Boardroom Proposal

by Way, Margaret

  “Evie, you look gorgeous! Where did you find that dress? It’s terrific.” His eyes moved over her with brotherly pride. “There won’t be a woman in the place to touch you.”

  “I don’t know about that. Lisa will come close. And you haven’t met Lady Forsythe yet.” Her faint smile was unbearably touched with an element of worry.

  “Aphrodite could turn up and Drew wouldn’t see her. He only has eyes for you, Evie. I know what you’re going through,” he said in a low warm voice. “What happened to Mum invaded every aspect of our lives. But you’re so much more than our poor little mother, Evie. We loved her a lot, but both of us knew she wasn’t a survivor. She didn’t have solutions. She never tried to work any out. You were the one who was always pushing on with what had to be done. You were the one who had to handle me. I was in a pretty bad way, too, after Dad left. You’re a strong individual, Evie. And you’re clever. You can hold on to any man.”

  “Even Drew?”

  “Sure. So don’t go worrying yourself about permanence when you’ve only just got engaged. Marry him. Make it work.”

  “Or call the whole thing off.” Eve suddenly laughed, reached up and patted her brother’s cheek. “Thanks, Ben I’m glad you’re going to be there tonight.”

  It had been arranged they would arrive early, before the guests, and while Ben explored the house, professing from the outset he had fallen in love with it, Drew drew Eve into the library, so delighted with her appearance his dark eyes burned with sexual intensity. “I haven’t given you my engagement present yet.”

  “You have, too!” Bubbling with excitement Evie held up her glittering left hand, smiling at him with such sweetness it was all he could do not to sweep her up and carry her away.

  “I want to give you more,” he said.

  “But, Drew, I have nothing.” She had given him several small presents from time to time, wondering all the while what you gave a man who had everything.

  “You’re all I’ll ever need and want,” Drew pointed out gently. “My mother left a good deal of jewellery. All of it is yours. But I want you to wear my gift tonight. It will go perfectly with that dress.”

  “Drew, you’re spoiling me. Truly.” Eve’s voice sounded a little odd.

  “Don’t cry, darling,” Drew warned her. “Don’t ruin your makeup.” His hand brushed her shoulders. He wanted desperately to kiss her but held back.

  “That’s as good a warning as any.”

  Eve held her breath as Drew produced a long dark green velvet box. “Turn round,” he ordered.

  Eve did, feeling swept away.

  “Maybe you’d better hold your hair away for a moment.”

  “Very well.” She put up her hands and lifted her hair from her fine, smooth neck.

  A moment more and Drew placed a string of pearls around it, a heart-shaped, diamond-encrusted pendant sitting perfectly against her skin.

  “Could I look?” Eve fingered the diamond pendant, suddenly terribly aware of the role she was being cast in. From rags to riches, she thought incredulously. No, not rags, never rags, but there had never been much money to spare. Now this. In marrying Drew, overnight she would become a very rich woman. She wouldn’t be an ordinary person at all. Doing ordinary things. She wasn’t so sure of herself that she didn’t think it was scary.

  Drew led her by the hand to a gilded Regency mirror on top of a carved console.

  “Like it?” He bent to her reflection.

  “Love it.” Eve had to distract herself so as not to cry. The pearls were lustrous orbs, the diamond heart below them glittered like a starburst. It wasn’t easy, she discovered, being showered with gifts.

  “You’ll have to take off your earrings,” he said softly. “Not that they don’t look lovely, but these match the necklace.” He held up a pair of earrings and lights flashed.

  “I don’t deserve you,” Evie said, certain it was true. “I don’t deserve all this kindness.”

  He made a little scoffing sound. “I told you before, Evie, kindness has nothing to do with it. These come with all my love.”

  Strong emotion kicked up inside her.

  “You’re not going to cry, are you?”

  “No, I’m not. Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.” She was absurdly happy, her heart racing a thousand beats to the minute.

  The earrings were exquisite. Small diamond hearts hung from single large perfect pearls.

