15 of You

Kat walked into the meeting room with her head lowered. She could feel them staring at her as she made her way behind the CEO and Lyma. The room was silent since the meeting hadn't begun yet.

There was a long wooden table with eight chairs on each side centered in the room. Wolf sat down at the helm of it, facing the projector.

After a few moments of silence, Wolf started tapping his pin on the wooden desk. Whatever they were waiting for seemed to annoy him.

Kat gathered her courage to lift her head up to study the faces in the room. A side of relief almost instantly left her lips as she passed by each face that wasn't Richard's.

She watched Elise walk over to the meeting room door and slowly open it. Her heart sank in her chest.

It was Richard. He came into the room and looked directly at the CEO. He greeted him and apologizes for his tardy arrival. During mid apology, he froze as he saw who stood behind Wolf.

Their eyes connected for a moment before she pried them away and looked back down to the floor. She read something within his facial expression that she immediately recognized. He walked over and sat down two seats to the right of the CEO.

The meeting began.

Wolf could feel the tension in the air between the two rumored lovers. It wasn't the type of tension that you would expect between two people in a relationship. It was more so of two people who hated one another.

Lifting his eyebrow, he peered over at Richard and signaled for him to take his seat. The meeting began with brief updates from the marketing team on their new products that they were launching. Wolf pretended to be occupied with something on his phone, as though he were listening to the meeting, but in actuality, he was staring into the reflection from his phone's screen at the tense woman behind him.

Lyma was jotting away at the meeting notes and he was a little surprised to notice that Kat was as well. Although she obviously wasn't jotting down as much as Lyma was, he noticed that she was taking notes. Every time a number,a time, or date was called out. He watched intently as the pen froze still on the paper at the moment Richard's voice filled the air.

Richard was now standing across the room in front of the podium, giving his presentation as the executive over the marketing team. He caught several glimpses from Richard, looking at Kat across the room as he spoke. Being the very petty person that Wolf was, he motioned for a her to come closer to him.

He placed his hand very lightly on her arm as she leaned towards him, and he whispered his instructions in her ear.

"Take detailed notes about the dates and times so you can add them to my schedule later.

Wolf never took his eyes off of Richard as he whispered it to Kat. Ah, the reaction he had hoped for. He could see the man getting angry as though Wolf was touching something that belonged to him.

Only after he turned his head to look at Kat did he realize just how close the two were. She was looking directly into his eyes. It didn't last long, though, before she broke her gaze from his and pulled her arm away from his touch. Nodding her head to signal that she understood, he watched as she rubbed her arm. It was as though she was trying to erase the feeling.

Likewise, he thought, as he too rubbed his palms together.

Dangerous move. Subtle as it may have been, it was still dangerous.

"Mr. Wolf, do you agree?" Richard asked from across the room towards him. Wolf obviously knew that he was trying to test him, thinking that he wasn't paying attention to the meeting. A fool if he had ever seen one.

"No, I don't agree that this is the best solution. the last few screenshots that you had on the projector were too similar to last years catalog in May. Even as similar as the script font that you used. And come on pastel colors in the fall?"

The room went completely silent. He could see Richard's jaw tense up.

Wolf dropped his pen on the desk in front of him and leaned back in his chair. He crossed arms over his chest and inhaled deeply as he looked around the room.

"15? There are 15 people in this room who couldn't bring together a five minute presentation. You all are wasting my time." He said under his breath but loud enough for them to hear.

"If you're done wasting my time, you can have a seat Mr. Gibbs," Wolf motioned for him to return to his seat.

He slammed his hand down on the wooden table in front of him, and as he did so, he rose to his feet. He leaned forward onto the table and look them all in the eyes.

"15 of you have wasted my time. If I Don't get a better proposal within two days. 15 minutes is all I need to replace you all. Play time is over."

The room was silent for several moments, and it seemed as though a few people in the room were holding their breath.

"What are you waiting for? You have 39 hours left I would run if I were you."

And with that the room roared to life as they scrambled to get out.