LITMIR.BIZ

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did her team.

      For all that they were an information technology company, there were several diehards among the senior management who still preferred a paper handout to reading a handheld screen. After today she hoped to change that. She was so excited about seeing her team put forward the full development of their ideas. It could mean such wonderful things for Harrison Tanner Tech long-term that she hadn’t even had time to feel anxious about talking in front of a group. Granted, it wouldn’t be a huge crowd and she knew every person who would be there, but that hadn’t stopped her phobia from taking over before. This time, though, felt different. She felt as though she could really do this, and her veins fizzed with anticipation as opposed to the dread she usually felt.

      Sally had taken extra care with her appearance that morning, choosing a dress she knew flattered her. Her hair was pulled back into its customary ponytail, and her makeup was perfectly understated. Kirk would be at the presentation. She felt a flush of color steal into her cheeks. She had barely seen him since the night they’d had dinner together, although they had spoken on the telephone. He’d said it was to check for updates on her father’s recovery, but she had a suspicion that it had more to do with his concerns about their failed contraception. Her notion was backed up when the calls stopped after she’d told him about the home test result.

      She knew Kirk had been in and out of meetings and had spent some time back in California, finalizing things for his move to Seattle. It had filtered through the grapevine—not without a few remarks, both envious and full of admiration—that he’d bought a lakefront property here in Bellevue. She’d been relieved that their paths hadn’t had to cross.

      A chime at her door told her that Benton was there to take her to work. As soon as she arrived in the HTT building, she went straight to the main conference room on the senior management floor. It was time to slay her demons. The last time she’d been here—for the video feed announcing the merger—she’d made a complete idiot of herself in front of Kirk, not to mention all the staff. She’d heard one or two comments, hastily hushed, as she’d gone by in the office. While some people knew she held her position here in her father’s firm purely on merit, there were a handful, including the CEO, who made their thoughts on nepotism perfectly clear.

      She had so much to prove today. Normally, such a realization would have been daunting, but right now she felt completely in control. Sally looked around the room and silently approved the layout that she’d requested together with the screen that had been set up in readiness. She did a quick run-through with her tablet. Everything was working perfectly. She had this.

      Over the next thirty minutes, the chairs slowly filled up as senior managers made their way into the room. There was a hum of activity when Kirk arrived, and Sally found herself holding her breath in anticipation as he walked toward her to say hello.

      Her nostrils flared slightly as he neared, the delicious scent of him sending a tingle through her body. A tingle she instantly did her best to quash.

      “Good morning,” she said, pulling together all the smoothness she could muster. “I hope your trip back to California was successful.”

      “It was, thank you.” His eyes raked over her and her heart rate picked up a notch or two. “And you’ve been okay?”

      “Just fine,” she replied with a smile fixed to her face.

      “Tanner, good to see you back.”

      Kirk turned to acknowledge Silas Rogers, who she knew couldn’t wait to see her fail. He’d never liked her, and she could see that despite the congenial look pasted on the man’s face, he resented Kirk’s presence here, too. After all, he would have been the natural fill-in for her father during his illness and recovery had it not been for the board’s appointment of Kirk.

      Sally cast a glance at one of her team and gave them her signal to commence. She’d decided to keep her speaking role strictly limited to explaining the concept she wanted to see the company adopt in their head office and how it could be expanded over the next five years through all their branches. As soon as her second in charge, Nick, was finished with his spiel, she was ready to whirl into action.

      A tricky little wave of nausea surged through her. Sally reached for her water glass and took a sip then breathed in deeply. Nick was beginning to wind up his introduction, and all eyes would soon be turning to her. Her armpits prickled with perspiration, and another wave of nausea swelled. Again she took a small sip of water then focused on her breathing. The sick feeling subsided. She let a sense of relief flow through her. She could do this.

      “...and without further ado, here’s our team leader, Sally Harrison, to fill you in on why we’re all so excited about what this proposal will do for HTT now and in the future. Sally?”

      She rose to her feet, tablet in hand, and started her spiel. If she kept her eyes fixed between the projector screen and her tablet, she could even pretend there were no other people in the room.

      The first few minutes of her presentation went extremely well, as she explained why it was important for HTT to evaluate the energy technologies available to them, and the next stage started brilliantly as she showed how going paperless in the office was one small step on the ladder. She demonstrated how they’d implemented the change in her department alone, and the figures she quoted showed the significant savings this had brought—not to mention the diminished waste footprint left on the environment.

      “So you can imagine the long-term impact this will have on an entire floor, the entire head office and especially each and every HTT office around the globe.”

      There was a general murmur of assent from about seventy percent of the assembly. Sally took another breath and continued with her presentation.

      “Small, consistent changes made on a wide scale is what we need. Can you imagine how something as simple as replacing the current management motor fleet with hybrid vehicles and installing solar panels on the rooftop of the HTT building to feed energy back into the grid would reduce the company’s carbon footprint? And while there would be some initial costs, in the end all these steps would significantly reduce our overall expenses.”

      She was heading into the homestretch when a vicious wash of dizziness struck, and she faltered in her speech and put a hand out to steady herself. Kirk spoke from his position a couple of yards away from her.

      “Sally? Everything okay?”

      She pulled her lips into a smile and made her eyes flare open wide. Anything to stop the influx of black dots that now danced across her vision. She’d had her share of panicked reactions to public speaking, but this was new...and a little frightening. What was wrong with her? And would she be able to hide it until the presentation was complete?

      “I’m fine,” she said, but her voice was weak.

      She looked at the people sitting there, all of them with eyes trained on her. Saw the smirk on Silas Rogers’s face. And then she did the unthinkable. While she stared directly into Kirk’s face, her tablet fell and bounced on the carpet, and she followed it down, sliding to the floor in an ignominious and unconscious heap.

       Six

      Kirk acted on instinct. He scooped Sally into his arms.

      “Finish the presentation,” he instructed the nearest member of her team as concerned murmurs swirled around them. “She’s counting on you.”

      Then, without wasting another second, he stalked out of the room and down the corridor to Orson’s office.

      “What’s wrong with Sally?” Marilyn asked, rising to her feet as he came into the executive suite.

      “She collapsed.”

      “We have a nurse on duty for the staff here. I’ll call her.”

      “Yes, do that, thanks.”

      He laid Sally down on a couch. Thankfully she was beginning to regain consciousness.

      “Wha—?”

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