“What?” asked Sam perplexed as to why she’d need to tell Gray that.
“People not using the intercom drives him crazy,” explained Eve, grabbing her purse to pay the young lad who was approaching the door that was now being held open by Eve.
Chapter 19
After stuffing themselves on pizza, Eve went into the kitchen and found an unopened tub of ice cream that she thought may be conducive to more relaxed conversation.
Returning with the tub and two spoons, Sam grinned. “I like your style!”
Eve saw her phone was lit up with a message from Gray.
Reading it she realised that Sam must have contacted Gray or Tim.
Sorry. Seems I left you stranded @ work. Sorrier that it has saddled you with Sam. If she drinks plse put her in a cab. You ok? Can't wait til tom night. Will text u later. We can discuss our sharing underwear some more. x
Was bit pissed with u when I realised & saw the rain, but Sam rescued me. She is on lemonade. Am fine. Tom night? Is something happening? Love u 2 text but have 2 read up on client Leon’s meeting with so undies discussion may need 2 wait. x
Don't swear! You’re teasing again baby! You sure you’re ok? What client? Why are you reading up for his meet? X
Wearing a grin she didn’t doubt was soppy at Gray’s chastisement and his defensive tone that Leon might be taking advantage of her, Eve composed her response.
U like my teasing. Abs fine, really. 4got to tell u @ lunch, can't think why! Single No More r looking @ PR and Leon has invited me 2 sit in. x
You know why! Did you cancel your membership? x
Ur sister is giving me weird looks now. 4got to cancel, will do it tom. x
Text you later x
With his final text received Eve realised that she really did need to cancel her Single No More membership or she’d be paying an additional month’s fees for nothing.
“Gray?” asked Sam as Eve put her phone down, not that there was any doubt in either woman’s mind just who was at the other end of the phone.
Nodding, Eve smiled at her.
“I have never seen him like this Eve, he likes you, really likes you,” she said.
“Well, it is mutual,” replied Eve, feeling slightly awkward suddenly.
The idea of talking about Gray to his sister seemed disloyal, especially when she knew he was something of a closed book. They both knew that and yet Eve knew details, private details about their father’s death and childhood after that time, details and memories he shared with the woman before her.
“Good,” smiled the other woman. “I know you have baggage and Gray is very complicated, but you make a good couple.”
“Talking of good couples, tell me about you and Tim.” Eve was very proud of herself for such a smooth change of topic, deflecting the attention from her and Gray.
“With pleasure. Tim is the love of my life. I was seventeen when he came home with Gray for the first time and I fell head over heels immediately; he was attractive, funny, he talked to me and more importantly, he listened. We kept in touch by e-mail, text, that kind of thing, which Gray knew, but what he didn't know was that later we would meet up every few weeks. I was at uni and Tim had just started his first job while Gray was out plotting world domination.” She laughed. “Or at least setting up Sharpstone. Tim was the only man I have ever loved and although we agreed we wouldn't have a 'proper' relationship until after I graduated he was also the first boy I slept with and I always knew he would be my husband, the father of my children.” She grinned inanely. “I am quite pathetic where my husband is concerned.” She blushed with her admission and then asked, “Do you have any wine?”
Eve got up and pulled a bottle of supermarket's own white from the fridge and held it aloft.
“I have orders to send you home in a taxi if you drink though,” Eve told her.
“Pour away, although please don't let Tim know that you keep that in your wine collection or he will take it upon himself to educate you,” she said, smiling as she accepted the glass of wine.
“What happened to you and Tim while you were at uni?” asked Eve.
“Ah, we slept together before I left for uni, but we decided that we should wait until after I finished uni to continue. He had some girlfriends and I had one boyfriend before I left uni.”
“And then you and Tim got back together?”
“No. I decided I wanted to move into interior design and in pursuing that I met this guy, Rob, and as I had just come into lots of money, I bank rolled a business venture.”
“Get you,” grinned Eve, succumbing to a glass of wine herself now.
“Not quite. Dad left us very well provided for, but in trust until we reached twenty-one.” She grimaced.
“Gray did mention that,” nodded Eve.
“Gray told you about Dad?” Sam was shocked.
