Eva sat on the chair outside wearing her sunglasses and looking green sort of pale.
"Good morning, Eva." Claire said with a smile.
"Morning." Eva grunted. "How are you so… alive?" Eva asked as she gesticulated at Claire with confusion.
"Magic." Claire smiled. "Shall I order you something?"
"Espresso as black as soot." Eva said with a pained look on her face. Claire nodded disappearing inside. She came back out with a cup of espresso and iced tea for herself.
"How are you feeling?" Claire asked as she sat down beside Eva.
"As if I got hit by a truck, dragged through the red-hot coals, and bathed in shards of glass. Otherwise, great." Eva said as she started drinking the coffee. "Again, how are you so alive? I need to know the trick."
"I can handle my alcohol well." Claire chuckled starting to feel a little sorry for Eva.
"What even happened last night?" Eva asked. "I have no recollection for most of it."
"Oh." Claire looked surprised. "I can try to help you piece things together."
"I think my question is, did we really stand on the table pouring drinks out?"
"Yeah." Claire nodded.
"Do you know how much was Gabriel charged for last night?"
"A lot." Claire admitted although she was too afraid to check the bank statements.
"I guess that's good. That was the aim." Eva squinted as her headache gave her grief.
"I guess." Claire shrugged. "Not sure whether it feels as great right now though."
"All this pain but it was so worth it. I don't think I ever had this much fun." Eva laughed, wincing in pain straight after. "I knew you'd be great to hang out with."
"Thank you for the compliments." Claire smiled, closing her eyes and letting the sun warm up her face.
"Did you get home alright last night? I don't recall how I got into the hotel…"
"I did, thank you. And it was Mark who got you checked into the hotel."
"Pattison?"
"Yeah."
"How did he find us?"
"Gabriel called for him."
"Was Gabriel there?!"
"Yes." Claire nodded with a chuckle. "He was fortunate enough to be meeting his friends in the very same club as we were in."
"Did he see us doing shit?"
"Yeah." Claire nodded.
"Oh no. He's going to poke fun at us, isn't he?"
"I don't think so." Claire said in thought. "Maybe a little. Even though you might get a telling off for sticking your tongue out at him before trying to clumsily get off the table, ripping my top off in the process and then yelling 'Show off those gorgeous girls!' while my tits were on a show in front of everyone. I don't think he was best impressed with that."
"Oh, God. Please tell me that you wore a bra."
"I did not." Claire shook her head. "Zoe convinced me to change into that fancy top before we went out. So, in short, I've flashed absolutely everyone because of you."
"I'm sure they've enjoyed the show." Eva chuckled.
"I think they did." Claire agreed with a laugh. "Your brother didn't. He climbed onto the table to get us down, and he ended up falling and spraining his wrist."
"I'm not drinking with you again." Eva decided.
"Shall I remind you that it was your idea in the first place?"
"Well, yeah. And I had lots of fun, but… Gabriel is going to kill me." Eva groaned.
"I didn't think you'd care."
"Look, I can get away with a lot as his sister, but he has some anger issues. He wouldn't care about me spending his money, but… he doesn't approve of anything that can cause a scandal, like his sister dancing on the table in a club."
"Believe me that you did nothing compared to me. Besides, Gabriel suppressed all of the leaks from last night."
"I'm guessing you were one of the last standing."
"I was." Claire nodded.
"I'm sorry to leave you alone with my brother's wrath." Eva said apologetically.
"It's alright." Claire smiled reassuringly. "He can do nothing to me."
"Well, I wouldn't be so sure…" Eva said with another wince.
"Good morning, alcoholics." Gabriel said with a charming smile as he walked over with his undamaged hand in his pocket, wearing sunglasses, his tie and his suit jacket off. "I should've prepared for a zombie apocalypse." Gabriel joked looking at Eva. His gaze landed on Claire. "By comparison, you're glowing."
"Must be the weather." Claire replied with a smile. "Who knew that it can be this warm, this late into autumn."
"What brings you here?" Eva asked curiously.
"I'm just checking up on you." Gabriel answered, his smile not leaving his face. "Glad that you've managed to escape the office without being stomped over." Gabriel said to Claire, tapping her on her shoulder.
"I know, shocking. Did you double or triple the security?" Claire asked as she looked up at him.
"Quadruple. One can never be too safe."
"Thanks." Claire smiled at him in the most dazzling way.
"Eva, you look almost alive today!" Gabriel exclaimed making the three women flinch.
"You aren't going to be if you keep shouting." Eva grumbled.
