Her Wolf

Chapter 3

The sun was beaming brightly into Catherine’s office for the first time in what seemed like weeks. She had spent the weekend playing over the events that took place at the Foundation dinner and it caused her to have an extra kick in her step. New life had been breathed directly into Catherine’s lungs. Colors seemed more vibrant, what was happening with Glacial Cosmetics once again became an interest to her instead of just something financial and she wore a smile for the entire weekend, instead of one that was given in passing moments.

“You look cheerful today, Miss Goldberry,” Jessica said as she made her entrance into Catherine’s office and set down her chai latte as expected. “How did your dinner party go?”

“I have a meeting in two hours with Ryan Metcalfe, Jessica,” Catherine advised bluntly. “When he gets here, just let him right in. And in the meantime, I want you to find whatever information you can on him. He’s the Chair of the Colorado Conservation of Endangered and Rare Wildlife. Hurry, I want to be prepared when he gets here.”

Jessica nodded her head and left the office without another word, closing the door behind her. The truth was that Catherine didn’t need Jessica to look up information, Catherine had done it all on her own. Something about Ryan had gotten beneath her skin in the best of ways. Catherine had spent her weekend curled up in her luxurious king sized bed with her laptop, pulling up all information that she could on Ryan Metcalfe and the Foundation.

“Some people want to leave things to the imagination and to be a surprise, I like to know the kind of people I’m working with,” she had told herself as a way to justify her investigation.

If he could do it, so could she.

There was nothing out of the ordinary that she found. Catherine learned that Ryan was born in Colorado, much like herself and a self-starter, also much like herself. He fought passionately for the things that he believed in and became involved in the CCERW at a young age. From the information she found, she couldn’t see that he was married or had any kids and he was rated one of Denver’s most eligible bachelors. She didn’t understand why such a good looking philanthropist such as himself was single.

“I’ll find that flaw,” she said to herself as she sifted through the files of thoughts she had during the weekend. “Everyone has a flaw and no one is excused from that rule. I happen to know they have a tendency to come out during the Monday blues.”

The two hours that Catherine spent waiting for Ryan to show up at her office seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. Her clock chimed when the hand struck ten in the morning and her forehead creased.

“He’s late,” she said to herself, her nose crinkling as he had unknowingly pressed the button to one of her biggest pet peeves. “Why schedule a time if you’re just going to show up when you feel like it?”

10:15 A.M.

10:30 A.M.

10:45 A.M.

10:52 A.M.

“I don’t know what you are trying to push at with all of this, Alan, but it isn’t happening and I don’t care what you think is and isn’t fun. I’m about to head into a meeting with Miss Goldberry now. One that you’ve already made me almost an hour late for, might I add.”

Catherine heard Ryan’s voice from outside the door and she quickly scrambled to her feet.

“All you are trying to do is make life difficult for me when you know that just being on board will make the process not only that much easier, but it would run much smoother.

— So that’s it? You want to make yourself an enemy with this instead of coming on the winning team? You go right ahead and do that. I have a meeting. Good bye, Alan.”

Catherine opened the door to her office just in time to see Ryan stuffing his phone in the pocket of his trousers and attempting to smooth out the wrinkles in his shirt. He was messy, his hair was disheveled and he had dark circles under his eyes.

“You look like you haven’t slept since the party,” Catherine said before she skirted her eyes towards Jessica who was staring from her desk. “Coffee, Jessica. Now.”

The atmosphere in the room changed so much that it even seemed as if it caused a shift in the sky. No longer was the sun beaming in through the large windows, but it was back to being overcast and gray. The expression on Catherine’s face was a clear sign of how unimpressed she was to have been kept waiting.

“No one ever keeps me waiting,” she said to herself as she watched Ryan settle in a chair, only to offer her his charming smile. “Here we go.”

“I’m fairly easy to work with, Mr. Metcalfe, that’s something that I want to put on the table since we’re sitting in my office right now,” Catherine said, folding her arms neatly across her desk and meeting Ryan’s eye level to show she was a woman who knows how to take charge. “The only thing that I ask is professionalism and punctuality. I don’t think that’s asking for the world. I don’t want to be rude, but you’re late and you’ve shown up looking as if you’ve just rolled out of bed. Would you like to tell me what’s happened or would you like to reschedule this meeting for a time that’s more convenient?”

The intense tension that was building in the room was broken by Jessica slipping into the office to set a steaming mug of coffee in front of Ryan and Catherine cast her a look that read “that’s all” and she excused herself as quickly as she came in.

“No time is more convenient than now, Catherine,” Ryan offered once Jessica made her exit. “I will apologize for my appearance and for being late, I’ve spent the entire morning dealing with someone who used to be on our committee and seems to now be interested in causing problems. He thinks it’s a good idea to vacate the land and build the resort and casino.”

“Then he is doing his job correctly, Ryan,” Catherine said, any sign of amusement void from her features. “Let me tell you why. Whoever this person is, they don’t want you to save the park and by causing you to be late and show up to meetings looking frazzled and unprepared, it puts the ball in his park. He is making you look like you aren’t serious.”