Chapter 112 Confrontations

Noah's POV:

Eden's smile is significantly more forced when we return to work in the morning. I feel awful leaving her to go to my own office, not that she needs me to babysit her. Quite the opposite. She's more than capable of handling all of this, even if I do wish I could shield her away from it.

The morning flies by but just as I'm trying to decide where I'm going to take Eden for lunch, there's a knock at my office door.

"Come in," I call out, closing down the booking window for Eden's favourite restaurant.

Stacey makes her way into my office, closing the door behind her. She doesn't say anything until she is standing directly in front of my desk.

"Sir..." She hesitates in a way that is very unlike her. "Is Mrs Clancy sick?"

Her question catches me off guard. As far as I am aware the department heads have all agreed to keep Mrs Clancy's health status on the down low, at least for the time being.

Who would tell? It doesn't take me long to work out who would go against Eden's wishes like that. The answer is pretty obvious. Of course, it is either James or Lewis, but as always there's probably no way to prove it.

"Where did you hear that?" I ask.

"There's a lot of talk," she says in a hushed tone as if she's worried someone will hear us even in the privacy of my office.

"What sort of talk?"

"They're saying she's really sick," Stacey tells me. "There's even a couple of people saying that she's dying. She's not though, right?"

My jaw drops. Where the hell are these people getting these stories?

"Of course she's not dying," I say, feeling suddenly frustrated. All thoughts of a nice lunch out are forgotten as I get to my feet.

I'm not sure how much I'm supposed to tell her, so I put it off instead.

"I'll explain later," I tell her as I button up my suit jacket. "I've got to head upstairs for a bit."

"Is Eden okay?" Stacey asks softly, grabbing my arm as I move past her.

I don't want to lie to her but I also don't want to cause a panic.

"She's alright," I say cautiously. "A little worried but she's okay."

Stacey releases my arm, nodding her head. She doesn't say anything else as I lead her out of the room. She returns to her desk as I make my way out of the department. I need to tell Eden what I've heard.

The halls are not quiet as I make my way there. Everyone seems to be talking about Mrs Clancy and the rumours that I hear range from close to reality to outright off the wall crazy. The door is ajar when I arrive and I can hear angry voices coming from just inside.

"You should have told us," James is practically shouting. "We have a right to know."

There's a murmur of agreement from the others in the room. I walk in to find James and several other department managers hovering around Eden's desk, looking down at her, demanding that she explain herself. They look like they want her blood.

"I've been completely honest with you," she says sternly.

"You've been lying to us from the get go," James continues.

Here we go again... When is James going to stop?

"What exactly are you talking about?"

"Mrs Clancy's health," James says snidely. He's clearly enjoying himself.

"What about it?"

"She's far sicker than you told us. You knew that she was dying and you didn't tell us!"

"Dying?" Eden asks, clearly flabbergasted.

"You heard me," he says.

Martin steps forward, opening his mouth to speak but Eden gets there before him. "You're clearly misinformed," she's says, her voice holding steady as I step into the room, coming to stand by her side.

"I spoke to her nurse," he tells her, folding his arms, with a look on his face that suggests he's played his trump card.

Eden raises her eyebrow at him, getting to her feet.

"By all means, Mr Artie, tell me what is wrong with my grandmother, since you are so up to date."

She's leans forward slightly, waiting for him to say something. The snarl on his face falters for a fraction of a second before he responds.

"She's dying."

"Of what?" Eden questions.

He hesitates, unable to answer the question. Eden sighs, shaking her head at him.

"My grandma had a heart attack," she says far calmly than I would be if we were to swap places. "She is indeed very sick as anyone who has suffered a heart attack can attest to. However, there is no reason to believe that she will not make a full recovery."

The other managers have the good manners to look awkward, having presumably realised that James has been playing them.

James isn't done though.

"You really aren't experienced enough to be managing the company," he says. "You'll ruin us all."

"You may well be right," Eden replies, surprising everyone, "but you won't give me a chance."

"Too right I won't..."

"You won't give me a chance because you're doing that for me." Her tone is cool and controlled, causing James to blink back at her in confusion.

He begins to splutter, "I-I am d-d-doing no..."

"Undermining me and spreading false rumours about Mrs Clancy, that is exactly what you are doing. If this company is ruined, you'll only have yourself to blame, Mr Artie."

With a deep sigh, she demands that he leave her office with an impressive level of sternness.

Eden's POV:

I'm practically shaking when the door finally closes behind James and the others. James just storms out but the other two both give me a quick apology before scurrying out like they're actually scared I might be angry with them.

"Can I fire him?" I grumble, resting my head on the desk in front of me.

Neither Martin or Noah bother to answer me so I guess the answer is no.

"I really REALLY hate him."

"You're not alone," Noah says softly.

"Your grandmother doesn't like him either," Martin tells me, "but you handled him well."

"Yay! Go me!" I reply, almost sarcastically.

I take a moment to steady myself before asking them what we're going to do about the rumours. I don't want to admit it but this whole thing is pretty overwhelming.

"We can send out an email making an announcement," Martin answers. "I'll draft something up for you."

"Thank you," I reply quietly. "How's grandma?"

"I spoke to the hospital about an hour ago," he tells me. "She's stable."

"Good. I need her to get better and come back to work before I ruin her company."

"You're really not doing as bad as you think," Martin says. "I think you're doing pretty d*mn well, all things considering."