Chapter 2 - ELEVEN MINUTES
Norah lasted eleven minutes before Arthur threatened to fire her again.
The argument began over coffee.
“Black,” he ordered.
Norah looked at the three cups on his desk.
“Fresh?”
He frowned.
“Obviously.”
“Then somebody should tell your housekeeping staff that coffee isn't supposed to develop a personality overnight.”
Arthur sighed.
“Do you ever stop talking?”
“When I'm asleep.”
“Lucky world.”
She smiled.
He didn't.
Norah returned with fresh coffee.
She placed it on the desk.
“Cup at two o'clock, six inches from your right hand.”
Arthur reached.
Found it.
Paused.
Then looked toward her voice.
“You didn't move my other things.”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Vincent said not to.”
Arthur's expression shifted.
For the first time, he seemed mildly interested.
“Most assistants decide they know better.”
“I don't.”
“You think you do.”
“About coffee? Absolutely.”
His mouth twitched.
Then disappeared into a frown.
Norah opened the next folder.
“Ready?”
Arthur nodded.
She began reading.
Twenty minutes later, she noticed something strange.
A paragraph in the contract referred to a subsidiary called Bellmont Holdings.
But the previous page identified the responsible company as Bellmont Logistics.
She stopped.
Arthur immediately noticed.
“Why did you stop?”
“There's an inconsistency.”
His face hardened.
“Read what's written.”
“I am.”
“Then continue.”
Norah looked at the page.
“Page four says Bellmont Logistics. Page five says Bellmont Holdings.”
Silence.
Arthur's fingers tightened around his coffee cup.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Read both paragraphs.”
She did.
Arthur said nothing for nearly a minute.
Then he reached for the desk phone.
“Vincent.”
A pause.
“Get Adrian Bell in here.”
Norah looked at the contract.
Something about the mistake bothered her.
It was too convenient.
The kind of inconsistency that might be dismissed as a typo.
May you like
Unless the two companies were legally different.
And the difference mattered.
