Falling Stars [h.s]

Chapter 21

Aurora

The next day, work had been called off for a supposed important meeting involving our entire team. I was afraid someone was getting fired. My boss tends to hold meetings once a year to fire the lawyer with the lowest performance in the courtroom as well as with clients and in the office. Odyssey and I rode together that morning to the company. We sat in the conference room along with the rest of our co-workers who were as worried as we were. The more time passed, the more anxious I became. What if I was the lowest performer this year? I had been kicked off three cases in the matter of five months and Harry's appearance at the office everyday couldn't have possibly gotten me pointers.

When our boss walked into the conference room the chatter had died down. He walked around the room, placing posters on a stand, before retrieving to the front of the room. "Why do you all look so worried? Don't worry this isn't our annual employee of the year meeting." He laughed at the so called joke, looking around the room to see no one else laughing along.

"Right, let us get to it then. As you all know, our law firm has been ranked third coming in performance and excellence as a whole. I have called this meeting today to discuss how we will improve our work so the next time we will rank as the top most well performed law firm." I sigh of relief left my mouth as I was finally able to calm down. I sat up straight as he turned on the smart board and went about babbling about our latest performance.

"We will be meeting with a Management consultant today. He will be working with all of you individual to see where you stand and where you can improve on your own work. He should be arriving any minute now."

The soft knocks on the door caught everyone's attention. The boss went over to let in the person i'm assuming to be the consultant he mentioned. My breath caught in my throat at the sight in front of me. He walked into the room nonchalantly, carrying a briefcase. "This is Mr. Styles, he will be our management consultant for the next three months. Do not give this man a hard time, cooperative as you should and give the needed information as asked. I will see you all tomorrow, back to our regular routine.

"Good morning, as you already know, I am Mr. Styles, your management consultant. I would like to start of by discussing and explaining what your firm is lacking and what we can do to improve. Starting today I would like to meet with you all individually in order to collect data and figure out how your individual performance can be improved as well."

My head was spinning. This can't be real life. How is it every time I try to get him out he always finds an in? How was I to know Harry was a management consultant? Come to think of it, he never mentioned where he worked or what he did. For the first time since entering the room his eyes met mine. He silently watched me before continuing on with his lecture. I couldn't focus. I was still trying to wrap the thought around my head.

"The first person I will be working with for the next week will be Esquire Scarlet Hall" There was no surprise there when Harry mentioned my name. We meeting went on for another hour or so before ending. He had me stay behind to discuss work as he put it. I gathered my files, placing them carefully into my briefcase. Everyone had now gone, only leaving the two of us in the conference room. I stayed seated in the same position, waiting for him to carry on. He walked over to me, pulling out the chair beside me.

"Your records show that you have recently been taken off a case you have been working on for two weeks, why is that?"

I watched him as his eyes scanned the paper. "Why are you doing this?" He looked up from the paper at my sudden question. Harry placed down the pen on top of his folder. He pursed his lips and looked down in deep thought before returning his gaze to me.

"I'm only here to do my job Aurora."

It was hard to believe but believable nonetheless "You never told me you were a Management Consultant."

"You never asked." He had a fair point. I never once asked him about his future plans. Management consultant never crossed my mind.

"I was taken off the recent case because my boss had not given me enough time to get the needed information out of my client. I asked for a week extension, but he refused. He then proceeded to give the case to someone else."

Harry nodded as he typed on his computer. I watched him, carefully examining his features. They hadn't changed much. I eyes scanned over his features, his lashes touching the skin of his bottom eyelid as he looked down at the computer. His hair was even shorter than before and he had a beard growing in. It suited him well. He's always talked about growing one. All of a sudden I found my self staring at his lips. They looked as soft as they did when we first kissed.

His lips curved. I looked up from his lips, my eyes widening at the sight of Harry staring back at me with a smirk. I cleared my throat and turned away from him. "What changes can you make in order to get your needed information from clients within the time limit?"

"I suppose I can take my work home with me and continue to dig deeper when I'm not in the office, although I prefer spending my time off with my family. But If that helps move the process along quicker I can invest some of my time in doing so."

"Give it a try for your next case. Report back to me with the results to see if there are any changes. We can discuss further more tomorrow. I have another meeting to get to." With that he was out the door, leaving me even more confused than I was before. I didn't question his actions, instead I gathered my belongings and headed back home with Odyssey who was still waiting in the car.

"How was your meeting?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, thinking back to the meeting. "Weird." He was up to something. There was no doubt of that. Whatever it was, I'm going to find out sooner rather than later.