Page 22 of Nothing to You
Her smile was smug.“No,” she said, dropping into the chair at the head of the conference table.“I’ll win because I’m right.”
No one responded because they were all fixated on the glass wall behind her.What was so fascinating?She turned her chair and—
Hotshot.
Of course.He and a stream of his entourage departed the elevator to cross the executive floor.Most everyone in the vast glass space was gawping or whispering.She rolled her eyes.At least now his gargantuan ego was making more sense.
“Am I the only one working here?”she asked.
“My God, he is ridiculously hot,” Helena murmured, maybe to herself, but it startled everyone else.Her colleague blushed.“Sorry.”
“Okay, let’s get back to it,” she said, yanking the chair beneath her toward the table.
“Oh my God, is he coming this way?”Franco exclaimed.“Shit.”
Not very professional, Franco, but he was right.Rourke’s people funneled up the stairs into the bottleneck between their conference room and another.He rounded the curve of the transparent wall and Myles was there to open the door.
Rourke strode in like he owned the place.But, uh… okay.
“Sir, it’s an honor to have you here,” Johann said.
Rourke came straight to her.“Get up.”
She didn’t evenlookup.“Kiss my ass.”
“Not with an audience,” Rourke said and turned his back on her.“What’s the disagreement?”
“How do you know there’s a disagreement?”
“Radley’s in the room,” Rourke said, blocking her view of the others.Rude much?She’d told him to kiss her ass, so, yeah, maybe the slight was allowed.“What’s the argument?”
Johann inhaled.“Sir, I believe it’s important that each individual who wants to use Huddle Hope services undergo examination by a medical professional.”
Rourke rocked back on his heels.“I don’t even have to look at Radley to know she didn’t go for that.Let me guess, here’s her argument, it’s cost prohibitive, no, that wouldn’t be her first argument.Her first argument is it’s impossible to get two doctors to agree on anything.That no one doctor in a single meeting can successfully diagnose a person’s feelings and slot them into a clean, neat box.It’s also a barrier that may prevent users from joining.And, if that’s not enough, it could get litigious.We are not and never will be a substitute for medical advice or treatment.What if we don’t let in someone who needs Huddle Hope and something happens to them?Are we letting in more of one demographic or another?Are we favoring or prejudicing ourselves with particular brackets of patients—wait, she wouldn’t call them patients.”
“Clients,” she muttered behind him.
“Clients,” he said like she hadn’t just fed him the word though everyone else would’ve heard.“That’s before you get to the agoraphobics and imposter syndrome.Who believes they deserve the time of another person or not?Do we set up facilities for these appointments?And if we do, are we like any other healthcare provider?We’re not running a hospital, we’re a safe space, a safety net and all are welcome.”His head moved a little her way.“How am I doing so far?”
“Dial down the arrogance and you’d be pretty close.”
“You can be damn haughty yourself, Radley.”He didn’t turn, just marched toward the door.“As you were.”
“Mr.Rourke…” Johann said.
Myles opened the door again.
Rourke spun to address everyone.“Until future notice, Radley’s in charge.”
The phone in his inner pocket buzzed.
Johann sputtered.“You agree with her?”
“Hardly ever,” Rourke said, fishing his phone from his pocket.“But her rack is better than yours.”He raised the phone to his ear.“Speak.”
And out he marched.
Before the door was fully closed, she was on her feet.“Excuse me.”
