow nod, his gaze on mine. "Right. Well, we're going with option three. Thank you for an excellent presentation."
Eyes turn to him and there's a beat of stunned silence.
"Sir," one of the women hedges, "this will take a significant cut out of our personnel budget for the year."
Tristan waves a hand. "We'll replenish it with our fourth quarter returns. I'm well aware that the cuts we've made over the last year have taken a toll on morale. How many of you on my side of the table have kids?"
Clive joins the women in agreeing that they do, even if they don't follow the reasoning behind Tristan's question.
"And you've all spent a lot of evenings here," he continues. "No, we're going to rent Wilshire Gardens for an evening and have a Thanksgiving Family Day, all on the company."
I clear my throat. "Excellent choice, sir. Luke, William and I will begin planning immediately. We'll have the rental contracts for the company to sign ready by the end of the week."
"Right you are." Tristan pushes away from the conference table. The others scramble to do the same, arranging the notes. "We are done here, then. Miss Bilson, I'd like a word before you return to the Strategy Department."
I give a stiff nod, painfully aware of how his words cause widened eyes amongst the others. William and Luke cluster at my side as I unplug my work laptop.
"Can't believe he chose the fair," William mutters, rolling up the cord. "I thought that was a dead end."
"Shows what we know about management," Luke murmurs. Both of them glance over their shoulders before giving me a quiet good luck. The door shuts behind them, and after a curious-looking Clive leaves the room, it's just Tristan and me.
He gestures at a chair next to him. "Whose idea was Wilshire Gardens?"
I sit on the opposite side of the table. "Mine, sir."
"And how did you think of it?"
"You mentioned family in your email. There aren't a lot of options around here that would interest kids, but still work for the employees who have none." A quick Google search of the area had given me very few options, and it was just our good luck that the amusement park was in town for the holiday season.
"As it so happens, it was an excellent suggestion."
"Thank you." The silence stretches out between us and I clear my throat. "Sorry, but why did you ask me to stay behind?"
"I wanted to ask you who first thought of the idea."
"I see. Although, without Luke or William here to correct me, I could simply be claiming credit for their ideas."
His eyebrow rises. "Are you?"
"No," I admit.
"I doubted you did."
"Still… in front of all those people, sir. They might start to think something untoward, or to… suspect."
Tristan runs a hand through his hair, his lips pressing into a tight line. It takes me a moment to recognize it's to keep from laughing. "Not a soul in this room knows of my membership to a certain room. They certainly don't know about yours. How on earth would they suspect?"
I press my hands flat on the table in front of me. "Reputations are precious things. I'm sure the other trainees will ask me later what you wanted to discuss in private, and if I don't have a good answer, rumors may spread."
The traces of amusement leave his face. "I don't like what you're implying."
"Well, neither do I, but it doesn't change the facts."
"They won't talk. They know better than that." He waves a large hand, and perhaps that works in his world. Power and prestige trumps everything.
It doesn't in mine.
"Why did you apply to this company?"
My eyebrows rise. "That's what you really wanted to know?"
"Yes. You were adamant last time that you'd worked hard to get here and that that you wanted the Strategy Department in particular. Tell me why."
I worry my lower lip between my teeth. Is he joking? Exciteur has one of the best reputations as far as consulting goes. It's a multi-national firm on the brink of joining the Big Five consultancy firms, turning them into the Big Six.
The answer should be obvious.
But the intensity in his gaze isn't the least bit joking. It's a side of him I'd sensed last weekend, but not until I'd met him here had I seen it in all its glory. Handsome might joke, but he's serious at heart.
"I was in the top of my class at Wharton," I say. "MBA. Working in consulting is a dream for a business grad. No other area allows you to get as much business exposure."
"Wharton?"
I nod. It hadn't been easy, not financing my studies or the classes themselves. "Both bachelor and MBA."
"So you're here to learn."
"Absolutely I am."
"Why Strategy?"
I meet his gaze. "My favorite courses in college were all on business strategy and strategic management. It's the art of connecting the past with the present, to create the future. The strategy department is where the real decisions are made. It's… well. There's no other area that interests me as much."
He gives a slow nod. "Strategy is the lifeblood of a company."
"Exactly. Firms live or die based on the soundness of it, and Exciteur has some of the best corporate strategists in the country."
"In the world," he corrects.
I smile, but I don't object. He's probably right.
He leans back in his chair and crosses his arms over his chest. For all that I know his name now, Tristan Conway is still as big of a mystery as he was in that darkened party. I don't know his background, his age. His interests and hobbies.
"What was this?" I ask. "A second interview?"
His lips quirk. "I never get to talk to the trainees. Figured I'd change that."
"Then why did Luke and William have to leave?"