"I'll see you later," he said and placed a kiss on her temple and she didn't give him a response as they went their separate directions to their department floors.
"That was not the usual, goodbye we normally get from you two in the morning, what's going on?" Brooke asked after witnessing the very different to usual interaction between the pair.
"Nothing," Nicki said with a head shake as they walked through the building. "It was just a bad morning that's all," she explained. "We'll be over it by lunchtime I'm sure,"
They didn't exchange many other words on the topic as they walked and instead focussed more on the activities they had lined up for the day...
Nicki sat looking through the resumes of the three candidates she would be interviewing for the new head of law and contracts at the new Houston branch. She had been given some background on each individual and the task of deciding who would get the role was left to her to decide. Looking through each of them, she didn't have one she favoured more than the other, but she was certain to highlight the key points that stood in each candidate - a way of reminding herself to find out more about that in particular. She was limited to a 20 minute skype call with each and although this was a little more limiting, she would still use her usual technique for all three.
"Come in," she said in response to the knock on her door and was met with Ivan walking in. "Good Morning," she said to him with a smile, that he returned before taking a seat on the couch.
"Good Morning, Miss Maraj," he said with a smile, and just like that Nicki knew he wanted something.
"We've been here too many times Ivan, skip to the good bit," she said with a chuckle and he sat up a little as he observed her office.
"I was going to tell you I liked what you've done with the place, but since you don't wanna hear it, I have a proposal for you," he said and she placed her pen down and sat back in her chair.
"I'm all ears," she said, giving him her undivided attention.
"Have you ever thought about moving up the ladder?" he asked and watched as she furrowed her brows.
"Not recently. I like working here and I didn't see there being any further progression opportunities for me," she said and he smiled.
"Before you would've been correct, but you're wrong. Since opening Houston and having the proposal approved for LA, boy do I have an opportunity for you," he spoke excitedly and Nicki just wondered where this was all going. "How would you like to be our legal department coordinator. Houston, LA and NY would all report to you. You oversee all of our law departments and authorise the most important contracts as well meeting with the department heads regularly to make sure you're all working cohesively."
She took a moment to think about the offer that had been placed on the table. It definitely wasn't one she expected at all, and she needed to weigh out all the specifics before she agreed to it. "Where would I be based?"
"Here. I would need you here, because I'd be giving you a place on the board to go with it. You've earned it," he said and she couldn't help the smile that crept onto her face.
"You've almost got me Ivan," she said and he sat back with a smile.
"Well let's just say as a board member, there's room for you to make suggestions that could be very beneficial for the company, and if they're successful, the commission from them paired with your new salary... let just say you'll be touching 6 figures,"
It all sounded too good to be true. "What's the catch?" she asked, knowing there had to be something.
"There isn't one. Besides how demanding the job will be, there is no catch. Think about it. And should you want to go for it you know where to find me. I will need a replacement for you though, so if you have someone in mind, do send them my way," he said and stood, heading towards the door. "Oh and I'm about to offer Jerome a similar role, but he's not getting a board position so I'd like for that one to stay between us for now." And with that he was on his way out of her office, leaving her with a whole new dilemma on her hands...
