An Executive Decision by Grace Marshall

Author:Grace Marshall
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781908917805
Publisher: Xcite Books
Published: 2013-02-01T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-three

‘That was Marston. Dee, why didn’t you tell me he was refusing to work with you?’ Ellis stood framed in the doorway, with his BlackBerry clutched in a suicide grip. The hard set of his jaw and the tense square of his shoulders were a flashing beacon indicating the mood he wasn’t trying to hide.

Dee was already packing up her computer bag for a meeting with Jason Daniels. She had waited for Ellis to finish the early conference call he had with clients in Spain especially so she could tell him about Marston. It was literally the first chance she’d had without shaking him awake in the middle of the night, something she couldn’t have done if she’d wanted to because, in spite of everything that had happened the day before, she slept like a baby after Ellis’s tender ministrations. ‘That’s why I’m still here,’ she said. ‘I never dreamed he’d call you at 7.30 in the morning.’

Ellis came into the room and stood near the sofa, arms stiff at his side, still clenching his BlackBerry. His gaze bore into her, riveting her to the spot where she stood in front of him. ‘Marston says if I want him to negotiate with you then I’ll need to make Tally Barnes a part of the team. Why didn’t you tell me?’ Though his face betrayed nothing, she heard disappointment in his voice, which brought on a wave of guilt, making her feel like she was 13 again, and in trouble for not practising hard enough. She forced back anger. She had nothing to feel guilty about. But before she could respond, he continued, the disappointment giving way to something a little more tetchy. ‘Do you have any idea how it felt hearing such a thing from Marston? I couldn’t even say you’d already told me. Dee, do you know how that looks?’

Her legs were suddenly not very cooperative, and she dropped into the chair by the desk before her knees gave. ‘I tried to tell you last night, but you –’

He wasn’t listening. ‘Marston believes a good bit of the scheming and planning behind this deal has actually been Tally Barnes’s work.’

The room tilted around her. She pressed her feet hard against the floor to lessen the shakes. ‘You know that’s not true.’ Her voice sounded thin and tinny in her ears.

‘It doesn’t matter what I know. Can’t you see the situation you’ve put me in?’

She forced herself to stand and meet his anger face to face. ‘It matters to me, Ellis. You’re my boss. Believe me, if Tally had helped with this deal, if the ideas had been hers, I’d have been right behind her, cheering her on.’

‘I know that, Dee. But Marston doesn’t.’ He turned away from her and paced in front of the sofa. ‘Marston won’t negotiate with you until Tally’s a part of the team. He seems to think she’s been somehow slighted, and –’

‘She’s that little personnel problem you mentioned on my first day, isn’t she?’ She followed him.

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