"You're fun when you're hangover." Gabriel decided. "I did want to check if you want to come over for dinner tonight." Gabriel spoke to Eva.
"Maybe." Eva hesitated. "If I'm still alive by then."
"Now, Mrs, behave yourself."
Gabriel said to Claire rather sternly.
"You say that as if I didn't." Claire said innocently.
"I think we both know that you don't." Gabriel smiled cheekily at which Claire gasped. "I have a meeting in the Horton Club in fifteen." Gabriel said with a smile, that smile that made Claire's knees weak. "I'll see you later."
"In about three hours, isn't it?" Claire checked.
"Yeah. Be prepared. Directors are on edge because of all the media coverage."
"I don't think there's anything I can do to prepare for it, but thanks for the heads-ups." Claire smiled as she waved to Gabriel.
"What did you do to my brother?" Eva asked in a loud whisper. "I expected a lecture and berating, not this." Eva said as she finished up her coffee. "Not a dinner invitation, that's for sure."
"Why not?" Claire asked curiously.
"For years, Gabriel has been pushing me away and every time I visited he barely looked at me or talked to me. It was usually a quick coffee and him being dismissive towards me. I don't think he ever let me stay in his house before, never mind him going out of his way to invite me over for dinner. He's acting different." Eva answered honestly.
"Is it good or bad different?" Claire asked with worry.
"Good, I guess. As long as I'm not going to get any nasty surprises and that dinner is not to tell me some life-changing and devastating news."
"Hopefully not." Claire said as she bit her lip. "Anyways, I have to go to a meeting myself." Claire announced as she stood up. "I'll see you later."
"Yeah, take care." Eva nodded eagerly. "Thanks for the coffee, and I'll pop my head around your office at some point if you don't mind."
"Of course not." Claire said reassuringly. "Glad to see that you're coming back to life. Hopefully, you'll be all back to the world of living by the dinner."
"Hopefully." Eva nodded.
Claire dreaded her walk back towards the office. Although security was heightened, the reporters still shouted across the square towards her to comment on her speculated relationship with Gabriel. Obviously, none of them suspected marriage. They all had one idea in mind and it was that Claire's and Gabriel's relationship was wrong and indecent, whether an affair or a means for Claire to get promoted. Claire was particularly hurt by the latter as she thought that it was true. After all, she became a CDO solely due to her marriage contract.
"Miss Thompson!!!" Reporters screamed to get her attention but Claire didn't budge, not today.
A few hours later, the atmosphere in the boardroom was tense. Claire ignored it while taking her seat in her designated spot with the 'Claire Thompson, CDO' tag on the table before it. Gabriel sat at the end of the table which gave him a pretty good overview of all the members.
Claire was solely focused on her tablet as she sat down, ignoring Gabriel who was closest to her. She had a brief chat with the Chief Finance Officer who she got along with probably the best on the board.
"Good afternoon everyone. First on the agenda is an overview of our current affairs and then we can move on to finance." Gabriel started recognising the curious and questioning gazes throughout the room. "As we start with current affairs, I wanted to point towards the current political situation." The Chief Finance Officer raised his hand which Gabriel was hoping won't happen. "Yes, Gordon?"
"My concern lies with the publicity in regards to two members of the board, you, sir, and Miss Thompson. I wondered if you could tell us what actions you're taking to mitigate the effect on our commitment to keeping up a trustworthy and loyal image for our customers if the news portrayal is rather the opposite?"
"First of all, I don't think the news has affected our customer relations much. Any comments on it, Claire?"
"From the Design sector, and my department, in particular, a lot of customer base has the strong relationship that we worked on over the years and even the new projects are on a solid foundation. I don't think any customers expressed any doubt about my skillset and my suitability for the job." Claire said quickly omitting the recent events with Guildford who would have jumped on it straight away. "But I think Alistair, the Chief Comms Officer, might be the best person to comment." Claire redirected the question.
"Well, our advice was to wait it out as we predicted it to be a short-term issue with no long-term implications. Looking at previous trends, we expected it to not last longer than 48 hours. Now, we are at the back end of that period and it's still a heavily maintained topic. We may have to consider releasing the statement as a company to either draw a clear line and express that personal relationship are not interfering with our professional relationships or one that clarifies no personal relationship between you, sir, and Claire."
Gabriel shifted in the seat uncomfortably as Claire looked at him curiously.
"I think the latter will be a preferred option." Alistair finished.
"Absolutely not." Gabriel said sternly. "If possible, I want to avoid providing a statement on this matter."