  After she had fixed them, Drew put his hands over her delicate shoulders, his fingers moving caressingly along her collarbone. “Want to show Ben? I want to kiss you so badly, if we don’t move I just might lose the struggle.” Yet he looked arresting, a man of extraordinary male beauty, perfectly in control of himself except for the faint tremor in his strong hands.

  “You look marvellous,” Eve said, mesmerised by their reflections, Drew with his dark colouring, the raven hair, the eyes, and bronzed skin, she looking more like a figurine in cream and gold.

  “This is our night, Evie,” he said, and gripped her hand.

  Thus armed, Eve went out to greet the first of their guests already at the front door. If Drew thought she was very special. She was.

  The party developed beautifully. Although there were many older guests, most were Drew’s friends, all around his age. Quite a few had returned home from overseas postings, Eve found. She, who had decided she was going to take it easy and enjoy herself, was delighted to meet so many friendly, lively and stimulating people who seemed just as delighted to meet her and make her one of them.

  “You two are going to be perfect, I just know,” Luke Farrell, one of Drew’s closest friends, told her.

  That seemed to be the consensus of opinion.

  Ben, too, was having the time of his life, looking older than his twenty years and very handsome in his dinner clothes. More than one young woman had rushed up to him, seduced by his golden good looks and not taking terribly much notice of the pert brunette called Lisa who kept jumping in the way.

  Susan was there, gowned and coiffured to perfection, her tall willowy figure shown off to its best advantage in a long sapphire blue gown only a favoured few could possibly wear. Charity work dominated her time. A constant round of functions. She wanted to devote time to the less fortunate, she told everyone in her soft charming tones.

  “Face it, isn’t that most of us?” Lisa quipped irreverently.

  All through the evening Drew was never more than a few feet from Eve’s side. Even then he kept moving back to her, profoundly pleased with her impact on his friends. Happiness made her blond beauty incandescent but her bright conversation kept their guests clustered around her.

  “Ah, now I understand how she landed him,” an older male relative of Drew’s whispered in Susan’s ear, never dreaming she was seething with upset. “She’s really quite delightful and the IQ shows. Apart from her looks, I always found Carol deadly dull.”

  Isn’t anyone aware how I feel? Susan thought. This used to be my home. I was a brilliant hostess. I was married to the richest man in this state. Now I’m a widow, a woman on my own, forced to take a back seat. Why? She had a cool and ruthless head. She knew how to seduce a man.

  Susan was ashamed of the terrible thoughts that invaded her mind. Was she sick to even think of them? Yet every day her feelings for Drew were becoming more obsessive. She realised that just as she realised she had lost the power to control the situation.

  Revelation came to her in a blinding flash. It rocked her to her core.

  She had never told Drew how she felt. He didn’t even know she loved him. She had hidden it from him.

  Fool! She would do anything now to have him for herself.

  Drew. The incomparable Drew.

  Shed this madness, the sane voice inside her warned. But the force of obsession drove her on.

  Eve was never sure how it happened, but as the weeks flew by and the work on the Capricornia project was stepped up, Susan somehow managed to ingratiate herself as Eve’s would-be mentor. Eve had been
prepared for some sort of interference but Susan was so persuasive and pleasant they had somehow come to having weekly lunch together.

  “Of course, the big day is going to be a marvellous occasion—” Susan smiled “—but there are a great many anxieties and pressures along the way. Let me ease your path, Eve, and help you keep calm. After all, you’re working so hard, it must be hard to focus on two things at once.”

  “There’s a lot happening, Susan.” Eve was beginning to feel quite uncomfortable. “Capricornia has to come in on time and we’re working against the wet season. There are very many projects out there. The partners are getting together for Mount Maratta. Drew is working especially hard.”

  Susan reached across the small window table and patted Eve’s hand. “My dear, Drew can cope. He was bred to it. But this is a very big challenge for such a young woman. I’ve been there. I know how it’s all done. Trust me.”

