He snorted. “That means we have to recruit and hire someone new and then train them—that will take months.”

“Maybe we can find another way. Ideally I need four full-time people to work on the project. But I could probably make it work with two full-time dedicated resources and two part-time. At least until your new staff is up and running.”

Davis ignored her and spoke to Bram. “Why don’t you give up four people?”

Bram gave Davis a flinty stare. “Because we don’t have to.”

Okay, she’d had enough of this bullshit. Why had she planned this meeting for a Friday afternoon, anyway? Shelby leaned forward and laid her hand on the desk, not in a smack, but firmly enough to make a noise and attract their attention. She smiled again, this time with an edge. “He’s not giving up four people because I’m the project manager and I’m the one who came up with the resource requirements for the project. I need four people from Short Term and two from Long Term. I can be flexible about whether it’s four full-time or two full-time, two part-time, but I will have four people from your division, Davis. This project is important and Paul has committed the resources we need.” Mentioning Davis’s boss, the Vice President of Benefits, got his attention. His eyes narrowed.

“I suppose two full-time and two part-time would be more manageable,” he muttered.

“That’s a great idea,” she replied smoothly, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. “I’ll be setting up a meeting next week for the project team. Now, next on the agenda is our risk and mitigation strategy.”

Davis and Bram launched into a debate about risks to customer service, and once again Shelby had to intervene. Once she got through these initial stages and had her team assembled, things would be easier. Maybe.

“I don’t think you fully understand our processes,” Davis snapped at her. “How long have you worked here?”

“Almost a year.”

He nodded and Shelby felt herself grow warm. She knew what he was thinking. How could she be managing a project of this magnitude with such little experience?

“I have six years of project management experience from my previous employer,” she said. “I worked on two similar projects when I was with RBM Pharmaceuticals. Also as the project manager, I don’t need to have knowledge of every small business process in your division, but I do need to have a good project team who does. Which is why it’s important that I have your expert input, as well as those staffing resources.”

Bram shook his head, and glanced at Davis. “I’m afraid I’m with him on this one.”

Great. She was uniting the two enemies in their distrust of her. Her stomach clenched and every muscle in her body tightened as she dug deep for control.

She gave them a bright smile. “I’m so glad to see both of you on the same page about something.”

That got her a startled bark of laughter from both of them. They exchanged another glance.

“I still think we have to change the whole intake process,” Davis said.

“That’s not within the scope of this project,” she said firmly. “It’s all in the draft of the project charter I gave you.” She nodded her head at the documents in front of each man. “If there are processes that need to be reviewed, we’ll make note of them and I can include recommendations for future changes. But we won’t be including that in this project.”

They both nodded, seeming to accept her answer, and Shelby moved on with the agenda. When the meeting had concluded, she wrapped things up with her usual summary of what decisions had been made and next steps. She sent each of them away with tasks they grumbled about but didn’t outright refuse to do.

“Thank you so much for your help,” she said sweetly as they walked out of the meeting room. She clutched her folder of papers to her chest, trying not to look like she was tense enough to snap. “I so much enjoy working with both of you. Your experience here is invaluable.”

The sucking up seemed to work and they walked back to their offices smiling.

In her own cubicle, she let out a long breath and collapsed into her chair. She could do this. She could do this. She was a good project manager, task-focused, detail-oriented, well-organized, but managing the conflicts that always seemed to arise was a challenge for her. She’d always hated conflict and it didn’t take a psychologist to know why after growing up surrounded by it. Although, she knew she was better at dealing with it than some managers she’d worked with. It was also a challenge working on such a big project when she was relatively new to the company and didn’t know all the hot buttons. What she’d said was true, and she had faith in her brains and ability to learn, but she couldn’t help some of the self-doubts that swirled inside her, especially faced with such a lack of confidence on the part of the directors, not to mention their rivalry. And she knew that wasn’t going to be the only conflict she’d have to deal with.

Oh well. She sucked in a big breath and again let it out, trying to release as much tension from her body as she could along with it. She began tidying her already neat office, arranging folders and papers into perfect piles, straightening pens and plucking a yellowed leaf from the plant on the corner of her desk.

Seeing Adam and Kiara last night had put some of her problems into perspective. Of course she wanted to do a good job, and her career was important to her, but witnessing what her friends were going through, the brave fronts they put on in the face of such tragedy, definitely made her realize her career was actually pretty insignificant.

Oh, who was she kidding? Her career was important to her. She needed to prove to herself as much as everyone else that she could do this, after what happened at her last job. Hence stooping to the level of making up a boyfriend and lying to her boss.

She sighed. In a weird way, she envied Kiara and Adam. She didn’t envy what they were going through, but she did envy the love they had for each other and the strength they were finding to help each other through this. They’d talked about so many things, important things, knowing how little time they had together, becoming closer than any two people she’d ever known, and seeing the depth of their feelings for each other was truly humbling.

That was what was important in life.

On the other hand, she wasn’t about to give up on this new job either. Losing her job wasn’t going to get her a love like Kiara and Adam. She had to hold on to what she had in her life.

Feeling drained from the stressful meeting, not to mention her worry about her friends and most of all her confused thoughts about Jake, she began typing up minutes of the meeting she’d just held, including all those action items that needed to be done to move things forward. She looked forward to going home, changing into her yoga pants and curling up on her couch.

Then Jake called. “I thought you might want to have dinner,” he said.

She closed her eyes. She’d just determined she wasn’t going to see him again. She felt herself weakening, wanting to see him. This was crazy! What had she gotten herself into with that impulsive plan for him to pretend to be her boyfriend?

She opened her mouth to say no, when Andrew walked by on his way out. He paused at her cubicle, then saw she was on the phone.

“Hang on,” she said to Jake softly, and lowered the phone. She looked at Andrew questioningly.

“Time to go,” he said. “Want to get a drink?”

Her stomach tightened but she forced a smile. “Sorry. I’m still working on a few things.”

Disappointment crossed his face. “Oh. I kinda wanted to get a drink.” He lifted one shoulder, the corners of his mouth tipping down. “And, you know…talk.”

She gazed at him in dismay. “Is something wrong?”

“Nah.” He gave her a weak smile. “Just…stuff.”