Page 4 of Tell Me What you Think

"I guess I'll have to settle for that. What's going on?"

She shrugs and crumples the wrapper into a ball.

"Nothing I don't already have a plan for, honestly — but I want your take. There was a discrepancy in one line item, and it's so obvious it bothers me."

Marina tells him what happened in the meeting. He listens without interrupting.

"I don't think it was an accounting oversight. I think they moved that line item without notice as a test — to see if the analyst team would catch it."

"A test to find out how closely you're looking." Jordi nods as he speaks, because he agrees with her.

They're talking about Nauta, a company they're evaluating as a potential acquisition of its client portfolio.

"Exactly."

"So what are you going to do?"

Marina bites down on the candy until it cracks and splinters. She knows it's bad for her teeth, but she couldn't help it, and now the mint hits harder.

"I'm going to request a full itemized breakdown in writing and keep the email. Just in case."

He smiles and nods again, thinking that this woman is brilliant at everything she does.

"Anyway, that's all. Thanks for your time."

She stands up and grabs another candy.

"I didn't actually do anything — you told me the problem and the solution. Sometimes I think you only use me to hear your own thoughts out loud."

Marina smiles from the doorway, the corner of her mouth curling up on just one side, leaving her friend dazed all over again.

"It's better than talking to myself. That makes me uncomfortable."

"Happy to help. Lunch with me? I don't think I'll have time to go home today. We can grab something light wherever you want — nothing heavy, or I'll fall asleep in the four o'clock meeting."

"Sure. I'll let you know."

The rest of the day passes for Marina the way any other would. She goes to lunch with Jordi, sits through another afternoon meeting, and then the analyst comes by with what she asked for, and she tells him to use that information to redo the reconciliation with the correct criteria.

"But do it tomorrow — that's enough for today. Go home."

He gives her a warm smile, and when he leaves her office Marina is ready to call it a day too. She's just about to close her laptop when someone knocks on her door and opens it without waiting for an answer.

"Sorry to bother you at this hour, Marina," says Javier Montoya, the company's CEO, "but I've had a day from hell. Got a couple of minutes?"

The man is carrying a green folder. He closes the door before she can say anything. Marina watches him drop into the chair across from her with that slightly aloof air he always carries — though his personality doesn't really match the image he projects, kind of like her, because Javier is someone with both feet on the ground.

"What do you need?" she asks, surprised to see him here.

He smiles and leans forward, opening the folder and turning it toward her so she can read the stapled pages inside.

"For you to say yes."

Marina picks up the pages and starts reading while Javier savors watching her expression shift from curiosity to astonishment.

"You're offering me Ricard's position?" Her tone carries the surprise, but she can't quite hide the small satisfied smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

"Ricard requested early retirement last month and we approved it, but someone has to take his place, and I want that someone to be you."