The Executive Consultant (2 page)

When we got into the car, I was already half drunk and ready for
my bed. We were due to go to the
Keep It
Real
bar with some of the other graduates but I wasn’t in the mood. My
night had been ruined. It felt so surreal that this morning I was feeling on top
of the world knowing I was about to graduate. Somewhere between then and now
that feeling had vanished.

I sat and watched as Mark moved from one girl to another,
flirting up a storm. Finally he made his way over to me. Oh wow! He finally
remembered I was here after all.

"Babe, come and sing for us." He dragged me by the
hand and led me to stage, demanding I sing ‘Love Shack’ by the B-52’s.

“No, Mark. You never asked me.” I struggled to get away from him
as he led me through the crowd.

“Don’t be so miserable,” he whispered as he lifted my arms up. I
was tired and feeling very frustrated by the turn of events. He had never even
thought about going ahead with the wedding ever since he took me to Venice and
got down on one knee and proposed last year. I thought as soon as I had
finished my degree we would be getting married. I would ask him about a date;
each and every time he changed the subject. Now here he was on the best day of
my life, and the only reason he spoke about setting a date tonight was because my
parents had said they were going to give us the business. He had said it would
finalize things. Does marriage finalize a business contract? I’ve studied
finance long enough to know that’s far from true.

“I don’t want to sing!” I said as the intro to the music
started. He looked at me with murder in his eyes and waved for Erin and Anne to
come on stage. Erin jumped on the stage like a grasshopper. My fears of what
was really going on was confirmed as they wrapped their arms around each other
and completely ignored me.

Anne took my microphone and started to swing her hips from left
to right. It was clear that I was being ignored. I couldn’t breathe or take
this behavior any longer. I stormed off the stage. As I turned my back, I saw
both women, side-by-side, dancing with my future husband.

I ran to the bathroom and found a cubicle, breaking down into
sobs. I sobbed, because I was drunk, confused and I felt lonely. I wanted
reassurance of my relationship with Mark. I was panicking, because for the
first time in the last two years, I felt like something was wrong.

“Lea, you in here?” Anne knocked on my cubicle. I kept quiet, I
didn’t need or want her or anyone else bothering me. She was Erin’s friend. She
would defend her to the very end. I couldn’t have that. I didn’t need that
right now.

“Lea, I can see your shoes. Come out. You’re just sitting on the
toilet.”

I looked under the cubicle door to figure out how she knew that.
Sure, enough I was sitting on it. My jeans felt tight, because it was too hot
in the bar with all the people. The place was packed and I was suffering.

“Lea,” she commanded. I had the feeling that if I never came out
then she would break down the door. She sounded pissed, which was exactly how I
was feeling when I opened the door.

“What?” I screeched as I made my way to the mirror and saw my
mascara had completely run down my cheeks. Black streaks were on my face. My
auburn hair looked like a bird's nest. I felt drained and tired and out of
nowhere Anne hugged me.

She stroked my back like a mother would do a child and said,
“Take some deep breaths. It’s Okay.”

“No, no, it’s far from okay. Mark doesn’t love me.”

She pushed me back and stared directly into my eyes.

"A hobo wouldn’t love you now looking the way you do.”

Strangely enough, it was the comfort I needed. She helped me
wash my face and the woman that I had tolerated during my course had become my
alliance for the night. She told me about the fact she thought I was stuck up
when she first met me. I had had on a red shift dress and business jacket and I
had a stuck up air about me. I told her that I did that, because she knew
everything about her modules. She had never struggled with her courses; she
studied and passed like she had never stumbled on a problem.

“I wished I was you – had your brains-" I confessed as she
took my hand and led me out of the bathroom. She handed me over to Mark when we
got out and told him that he needed to take me home; I needed some TLC.
 
Mark sulked at the revelation. He wasn’t
happy and he said his goodbyes to
my
friends
like they were his best friends in life and he was going home with the ugly
sister.

“Bye, Anne.”

“Bye,” she said as she gave me a kiss on the forehead. It was
the sweetest kiss I had ever experienced from a friend, because it was genuine
and full of love.

We were both a little buzzed so we took a cab home and helped
each other into the apartment. Neither of us spoke. Both of us were wasted and
didn’t feel like talking. I was wondering what was going on in his mind, but as
soon as we got in, he pushed me against the door like a rag doll. Then, he
started to roughly handle me.

