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didn't even think about. The CEO was listed as
attending the meeting, but he was in China. So, how was that possible?
    "How is Nathan going to attend?"
    Steven looked at me as if I was a child.
    "The same way the CFO and CLO will do later, by conference.
Not being in the same country, doesn't mean that we have to cancel meetings.
It's a global company." He said as the doors opened.

 
    I wanted someone to dig a hole and bury me in it. His voice had
been cold with an undercurrent. I sensed that something deeper was going on,
but I could not ask why. I just could not handle anything emotional at the
moment. I needed to keep my head straight and focus on work and only work.
    As we entered the boardroom, I gasped. I could not believe what
was in front of my eyes. I felt like I did not belong here. I know I had
applied for the position of COO position, but being in this room with the
mahogany table, which could seat up to thirty people or more, made me glad I
had not been successful. It was intimidating. There was a wide screen on one
end of the room with views of Manhattan similar to the one from Nathan’s office
on the other side.
    Everyone greeted each other and nodded as if they were in some
secret society. Steven held me close and as I inhaled his cologne I felt lost.
    “The table over there, is where you need to sit.” He pointed as
I was about to sit next to him.
    Another
mistake again, I really need to keep it together.
    Nathan came up on the screen via video-conferencing and the
meeting started. Everyone knew each other and they started discussing the
problems with the company to date. The main focus seemed to be on the operating
procedures. That was Steven's domain and I began to make notes to discuss with
him afterwards. I was completely lost, and at some point, I turned to face the
view, trying to spot as many tourist attractions as I could.
    The meeting dragged for over thirty minutes if not more. I could
not make out the time on the clock on the wall from where I sat and I did not
want to keep looking at my watch. The meeting was scheduled for an hour. I
recalled Nathan saying that the hour was up and due to the time difference he
had to leave and trusted that everything was in hand.
    After he was disconnected, the topic seemed to be around each
everyone's holidays: where they had been or where they wanted to go. No one
seemed to be discussing anything which I felt was relevant to the actual
agenda. It was then that the window became my new best friend. I was seated in
a room full of twenty men. Yep, I had counted them all . Most of them were in their mid-thirties, and a few were a lot
older. Then there was little old me. I felt insignificant.
    When the meeting was over they all stood up. Steven introduced
me to no one and said nothing except, “Come on, let’s go.”
    The nice, friendly guy that I had met seemed to have jumped out
of the window. Why did I have this effect on men? Did I have some sort of curse
or something? I frowned briefly as I realized we were not going up to our
office, but downstairs.
    “Steven, where are we going?" I screeched as he took me
gently by the hand and led me out of the building. He did not answer until we
were outside. It was my second day and yet, I felt like I was on a whirlwind.
    “To talk. As they say walls have ears so I prefer to do this in
the open.”
    Wow, I thought as we went to a little coffee house around the
corner. He seemed more relaxed and the sparkle I saw in his eyes earlier had
returned as we ordered and sat in a corner.
    “So, this is a bit too much. I know you only just started, but
we need to work together on this one.”
    I really did not have a clue what he was talking about. I could
agree and pretend I knew and ask for help, or disagree and eventually he would
tell me what was going on. Lost was not the word to describe how I felt at that
precise moment. I said the one thing that could save me.
    “Break it down for me.”
    “Well, we need to