"Hey, Adam, do you have a minute?" Director of Engineering & Infrastructure Beechwood tapped on Adam's office door as he entered.
"Director Beechwood. Yes, of course, come in. As you saw, Sector C is coming along—"
"Yes… yes, it is. You've done a fantastic job. And the fact you've managed to keep construction under budget too—" Director Beechwood pulled out a chair from the formal lounge area in the corner of Adam's office and motioned for Adam to sit with him.
"It's been my primary focus these last two quarters. I saw that costs were creeping up, so I—"
"Let me cut to the chase, Adam…" Adam recoiled at hearing this for the second time that morning.
"…Are you okay? We've worked together for, what, eighteen years now? I can tell when something's up. You earned your spot, but, three years working the same project, one of this scale...I know how important this is to you, personally. But if the pressure is getting too much..."
Adam locked eyes with Director Beechwood. His performance during the meeting had been near flawless, but he realised something must have leaked through. Before Adam could respond, Director Beechwood asked a follow-up question.
"I believe you got a visit from Apex this morning? Not like you to schedule a trivial appointment before such an important meeting. What was it about?"
Adam froze. He didn't know what to do, what to say, how to act, or how to feel. "I did. How did you hear about that?" Adam tried to conceal the contempt in his voice.
"Marie told me. She was concerned about you. Said she felt guilty about letting you down. How she had missed an important appointment and wanted to apologise personally ahead of time if you were off your game at all."
"Marie… of course… Yeah, Smith. Alan Smith. A contractor for Apex. I'd asked him to look into some things for me, just about an idea I had for the security drones at Sector C, now that CILLA's infrastructure is fully online on the site. There was nothing—"
"Oh. So it was about Sector C. When Marie said Apex wanted to discuss the new site I thought it was odd, as they have nothing to do with it. But that explains it. But then, in the meeting I saw your hand, Adam. The thing. I've not seen you do that for years. Not since before you, well, probably before you even got married."
Adam squeezed his thigh tightly, then placed both hands on the desk.
"Yeah… you know me, I like to be prepared for everything. But, you're right, I think the pressure of things coming together now...everything is picking up pace and becoming both more real and more complex at the same time. As for what Marie said, that's...really....kind of her. She didn't need to take the fall like that. It really wasn't her fault. Actually, I'd accepted the meeting by accident, I just didn't realise until this morning and. Well. Maybe I took it out on her. I think I yelled a bit. I'll speak to Marie later, make sure she's ok."
Beechwood rolled his eyes and grinned.
"You're a good man, Adam. You take care of your staff, and for that, they always want to take care of you. It's important to always remember where we came from, no matter how high up we rise." Beechwood sat, with a beaming smile across his face, nodding knowingly at Adam.
"Thanks, Kevin. Honestly. It means a lot. And in the eighteen years we've worked together, I think that's the first compliment you've ever given me."
The pair burst into laughter. Once they had calmed, Director Beechwood nodded at Adam, tapped his knuckles on the desk, and stood to walk out of the office. Adam stood too, walking around his desk and following the Engineering Director to the door.
Adam shoved the door shut as quickly as he could. He turned and pressed his back against the wood, his head arching back to meet the door. He clenched his fists. He squeezed every muscle in his body so hard that he turned purple. After nearly passing out, Adam grabbed his forehead as pain shot through his head, worse now than it had been when he arrived at the office.
Marie attempted to open the office door, but Adam was still leaning against it. The pressure dislodged him. He spun round and opened the door to Marie, who was balancing a pair of drinks and biscuits.
"Oh, Mr Ashworth, you gave me a fright!" Marie said as she nearly dropped the tray.
"Sorry, Marie. I need to… cancel the rest of my appointments for the day. Something's come up—"
"Oh, I didn't see anything come in, Mr Ash—"
"For fuck's sake, Marie, just do as you're fucking told for once…."
Adam realised he just snapped at the woman for no reason. He paused a moment and then sighed.
"Marie…"
Adam looked at his secretary, who hadn't even flinched at the outburst.
"I'm… I need to go. I thought I told you to take the rest of the day off, anyway? Just… go home. Say 'hi' to your kids for me."
Adam grabbed his suit jacket and phone and made his way out of the office swiftly.