Never Just Friends (Spotlight New Adult Book 2) (12 page)

Lucien was late for the meeting.

He had another one right before, already meaning a tight five-minute walk from one meeting room to another, as it was. Jake was, at present, the only Caine Foundation representative. Five other people were around the table with him: two from the Swedish bank, two from the partnership of environment ministries.

And then there was one guy, Frank, from the firm that handled the project on the ground in Borneo. His presence there surprised Jake, but he tried to keep the poker face on and nodded. Mentally he panicked, scrolling his memory for the guy’s name, and then eventually the annual report, while they were waiting for Lucien. It was like he got surprised with a quiz.

“Mr. Berkeley, do you know if Lucien will make it before the hour is up?” one of the bank guys asked him.

“Definitely,” he lied. Lucien barely spoke to him, much less updated him on the schedule.

“We should start anyway,” Frank said, “since we implemented this. I can answer any questions you might have.”

Jake had been to three other meetings like this one. They were all alike, boring even, in the way that a certain kind of professional decorum was expected and enforced. People shook hands, kept their voices level, took notes. Also, they started only when the person who called the meeting was present. He wasn’t sure if time was an issue, because Lucien really was late, but it still felt like something was going on.

So the meeting started. The woman from the ministries, Rosa Liski, got on it immediately. Said right away that they read the report, and while the modest goal seemed to have been reached, the problems that came with it seemed to overshadow most of the actual work.

“Yes, we definitely could have used more support,” Frank said.

“In what way?” he was asked, by a bank guy.

“Streamlined access to the funds. Faster response time.”

Jake straightened up in his seat. “From Caine Foundation, you mean?”

They weren’t expecting him to speak. They were aware of him, of course, from the opening remarks, that he was the actor mascot.

“Yes, from Caine,” Frank said. “Which can be very bureaucratic. Sadly the paperwork and insistence on inefficient processing led us to...do what we could, to get results.”

“So you’re saying that the process of receiving the funds from Caine caused the problems? Because that’s not what the report says,” Bank Guy followed up.

“Caine Foundation wrote the report,” Frank said. “Of course it wouldn’t say that. But all of the snags can be explained by a delayed access to funds.”

“No,” Jake heard himself say. “The independent evaluator wrote that report.”

“Excuse me?” the woman representing the ministries said.

“The report. Borneo reforestation final report and recommendations. Caine Foundation commissioned it but it was authored by the independent firm that evaluated the project on the ground.”

“Yes, we’re aware of that,” the other guy from the ministries said. “That doesn’t excuse the lapses in judgment identified here.”

“Caine Foundation took longer than usual to process and release funds because documents submitted by Frank’s firm here were suspect.”

Like college all over again, he told himself. Where was Lucien? If the man didn’t show up soon Jake could end up demolishing more than just this meeting. But he was a ball and he was rolling, and he was gaining momentum.

“I object to that,” Frank said sternly. The guy was old enough to be Jake’s dad but he wasn’t that much bigger. The change in tone, if meant to put Jake in his place, was only going to fire him up. “The report doesn’t contain any of that, and we wouldn’t even. I don’t even want to dignify that.”

“It’s not in the report because it’s in Caine Foundation’s own evaluation,” Jake said. “I’ve read it. The paperwork you’re complaining about is there because they want safeguards in place, so funds released don’t get misused. Your firm repeatedly submitted expense items for consultants lacking credentials, requesting junkets and travel for more people than necessary. The delay was in Caine doing their due diligence, asking for proper justification for these expenses.”

The other guy from the bank nodded. “We’ve reminded Lucien about this.”

“I take offense to this ambush, from someone who isn’t even fit to represent the project,” Frank spat out.

“That might be true,” Jake said, “but I’m not saying anything that Lucien wouldn’t confirm, if he were here. And sorry, Mr. Frank Epps, but your name is nowhere in the reports I’ve read. And I’ve read them all. I thought Ms. Mancuso would be here, if anyone were to represent your firm.”

“You started with them early this year, is that right, Frank?” Ms. Liski said. “You transferred from doing fund management.”

“It’s because Ms. Mancuso has moved on to other things,” Frank said. “And I’ve taken this on now.”

“There you go then,” Jake leaned back, addressing the others. “This is the situation. This could have been handled better by everyone, from the firm spending the money to the firm trying to guard the same money. The project is over, and you’re all deciding now what to do next, and of course some changes need to be made here.”

Ms. Liski smiled, but it wasn’t at all patronizing. “It’s interesting how passionate you feel about this, Mr. Berkeley. We do think that we should continue to earmark funds for reforestation. This has not been the best example of how to do it though.”

“I’m not going to tell you how to do it,” Jake said, “But you can look at how this plays out on paper, and it’s obvious to me that your money is safer with the people who play by the rules.”

“Or we can go with a different fund manager entirely,” the bank guy said.

Jake shrugged. “You decide what’s best. The report recommends three other places where this can be done, hopefully with better controls. So all is not lost.”

He saw when the door behind them opened, and Lucien strode in, unaware of what was happening in the room.

“I apologize,” he said, taking the free seat. “How about we start now?”

Jake smiled at Ms. Liski and pushed his chair back a bit. She actually laughed a little.

“Yes, Lucien,” she said. “You’d be interested to know though what’s been happening while we were waiting for you.”

He had one thing in his pocket, and several things in his metaphorical sleeve.

The thing in his pocket was a keychain, something he picked up on his walk around. When he knew he had a few hours to kill, Krup and everyone else offered to arrange a city tour for him. It looked like a major production though, and he didn’t feel like going on an urban adventure without Lindsay. The convention center seemed to be like its own minor city though. He followed the signs, ended up in a mall, turned out toward the harbor, and circled back. He was recognized by another tourist, and he agreed to a photo. Others looked on curiously, but didn’t follow suit. (Can’t win ‘em all.)

