"They want to recall it?" he blurts out angrily and like that his good mood vanishes.Sighing, I tell myself I should have gotten evidence. There's no way the rest of the team will believe that he was actually smiling earlier.His hand covers mine on the computer mouse as he scrolls down. There's even less room between us now but he's completely focused on my computer screen."Eden, I need you to get the advertisement department on the phone," he says authoritatively. "They can't just recall the entire line.""Yes sir," I say, picking up my phone.He pulls away, rushing back around my desk before disappearing into his office. I'm kept waiting on the phone for a while. It would seem that no one in the Advertising Department has arrived yet. Glancing at my watch, I grow frustrated. It's not that early.Our team have started arriving, waving at me as they make their way to their cubicles."Any luck?" Noah pops his head around the door."They're not answering," I tell him."Right, grab the
The team is in uproar. I try to calm them all down but to no avail. Holly for her part, dropped that bomb and then left, leaving disaster in her wake. Everyone is panicked and anyone would think they've never had a complaint come through before. In reality, there are complaints every week. What makes this different is the sudden spike in complaints and the fact that it's against one of their best products.They're all looking expectantly at me as if I'm supposed to have all the answers.I don't want to disappoint them but I don't know much more than they do."Guys," I try, "Noah is talking to them now. We'll all know soon enough."I somehow manage to make it sound like he's got the whole situation in hand and they seem to believe me momentarily."Which product is it?" Stacey asks, as they all circle around me.I don't know how much I'm supposed to tell them. It would be better for Noah to do it. But they're all looking at me, beseeching me to tell them."Er… the walnut coffee table," I
"Can I see the manager?" Noah asks the first member of staff who pays us any attention.The factory is packed full of people, all hard at work. If we weren't in a rush, I'd want to look around. It's fascinating, seeing them creating the furniture my grandma is so proud of. Her house is full of Clancy's Comforts furniture.She always says that if it isn't good enough for her house, it's not good enough for her customers' houses either."Wait here," the staff member says. "I'll get him for you."Looking around, I spot one of the coffee tables a slight distance away. I make my way across the factory floor towards it. I recognise it immediately as the table my grandma has in her conservatory. It's clearly the same design. The shape and colour are the same but there is something off about it."They're using the wrong wood," Noah says from just behind me as I run my hand across the leg of the table. "They've supplemented it for a cheaper option."I'm impressed that he knows that just from lo
Noah's POV:Returning to the company, I head straight into a meeting, leaving Eden to return to the department alone. Lewis Artie looks as smug as ever as I make my way into Mrs Clancy's office. It's pretty obvious who is responsible for this disaster. He's looking far too pleased with himself for him not to be.I feel like he's goading me. While Mrs Clancy talks, he stares at me with that stupid smirk plastered on his face. I'd love to punch that look off his face and I'm not a violent person.When Mrs Clancy asks me about the complaints, I tell her that I would like to replace all those sold in the last two weeks."Just two weeks?" she asks. "You've worked out when the mistake was made?"Her tone is upbeat, and I think she might be willing to continue selling the product. She certainly isn't angry if the small smile on her face is anything to go by."Yes. There was an email sent two weeks ago.""You mean this was your department's fault?" James Artie, Lewis's uncle asks, leaning forw
The team are all waiting for me in a huddle near the door, when I return to the department."What did they decide?" Rob asks."Mrs Clancy gave us permission to replace the products," I tell them eagerly. "Stacey, Rob, head down to the factory and give them the good news, would you?""Yes, sir," they reply in unison."Make sure they order the correct walnut wood," I say. "Let's get production back on track. I'll call you shortly with the exact number of replacement products."Looking around, I notice that Eden is missing."Where's Eden?" I ask."Don't know, sir," Stacey says. "She was here about twenty minutes ago."I'm disappointed. I wanted to tell her the good news."Right, everyone! Back to work," I tell them, heading back into my office.I leave the door open. I want to talk to her as soon as she comes back. Trying to distract myself with my work, I reach out to the sales team to find out the exact number of coffee tables that were sold since the date Mr Laurence received the email
Eden's POV:For the most part things return to normal. Noah is as busy as ever, attending meetings and working with the team on the new products.Even though he told me not to, I can't resist looking into the email. I drop Martin a quick text on Tuesday asking him if he can find anything out from the IT department.I'm impatient as I wait for him to get back to me and when his response does come on Friday, he tells me only that the email was sent from my computer."But that doesn't make sense," I say in a hushed voice.I don't want anyone to hear my conversation. For one thing, if Noah hears me, he'll be cross but I also don't want the others to know what is going on. They'll only worry.How could someone use my computer without me knowing? Or without someone seeing?"What time was it sent?" I ask, struggling to remember myself."Around midday.""So, the department could have been out to lunch," I mutter to myself. "But we rarely all eat at exactly the same time…"Pulling out my diary,
In everyone's haste to get me out of the building last night, I ended up leaving my phone at work. It's so annoying because I'm supposed to meeting my grandma to go shopping this afternoon and without my phone, I can't even call her to confirm.What's worse, without my phone I slept late so it's already after eleven when I leave the house.I run full pelt around the corner and down the steps to the underground. I arrive just in time to catch the tube. It's crowded as always. It's funny how used to this I've become in the last month. Four weeks ago, I'd felt claustrophobic, hating everything about the Underground. Now though, I've barely even noticed that the guy on my left's elbow is digging into my arm or the person on my right is chewing obscenely loud.Well, I might have noticed… But I'm definitely better at not getting irritated by my fellow commuters.Since it's the weekend, the train is busier than normal and instead of being full of people on their way to work, it's brimming wi
Noah's POV:We find ourselves in a little Italian restaurant a few roads away from the company. I can't believe my luck that Eden came in to work today. I'd come in, thinking that I'd spend the whole day in a sea of paperwork and so her arrival is a pleasant distraction.I can't stop smiling as our waitress takes our order. I shouldn't be this happy to see Eden. We bicker all the time. I'm not convinced she doesn't hate me. There are times when I think she might actually like me a bit, but it never lasts. Before long, we always end up arguing again."How is your granny?" she asks."My granny?""You said you always visit your granny on Friday nights."I'm surprised she even remembers. Eden Winters is nothing like what I thought. I really underestimated her the first time I met her. In fact, all I have done in the last month is misjudge her over and over again. I feel terrible. I've been a right jerk."She's good," I tell her. For some reason, I want to tell her more. I don't usually tal