Triplets Make Five

She scooted herself closer into the shadows.

“Introduce yourself,” Padma said.

“Oh. Well, I’m Delilah Kent.”

“And what do you do, Delilah Kent?” I asked.

Her eyes found mine and I finally got the color of them. They were a deep green. A deep green that matched the cardigan draped around her shoulders.

“I’m, um…the investor’s accountant. But I also attend these meetings and take minutes so I can send them to you,” she said.

“Interesting,” I said.

There was a certain disdain in her voice. It was faint, but it was there. Her nose was slightly scrunched up and she was ready to be done with me. Or maybe she was just done talking. She didn’t strike me as the kind of person that would get up on a stage and give some grand speech, so maybe she was just embarrassed that she was drawn from her shadows.

Either way, the tone of her voice wasn’t friendly.

Was she pissed that I woke her up? She would’ve been embarrassed had she slept at the office that night. Walking around in the same clothes? Women hated that kind of thing. Most women wouldn’t be caught dead in the same outfit twice, much less out in public without a shower. But maybe that type of thing didn’t phase her. Maybe underneath those cardigans and those thick-rimmed glasses was a minx who took pride in the walk of shame. Wearing an outfit two days in a row after a very fulfilling one-night stand. There were women like that, and they were usually the women people least expected to be like that.

And if there was any woman I would never expect that type of behavior from, it was Delilah Kent.

“Has everyone introduced themselves?” I asked.

“I believe so,” Delilah said flatly.

She fluttered her eyes up at me, and if looks could’ve killed I would’ve fallen back out of the window and plummeted to my death.

An entire hour passed, filled with talks of their terrible commercials, other color palettes to try out for billboard advertisements, and fonts to use for the new company sign. My eyes flickered over towards Delilah in the corner at times, and she seemed serious. Focused. Head deep in the notes she was taking. There were times where she would look up and catch my eye, but the disdain she had for me would soon fill her emerald eyes.

What the hell had crawled up this woman’s ass? If I was going to be working closely with her, we needed a different kind of relationship.

“Okay. We’ve talked about fonts, color palettes, those awful commercials, and reworking the billboards around town. Anything else?” I asked.

“I was hoping we could discuss the budget,” Padma said.

“That’s fine, but for now I’m running budget approvals through the board of investors. I take it you are seeking an increase?”

“No, I’m waiting for the increase that’s been approved to hit,” Padma said.

“That increase hasn’t hit?”

Delilah’s voice piped up from the back as her eyes focused on Padma.

“No, ma’am. It was approved over a month ago and we still haven’t seen it,” Padma said.

“That doesn’t seem right. How much was the increase?” Delilah asked.

I watched her pull out a stack of folders from her bag as she sat them on her lap.

“It was a ten thousand dollar increase,” Padma said. “It was supposed to go to updating some of our graphics, like Mr. Walker is asking for.”

Delilah’s eyes scanned the documents at an alarming rate, flipping over pages at lightning speed. Was she taking in all those numbers that quickly? Could she read that fast?

“Okay, no. It hasn’t been calculated into the budget yet because that ten thousand dollars was approved for the following quarter. The quarter doesn’t turn over until the middle of next month. You should see it then, but I’ll make a note to double-check the system just to make sure everything’s set up for it,” Delilah said.

“Damn. I thought it was going to drop sooner than that. All right. Thanks…what did you say your name was?” Padma asked.

“Delilah,” I said.