Her eyes filled with concern. “At Jim’s.” With one last nod, Rosie shifted past me and walked to the chair next to Héctor, her team leader.
When I caught the eye of the old man, I waved at him with a small smile, receiving a wink from him.
And then—catching me completely off guard, even when it shouldn’t have—my Aaron radar went off. Warning me of his presence.
My heart lurched in my chest, and my gaze hunted him down.
He is not that good-looking. He’s just tall, I told myself as I took him in.
Something in my rib cage sped up.
It was the tuxedo because my body is surely not reacting to that button-down shirt and those pressed slacks, I thought as my eyes followed his long strides to the chair I knew he’d take a couple of rows in front of me and to my left.
Yeah, his face is certainly nothing to write home about, I reminded myself as I studied his hard and masculine profile, from his jaw to the dark line of thick hair framing his forehead.
See? I’ve got this under control. My body is back to normal. I didn’t need the comfort of a cream cheese and salmon bagel.
But then Aaron looked back. His eyes met mine across the room. Finding me looking at him in a way I presumed was a little too intense for someone who had sworn wouldn’t pay him any attention only a few minutes ago.
I felt my cheeks flush a deep shade of red, and I’d bet I looked like my whole face was on fire.
And yet, the one who averted his gaze first wasn’t me. It was him. Aaron’s eyes fell down and stayed somewhere ahead. Somewhere that wasn’t me.
Something about that did not sit well with me. Something about the fact that he had just dismissed me so quickly bothered me more than ever.
But before I could delve too much into that, Jeff’s voice pulled me right back. “Good morning, everyone,” he said, and the low muttering in the room turned into silence. “This Breakfast & Broadcast session will be fairly short. I need to run to an impromptu meeting I was called to in about thirty minutes, so don’t get too comfortable, and have your fill of cookies before it’s over.” Our boss laughed lightly.
Nobody bothered to move. Obviously.
“As you know, we are undergoing some important changes in the structure of InTech. A rearrangement of the responsibilities will take place—among a few other things, of course. Everything will have a repercussion on the structure of the company as we know it today. But this is not a reason to worry. Most of the changes will be integrated gradually and throughout the upcoming months.”
The screen that hung from one of the conference room walls showed an organizational chart of our division with our boss’s name highlighted on top—Jeff Foster—and the names of the five team leaders right under his—Aaron Blackford, Gerald Simmons, Héctor Díaz, Kabir Pokrehl, and me, Catalina Martín.
There had been rumors—nothing more than corridor whispers—that something big was about to happen in the company. Something that would shake things up. But no one really knew what was about to come.
“Having said that,” our boss continued after clearing his throat, “there is an announcement I’d like to make now, before any of it is officially released in a corporate statement.”
The man—who my friend and colleague Rosie had referred to as a silver fox one time when she was a little tipsy—who was all gray hair and natural charm, seemed to hesitate for a moment. His hand flew to the collar of his shirt, tugging at it lightly.
Jeff pressed a key on his laptop, and a new slide was displayed on the screen. One with a diagram that was very similar to the one presented previously. Almost a duplicate, it was essentially the exact same, except for one single detail.
The name filling the blue square above the five team leaders in the Tech Division was no longer Jeff’s.
That ball of lead I had been feeling since early that morning fell to my feet.
Our boss clasped his hands together, my gaze bouncing between him and the screen. “I am pleased to announce that Aaron Blackford will be promoted to head of the Solutions Division of InTech.” Jeff’s words entered my ears, traveling all the way to my head, where they seemed to bounce from one wall to the next, unable to be processed by my brain. “Aaron has been one of the most consistent and efficient members I have ever had the pleasure to oversee, and he has proven himself worthy for this promotion time and time again. So, I have no doubt in my mind that he will do an amazing job as head of the division.”
Everybody had been shocked into silence. Just like me.
“It hasn’t been decided when he’ll take over all my responsibilities while I undertake a more advisory role for InTech, but I wanted to give you—the Solutions family—the news first. Even if it hasn’t been officially announced yet.”
Jeff continued talking then, probably going through whatever was in the agenda of the Breakfast & Broadcast next. Or maybe not—I didn’t know. I wasn’t listening. I couldn’t when his announcement was the only thing spinning in my head.
Aaron Blackford will be my boss.
My gaze shot to Aaron, who was leaning back in his chair. His gaze kept fixated somewhere in front of him, his expression impassive. Even more than usual.
There was a pause and some clapping. To which my hands joined in automatically.