Chapter 126

Aria’s POV

At work, I could start to see the physical evidence of the club expansion. Construction crews with cranes had set up on one side of the building. They’d even torn down one of the walls in the hallways I usually walk down, to prepare for the new addition to the building.

Likely in anticipation of this physical expansion, HR had hired some more employees. Soon the break rooms were filled with people I didn’t know. As these new employees didn’t have working spaces yet, extra computers had been set up in the meeting rooms to help accommodate them.

While I’d heard there would be new drivers, I didn’t see them yet down on the track, where I worked with Jackson and the others. Perhaps the drivers were more difficult to vet. It was a strange time of year to be expanding, after all. Typically, this should all have been happening in the off-season.

After I finished my work on the track with the drivers, I headed back into the headquarters building, to go to my office and finish my reporters and paperwork. On the way, I went by Liam’s office, hoping to speak to him.

His assistant, sitting behind her desk, looked as tired as Liam had these past few days. The door to Liam’s office was open, likely indicating that he wasn’t here right now.

When the assistant saw me, an apologetic look crossed her face. “I’m sorry, Aria. He’s not here.”

With how busy he’d been, I couldn’t be surprised to find him missing. “Do you know where he is?”

“He went to meet with some investors downtown,” she said.

“Any idea when he’ll be back?” I asked.

“He should be back by three, but he has meetings then the rest of the day, even past our typical quitting time. He’s been working hard to move this expansion forward.”

“I can tell,” I said. “So have you.”

She shrugged. “I don’t need the praise. All I do is answer the phones and arrange the meetings.”

That wasn’t totally true and we both knew it. An assistant was pivotal to making sure her boss stayed on task and on target. She wasn’t giving herself nearly enough credit. But if she wanted to downplay her importance, I wasn’t going to call her out.

I did, however, make a mental note to make certain Liam gave her a thoughtful gift for assistant-appreciation day this year.

Actually – maybe she was the solution to my current problems.

“Would it be possible to schedule an appointment with Liam?” I asked. “I’ve been trying to speak with him, but he’s so busy, as you undoubtedly know.”

“I do,” the assistant said. “He’s so busy that he has every spare minute book solid for the next four weeks.” She offered me a sad, apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Aria.”

“It’s fine,” I said. It wasn’t really, but it also wasn’t her fault. I wasn’t going to take my frustration out on her, when she was just doing her job.

“If you could let him know that I came by, and that I need to speak with him.”

“Of course,” she said. “I’ll do my best.”

“Thank you,” I told her, and walked away.

When I returned to my office, I felt… dissatisfied. My idea of making an appointment resulted in nothing. After speaking with his assistant, things seemed even more hopeless than they had before.

What could I do? Liam’s work was important to the team and to him personally. I didn’t want to get in the way of his success.

On the other hand, family was important too, and he was starting to miss so much family time that it was not going unnoticed by the kids.

Pulling out my personal phone, I wondered if I could call him. If I caught him in the car, he could put me on speakerphone. Then we could at least talk while he was traveling back and forth from the office.

Determined, I opened my phone and called his number. The phone rang three times before he picked up.

“Aria? Is everything okay?” He sounded rushed and stressed.

“Yes, I just –”

“Unless it’s an emergency, I have to go,” he said.

It wasn’t exactly an emergency, and it didn’t feel right to lie and tell him it was. No one was physically in peril or anything like that. We just missed him.

“Not an emergency, but –”

“Okay, we’ll talk later then. Sorry. Bye.” He hung up.

I stared at the phone in disbelief for a few moments. I supposed, at least he would be there in emergencies.

That didn’t feel good enough. The kids deserved better.

Liam would have another chance to be a good dad, though. Soon, the kids were having a parent-child sports day at their school. I would be there, of course, but two kids needed two parents. Else one or the other of them would have to sit out some of the events. Plus, I knew they wanted their dad there.

All of this hinged on Liam actually remembering about the event, and him being able to make the time.

In an effort to facilitate the most positive outcome, when I sat at my desk, I turned to my computer and opened my email. Creating a new email, I addressed it both to Liam’s business and personal accounts. Then I began to write, reminding Liam about the event, and giving him the exact date, time, and locations.

I closed off the email by writing, Joe and William really miss spending time with you.

I hesitated whether or not to include that I missed him too. I did, but it was much harder to advocate for myself than for the children. I didn’t need Liam around, so much as wanted him there. For the kids, Liam’s presence was vital for a healthy and satisfactory upbringing.

They needed their dad. William, especially, was going through a rough time.

After sending the email, I continued to work for a while. Near the end of the day, Jackson walked into my office.

“You’ll never believe what I heard,” he said. Jackson should have had enough to worry about with the upcoming race, but he loved gossip. He always had an ear out for what people in the office were saying or doing. He never wanted to be directly involved, but reporting what he heard was one of his favorite pastimes.

I’d tried to scold him for this, at first, telling him he had more important things to focus on. But then I realized this was a coping mechanism for him. Gossip was one way he could deflect the stress from his own high-intensity work. If he was thinking about office gossip, he wasn’t thinking about what could happen behind the wheel.

“You know all the new employees?” he asked.

“I’ve seen them around,” I said. I thought he might find scandal in how the new employees didn’t have proper work places yet. Maybe someone said something to management.

Instead he said, “I’ve heard they’ve been bringing people in at all levels, not just entry-level.”

That was possible. It almost seemed like they were doubling up on everyone’s job, not just those in administration.

I even worried I’d soon be facing a counterpart for my own position. I hoped not, imagining our methods might clash. If the drivers had two different trainers to listen to, how would they know which to follow?

“From what I’ve heard,” Jackson said, leaning forward slightly over my desk, “They are even hiring a new boss…”