Her words rang in Marian’s ears as she buttoned up her ruffled shirt, tucking it into a plain, black skirt.
Marian grabbed her sleek briefcase and purse, then headed downstairs to meet Omar and Kelly so they could carpool to National Oil’s headquarters for the meeting. At least with Omar here, she wouldn’t have to worry about the car departing without her. In the lobby, the two men waited by the front doors. Kelly already had a sour look on his face.
“Good morning,” she said brightly, ignoring the pulse behind her eye that cynically awaited a snide comment from Kelly. As soon as Kelly opened his mouth to speak, she added, “I hope that whatever you’re about to say is kind.”
Kelly watched her for a moment then turned away. “Let’s go.”
Omar sent her a secret grin as they walked into the Minarak morning. Traffic hummed in the distance, beyond the stone walls surrounding the hotel property. The air was misty with city dew, casting a gauzy glow over everything. This would be a perfect day to get lost with Omar and see where we end up.
“Did you sleep well?” Omar held the back door of the car open for her as she slid inside. Kelly quickly claimed the front seat.
“I did. This hotel is lovely.” Marian waited as Omar came around to the other side, working on actively ignoring Kelly’s presence in the front seat. “I had a delicious, quiet meal in my room, without any irritating outside influences.”
Omar’s grin widened as the driver shifted the car into gear. The ride to National Oil was pleasant and mostly quiet. Omar chatted a bit, but Kelly stayed silent, thankfully. By the time they pulled up to the boxy office building, seemingly made of black mirrors and steel reinforcement, Marian was hopeful that they could pull this deal off.
Inside, a suited man led them to a large conference room. Twenty men—nearly identical in their dark suits—already sat around the table. Three empty chairs near the head of the table waited for them. Omar said something in Farsi to the group.
“If the whole meeting will be in that language, we might as well call it off now,” Kelly said, adjusting his suit coat as he settled into his seat.
Marian fought a groan. “Seriously, don’t start with this right now.”
“Gentlemen,” Omar said in a clear voice. “Thank you all for having us here today. We are honored to be here to discuss a potential deal linking our merged companies with your oil technology.”
Marian looked around the room as Omar spoke. Not a single woman. This must have been what Annabelle warned her about.
Omar gave a quick introduction to the nature of their proposed deal—utilize National Oil’s machinery and systems to gain access to a coveted region for mining purposes, while offering them unlimited use of Almasi Holdings’ connections in return.
“Our company is the best in America,” Kelly interjected, his puffy face looking more pompous than usual. “We’re an invaluable link, one only idiots would turn down.”
A tense moment of silence settled over the table, and Marian sensed the need to intervene. One of the oil tech men began speaking at the same time she did, though, so she subsided.
“We’re prepared to let you have use of our newest line of machines,” he said in slow, practiced English. He rattled off the model numbers, which Marian immediately recognized from her recent studies of machine reviews.
“Excuse me,” she said quietly. When another man began speaking over her, she said again, “Excuse me, gentlemen, but those machines have consistently poor performances in all recent trials.”
Several sets of dark eyes turned to her, and she looked to Kelly and Omar. Both of them avoided her gaze, so she went on. “Those machines would not be effective for our purposes,” she said, adding a few figures about the scope of the mining work Almasi-Thomas intended to do.
Kelly chuckled a little, all but reaching out to pat her on the head. “Well, thanks for that.”
Some of the oil tech men tittered. “Women always seem to have a response to everything, don’t they?”
A ripple of laughter coursed through the room, and Marian’s neck heated up. Anger prickled through her, and she turned to Omar for help. He had to see the logic here. He was sane and rational, and handsome. Help me out here.
“We should lock her up, like you guys do with your women.” Kelly waved his hand dismissively across the table, a sneer on his face. “Isn’t that right? They can barely leave the house without permission. Seems like it might work on this one.”
A heavy silence thudded across the table, and Marian gaped at Kelly. Oh. My. God. Just when she thought he couldn’t get worse, he did. The man knew no limits.
One of the oil tech men fired off something fast and angry in Farsi, to which Omar responded with a furrowed brow. A moment later, several men were shouting in Farsi, and the entire meeting had exploded before her eyes.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” she hissed at Kelly. “Did you seriously just say that?”
“It was a joke,” he shot back. “Seems nobody can take one these days. Bunch of sensitive pussies everywhere I go.”
Marian let her head drop into her hands. He wasn’t even worth it. He had a skull as thick as a glacier. And a brain that moved about as fast as one. A moment later, Omar stood, looking down at both of them with an intense gaze.
“We have to go.” He nodded toward the door.
He led them out of the conference room, leaving a thick wake of tension behind them. In the hallway, the air was cooler and twenty pairs of angry eyes weren’t boring into them. She turned to Omar, making her hands into fists so she wouldn’t start wringing them.