Chapter 100: The Invitation

Nathan’s POV

I’m halfway through an email when my phone begins ringing across my desk.

I glance at the screen.

It’s Hailey.

Again.

I silence it without picking it up and turn back to my laptop. This is the fourth call today and it’s not even past ten o’clock. She has been at this for days. She has called, sent texts, and even left the occasional voicemail that I haven’t bothered listening to, all because Brianna fired her.

From what I understand, Hailey wants me to speak to Brianna and convince her to give her job back.

Absolutely not.

Whatever Brianna’s reason for firing her, it was Brianna’s call to make. I have no intention of inserting myself into it and I have made that clear to Hailey twice already. A third conversation on the subject is not something I have the patience for today.

I set my laptop aside and lean back in my chair.

The truth is my mind has not been fully on my inbox anyway. It has been elsewhere since last night.

Since the gala.

Over the past few days, I’ve started noticing things I can’t quite explain about Leah.

First it was the elevator. I remember bumping into her and she’d looked as though she could barely breathe. Like something horrible had happened.

Then last night.

I keep coming back to her face on that stage. The paleness of it, how she’d gone completely still when I touched her arm.

I have seen Leah stressed before. Yes, I have seen her tired, frustrated, stretched thin by a workload that would flatten most people. But I have never seen her look so horrified as she looked last night.

And then there’s this morning. She had sent a message before seven, telling me she needed to handle a personal matter and would be late. It was brief, without explanation and only made me worry more.

Could it be connected to last night?

I sigh and glance at the monitor on my desk. Through the screen, I can see her at her station, head down, tablet open and working with clear focus.

She looks better than she did last night for sure, but it isn’t enough to ease my concern.

I reach for the intercom.

“Leah, could you come in for a moment?”

It takes less than a minute before there’s a soft knock at my door. The door opens and Leah steps inside, her tablet tucked against her chest.

“You wanted to see me, sir?”

“Yes.” I gesture toward the chair opposite my desk. “Have a seat, Leah.”

She gives me a small nod before walking over and sitting down.

For a moment, I simply study her. Maybe I’m hoping just looking at her would be enough to tell me exactly what is wrong.

“Were you able to sort out what you needed to this morning?”

Something moves briefly across her face before she settles it. “Yes, sir. Thank you for asking.”

I nod. I want to ask what it was exactly. I want to ask whether whatever she needed to sort out had anything to do with why she looked so terrified at the gala last night.

But I stop myself before I can and instead say, “And how are you feeling? If you still need to see a doctor, I am more than happy to give you the rest of the day. It is not a problem.”

She shakes her head. “No, that won’t be necessary. I’m much better now, sir.” She pauses, then adds, more quietly, “Also, I’d like to thank you for having your driver take me home last night. I really appreciate that.”

“Of course.”

She looks straight at me, giving nothing away. Her big brown eyes seem as innocent as ever with nothing new to them.

I don’t know why, but I still can’t shake off the feeling that something is awfully wrong and that and whatever it is, Leah is trying her hardest to keep it hidden.

I decide to let it go either way. Pushing for an answer, here, in this office would be overstepping and l’ve promised not to do that anymore. Maybe, I’m simply overthinking things.

“Alright.” I straighten in my chair. “Now that the Ortega partnership has concluded, the Miami branch will be assuming full operational management of the project going forward. We remain involved at board level but our day-to-day role on Ortega is essentially done.”

Leah nods, already making a note on her tablet. “I’ll update the project files and flag the handover documentation for review.”

“Good.” I lean forward slightly. “Which means our focus shifts. I want to run through the next six weeks. What are we looking at?”

She opens the schedule view on her tablet and begins. We move through it efficiently—the meetings, the board calls, the pending reviews, the two site visits that need to be confirmed.

She is thorough with it, and I find myself briefly grateful for the normalcy of just sitting here and working through something with her.

As we continue going through my schedule, she suddenly pauses before saying, “That’s right, sir, you also have Gerald Osei’s birthday event in four days.”

I stiffen.

Gerald’s birthday. I had completely forgotten.

Gerald Osei has been one of my closest friends for years. His birthday parties are never simple affairs. Somehow, every year, what begins as a birthday celebration turns into an enormous gathering filled with friends, business associates and people I haven’t seen in months.

I’ve never missed one and although it tends to be a bit overwhelming, it’s been far too long since I’ve actually seen Gerald in person.

The thought makes me look forward to the evening more than I expected.

I thank Leah for the reminder and we continue through the rest of my calendar before she finally closes her tablet.

“I think that’s everything.”

“Alright. Thank you, Leah.”

She rises, gives a polite nod before leaving.

As soon as the door closes behind her, I reach for my phone and call Gerald.

He answers on the second ring.

“Nathan!” I smile at the familiar voice. “I was starting to think you had forgotten me, friend.”

“You’re a lot of things, Gerald, but forgettable is not one of them.”

He lets out one of his big, unmistakable laughs on the other end of the phone, the kind that always seemed to come straight from his stomach.

I can almost picture him, leaning back against his chair with his head thrown slightly back, the corners of his eyes crinkling.

“Good.” He replies, “Hope you’ve kept that same energy for my birthday. It’s in four days and I’m expecting you to be there.”

“Yes, I know,” I say, “Funny, I was just discussing it with my PA. Of course, I’ll be there.”

“Okay, and what about Vivienne? She’s yet to respond to her invitation. Is she coming?”

“I’ll remind her.”

“And Dominic too?” Gerald adds, “I feel terrible about missing his wedding. I’d love to finally meet his wife—the Laurent girl, right? I’ve heard good things about Édouard.”

“I’ll ask him too but no promises.”

“Fair enough.” He responds with a slight sigh, “Just make sure you’re there, Nathan. It’s been too long.”

“I’ll be there.”

The call ends and I immediately pull up Dominic’s number, eager to ask him about attending the event. His response comes back within two minutes: something has come up that day, he cannot make it, apologies.

I set the phone down.

If Dominic won’t be attending, then Brianna certainly will not. She would have no reason to attend a party for someone she has never met in person.

I think about texting Vivienne as well. It’s not as though we’d have much to talk about, but having a familiar face there, even one I don’t particularly get along with, would still make Gerald’s enormous party feel a little less overwhelming.

Her reply comes in about an hour later and it’s a simple: ‘No. Can’t make it.’

I settle into my seat, a bit bummed out this means I’ll ultimately be attending alone.

Normally, I wouldn’t mind. But with how exhausted I’ve been lately because of work, I didn’t feel like being much of a social butterfly as Gerald’s parties demanded. Having a familiar presence with me would make it easy to hide behind.

I’m halfway through texting Gerald about Dominic’s and Vivienne’s no-show when a thought stops me.

Leah.

Of course.

I don’t know how it didn’t occur to me sooner that she already knows Gerald. She worked at Osei Capital before joining Harrington Group. She knows him personally, which means bringing her wouldn’t be strange at all.

And perhaps…

Perhaps it wouldn’t be such a bad idea.

I’ve been trying to figure out what’s been wrong with her for days. Maybe spending a few hours with her somewhere that isn’t this office would make it easier to have insight on if she’s in fact really okay as much as claims she is.

I put my phone down and glance at my monitor. She’s at her station, working as usual.

There would be no pressure. Just a night out. A birthday party. A few hours away from work and I could use the excuse of getting her to meet with her former boss again.

Hopefully, it wouldn’t be weird for her. I’m assuming she left on good terms and this would be a simple, casual reunion.

By the time it's closing time, my decision is made.

I’m going to ask Leah.