Pit Lane Persephone

Chapter 21: Lauren (Part 2 of 2)

I push through the next half-hour after Nicola promises she'll have food for us at the end. When we're done, she takes Seb and me into an upstairs conference room. Nigel is already there at the head of an oval table, rocking back and forth in a leather chair. A half eaten takeaway container of pasta is in front of him, while wrapped sandwiches are at two other places.

"I got you roasted Portobello, tomato and feta on a ciabatta roll," Nicola says, pointing to one of the packages before setting down a stack of unsigned posters. "I hope that's okay."

"It's great," I say, expecting my teammate to take the chair next to me with the other sandwich. Instead, Nicola slides into that spot and Seb sits directly opposite, nursing the bottle of Coke he'd been sipping all morning.

"Big breakfast?" I ask, noting his lack of food.

He doesn't hesitate. "Lunch plans."

"Ah." I wish I hadn't asked. Now I want to know whom he's meeting, no doubt counting the minutes until he can get out of here.

"Go ahead and start eating because I'm going to be doing most of the talking," Nigel says, leaning his arms on the table.

Nicola unwraps her sandwich, but not expecting a team meeting, my appetite has suddenly decreased. I guess this is why Seb is here even though he's not having anything.

"I've already got Pietro and Celia on the line." Nigel leans over the table and fiddles with the triangular contraption in the middle. Loaded with buttons on one side and topped with tiny holes; it's super high-tech for a conference call device.

Seb looks as surprised at the statement as I am. This makes me feel slightly better, but my palms are still getting increasingly sweaty as I peel the butcher paper off my lunch. I can't even imagine why our team manager called both of our agents today.

"Are you there? Can you hear me?" Nigel asks into the receiver after he manages to take it off mute.

"Loud and clear." Celia's voice comes through the speaker.

"Brilliant. And how about you, Pietro?" Nigel asks for Seb's rep, but even after a few seconds, there's no response. "Bloody hell. I think we lost Pietro. Typical, too. He's across town and we can't get him, while the connection to New York is crystal. Nicola, could you try to get him back on the line, please?" He pushes the console toward the woman who puts down her food and gets to work on pressing more buttons.

As Nigel digs back into his pasta, I also take a few bites of my sandwich. No matter what the upcoming conversation will involve, I'll probably feel even less like eating afterward.

I'd just gotten a big mouthful of the soft, olive oil braised mushroom when Seb's agent rejoins. "Apologies, Nigel," Pietro says from the other end of the line. "I think I press something and I lose you."

"No worries, my friend." Nigel puts down his fork and wipes his mouth with a napkin. "Thanks for joining us and especially you, Celia, because it is still rather early where you are."

"It's quite all right. I've got my cup of joe, so I'm wide awake now." Celia laughs.

"Good. Good." Nigel nods before leaning back. "Just so everyone is up to speed, I wanted all of us to be in on this conversation so there are no misunderstandings."

This sounds serious. No wonder my breathing is shallow and my hand freezes mid-bite.

"Now, we all know that some news came out on Monday regarding Seb and Lauren that both of them have categorically denied." He glances at us before returning his attention to the conference call unit. "We originally took a 'no comment' approach, which has only seemed to fan the flames of gossip even more, so to speak."