“Bits.” Eve hoped to keep a balance between discretion and honesty.
“He really, really, really likes you if he's talking about that. So, I ploughed lots of money into the business and thought I was savvy enough to do it without help or advice, especially not from Gray.”
“And?” Eve cringed at the possible response.
“And I was wrong. Rob took my money from under my nose and kind of made it look legal by syphoning money to other accounts or to other companies he was involved with and before I knew it my interior design business was dead in the water and Rob had disappeared. I was upset, but I felt stupid, so I tried to hide it for a while. Gray came to me and asked me about my plans for my money and my future and it all came out. He was furious and looked at legal roots to regain what I'd lost but it would have cost me as much again and I didn't want to take Gray's money and that’s when he offered me a job. At the same time Gray invited Tim to join him in the business so we began to see more of each other, and the timing was right.” She grinned, draining her second glass.
“You're like the three musketeers, aren't you?” laughed Eve.
“Mmm. Gray had the financial capacity to have set up his own business straight out of uni, but Tim didn't. Gray picked up little campaigns, he's very picky, but very clever. He picked up campaigns for small or unknown companies or products and then projected them into the limelight and when they became big it was on the back of him. His name became known and respected quite quickly.
Tim worked for a few agencies and picked up different skills, tricks of the trade at grass roots level and built his own reputation. Gray originally named the business Sharps but when he invited Tim to join him as a partner the name evolved into Sharpstone, although Tim didn't have the funds to buy into the business beyond a third, but he's happy with that and Gray would never have gone 50/50, he likes to be the boss.”
It all sounded very Gray, being the boss thought Eve with a smile.
“And then you bought into it too,” said Eve thinking that Gray had told her they, he and Tim had brought Sam into the company.
“What? No. I am an employee, although I have moved from the reception desk where I started. I had squandered most of my money so when Tim and I realised we were ready to settle down what money I had left I put towards the house and the very little that was left over Gray invested for me and tied it up so I couldn't lose it.”
“I thought you were all equal partners.” Eve was unsure why she had assumed that.
“No. Gray doesn't do equal partners. Our parents were equal partners in his mind and—sorry Eve, the wine loosens my tongue and it's not really my place. Gray is very private...” she said uncomfortably, struggling with what to say for possibly the first time.
“Sam, it's fine really. I know Gray doesn't share details too often and I get that he has shared stuff with me that he wouldn't normally and it means a lot to me, but I don't expect you to tell me things that you don't want to or that he would be unhappy about. Now have another glass of wine and tell me more about you and Tim and your love at first sight,” she said and was pleased that the other woman looked happy and relaxed again
.
It was a couple of hours later, lying in bed reading the file on Single No More that Eve's phone sounded next to her.
Hi baby. Thanks for looking after Sam & putting her in a cab. She doesn't have many friends but she likes you. What you doing? x
Hi yourself Skip. No prob with Sam, I like her too. Tim's car is o/side. Am in bed reading. x
Tim won’t sleep tonight thinking of his pride & joy on the roadside. He is picking it up about 6 in the morn so don't worry if it's gone when you get up. What you reading? 1 handed lady book? X
Eve actually laughed out loud at that despite being alone.
No, not 1 handed lady book! Stuff on Single No More. x
I prefer to think of you reading 1 handed lady book. x
Pervert. X
She sent the single word message with a smile and realised that he made her happy, properly happy, even when he wasn’t there.
Do you have 1 handed lady books? x
U really are a sex pest! x
That's a yes then. You should read them to me, aloud & on that thought you should finish your work & I will think of you reading 1 handed. x
That made me laugh, u make me laugh. How was ur meeting? x
Not joking! Meeting was good. See you tom. x
Eve laughed and replied with a single 'x' before returning her attention to the file in her lap and wondered who else would be at tomorrow's meeting.
Leon was in the kitchen when Eve joined him after arriving at work and smiled as he looked up to see her.
“Bloody hell, you look very—erm—well, very, very…” He floundered, making her laugh.
“Too much?” she asked nervously.
“No, you look great and maybe as it's a dating company it's right that you look that hot and yet so professional,” replied Leon as he glanced across Eve standing there in a red, sleeveless dress with a deep v neckline, yet revealing no cleavage, it just clung to her shape, her curves. Her waist appeared unfeasibly small, emphasised by the ruching detail that was held by a black, leather tab at her side.