I was confused; I didn’t know if I was enjoying it or not. I
loved the attention, but then it felt a few hours too late. He ripped off my
shirt and with my breasts exposed he pulled my bra straps down and started to
fondle my breasts. I wanted him as much as he wanted me and quickly took of my
shoes and underwear. He wasted no time in pulling down his pants and thrusting
inside of me. My legs enveloped him, but as he thrust harder and harder pumping
me like a piece of meat, I started to get scared.

“Mark, stop!”

He ignored me. Instead he thrust harder and harder. My pants of
desire became frightened whimpers. I was terrified. The more I asked him to
stop, the more he seemed to continue harder. I started beating my fists down on
him and it was only then that he realized what he was doing, he looked at me
bewildered like his mind was somewhere else. He had never, ever been like that.
My legs flopped to the ground and continued to shake. Why was he like that?
What was really going on? I wanted to ask him, but before I even got the chance
he was gone. I stood there like an unwanted toy, stranded and unloved.

I picked my things and went to the bedroom. When I got there I
realized he was passed out on the bed. Drunk! That was why he had reacted the
way he did. He was so far gone, he did not even realize what he was doing.

I gave him a kiss on the forehead, showered and jumped in bed. I
felt relieved. Up until a few minutes ago, I had thought he was trying to rape
me because he was frustrated and wanted to be with someone else. Now I realized
that the events of the day had taken its toll on not only me, but on him as
well.

***

I had the strangest dream while I was sleeping. I dreamt that
Mark had gotten up and had started talking to someone. He was reassuring them
that he never had sex with me. I must have been dreaming, because when I got up
in the morning he was gone. He left a note by my bedside, saying that he had a
shift at the hospital. I thought that was a bit strange, because he had not
mentioned it before. He had kept saying that he could drink like there was no
tomorrow, because he did not have to be at work until Monday. I called him at
the hospital to find out what was going on. I could have called his cell, but
the hospital was being really strict about those things lately. There had been
too many cases of malfunctioning equipment and they were not sure what was
causing it, hence the restriction on all things electronic.

“Hey,” I said, still a bit sleepy and lapsing into a bad
hangover.

“Is this important? Did you not see my note?”

Wow, that was a bit brash. His harsh words woke me up.

“Yes, I saw it. I just thought you weren’t supposed to be at the
hospital for another few days. So I was surprised. That's all.”

“So, you called to check?” he blurted out.

I regretted calling; this conversation, wasn’t going anywhere.
What time did he leave? A glance at the clock showed it was midday. We had come
back around two. He must have left pretty early.

“Are you still drunk?” he shouted out as if I was a child. I
felt the tears come to my eyes but I held them back. He was really going over
the top these days. I needed to get to the bottom of it and I needed to do so now.

“What’s up with you lately, Mark? First you ignore me at my
celebration last night and then you come home and practically rape me?”

“What are you on about? Look - shower, get dressed, call a
friend or something and then go make yourself feel better. You’re talking
crazy,” he sighed as he impatiently waited for a response. I could hear him
drumming his fingers on the table or wherever they had paged him to take the
call.

“What time are you coming home?”

 
“Late. I need to go.”
Then he slammed the phone down on me.

I felt so low. I hugged the pillow and lay on the bed for a
little while longer, trying to process everything. Yesterday I had graduated
and my life was a bed of roses. I had had a gorgeous young doctor by my side.
Now I had a monster who seemed to be a gold digger and only after my parents'
money. Did I miss something? I mean, where did it all go wrong?

I kept questioning myself until sleep got the better of me. I
took a short nap and woke up at one. I jumped up and got into the shower. I was
going to take his advice after all. I was going to get dressed and go
somewhere, anywhere, as long as I would not be in bed feeling sorry for myself.

I called Erin to find out what she was up to on this bright
Saturday afternoon. The weather was good and a great reason to go out for a
drink and enjoy the day. But then again, with all the drinking I did last
night, I would have to minimize it to only a couple of glasses of wine.

“Hey.”

“Oh, Lea!” she answered, surprised at my voice.

I frowned. She had caller id on her cell so she must have known
that it was me.

“Shoot, did I wake you up?” I wondered if she was suffering like
me and had slept in as well.

“No, I’m up,” she said abruptly.

"Okay. It's just that you sounded a bit weird."

She cut me off abruptly.

“I’m out actually.”

My ears picked up something in her background. Something felt
weird. I thought I heard a waiter talk to a guy and that guy sounded so much
like Mark.

“On a date?” I asked teasing, because now I knew my paranoia was
going overtime.

“Sort of. Look Lea,”
Why
does she keep saying my name? “
I need to go. I'm being a bit rude right
now. Laters.”