The keychain was a plastic laminated rectangle that contained the symbol for the metro system, but that wasn’t supposed to mean anything, except that he intended to give her a key to the house on Kitsilano, on this keychain.

Last night, after the incident with Victor’s girlfriend, he thought it best not to bring it up. He hadn’t mentioned France either (one of the things up his sleeve). The entire team had agreed to meet for dinner at a noodle house inside the convention center grounds, this being the last day of the conference for them, and he was already there, waiting for her.

When she walked up and saw him, her eyes lit up. Was that it? Was this a good time? The keychain felt heavy in his pocket, but he ignored it.

“So, I heard,” she said, greeting him with a faintly berry-tasting kiss. “Your meeting is now legend.”

“What did you hear?”

“That you gave Frank Epps a smackdown. I heard that he did that for the firm he used to work for, show up and then spread the blame around...anyway. You just might have saved that fund for us, Jake.”

He smiled. “This is what happens when I study.”

“That was amazing, still.”

“You hungry?”

“Oh, not yet.”

“Take a walk with me?”

The days seemed to go faster in this part of the world. He could have sworn the sun was up when he headed to the restaurant, but already night had fallen. The city lights were more than making up for it though, with the convention center almost ablaze, the malls on his side of the harbor glowing, and the buildings across the river competing with the light show. It was a busy evening, and they seemed to be in a touristy part of town. It wasn’t very quiet, but he didn’t really need the quiet.

She was looking out and down the harbor, smiling. “Amazing, isn’t it? We should have extended the trip another day, so you can see more of the city.”

“There’s time to do this again,” Jake said. He pulled her close, his arms going around her waist. “You think there will be time to do this again?”

Lindsay frowned, not understanding. “You mean when will we be back in Hong Kong? I don’t know. I don’t really...”

“Lindsay,” Jake said, “I probably should have told you what my plan was, when I came to New York. I had it all laid out, took months setting it up.”

“It seemed like it,” she said.

“Once I secured the consultant gig at Caine, I’d bring up the idea of being with you. I knew you might be seeing someone else, but I knew you’d at least give it a shot, if I gave you the option of calling it quits when I left.”

“I guess it worked then.”

He nodded. She looked beautiful in this light. In any light, really, but this one made her look magical, like something out of a dream. A beam of light flickered down her neck, for some reason, and he retraced its path with his finger. “And then we would be together. Of course there would be the problem of us living in different countries, but it’s not that difficult; I’d fly to you as often as I can. Next month we’re filming in France. I’d take you, and you can go around enjoying yourself while they put me in hair and makeup and keep me working late into the night. Does that sound like something you’d like to do, Lindsay?”

She was confused. Still smiling, but not sure how to answer. Maybe because the question was wrong, damn it. He was doing this all wrong.

“What I mean,” he said, “is that I want to do all of that with you. I do. But I don’t think you’re ready.”

The energy holding up her smile began to drain from her face. “What?”

“Wait,” and he pulled her even closer, “Please. Don’t misunderstand.”

Her back began to stiffen up, become rigid against his hold. “Say it first before you assume I’m misunderstanding.”

“I think I sprung this on you too soon. It’s too fast for you. It’s not for me, not at all, because I’ve been planning this for a long time. I know I want you. But it looks like you’re not there yet, and I might have to give you time.”

“Give me time?” Not only was she rigid, she was now trembling a little, and he was sure it wasn’t the harbor breeze. “What makes you think that?”

“Lindsay.” He pressed a kiss onto her forehead. “You don’t fully trust me. With your heart. Not yet. If you can even think that I’m reaching out to you out of co-dependence or I’m hung up on Jessica...but it’s not your fault. I understand why you would think that. It’s not like I’ve been around enough. I haven’t done enough to earn it, to earn that trust.”

Her mouth dropped open, but for a second no sound came out. And then she shook her head. “I’m angry.”

“Don’t be.”

“God, I’m getting angry. Because it’s true, Jake. I can’t believe I’m agreeing with you. Yes, damn it, I don’t feel safe with you at all. I feel like I’m a rebound. Worse, that I’m a rebound from your past, that you’re reaching out to because you have no one left. I can’t help but feel that. I can’t get past it. No matter how wonderful you’ve made me feel.”

“Exactly, I’m sorry.”

Her fist curled around his coat and she pulled at it, frustrated. “And I hate how this feels like you’re breaking up with me, and you’re saying ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ because you totally are, and it’s absolutely true.”

He hadn’t counted on this, being the one who would be hurtful. He was ready to receive her rejection, and prepared to take it with grace.

“But it’s not like I invested more time on us, over the years,” she continued. “It’s not like I bothered to do more either. Every time I saw you chasing some other girl I looked away. I kept looking away. I didn’t fight to be with you at all. How can I really love you if I could do that? How can
you
believe I really love you when you know I was with other people? God, if you knew what I was doing with them...what I thought I’d be doing with Victor the day you came to New York...”

Now that he knew what making love to her was like, the thought of her with anyone else hurt. Physically.

“How can you believe I love you, if I could take living without you?” she asked.

“I can’t explain it,” Jake told her. “I just do. But what matters is if you believe it, and you’re not ready to. We can’t do this if you’re not ready.”

“I want to be ready,” she moaned, moving forward, pressing her face against his neck. “I want to believe you. But if I’m just a solution to a crisis for you, and this ends, I won’t have anything left. You know I don’t have that many people, Jake.”