Finn swiped his clammy palms against the stiff material of his slacks. He wished he had a mirror to check his reflection, hoping he didn't look as nervous as he felt. The closest thing that would work was the window of the board room where Seth was currently giving his presentation, but there was no way he was going to look inside that room before it was his turn.
A sharp click clacking on the floor behind him drew his attention. He turned around and spotted Eden striding across the marble floor in a pair of dangerously tall heels.
Finn would never understand how girls could walk on heels as thin as chopsticks, but Eden made it look effortless. Then his eyes traveled up, and his breath caught in his throat. She wore a plum-colored blouse tucked into a form-fitting pencil skirt, gold jewelry dangling at her throat and ears against the deeper golden hue of her skin.
Every time he thought she couldn't be more beautiful, she proved him wrong yet again. He wanted to say something to her, but between his imminent presentation, and his thoughts swirling around what Kieran had suggested at practice, his emotions were in turmoil. All he managed was a simple, "Hey," and then he immediately kicked himself for sounding so stupid.
Luckily, Eden didn't seem to notice his brain fart. She greeted him with a smile that set his heart pounding faster than ever. "Hey, Finn. How are you feeling?"
"Great," he said. "Not at all like I'm totally unqualified and about to make a fool of myself in front of some of the most influential people in the business world."
She raised an eyebrow. "They'll eat you alive if you go in there with that kind of attitude. You've gone over these figures and this information a thousand times. You know what you're talking about—you just need to show the board that you do."
Finn's nerves settled slightly at Eden's reassurance. She was right. He'd rehearsed this presentation, reviewed the logistics, and planned for any questions he thought they might throw at him. There was no telling what would happen in the boardroom, but he knew he was prepared.
He straightened. "Alright. I'm ready."
Eden held up a hand. "Your tie's off-center." She stepped in front of him and adjusted the knot. This close, he could smell her perfume, a light floral scent that reminded him of spring. "There."
Finn caught her wrist before she could step back. Eden's eyes flickered over their hands, and he let go immediately, clearing his throat. "Um, I just wanted to say thank you."
She frowned. "I wasn't about to let you walk in there with a crooked tie. That's a crime against fashion."
"No, for helping with the project. You could have left me to fend for myself. Actually, I was almost expecting it. None of this," he gestured to the boardroom, and then at himself, "would have happened without your help."
Eden flashed him another heart-stopping grin. "Don't sell yourself short, Finn. You've done most of the work to make this project successful."
"Still, I wouldn't have been able to do this without you." He held her gaze steadily, hoping she could see the sincerity in his expression. "So, thank you."
Her eyes softened. "You're welcome."
The boardroom door swung open, and Seth sauntered out. His dress shirt was tucked sloppily into his pants, top button unbuttoned, showcasing his cavalier attitude toward the whole affair.
At the beginning of his internship, Finn might have found Seth's cockiness intimidating or off-putting, but now he knew better. He might not have grown up in the shadow of the business world like the other boy had, but he'd put in the hours to learn what he'd needed to and then more. No amount of swagger and attitude would rattle him now.
"You know, Finn, there's still time to avoid embarrassing yourself," Seth greeted. "The elevator is right behind you. I'm sure you know your way to the lobby by now."
Finn and Eden ignored him. With a shrug, the other boy strode past them and headed for the aforementioned elevator.
Eden turned to him. "Remember, it's all in the presentation. You've got this."
He grinned. "Hell yeah, I do." Pulling open the door of the boardroom, he gestured for Eden to go through first. "After you."
Finn followed her into the room and watched as she took a seat at the round conference table, between Kamilah al-Haroun and Zara Rashid. The CFO of Sayed Atlantic gave him an unimpressed look, no doubt remembering their disastrous last encounter, when Finn hadn't known who she was.
There were three other board members in the room: two men and another woman. He couldn't tell if he was more relieved or disappointed that Qadir wasn't here, but he certainly wasn't surprised.
Kamilah cleared her throat. "Let's get started, shall we? Finn, this is—"
"Sir Paul Northington, Mohammed Youssef, and Michelle Rollins. It's a pleasure to meet you." Mr. Northington and Mr. Youssef were members of Capstone Energy's board, while Mrs. Rollins was part of Sayed Atlantic. Finn hadn't wanted a repeat of what happened with Ms. Rashid, so he'd done his research. "Ms. Rashid, Ms. al-Haroun, lovely to see you again."
Kamilah's surprise quickly morphed into a composed expression. "You certainly came prepared." He couldn't tell if there was a compliment in there or not—had Seth not known who someone was? Either way, he decided to take it as a good sign.
Had he been anywhere else, he might have made a joke about always being prepared. As it was, he didn't think that would leave the best impression on these stony-faced investors and business leaders. So he swallowed the comment and inclined his head with a gracious smile.
Someone had already set up his presentation, which saved him the trouble of scrambling around the wires and hoping the connection would hold. Finn picked up the clicker from the table and took a deep breath. This was it.
As he launched into his presentation, he kept a careful eye on his audience. There was a science to talking in front of an audience that he relished. Abby would claim he just liked the idea of a bunch of people being forced to stare at him for an extended period of time, but there was more to it than that.
When someone's eyes threatened to glaze over, he drew their attention to another figure on the screen. He pointed out each individual's area of expertise when the topic popped up and explained what he'd found in his and Eden's research.
By the time he reached the end of his slides, nearly half an hour later, his throat was parched and he was sure there were pit stains under his blazer. But all of that paled in comparison to the immense satisfaction he felt from a successful presentation. It was almost as great a feeling as scoring a winning goal.
