Chapter 73 - Emily

**EMILY**

Just as the lawyers had announced, Oliver Daron contacted Emily that same morning. He asked her again to meet him for lunch. This time she was more than on time. She ordered coffee and waited anxiously to see what would happen. What Oliver did not know was that she had also invited his business partner, Ms. Enders, to the meeting and asked for absolute discretion. But that wasn’t all - she had also told Alexander Fitzpatrick about an alleged meeting with Ms. Enders, hoping that he would also show up. Now she was curious to see who would show up first and if Alexander would even bring a lawyer, just in case. She certainly thought he was capable of that.
She took a sip of her coffee and couldn’t help but smile when she saw Ms. Enders purposefully approaching her table.
“Hello, Ms. Enders, how nice of you to make it on such short notice,” she greeted Oliver’s business partner in a friendly manner. But before Emily could say more, the restaurant door opened again and Alexander appeared - accompanied by Ms. Morgenthal and Mr. Rensen. The fact that he was able to get both lawyers on such short notice surprised Emily. It meant that they were one chair short, but she was sure that the staff could handle such a situation.
She had barely finished her thought when Oliver entered, this time last. He was early enough, however, to catch the greeting ritual. His eyes moved quickly from Ms. Enders to Alexander and the lawyers, and for a moment he seemed unable to fully grasp the situation. A slight nervousness flashed in his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure and put on a charming smile.
“Emily, Susanne, Alexander - how nice to be in such illustrious company today,” he remarked, coming over and looking at the lawyers with irritation. “May I ask what is going on here?” He looked at Emily, slightly pouting. “Didn’t we agree to meet in private?” His tone was reproachful.
Emily returned his serious look, but had to suppress a laugh inside. Oliver had indeed brought her a huge bouquet of flowers. He seemed to think that you could get anything you wanted with flowers. Did he really think that they would impress her? Surely it worked with many women - but Emily had made it clear to him more than once that she didn’t respond to such gestures. Still, he just didn’t seem to notice.
“I’m sorry, ladies, I didn’t know we were having a group meeting. Otherwise, I would have brought you flowers as well. This bouquet is for Ms. Saron,” Oliver explained with a charming smile that seemed a bit forced as he held the bouquet in her direction.
“Oh, Mr. Daron, that really wasn’t necessary,” Emily said, holding out her arms to accept the flowers. She glanced around briefly, looking for a staff member to put the flowers in water. 
But before she could signal anyone, Alexander had already anticipated her. He beckoned to a waiter. “Please put the flowers in water. The lady will take them with her after dinner. We’ll all order the lunch menu to make it quick,” he said firmly.
Oliver and Susanne looked astonished, while the lawyers nodded in agreement. Emily sat down quietly, a satisfied smile playing around her lips. She had expected nothing less from her boss - Alexander Fitzpatrick was known for his confident way of taking control as soon as he entered a room.
The next hour and a half dragged on like chewing gum, and the tension in her corner was almost palpable. Every point was discussed in minute detail, and it was a constant back and forth as Alexander and Oliver doggedly weighed in on the lawyers’ arguments. The air was thick with unspoken accusations and suspicious glances that flew across the table like daggers. Alexander leaned back in his chair, his hands clasped together, his cool, steely blue eyes trying to read every movement on Oliver’s face. You could literally feel the two Alpha animals engaged in an invisible showdown.
Emily sat quietly, watching the two men’s game with a mixture of fascination and relief. Her own role in this scenario was unobtrusive, but significant. Time and again, her eyes fell on Alexander, who, in typical fashion, tried to maintain the upper hand without showing even a hint of nervousness. But she knew him well enough by now to see that he did not like this situation - the slight twitching of his jaw muscles gave him away.
The lawyers continued to exchange glances and whispered words across the table. Ms. Morgenthal leaned forward and spoke softly to Alexander while Mr. Rensen busily took notes. You would have thought they were discussing a multimillion-dollar deal, when in fact they were trying to run Oliver and the agency into the ground.
Oliver tried to keep his composure, but his tense expression and the way he kept running his finger over the rim of his water glass betrayed his insecurity. He knew that he had been put on the defensive here and he didn’t like the fact that Alexander had the upper hand. Susanne Enders whispered to him, apparently speaking reassuring words. Emily realized that there was little the woman could do. It was time for her to get involved in the negotiations herself.
“If we’re not going to be here until the evening,” she finally said, “we’re going to have to come to an agreement.” She smiled encouragingly at Susanne Enders. “I’m certainly not in favor of the DarEnd-Agency losing its license. Let’s not forget that it has been very successful in its work for Mr. Fitzpatrick over the past few years. It’s just that something went wrong with that last placement.”
“Yes,” Susanne said quickly before Oliver could answer, “we are very sorry too. At first we didn’t really realize that you were working for Fitzpatrick Designs, Ms. Saron. And then you demanded...” She looked at Alexander. “...asked for Ms. Saron so specifically that we didn’t dare cancel the contract. It was all a series of unfortunate circumstances. And we all know we can’t afford the damages. But what we can do...” She took a deep breath and smiled weakly. “We can reimburse you for all the services you paid to Emily Saron for the job.”
There was silence. Neither Alexander nor Oliver were really satisfied, not to mention the lawyers. Only Emily and Susanne supported this solution. So there was another heated discussion until they finally agreed: Alexander would get his money back and Emily could keep the money she had already received as compensation. The contract with her would be canceled, and the agreement between Alexander and the agency would be considered terminated.
Alexander and Oliver didn’t look very happy. Both men’s lips were pressed together, and the tension in their jaws was unmistakable. It was as if they had just lost a battle.
Susanne, on the other hand, was relieved all over. Beaming with joy, she spontaneously threw her arms around Oliver’s neck. “We get to keep our company, you fool! Please never do anything like this again!” she cried, laughing.
This overwhelming relief even touched Emily. When Alexander came over and put his arm around her shoulders, she cuddled up to him, happy. At that moment, she realized that all the hardships and uncertainties of the past few weeks had been worth it.