“Laters,” I said to myself
.
She had not even given me time to reply. She just hung up the phone.
Everyone was acting weird today. First Mark and now Erin. It was as if no one
wanted to be with me or have anything to do with me anymore.

I felt deflated. I looked out of the window and wondered if mom
and dad were still around. Then, I remembered them saying yesterday that they
would drive back home. They had stuff to sort out. Especially with their early
retirement. I was still not keen on the idea, especially with the way Mark was
behaving. It was more than weird. It was damn weird. My cell rang and the
caller ID showed that it was Anne.

"Hey! What's up?"

"Hi, girl. Just checking up on you. You want come over and
hand out for a bit?"

“Sure, Anne I’ll come to your place. We can go to XX right next
to Central Park and go for a walk.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

As I hung up I felt a little better. At least someone wanted to
know me today. I decided to change my clothes. I put on my green summer dress
with heels. My hoped were realized as I felt my spirits lift. Something had to
make me feel better; everything was just too weird.

Murray Hill was a bit of a distance from West 79th Street. The
Boat Basin Cafe
was one of the coolest
places to hang out by the dock, especially during the summer. Groups of
friends, lovers, work colleagues and just about any type of mixing under the
sun, went on there at this time of year. Everyone wanted to catch a drink or a
bite to eat in one of the most scenic places in New York. There weren't many of
them, especially by the river. The only problem was, like everything else in
NY, it came at a price.

I stopped a taxi and rushed down to the dock. It was busy which
did not surprise me. It certainly looked like all the tables were full, but
then Anne waved me to come over.

"Wow! You got here pretty fast from the Lower East
Side," I blurted out as I tried to get my breath back from running to the
table.

"Silly, I wasn't at home. I was here. I met some friends
earlier and they left. I didn't feel like leaving so I called you."

My phone rang and I reluctantly took it out of my purse. I was a
little worried that it was Mark calling to tell me that he had something else
to shout at me for. I sighed as I spoke.

“Hello.”

“Hello, is this Lea Brady?”

Oh, who is
this? I don’t recognize the voice.

 
The person had called me
by my first and second name so I thought it was some kind of joke.

“Yes, yes it is. Do you have my winning lottery number?” I
screamed at the phone, thinking that this mysterious voice would leave me alone
and not bother me again.

“No. Is this Lea Brady?”

Didn’t I just tell her that she was right. Why was she asking me
silly questions?

“It’s about your application with Gate Industries. We would like
to interview you.”

Of course! Who else would call me about a COO position from one
of the leading financial firms on a Saturday afternoon? I laughed out loud and
then she called my bluff.

“I can assure you that this is no joke. My name is Rachel White.
I’m the secretary of the CEO, Simon Gates. This is a bit unconventional being a
Saturday and all but we would like to interview you today.”

I held my hand up to the phone, so she would not hear as I
repeated the conversation to Anne. She whispered, “Go for it.”

Sure, go for it. But it was not that easy. Before yesterday it
was, but today was another story. My parents were handing over their company to
me and were expecting me to take over. Any dream I had of working with Gate
Industries felt pointless at the moment.

"But, that's in Chambers Street. I'm nowhere near there. I
need to go home and change -"

Seriously, who calls someone for an interview the same day? I had
sent my application in weeks ago. Right now I was still hung over, had already
had a glass of wine
plus
it was
Saturday. And they called today for an interview?

"We're sorry that we called so late, but the CEO is leaving
tomorrow to go to China for a couple of weeks and would like to see you before
he leaves. We would have called yesterday but realized that you would have been
otherwise occupied. The interview is for the Management Trainee position."

I hid the disappointment in my voice. I had not applied for that
position. I had specifically wanted the COO position. I wanted the experience
in being able to run a company as that had been the whole point of me going for
my master's degree.

"Are you going?" Anne whispered across the table. I
shrugged nonchalantly.

"Say, Yes."

I sighed as I confirmed that I would come in for the interview.
Miss White gave me the details before hanging up. I wondered how quickly I
would be able to sober up before I got there. If I ordered a coke or a coffee
it would take the waiters too long to bring it. I had no choice; I had to get
going. I gave Anne a quick kiss and hug, leaving her with a few dollars for the
bill. This place was pricey so it was only fair.

I grabbed a coke from the drink stand and rushed out to grab a
taxi. As I headed towards Gate Industries I was as nervous as hell. I started
day dreaming about getting the job and telling Mark to stuff my parents' offer
of taking over the company. I wondered what he would say about that and if he
would start paying more attention to me once again.
 