"I understand that you have a strong personal opinion on the matter, but you must consider the long-term effect on the company." Alistair said carefully. "We cannot take the news down, and even if we did, it already is too big for people to just forget about it."
"Can you elaborate on your statement 'we cannot take the news down'?" Claire caught on quickly.
"Of course, Claire." Alistair nodded as he leaned back in his seat. He was an older man with a quirky style. His hair was always in an unconfined mess and he tended to wear colourful socks with his suit that matched his tie. "We suspect that someone is a catalyst in all of this. We've tried to take the news down but every time we take one down, two more media outlets pop up."
"I see." Claire nodded in thought. "Any idea who it might be?"
"I'm afraid not. Someone obviously wants to damage the image of Diamond Corporate. We suspected competition but X6 Group came forward with their support this morning so we're at loss."
Claire nodded again, her mind going directly to Michael Moore.
"I guess the positive is that there was nothing indecent in the photo." Gordon said quickly whilst giving Claire an encouraging smile. "The photos leaked don't show anything more than you two walking together. It doesn't prove anything beyond that you two walked together through the city."
"Now, as per statement…" Alistair started.
"I've said that I'm not going to release the statement." Gabriel said coldly. "I don't think my personal relationships reflect on my professional relationships in any way. And everyone here recognises Claire's capabilities so if you have any doubts about Claire's competencies, we can discuss them now."
Silence befell as everyone looked at Claire who looked down at her hands, feeling judged.
"I suggest a vote of confidence." Theo, another board member suggested. Claire flinched at the suggestion but remained composed.
"Okay, go ahead." Gabriel said but his voice was one full of warning. Claire's breath sped up as she started to feel the pressure of the events within the room. If she were to lose the vote of confidence, the only thing she could do after would be to step down. Not the most tragic outcome but certainly not an ideal one either. Gabriel felt the pressure too, realising further the implications of the media coverage on Claire and his increased powerlessness to protect her.
"Everyone who has confidence in Claire Thompson's abilities as a CDO and head of the Contracts and Services department, raise your hand." Theo instructed. Claire closed her eyes momentarily, too afraid to see the outcome of the vote. But as she re-opened her eyes, she was surprised to see that majority raised their hands. Besides Theo, there was one other board member who didn't raise a hand. It was a definite win.
"Well, Theo, I don't think there's any doubt here, is there?" Gabriel asked with a bite in his voice. "Now, can we move on to the next point of the agenda?" Gabriel asked feeling the pressure ease off a bit.
"Thanks, Gordon." Claire said to the man sitting beside her.
"No problem. From my point of view, you brought the most profits in over the past few months. I am not planning to question your capabilities." Gordon said earnestly.
"I'm glad. You okay with a meeting next week?"
"Yeah." Gordon nodded before they both focused on the next points of the agenda.
As Claire was about to leave at the end of the meeting, Chief Safety Officer (CSO) caught her.
"What's up Matt?" Claire turned to him.
"We need to do an investigation of the contracting team you've worked with as there was a near-fatal incident on site."
"I've heard." Claire nodded with a defeated sigh. "I will provide all the documentation and all of the checks my department has done before we collaborated on the project with them."
"Thanks, Claire. It'll be a great help. Any suspicions?"
"Sun-contracting team they've employed? We do our checks, Matt, I have no doubt that we were diligent on our behalf. However, I believe they had a sub-contractor which they might've not fully checked."
"I'll check that out and pass any information onto the health and safety auditing team." Matt nodded in thought. "I'll meet you next week to discuss it, alright?"
"Yeah." Claire nodded, pale from stress.
As soon as Matt walked away, Gabriel walked up to her.
"What was that about?" Gabriel asked curiously as he looked at Matt's back.
"Another newspaper headline if we're not careful." Claire said honestly. "There was an accident on one of the sites we're managing. The investigation is underway to work out the root cause."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"There's enough on your plate already. Besides, I'm confident that my department did all of the relevant checks on the contractor. Anyways, a conversation for another day." Claire decided. "You kept away from me that someone is behind the news about us."
"I didn't want you to worry."
"We might be just as bad as each other after all." Claire chuckled.
"What time are you finishing?"
"Should be fairly soon. I'll sort the documentation for Matt and I'll call it a day. After a four-hour board meeting, it's hard to focus on anything else."
"Okay. Use the back door on the way out and let security know beforehand. Unless you want to go home with me?"
"No, not right now." Claire smiled apologetically. "Once it all settles down we can go back to commuting together. Go ahead and I'll see you home. A bit of a warning, Eva doesn't have a recollection of most that happened last night." Claire said before rushing off.