  It was hard to deal with such a sticky situation especially when Susan kept talking endlessly.

  “—You have to have someone to help you. After all, I am ‘family.’ I’d love it if you got into the habit of discussing things with me. Don’t think you have to bottle up your problems”

  “There is Drew,” Eve pointed out deftly. “A big wedding is a challenge, I admit, but I’m a good organiser.”

  “I’m sure you are.” Susan worked hard to smile. “The thing is, Eve, you’ll be helping me. I’ve been so unhappy since I lost David. You’ll take my mind off my grief.”

  “Susan wants to help me find my wedding dress,” Eve confided to Lisa over the phone.

  “You’re not going to let her?” Lisa all but shrieked.

  “Of course I’m not.” Eve clicked her tongue. “I don’t want to create any upsets, either. Drew’s not good at being unkind to women. He gets fed up from time to time, but basically he’s sympathetic towards Susan’s position. God knows why, but I think he feels he owes her.”

  “Well, its common knowledge Drew got the lion’s share of everything,” Lisa pointed out. “And she’s particularly sweet around him, men love women who need caring for. Actually, I didn’t take to her at all,” Lisa confessed. “It’s amazing but I thought she’s got more than a touch of the Wicked Queen. You know, ‘Mirror, mirror on the wall’ and so forth. In fact I’m not absolutely certain she doesn’t want Drew for herself. Perhaps a touch incestuous.”

  “And painful,” Eve said. “It might be easier to elope.”

  “No way!” Lisa, the chief bridesmaid, swiftly vetoed that. “Tell Susan, the hoity-toity Lady Forsythe, you’ll do very nicely without her.”

  Despite her best efforts, and Eve had learned to take quite a lot on board, it was becoming increasingly difficult to plan the perfect wedding to the extent she was starting to feel pressured. She didn’t have a fiancé who could take time off to sit down with her and plan exactly what they wanted. Drew, above all, was TCR’s chief executive officer with all that implied.

  “You could take time off,” Drew suggested when she brought up the subject, “only you’re too close to the action. Frankly I can’t do without you until we get a few things like Maratta and the Austral venture out of the way. You’re very patient and cool when it comes to closing finances. What we really need is a support system,” he Joked.

  “We do.” Eve took it seriously. “I have no family.”

  “What about Susan?” Drew nodded towards his secretary, who was wanting him to sign papers. “She might enjoy the job. She’s been very unhappy of late.”

  “I’m sure I told you she has offered to help,” Eve murmured dryly, all of which appeared to go over Drew’s sleek dark head.

  “Then why not let her check out a few things?” He finished what he was doing, smiled at Sara.

  “Like book the honeymoon?” Despite herself Eve’s words came out almost combative.

  Drew paused, looked up at her, dark eyes suddenly gleaming. “Oh, I think we can organise that ourselves. You, me, on a magical desert island. No phones. No TV. No one to reach us. We can wave at the ships going by. And frankly, my love, I can’t wait. Why don’t you draw up a checklist of things Susan might be able to do? The time-consuming things you can’t get round to. We have the final say. Susan was good at organising parties and functions for Dad. She could help enormously if you let her. It might be a kindness”

  Kindness or not, Eve didn’t want Susan taking a hand in anything. Eve felt under the soft, cultivated facade there was envy as dark as night. As the bride-to-be, Eve soon found it was easy to plunge from the dizzy heights of rapture to the depths of distress. Even Ben was asking her if she could cope.

  Seeing this, Susan decided it was time for the next move. “You’re looking a little pressured, Eve,” she said sympathetically the next time they had lunch. In fact, being in love had given an extra dimension to the girl’s fine-featured beauty. She was wearing a very elegant black suit and it added drama to her cream and gold colouring.

  “There are always problems, Susan,” Eve said, making up her mind she would have something else to do at lunchtimes in future.

  “I know just how you feel.” Susan picked up her menu and scanned it sightlessly before putting it down. “Before I was married, I continually worried if I could measure up as David’s wife. You must feel exactly the same with Drew?”