***

I was shaking like a leaf as the security guard opened the glass
doors leading to the foyer of Gate Industries. Obviously he had been told to
watch out for me. I had only ever worked in one other office in Manhattan, but
had always dreamt about getting into their internship program and then I had
been rejected. I never expected an interview here. I had hoped, but had never
thought in a million years that it would happen.

I was directed to go twentieth floor where the CEO was waiting
for me. I was shocked that for a company of this size my interview would be
conducted by the man himself. This made me even more nervous. I tried to
straighten out my dress. It was low cut and my breasts were on full display.
This did not feel right. No one goes to an interview unprepared like this. It
was a stroke of luck that I had decided to dress up. It could have been worse:
I could have been wearing my jeans and a shirt. If that had been the case I
would have definitely said no.

"Good afternoon, Ms. Brady." A woman who was obviously
Miss White greeted me as soon as I exited the elevator. Her reception desk was
practically facing it, which surprised me.

"You sit here?" I blurted out.

Oh no! I had really thought I had sobered up. Now I could see
that it was so far from being the case. I used my hand to cover my mouth
thinking that if this was the way the interview was going to be it was bound to
be a complete disaster.

"No, not at all." She shook her head and motioned for
me to follow her. I walked behind her like a little puppy.

"We have a limited staff on the weekend, especially when we
have special projects." She smiled and moved a strand of her blond hair
behind her ear. She had piercing blue eyes that tended to shine as she spoke,
"As I said on the phone, this is an unusual case. But we needed you to
come in today."

I was so busy admiring her physique and pale grey suit that I
did not realize that we had walked into an office. The view of Manhattan was
breathtaking as I looked towards the window to see two very dashing men
standing there.

Rachel walked towards the two men, attempting to grab their
attention while at the same time trying to introduce them.

"This is Steven Lacy. He's the Executive Consultant. This
is our CEO aka my boss, Nathan Gate."

My mouth almost fell open. I could not believe that I was in the
presence of the infamous Nathan Gate. I began to feel a strange warmth and my
mouth went dry. I felt hot standing in front of them and my nipples gladly
displayed their joy at being in the presence of two such fine specimen. Nathan
Gate was even more dashing in person than the pictures I had seen in Forbes
magazine. Those pictures simply did not do him any justice.

"Ms. Brady are you Okay?" Miss White practically
shouted in my ear.

I shook my head, trying to regain a measure of consciousness.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

I was ushered to a seat in front of the huge desk and sank into
it gratefully.

As I sat down both gentlemen took their seat across from me
while Miss White took a seat to the side. Both gentlemen conducted the most
unusual interview in which I had ever been engaged. They spoke about the
characteristics needed in order to fulfill the role as Management Trainee. Mr.
Gate apologized for not considering me for the role as the COO, but explained
that it was simply due to my lack of experience in running companies. In
hindsight I realized that it was fair enough. After all, Rome was not built in
a day. I learned that Steven had only been with the company for four weeks. He
had been hired to help make the administration of the company more efficient so
that they could become more profitable.

Nathan wanted a Management Trainee to work with Steven and
shadow the Executive Consultant during the process so that he/she could
transition into that role. This was where I came into the picture.

"Do you think that is something that you could do?"
Steven looked at me directly and I then realized that at last they wanted me to
say something.
 

As I spoke I agreed to all that they had said and made sure to
sell my skill-sets. I tried to remain confident, determined and more
importantly sober. It was the most informal interview that I had ever had, or
maybe it appeared to be so because of my still slightly inebriated state.

I found also that I could not keep my eyes off Nathan. I blamed
it on the lack of attention from Mark. I didn't usually pay attention to any
other man.

Nathan stood up and reached across the desk to shake my hand.

"Welcome on board."

"Is that it?" I blurted out.

"Well, considering that I should have been on a plane this
morning, and I'm actually leaving here to go straight to the airport, I do
believe we're done. Rachel will give you the full details when you come in on
Monday."

I tried to remain as professional as I could as Rachel told me
about coming back on Monday in order to go through everything in detail. Before
I knew it, I was being ushered out of the building. I covered my mouth to stop
myself from screaming until I was far from the building. Once I got outside, I
called my mom and told her the good news. She was ecstatic. I tried to do the
same with Mark, thinking he would be home by now. He never picked up, so, I
called Anne. She was still at the café and had met some new friends and
insisted I join her to celebrate. How could I say no! I had just landed myself
a job at one of the hottest and quite possibly most desirable companies in the
city. Nothing could go wrong.