Iced Over

Chapter 2

GWEN

Time doesn’t heal wounds. It just teaches you how to live with them.

“All I want is us meeting our objective ROI. Every other thing is s**t to me!”

I levelled a stare at the man standing before me. Bulging eyes with an insidious glint in them, and a suit that had clearly spent too long in his closet.

“Mr. Baron,” our branch manager tried to diffuse the situation. “You have to understand. There are several factors at play here. With the athletes in question being considered—”

“I don’t give a bloody damn!”

He slammed his hand on the desk hard, making nearly everybody stiffen. I didn’t flinch. Not even when his glare locked onto me.

He turned back to the branch manager. “This is a business. I don’t need possibilities or hearsay ‘factors’. If you can’t guarantee the results I need, then there’s no bloody point in an investment.”

The branch manager was starting to look pale. I wouldn’t quite blame her for it. The room was filled with high-level executives from various subsidiaries.

Ours was brand-focused, and as such, interacting with these groups was paramount to our growth.

Mr. Baron turned to one of his associates, lips curled into a snarl. “Are you sure we made the right choice working with them?”

My grip on the pen tightened. If only these “executives” weren’t hell-bent on suffocating the room with their alpha pheromones. I cast one last glance at the branch manager who looked about ready to melt into a puddle of her own sweat.

There was no need to butt in.

“Seriously, this is utterly ridiculous.”

After all, I was just staff.

“You’d think it’s a f*****g daycare with how inefficient this group is.”

“With all due respect sir,” My lips were moving before I could hold them back. “The ROI shouldn’t be a reason for you to suddenly think our integrity shaky.”

Mr. Baron’s eyes snapped to me, and I could see the disinterest growing in them. He thought me nothing but irrelevant.

“The business plan agreed upon during our first contraction process outlined projected ROI across multiple timelines, along with contingencies and measures to address them.” I continued smoothly. “Rest assured everything will go according to plan.”

“You sound so confident on the matter.” One of Baron’s associates spoke before he could. “Are we to just blindly go with you on the mere basis of confidence?”

I smiled. “I wouldn’t expect you to do that. As Mr. Baron said, this is business after all. If in doubt, we can always bank on statistics. And our company’s proven record of success should be all the reassurance you need.”

Slowly, my gaze slipped to Mr. Baron. Deep splotches of pink dotted his face and tinged his ears. If he had more to say, the will to do so had already been swallowed.

I turned to the branch manager, briefly catching the ‘nice’ she mumbled. A small nod was enough response and in the next second, we delved back to discussing quarterly expectations.

Like the earlier tension had never even happened.

.

.

.

As soon as the last of the high executives left the room, I let out the small breath I didn’t know I’d been holding.

“You outdid yourself once again.” The branch manager, Veronica, sent me a smile.

I chuckled, packing up the documents and stationeries before me. “Just doing my job, Ronnie.”

“Oh, don’t be so modest.” She clicked her tongue, glaring at the door they’d left through. “They were right about ready to chew me out thoroughly.”

Her gaze turned to me. “What would I do without you?”

I returned her smile, letting her hand rest on my shoulder as we left the conference room. Something warm bloomed in my chest, but I fought it down quietly.

Six months.

I’d arrived in Ashford six months ago with absolutely nothing to my name. The memory twisted dully at my chest. I’d only managed to escape by hitching a ride on a stranger’s truck, putting as much distance as possible between me and that mansion.

I had spent months fearing for my life. I’d expected them to track me somehow. They had been obsessive when they loved me. And as much as that had been endearing, I knew the lengths they could go if the situation demanded it.

“I’ll see you later then.” I bid Veronica bye with a wave and settled back in my desk.

But it had already been six months. If they were going to do something, they would have done it.

While I went through the minutes of the meeting, the suit jacket hiked up a little and a faint scar peeked out.

I ignored the dull twist again and simply pulled it down.

That part of my life was over. Everything. The hurt, the pain, and even the things I’d lost. All that mattered was building something new. Something I’d be proud to call mine…

“Gwen.”

I looked up to find one of my coworkers staring. “The boss wants to see you.”

“Alright.”

Every last one of those memories was pushed down as I made my way to the director’s office. It was all irrelevant. I was a new woman.

“Effective tomorrow, you’ll be stationed at Frostbite Arena.”

I blinked, unable to believe my ears. “Excuse me?”

The man fixed a hard stare at me. “You heard me. While this may come as unexpected to you, this has nothing to do with your performance. I’ve heard how efficient you are and thought of no one else for the job but you.”

It was hard not to feel conflicted at his words. I forced down the discomfort and tried to remain neutral.

“So, what would I be doing at…Frostbite?”

He pushed a paper towards me. I picked it up, immediately sighting my name printed out in bold, along with some other corporate jargon.

“As soon as you’ve settled the contract dispute, arrangements will be made for you to come back to Huntley Corp.”

My gaze remained on the paper. It looked clear as day. And yet, something didn’t feel right.

Detach. Don’t feel.

I pushed down the discomfort once again and turned to my boss. If this was what he wanted from me, then I would deliver as I had always done till now.

“I won’t disappoint you.”