  Eve didn’t hesitate. “To be perfectly honest, I don’t think I’ll have any trouble at all. Drew is enormously supportive.”

  “Ah, how well I know that!” Susan sighed. “He’s been kindness itself to me.”

  “Well, of course.” Eve had to acknowledge it. “He lost a father. You lost a husband. It’s very sad.”

  “Oh, it began long before then.” Susan looked away, her eyes clouding in remembrance. “Drew was an ally right from the beginning.”

  “It’s no secret he really does try to help people,” Eve said, keeping her voice even.

  “Of course he was trying to get over the effects of Carol then. That marriage should have never happened. I just knew it wouldn’t work.”

  “Why is that?” Eve was determined to get it out of her.

  “Well, for one thing, the more time he spent with her Drew realised she just couldn’t measure up. She—”

  “I’m not sure what you mean?” Eve interrupted her.

  “Well, there’s no denying Carol is very glamorous and sexy but to put it bluntly she wasn’t the right woman for Drew to have at his side.” Susan spoke out of a deeply felt jealousy.

  “And you were?”

  Before she even knew what she was doing, Susan nodded then flushed violently in reaction.

  “You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Eve asked, showing more pity than anything else.

  Susan’s large blue eyes seemed to focus on her with difficulty. “I probably shouldn’t say it but there was a time...” She broke off, tears filling her eyes.

  “Don’t stop.”

  “I think we should leave it.”

  “No, lets deal with it right now. There was a time...”

  “Didn’t you recognise it yourself?” Susan issued the soft challenge.

  “I’ve been expecting this.” Sadly, Eve shook her head.

  “We women can’t fool one another,” Susan said ruefully. “I don’t threaten you, Eve. I fully sympathise with your position. You sensed very early Drew and I are very close. I married his father, true. We tried to make a life together. A life that was over almost as soon as it began. David, too, sensed the strong bond between myself and Drew. We argued that last night. I never saw David alive again.”

  “Are you going to tell me about the argument, too?” Eve heard the irony in her own voice.

  “Much better I don’t.” Susan looked away. A woman with secrets.

  “What an extraordinary woman you are, Susan.”

  “I’ve always seen myself as that.”

  “And it’s your intention to try and drive a wedge between Drew and me?”

  “I’m trying to tell you about s
omething that’s hidden You may marry Drew, Eve, but I think you realise I’ll always be there in the background.”

  “As what?” Eve asked almost encouragingly.

  “As something we can never show to the world. Much as he cares about me, Drew knows society would never accept me as his wife. In becoming Lady Forsythe I forfeited my chances.” Susan’s voice faded with the realisation the price had been too much.

  “It’s a delusion, of course,” Eve said simply. “The impossible dream. You have to wave goodbye to it, Susan. Go for a long trip overseas. Save your sanity. Think of any story you like. Take yourself off. I don’t want you around to spoil our big day.”

  When Eve returned to the office, many emotions flowing through her, it was to find Drew making preparations to go to the $406-million Sunderland copper-gold mine where trouble was brewing. The local aboriginal people had sought an injunction to halt operations, arguing they had been denied their rights under native title. The government and TCR, who held the lease, were arguing no native title existed, but it was clear it was in the interests of all parties that a resolution be reached. Emotions were running high. Mine management stated the native title claims were simply vexatious, which the other side rejected. Drew intended to leave the following morning and take Rhys Thomas, QC, the company counsel, along. The case had already been put to the federal court with the judge reserving his decision. As a consequence, operations were continuing, but in a state of flux. It wasn’t time to talk about Susan.

  Eve returned to the house with Drew that evening. She had been getting to know this large mansion, walking around it at her leisure, gradually deciding if there was anything she wanted to change. As far as Drew was concerned this would be her home and she had carte blanche to redecorate if she so wished. Certain aspects of the house were Susan, and Eve thought she might change some, though very gradually. There would be plenty of time to settle into this most beautiful of homes.