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I never say anything, not wanting to annoy him even more than I probably already do, but I do give him polite nods and smiles. Sometimes he’ll return the nods, and I take what I can get when it comes to him.
But it’s nice to have a routine. It’s nice to have that to fall back on and to know that no matter how hectic things are at the office for any of us, we’ll all be riding home together at the end of the day, and there will be dinner to look forward to and a soft bed to climb into at night.
Toward the end of our second week of being married, I take the elevator up to the C-suite offices to drop something off for Dominic. One of the other assistants handed it to me, and I don’t know if it’s because he thinks I should be the one delivering files to my husbands or because he’s scared of pissing Dominic off, but I take the file either way.
I can hear their slightly raised voices as soon as I come to Dominic’s door, and I slip in to see all three of them there.
Dominic is behind his desk, imposing with his arms folded and his face set into displeased lines. Xavier is leaning against the corner of the desk, posture loose and easy. It must not be a serious argument then, if he’s so relaxed. Tristan is sitting in one of the nice leather chairs across from the desk, and he looks impassive, almost bored as they go around and around in circles with each other.
“Are you going to do this every time this comes up?” Xavier asks, giving Dominic a lopsided smile. “You’re right sometimes, but when it comes to something as simple as?—”
“Simple?” Dominic shoots back. “You think setting an encryption on the information for a multi-million dollar company is simple?”
Xavier shrugs. “Sure? I mean, yeah, it’s more sensitive information, but the basics don’t change just because Company A has more money than Company B.”
“But you’re suggesting giving them more features because they have more money,” Tristan points out.
“No, I’m suggesting that we take their wants into account when we build their tools. Just because they can afford more of what they want doesn’t mean they deserve it more.”
“A backdoor passkey is a bad idea,” Dominic says. “Some idiot will use it the wrong way, and then we’ll be liable for what happens.”
“No we won’t. That’s in the contract,” Xavier replies. “Do you read the contracts, Dom?”
“Don’t call me that.”
“All I’m saying, all I’m always saying, is that giving the clients what they want isn’t a bad thing. If we go into every single contract with the expectation that our clients are morons?—”
“Most of them are morons,” Dominic cuts in.
Tristan sighs with a surprising amount of feeling for him. “We’re getting off topic here anyway,” he points out. “The question was whether we should invest in new marketing or upgrading our cybersecurity infrastructure.”
Dominic raises an eyebrow. “And my position on that hasn’t changed. Protecting what we already have is the most important thing we can do.”
“And I keep telling you that I helped to build what we already have myself. So I know it’s more than fine. We can afford to shunt some money into marketing to bring in more clients.”
“You know,” I say, speaking up for the first time. “I think all three of you want the same thing.”
The argument stops abruptly, and they all turn to look at me in surprise. Probably this is the first time they’ve even noticed that I’m here, and my face flushes at having interrupted them the way I did.
“Sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean—it’s just… I think you all want the same thing. You want what’s best for Vantage. You want the company to thrive, you just have different ideas about how to best go about that.”
“And what do you think we should do?” Xavier asks, his lips quirked in a smile.
“I think you should build off that common ground and try to find a compromise.”
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I want to snatch them back. I just barged in here and started telling them how to run their business, like I have any idea what they’re up against or how to handle things on their level.
I’m fully expecting Dominic to tell me to butt out and just do the job they’re paying me to do, but instead, he gives me a thoughtful look.
Xavier is grinning. “That’s not a terrible idea,” he says. “Half our problem is always that we’re so convinced that we’re right we can’t see any other way to do things.”
“What’s the other half?” Dominic asks.
“Oh, it changes from day to day.”
Dominic snorts. He rips a page out of legal pad he’s been scribbling on, balling it up and throwing it into the open trash can. “All right, what would a compromise look like then?”
“We’d have to consider doing both,” Tristan speaks up. “They are both important.”