One Night(11)

Everyone laughed as someone brought an accordion to William. He handed it to James, whose face was bright red, and stepped back. James adjusted the strap and began to play. The next several minutes blurred together for me. A girl named Stephanie proved that she was fluent in four languages while I continued to die a little inside.

When my picture popped up on the screen, I groaned audibly.

William’s tone of voice was unreadable as he announced me. “Olivia Harris?”

I didn’t move. Tara raised an arm and pointed at me. “She’s right here.”

“Ah, yes. There she is.” William’s voice dropped an octave. I slowly lifted myself in my seat until I could see his face. Our eyes locked and I wondered if Tara could hear my heart thumping in my chest.

“Olivia. Someone told me that you have an interesting taste in music,” William said. I recognized the playful smile on his face but I had no idea where he was going with this. “Is that true?”

“Maybe?” I replied, very quietly. Only the people closest to me could hear, but they all laughed.

“Someone mentioned that you perform a great rendition of Led Zeppelin’s All My Love.” William was still smiling but I could tell from the flash of his eyes that he was remembering our time in the sex shower. “I also have it on good authority that you like Willy.” He paused long enough for me to remember what I had said at the wedding, and understand his double meaning. My face turned bright red and I silently cursed him. “Willie Nelson, I mean.”

“Yes, that’s true,” I said quickly, hoping to move things along as quickly as possible.

“I thought I might have you come up and sing a few lines,” he continued, smiling broader at the panicked look on my face. “But unfortunately, we have a lot more to discuss and we don’t have a lot of time left.”

William clicked his remote and my picture was replaced by the company logo. “Anyway, welcome to our new employees. I hope you enjoy your time here, whether it be two years or twenty.”

I didn’t hear anything else William said for the duration of the meeting. I’m sure he covered some important ground, but I was too busy fuming inside.

I sat up quickly as William reached the end of his presentation. “Don’t forget, tonight we are having a happy hour at Clark’s Pub downstairs. Come ready to drink.”

William hadn’t even finished talking when I stood up. I hurried toward the exit, which unfortunately meant I had to walk right past William. I kept my eyes away from him, but he still spotted my escape and called out to me.

“Livy. I mean, Olivia. Hold up, please.”

I was busted. We both knew it. I couldn’t exactly ignore my company’s CEO the first week on the job. Especially when he was speaking to me so publicly.

“Yes?” I turned around slowly and bit my lip to keep from saying something I would regret.

“I haven’t had a chance to meet with you yet,” William said, choosing his words carefully since the entire company could overhear us. “I have some things I would like to discuss. Do you have time now?”

I wanted to say no. I wished more than anything that I had a meeting to rush off to, but I didn’t. My calendar was wide open the rest of the day, and the people in my department knew it, so I relented. “Sure.”

As I followed William to his office, my anger grew. He clearly had known I was his employee well before that meeting. The question was, exactly how long had he known?

He held open his office door and I marched inside with my head held high. I wasn’t going to let him see how much this bothered me. But I was going to call him out on his bullshit. I waited until he closed the door before speaking.

“How could you?” I spat.

William’s head snapped. “What?” It was clearly not what he had been expecting me to say.

“You knew I was your employee, and you slept with me anyway. And then you made fun of me in front of the entire company. You’re a pig.” I crossed my arms over my chest to keep from punching something. Or William.

“Jesus, Olivia, no. That’s not what happened.” He made to reach for me, but when he saw the fury in my eyes, he thought better of it. “I didn’t know. Not then.”

“Then when? When did you find out?” I wasn’t sure I believed him, but I began to soften just a little.

“This morning. I swear.” William held out his hands helplessly. “I knew I had a new employee named Olivia Harris, but I had no idea it was you until my assistant sent me the presentation with your picture in it.”

“I find that highly unlikely. You knew my name long before today.”