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He barely glanced at Carol, focusing on April, resting his arm on the ledge of the high desk. “Make an appointment with Rowlings tomorrow. Book a conference room and inform senior management of the incubated Asian fund. Everyone is to attend."
His voice held a softer, somewhat incomplete quality despite its rough huskiness, with a slight rounding of his syllables. Jewell instinctively recognized the inflection, though his voice was perhaps more refined than she was familiar with.
April nodded "Yes, sir."
Only then did Mr. Roth's glare shift to Carol. "Still wasting time, Mrs. Soldano." There was no inflection of question in his voice, but Jewell's intuition said it wasn't for lack of hearing. It was a statement.
"No, Mr. Roth," she said and managed to school her features despite the derisive tone lacing her words. She reached over the side of the high desk to retrieve a pen, and to obscure her face from his view. "See what I mean?" Carol said under her breath. "Barking commands. Wouldn't be anywhere if it wasn't for everyone else doing the work. Entitled son of a bitch."
Jewell might have stayed silent, despite how the situation grated on her if Carol hadn't purposefully dragged her into it. She drew in a slow, balancing breath and released it through her nose as she set her briefcase on the floor to free both her hands. She turned, but only enough that she knew both Carol and Mr. Roth would see her, providing him with the respect Carol Soldano apparently would not.
"What is it you do, Carol?" she asked, keeping her voice level. Carol straightened, the pen she'd used as an excuse in her hand. "What position do you hold?"
Carol scowled but answered. "Executive Support."
"Executive Support," she repeated. "A position of great responsibility." Raising her hands, Jewell signed as she spoke. "I doubt you would be so glib if you were held responsible for your words."
Carol's eyes widened, and she looked from Jewell to Mr. Roth, and back to Jewell. Her jaw worked like a fish gasping in air, and her face flushed bright before she stepped back from the desk and marched toward one of the doors behind the desk.
Mr. Roth turned his glare on Jewell. His eyes were hard, his jaw set, and he squinted slightly as he stared.
Before she lost her nerve, she raised her hands to sign. “It’s hard not to speak up when someone is that rude.” She canted her head and arched an eyebrow when she added, “Please and thank you might have helped.”
With two long strides, he moved closer to her. A light eyebrow arched high over his eye. "And you are?" he demanded with a jut of his chin.
The momentary disorientation of her senses when he closed the space between them surprised her. His presence was so overpowering, that it acted like a force field around his body pushing against her when he neared. A hint of the masculine scent he wore filled her senses, sandalwood and a subtle oriental spice. Her cheeks warmed.
Not allowing his presence to daunt her, she spoke and signed together, finger-spelling out her name. "Jewell Kincaid."
"Do I know you?" he asked.
Jewell shook her head. "No."
“Yet you feel the need to comment on my employee's actions.” The sharp movements of his hands expressed his annoyance, but she thought perhaps she caught a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. “And mine?"
She noted his method of signing was closer to Pidgin Signed English than American Sign Language, which made sense considering his apparent ability to read lips and use spoken language. The syntax of PSE was closer to the speech pattern of a natural speaker, and to be an effective lip reader he'd be familiar with spoken English's rhythm. His tone and inflection implied he’d been either deaf or profoundly hard of hearing for the majority of his life. It was a strange contrast; one thing implied loss of hearing after learning speech, and the other implied a lifetime without hearing.
Being a child of a deaf adult sometimes gave her more insight than was probably appropriate. But, she couldn’t just turn it off when she wanted.
Jewell licked her lips. She felt as flushed as Carol had looked before disappearing into her office. "I have a difficult time staying silent around ignorance." She paused, stilling her hands, before adding "and arrogance."
His eyebrow arched again, higher this time. "Are you here for an interview?"
She nodded.
"Who?"
"Mr. Burke."
Mr. Roth's hand shot out, palm up, in demand. "Give me your résumé."
Jewell met his stare, not willing to yield to his lack of manners. "Please?"
His lopsided smirk told her she wouldn't get the satisfaction of him asking nicely, but he also wasn’t angry with her commentary. He wiggled his fingers impatiently, and she thought she caught the instigating glint of a challenge in his eyes. Holding his gaze, Jewell crouched down to retrieve her extra résumé from her attaché case and handed it to him. After he took it and said nothing, she touched her fingertips to her lips and brought her flat hand down.
"You're welcome," she added.
He didn't respond to the sarcasm beyond an almost indiscernible tip of his lips into a smile that disappeared as quickly as it threatened to appear.