Then came the interrogation. Each board member had questions for him, concerns about what he proposed. He backtracked through his slides, again showing the graphs and figures he and Eden spent hours working on, explaining his ideas and thoughts for the Capstone Energy-Sayed Atlantic merger.
Finally, they ran out of questions. Finn tried to calm his nerves as the board members glanced between each other, murmuring. Sir Paul Northington cleared his throat. "On behalf of my colleague and I," he said, "you've done a marvelous job with this presentation." It took Finn a moment to process his heavy Mancunian accent before he registered the compliment.
Finn nearly sighed in relief. "Thank you, sir."
The elderly man glanced at Kamilah. "You say he was hand-picked by Qadir for this project? Maybe the interns don't have maggots for brains after all."
"That's correct." Cool as ice, Kamilah's piercing gaze slid over him. "I have to admit, Finn, I agree with Mr. Northington. Consider me impressed." She didn't quite smile, but she no longer looked at him like a bug she wanted to squash. Finn considered it progress.
Zara Rashid sniffed in disdain. "It was adequate." Behind her, Eden rolled her eyes and mouthed, that's a compliment. He suppressed a grin.
The last woman at the end of the table of board members, Michelle Rollins, scrutinized him. Finn felt like he was on America's Got Talent, waiting for the verdict from the final judge. He'd gotten the business equivalent of three yeses, but Michelle could sway the others' opinions.
"You've certainly put in a lot of effort," she said. "And you'll be glad to know it paid off. Congratulations on a job well done, Mr. McMahon."
Finn felt a warm glow of pride in his chest, but there was something else he needed to do. His eyes slid across the table and met Eden's smiling gaze. He hadn't run this last part by her, so he could only hope he was doing the right thing.
"Thank you all for the positive feedback," he acknowledged, "but most of the credit actually belongs to someone else."
Everyone looked confused, while the smile slowly slipped off Eden's face. He swallowed hard and plunged on. "It was Eden who helped me with a lot of this presentation. We collaborated on the spreadsheets and graphs, but without her help and her ideas, this pitch wouldn't have been anywhere near as polished. I just wanted you all to know how passionate she is about the future of this company."
There was an awkward silence. Finn snuck a glance at Eden, only to find her expression unreadable. Finally, Kamilah cleared her throat. "Well, that was... enlightening. Finn, Eden, thank you for your time. My colleagues and I are going to evaluate your presentation, and I'll be emailing you the report later this week."
He nodded stiffly and headed for the door, keenly aware of Eden's presence behind him. She murmured a quick word of thanks as he held the door open, which he took as a good sign since she wasn't totally ignoring him after he'd blindsided her with that announcement.
When they were in the hallway and the door closed, she crossed her arms and faced him. "Care to explain what that was, Finn?" Her tone was carefully neutral.
Finn straightened and held her gaze. "I wasn't going to take the credit for this project when you spent the entire last month helping me with it. That's not fair to you, and that's not the kind of person I want to be."
"Who said I wanted any recognition?" she retorted. "Maybe I was fine without my name attached to the project."
He raised an eyebrow. "'Maybe'?"
Eden looked away from him. "You know what I mean."
"You don't have to have anything to do with your dad's company, but at least now they know what you're capable of. Besides, you'll be fantastic at whatever you choose to do in the future anyway, whether it's business related or not."
She let out a noncommittal hum, barely acknowledging the compliment. "Good job on the presentation, by the way. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually used some of those ideas to help with the merger."
"Probably only the parts we worked on together."
Eden pressed her lips together, but Finn could tell she was trying not to smile. "Alright, maybe I do deserve some credit. Those spreadsheets did look pretty sad in the beginning."
His jaw dropped in mock indignation. "You said they were good!"
"After I fixed all your mistakes."
"Good thing you decided to help, then. Imagine what kind of disaster that would've been if I had to do it all by myself. I probably wouldn't have even made it halfway before Ms. Rashid or Kamilah stabbed me with one of their stilettos just to shut me up."
Eden laughed, and Finn's breath caught. Maybe it was the adrenaline flooding out of him, or the thrill of acing his presentation, but the world seemed sharper, more vibrant. And brightest of all was the girl in front of him.
God, she was impossibly beautiful. He'd thought so when they first met and every moment afterward, whether she was teasing him, flirting with him, or arguing with him. But it was her smile that he'd noticed immediately and never wanted to forget.
"Don't be silly," she said. "They would never get their hands dirty. They would've hired a hitman afterward to take care of you instead."
"Right, because that's so much better."
As Eden flashed him another stunning grin, and his heart thumped harder than ever, he knew it wouldn't be stilettos, or a hitman, or presentation jitters that did him in. It would be this girl, who he'd irrevocably fallen for without any inkling he was headed that direction. Like hurtling down train tracks with no destination but ending up in the most beautiful paradise in the world.
And as Finn came to the conclusion that he kind of, sort of, definitely had feelings for Eden Sayed, he realized that he couldn't care less what came next as long as she kept looking at him like that.
✰ ✰ ✰
AN: Finn is down so bad lol
apologies for the long absence! end of the semester kicked my butt and now I'm in this internship where we do stuff every single day (including weekends...) on top of taking a summer class so my free time is down to less than zero. which means I have no clue when the next update is coming, unfortunately.
also, I'm still upset that France got knocked out of the Euros yesterday bc I wanted them to win the whole thing, but hopefully they can do better at the World Cup next year... hopefully...
hope everyone is having a great summer so far! 🎊