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A crease forms in the bridge of Nicola’s nose. “I’m sorry?”
“I should explain what I mean, Nicola, because this won’t make sense to you, as you weren’t privy to Marissa and Jules’s conversation.”
Now they look confused.
I lightly drum my fingers on my closed laptop as I look at them. “You see, you didn’t know it at the time, but the first time I was here? A few weeks ago? I was in the toilets when Marissa and Jules decided to have a conversation about me.”
A horrified expression crosses Jules’s face, but Marissa tries to act casual. “You must be mistaken, Catherine,” she says. “I don’t remember this.”
“You know, I’m a lot like my grandfather,” I say, smiling at her. “I don’t like gossip. Or liars. So let’s be honest now. You two discussed what Nicola said about me.”
“What?” Nicola says, her eyes wide. “I … I … I nev—”
“You told Marissa I thought I knew what girls would want to buy because I culled some numbers from Google,” I say, interrupting her. “And I wanted to dictate what was sold online. Or are you saying you never said that?”
“I’m sorry!” Marissa blurts out, but I’m not sure if it’s to me, Nicola, or both of us.
“I never said any such thing!” Nicola insists. “Marissa, you misunderstood me! Because I didn’t say that!”
The murderous look Marissa has in her eyes right now tells me Nicola just threw her under the bus.
I take control of the conversation again. “I think it’s obvious the three of you talked about me behind my back. I’m willing to bet it happened more than once, and I also suspect all of you gossiped to more people in the office about me. It shouldn’t be too hard for me to find out if I want to.”
Marissa turns bright red. Nicola looks like she’s going to throw up, and Jules is the first to blurt out an apology. “I’m so, so sorry,” she says, looking near tears.
“I will accept that, thank you,” I say. Then I look at Nicola. “I need your help to make CM by Catherine a success. You know that. But more importantly, I know that. I think it would be best for the department if we bury this right now and start out respecting each other. I’m willing to do that if you are. You, too.” I look over at Marissa.
She’s on the verge of tears, too. “Yes,” she says quietly. “I’m very sorry. Please accept my apology.”
“Accepted,” I say, nodding at her. Then I turn back to Nicola, who looks furious that what she told Marissa in confidence ended up in this conference room.
“I apologise for my part in this,” she says tersely.
“Okay. We’re moving forward. I don’t plan to bring this up to anyone,” I say slowly. “Not even my grandfather. Because I can just tell you, this would not go over very well with him.” They all look panicked now. But now that I’ve outed them, it’s time to put this behind us. Hopefully, for good.
“I need help from all of you, and I sincerely mean that,” I say. “Don’t think I won’t forget people who have helped me launch this line. I think CM by Catherine is going to do big things. And who knows what opportunities could arise from that?” I direct my attention to Jules and Marissa, because they are entry-level workers in the department. If this grows like Grandfather thinks it could, I might be able to choose my own team down the line.
I stand up and slide my laptop into my bag. “Thank you for letting me clear the air. I know we have meetings coming up and I truly look forward to learning from everyone.”
“Do you plan to office here?” Marissa asks.
Hmm. I wonder if she would have a panic attack if I told her I needed a desk here and planned to be here five days a week.
“I’m going to work out of Monaco, but I’ll be here once a week,” I say cheerfully. “Maybe more if it’s not a race week. CM by Catherine isn’t the only thing I’m working on.”
After all, I’m still Caleb’s assistant. I have my social media channels. And when I was talking to my grandparents the other night, I mentioned the clothing deal I brokered for Mason. My grandmother suggested that I could serve as a stylist to both drivers and help secure exclusive clothing deals and items they could wear to appearances and in the paddock.
And if I’m the stylist, I’d be responsible for organising their clothing and bringing it to race weekends … which would require me to be on-site and continue my travelling with the team.
I could have kissed my grandmother for bringing this idea up, then kissed my grandfather for letting me explore these things in a hybrid position.
I leave the conference room, and I’m about to send Mason a message when a news story pops up on my phone. I stop as soon as I read the headline from the Downforce Network:
Collings Motors Explains Clark Baku Malfunction
I immediately click on it and anxiously read the first paragraph:
Collings Motors analysis revealed that a software glitch rendered Mason Clark’s car nearly undriveable at the start of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, triggering the anti-stall and leaving Clark to tumble to the back of the grid after qualifying second, according to team principal Alex Oliver.
