Lily felt confident in her new, maroon jumpsuit. She had developed and gone over her presentation all morning and was sitting in her office with a cup of coffee, waiting for her guests. While she waited, Lily watched the staff through the glass walls. They all knew that they were betting on this meeting to keep their jobs and she felt the knot in her stomach tighten.
Her father didn't say a word when she told him about it and she felt sad for these people. They deserved a leader in these tough times and he had forsaken them. She had never had that father, daughter relationship that people always talked about; her relationship with her father had been formal.
It was true that he had expected a male child that would take over the family business, but was unfortunately 'blessed' with two girls. Her mother couldn't give him more children because she had grown sickly and Andrew finally came to terms with the fact that he was going to have only daughters.
Jasmine, her father's secretary knocked on her door and Lily gestured for her to come in.
"Miss Crawford, your guests are here."
"Thank you so much, Jasmine. Please take them to the conference room, I will be there shortly."
"Yes, ma'am."
When Jasmine left, Lily stood up and paced for a few seconds. She could do this; she had to do this, the entire company was banking on her.
Her chiming bells ringtone broke through the silence and she nearly jumped. Every time she heard it, she said she was going to change the ringtone but she never got around to doing it. The caller ID said it was Laila calling and she smiled.
"Perfect timing, I was freaking out here."
"Come on, this is a piece of cake. This company has been doing well over the years, it wouldn't be difficult to convince them to invest in you."
"Yeah, you're right."
"You'll do great, girl. No pressure."
Lily wasn't so sure about that; truth be told, there was a lot of pressure riding on this meeting.
"Thank you."
"Talk to you later."
Lily grabbed her laptop and headed to the conference room.
"Good afternoon, gentlemen."
Three Asian men stood up from their seats and she firmly shook each person's hand before walking towards the head table to set up her presentation.
"Miss Crawford?"
Lily looked up.
"We came here out of respect for you and the legacy which you've built here; we gave our word, and we are here." The man who spoke was the youngest of the three.
"Okay…" Lily wasn't sure where the conversation was headed.
"We have done some research and re-evaluated the numbers and we do not wish to invest in The Baron's."
For a moment, Lily couldn't believe what she had just heard and she paused, watching their faces. If anything, they seemed to be worried about her.
"I hope you can understand, Miss Crawford. They all stood up and walked out, leaving Lily alone in the conference room. She didn't understand; she couldn't understand. Her body went cold and a dull ringing voice erupted from the back of her head.
"This isn't happening," she whispered to herself. She could feel her eyes water up, but she couldn't do anything. It was like she was another person in her body and she couldn't control anything.
"It's not happening," she heard herself say again.
Jasmine must have spotted the men walk out of the conference room because she rushed in with a puzzled look on her face. "Miss Crawford?"
That was the last thing Lily heard. The dull ringing that had started in her head was now a blaring siren and her vision blurred slowly, until she mercifully slipped into quiet darkness.
…
When Lily came to, she was in her office and Jasmine stood over her with a worried look on her face.
"Thank goodness you're back. I was about to call 911."
Lily was disoriented and it took her a while to remember where she was and what had just happened. She sat up and saw that a couple of the staff were outside, looking at her with strange looks and for once she wished the entire office wasn't made from glass.
Her head swam when she sat up but she was still herself until the dizzying feeling left. She had let them all down. How would she tell them that she had let them down and by next month, they wouldn't have a job? She needed to run away.
Coward, just like your father.
Lily slowly looked up at Jasmine. The woman had worked for the company for over fifteen years; Lily knew her ever since she was in high school. How was she to tell this woman that she had failed even before she had the chance to show the investors their potential?
"I need to go," Lily finally said. She felt an overwhelming burden crash on her shoulder and she let out a choked sob.
"Please."
Jasmine patted her affectionately. "I'll call an Uber," she said.
Her father was right; there was no hope, they were done. Lily's mind drifted back to what Laila had said the previous day. She said Ethan was the one sabotaging their company. Lily sat up.
Yes, Ethan had warned her about the meeting; he said they were going to crash. Anger replaced her sadness even as the realization set in. She hadn't wanted to believe that Ethan was responsible for their string of bad luck, she didn't want to stoop that low to blame him without cause. But now she had gotten the message loud and clear; Ethan was set to destroy her and her family.
She had dated Ethan for three years, and one thing she knew for sure was that when he set his mind to do something, he made sure he did it no matter what.
The Yard was Lily's favorite bar; it was where she often hung out when she was visiting home from college. Tonight, the bar was full, as usual, and she sat on a high stool by the bar. She had left the office earlier that day and slipped into her room at home. Her mother was taking a nap and she had no idea where her father was these days; he was out first thing in the morning and returned home at midnight.
She hadn't told anyone about the meeting yet, and when Laila called, she had put her phone in airplane mode and cried into her pillow. Where the hell was she to begin? All her hopes and dreams had been dashed by someone so dear to her, or at least was once dear to her, and that was what made the entire situation hurt the most.
After crying her eyes out, she had decided to go get drunk. There was no point fighting what she couldn't control, besides, she was tired of trying to make everything work all the time.
Lily left the house and drove straight to The Yard.