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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Monday morning came much sooner than Claire had desired. She held Tristan’s hand and fidgeted nervously as they rode to work together. She never liked being the center of controversy and felt like her presence alone had caused all the problems they were facing. Tristan seemed to sense what Claire was thinking and reassured her that Mike had brought this on himself.
Entering Cam’s office, Tristan and Claire were greeted by a man who didn’t appear to be much older than they were. In his business casual attire of khaki pants and a polo shirt, he smiled and held out his hand to Tristan, introducing himself while barely acknowledging Claire’s presence. That did not go unnoticed by Tristan. By way of greeting, she simply nodded her head and did not accept the handshake.
Claire had only met Eugene Morris once before and wondered why Suarez had allowed an inexperienced member of the management team to handle this situation. He had only been promoted to the position of human resources manager six months before she received her promotion.
He quickly got down to business and asked Claire to recount the events between her and Mike. After Claire explained everything in detail, she sat quietly as Eugene made notes. After a few more minutes of silence, which seemed like an eternity to Claire and Tristan, Eugene spoke.
“I agree his behavior was totally inappropriate, but I think with a transfer and a letter of reprimand, he will understand the seriousness of his actions.” Avoiding looking at Tristan and Claire, Eugene addressed Cameron casually.
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Tristan could not hide her anger. “So, what you’re saying is, you plan to slap him on the hand and make him someone else’s problem?”
“Miss Delacroix, with all due respect, I don’t believe we should end this man’s career for his lack of judgment on this matter.”
Tristan was about to retort when she was interrupted by Cam.
“Mr. Morris, from what I have heard here today, I believe Mike has some problems. I cannot force you to fire him, but I do not expect to ever see him anywhere near here after today.
Furthermore, he is not to have any contact with Miss Murray at all.
No emails, phone calls, or any sort of correspondence whatsoever.”
Eugene was about to say something when Cam cut him off. “Mr.
Morris, I’ve run this company for a long time. Let me say first that I don’t like your attitude toward Miss Murray. The first thing you should have done was apologize for the behavior of one of your employees. You have downplayed this situation by simply giving him a transfer.
“With that in mind, I have decided to hire Miss Murray as our travel manager. Her first assignment will be to acquire a new travel agency to attend our needs. Please inform your superiors that we will no longer require the services of Suarez Travel.”
Eugene paled at the thought of losing such a lucrative contract. “I assure you, Mr. Hughes, we will make sure that Mike has no contact with Claire or anyone associated with Valor. We appreciate your business, and we will do whatever we can within reason to make sure you are satisfied.”
It was Tristan who interrupted then. “If you are finished with the ass kissing, I would like that piece of crap taking up my office space removed now.”
Ever the professional, Cam shot Tristan a look and tried hard not to laugh at the incredulous glare Eugene was giving Tristan. She stared back into his eyes until he had to look away.
Cam addressed Eugene again. “Mr. Morris, we can consider this meeting adjourned. I’ll have security escort you upstairs to inform your employees of the changes that are being made. You can make whatever arrangements you need to clear your equipment out of the building, and I would like that done today.”
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Cam opened his door and allowed two security guards to enter his office. “These gentlemen will escort you upstairs, and you and your staff will leave without incident, or I will have the police here in a matter of minutes. Do I make myself clear?”
Eugene Morris nodded mutely as he gathered his things and followed the security staff out of the office.
“Claire, I’m sorry that I didn’t give you more warning on what I had planned to do. I was hoping that he would have been a little more aggressive in handling this issue. He made it apparent when you walked in the room with whom he had chosen to side.
“I’ve seen it many times before. The one who files the complaint is often treated worse than the offending party. I hope you’re okay with the decision I made for you. I will assure you that you will have much better benefits with the Valor family, and we will treat you with dignity and respect.”
Shocked by the change of events, Claire had not realized fully that Cameron had submitted her resignation and hired her in a matter of minutes. “Thank you,” she replied, still dumbstruck by all that transpired.
Tristan was equally stupefied. “Cam, don’t get me wrong when I say this, but couldn’t you have at least given us a heads up on what you were planning?”
“I’m sorry, Tris, but I just didn’t like what I heard. Claire has become important to Lucy and me both, and there was no way I was going to leave all this up to that little prick to handle,” Cam replied apologetically.
Claire stood and hugged Cam, surprising him and Tristan.
“Thank you for taking care of me, Cam. I’ll never forget it.”
“I’ll always stand up for my girls,” he said as he winked at Tristan. He made it clear that Claire was more than just a member of the Valor family, she had been welcomed into his family, as well.
“Now if you two will excuse me, I want to make sure my orders are being followed, then I have to call my attorney. Suarez may be foolish enough to give me grief over the broken contract.”
Tristan reached over and took Claire’s hand into hers. “Are you okay with all this?”
“Of course I’m okay. I just lost one job and got another all in one day.”
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Tristan couldn’t help but chuckle. “I think I’m still in shock.
Let’s go over to human resources and make this official. You have a lot of paperwork to fill out.”
“I have to do one thing first. I need to tell Ellen about this. She will kill me if she finds out from someone else,” Claire said as she pulled Tristan into her arms and kissed her.
Claire had moved most of her belongings into Tristan’s house, and very little of her furniture remained in her apartment. Their house began to feel like a home for both of them. Even though they shared the master bedroom, Tristan set aside one room just for Claire to do with what she wanted.
One Saturday afternoon, Tristan went out to the yard to clean the flowerbeds of the plants that died due to an early October frost.
Claire spent time in her room setting up her home computer and sorting out her belongings. She came across the box that contained all her copies of the pictures sent to her by the stalker. She debated throwing them away but thought better of it.
She wanted to store them in a safe place and remembered how Tristan kept her storage room under lock and key. She reasoned that the locked room would be the perfect place to keep such items. She walked into the kitchen and got Tristan’s key ring off the hook where she always kept it. Claire would just slip them inside the door without invading the sacred space that held Tristan’s memories of her father.