BUILT ON HER BONES.

Chapter 4: what they missed

It was a Wednesday morning at the Henderson capital,the bread room on the fourteenth floor was empty at seven fifty three except from Viv, who had apparently arrived early enough to claim the best corner seat, acquire two coffees and arrange herself in the chair waiting for Amelia.

She pointed at the coffee across the table the moment Amelia walked in.

“Sit" she said

Amelia walked towards the coffee table where Vivienne had sat and casually took a seat.

" Talk to me, Amelia,” Viv said with all seriousness.

“Good morning to you too” Amelia said rolling her eyes

“Amelia," Viv leaned forward with both elbows on the table and her coffee cup held in both hands and her brown eyes carrying the energy of someone who had been patient for a long time.

" You took an elevator ride with Chad Henderson,someone who has not shared an elevator with another human being for the past three years,” Viv said.

“Why has he not taken an elevator ride with someone else for the past three years?" Amelia asks,confused.

“That's not the point” Viv waved it off.

“The point is that Chad Henderson does not share an elevator,the Chad that I know does not notice junior analysts on their first day. And yet,Amelia..” Viv paused

“And yet, nothing,Viv” Amelia said, she wrapped both hands around the coffee cup.

“We took the same elevator, he asked how my first day was,I told him about the Orlando file, he got into his car and left" Amelia said with her shoulder lifting in a careless shrug before dropping again, like the whole thing wasn’t worth it.

Vivienne stared at her.

“He asked you how your first day was?”

She repeated slowly.

" Yes” Amelia replied

“Chad Henderson? Asked you how your first day was?"

Amelia didn't reply.

" Amelia,I have been in this building for three years” Viv set her cup down.

"That man has never asked anyone anything," Viv picked up her cup back.

Amelia looked at her coffee, “it was just two minutes in an elevator,what's the big deal? It's not like I'll be seeing him all day” Amelia said.

" Mm” Viv sounded entirely unconvinced. “And what did he look like?"

“Like a person…" Amelia replied sarcastically.

“Amelia!” Viv yelled a bit.

Amelia sighed,“He was tall,he looked focused. Viv, it doesn't matter what he looks like,he is my employer,he is everyone's employer,it was just two minutes"

Viv looked at her for a long moment with an expression of something filling away.

“Okay.." she said simply.

“Okay..?" Amelia repeated

“Okay,I believe you” she picked up her coffee.

“You don't believe me.” Amelia said with a frown.

" I absolutely do not believe you," she smiled over the rim of her cup.

" Ooh,I totally forgot,I have to submit the Orlando file to Marcus Webb." Amelia said in realization. “Will we catch up later?" She asked and began packing her bags.

“ Yes, of course." Viv replied.

" And Amelia,” Viv called out,Amelia turned backwards. " Be careful,” she said briefly. Amelia nodded.

Amelia had just sent the Orlando file to Marcus Webb,she sent the file after she found the third irregularity buried

On a footnote of page forty one of the annual disclosure. She sat back in her chair and looked at everything she had built across her two monitors feeling the satisfaction of what she had just unfolded.

She typed the email and sent it. Her office phone rang,she stared at it, and picked it up.

“Rossi..,my office,now" the voice said and cut.

Amelia smoothened her jacket with both hands and went.

The fourteenth floor looked like a place where work happened,while the fortieth floor looked like a place where decisions were made.

One light was on at the far end of the corridor, Amelia walked towards it.

Chad Henderson's office was the entire northeast corner of the building.

Chad Henderson was standing at the window with his back to her,his jacket off,his sleeves rolled to the forearm. His hand clasped behind his back.

Amelia stopped in the middle of the room and did not announce herself because to her, she had been summoned.

The air in the office smelled like expensive wood.

“Three irregularities" he said.

“Yes," she replied.

“My senior team ran that file two weeks ago and they found one"

" The revenue recognition timing,” Amelia said

“It's the most visible and also the least dangerous.”

Chad turned around.

Amelia had thought she had a reasonable picture of him by now, but she was wrong, seeing him in his own space, his jacket off,it rearranged the picture entirely.

Chad looked at her across the office, those ice blue eyes stared at her.

“Sit down," Chad said.

" I'm fine standing” she replied

Something shifted in his expression,he looked more interested in her.

He walked to his desk,pulled up something on his monitor and turned the screen towards her.

“Walk me through it, all three of them"

She began walking him through it.

Standing on her side of his desk, her hands crossed,her eyes were on the screen.

She started with the revenue recognised. She explained it,Chad listened,he was completely still, completely focused. He just watched her and listened, she had the unsettling feeling of being genuinely heard by someone for the first time in a professional setting.

" Second one" he said, after she finished

She moved to the liability they have been rolling for some time.

She pulled out the relevant section and walked him through the pattern,how it had been structured to look like a standard deferral on surface reading. Chad leaned slightly,his forearm on the desk and his eyes on the screen.

“These things are not incompetence," he said.

" No, they are deliberate,” she replied.

He looked up at her,leaning forward,the way he stared at her was different from every other time he had looked at her. She felt the way he looked at her. She immediately fled away from it,not thinking too much.

“How about the third one?" He said,his voice had dropped slightly.

Amelia told him about the footnote on page forty one. Amelia watched his face as she explained it,she explained the specific buried language,the way it had been worded to be technically accurate.

Amelia had watched him since,Chad didn't look surprised.

He leaned backwards at his chair with one arm on his chin.

" How long did it take you to figure this out?” Chad asked.

" For the last one,it took just three hours,” she replied.

Chad looked at her with his arms crossed now.

" You didn't go to school for this,did you?” Chad asked

“I went to school for finance" she said

“You don't say…..” Chad muttered slowly.

“You can go,” he said again.

Amelia picked up her bag and walked out.

She made it to the elevator and took a deep breath that she had been holding.

She pressed the button to the elevator and the door opened.

Victor Hale was already inside the elevator,he stepped out and took a glance at Amelia. He looked at her with an eye of recognition. Amelia entered the elevator,Victor walked down towards Chad's office,his steps were calculated,walked with precision. Victor reached Chad's office, Chad was now standing with his hands behind his back.

“You sent for me,sire?”

Chad turned and glared at Victor.

“Keep an eye on Amelia. There is more to her that meets the eye" Chad said with authority.