As Eve had when she'd put this outfit together that morning, Leon thought she had the balance of colour and shape just right. Some women would have gone with red shoes and over accessorised, but not Eve; plain black court shoes, no rings, a silver coloured watch with a black dial and small diamante and black half hoop earrings.
“Twirl,” he cried as he finished the drinks. “Gosh I am very gay but even I can appreciate a female ass that looks like that.” Leaning forward, he whispered, “Are you commando?”
Laughing loudly, Eve replied, “No I am not, but I have some very good underwear that shows nothing under this kind of thing.”
“Well, it looks like you're commando which could be distracting for a straight man, but not me, Eve.” He laughed. “Bare legs?” he suddenly asked.
“No,” replied Eve and offered her leg up for him to feel the sheer fabric of near transparent stockings she wore.
“Ooh nice.” He smiled again as Lou appeared behind them.
“I thought I was the only one working today,” she shrilled as she took the coffee Leon offered. “What the hell are you wearing? You on the pull?” she asked bluntly, making Eve think maybe her dress was too much.
“No, Louisa, this is what a professional over twenty might wear for a business meeting,” said Leon sarcastically, looking at the younger woman in an ankle length tube skirt, baggy floral blouse and shiny red Docs on her feet.
“Whatever!” was her only response before she reached across and grabbed a handful of chocolate biscuits to take back to her desk.
It was ten o'clock when the desk phone rang to say that the representatives of Single No More had arrived. Eve asked the ground floor receptionist to put them in the lift and she would meet them. She nodded to Leon to let him know they had arrived and headed out to the lift ignoring the sound of her phone vibrating across her desk.
The lift doors opened to reveal one man of around twenty-five, tall and quite slender. Smiling warmly, Eve felt disconcerted as she absorbed the warm brown curls of his hair and the sparkly green eyes, like Max. Annette would tell her that it was her conscience that so quickly compared him to Max and not Gray, but she had nothing to feel guilty about and she had only thought of Max because of the physical similarities.
Startling her, he asked, “Miss Mariner?”
“Yes, Mr??” she enquired.
“Sorry, Lewis, Jamie Lewis.” He extended a hand as he joined her outside of the lift.
“If you'd like to follow me,” she said and turned away from him.
“With pleasure.” He smiled at the view that was Eve's derriere.
Lou's jaw dropped as Eve appeared with Jamie who was very handsome and knew it. His whole demeanour suggested that. Lou leapt up and insisted on making tea and coffee, even Leon looked faint as he approached them.
“Leon Markham.” He offered a hand towards Jamie who accepted with a smile. “Eve, you've already met, so shall we?” He gestured towards his own office.
“Of course, after you, Eve.” He gripped her elbow which shocked Eve and made her feel increasingly awkward as he guided her into Leon's office.
Eve felt even more uncomfortable under Jamie's admiring gaze and definitely regretted the figure hugging dress she was wearing as he appeared incapable of looking anywhere other than at her.
Leon was brilliant as he discussed Single No More and its profile before turning to Eve and asking, “What's your take on it, Eve?”
“I think you need some more positive accounts from satisfied customers. If you look at current trends in any area where people are paying for a product, they want assurances if not guarantees. Maybe you need to follow up your customer's experiences and see what your success stories are, not just the ones that I keep reading about in the papers and magazines where innocent women find themselves hooking up with married men looking for a little extra curricular. I saw one last week where the guy had a penchant for younger girls and targeted women, divorced women of a certain age that would be most likely to have teenage daughters he could befriend, groom.”
“Those were not from my company!” snapped Jamie, his defensiveness coming across as anger.
“I know that, but unfortunately these stories are the ones that are remembered and then you all get tarred with the same brush. So, before that happens you need to be proactive, which this meeting suggests you're being.”
“Mmm,” muttered an annoyed looking Jamie. “I could just launch a new ad campaign,” he said as a threat more than anything.
“You could, but it won’t run on its own and you're up against stiff competition in the market, but positive stories, real and realistic stories, people and stories Joe Public can relate to, not actors, would engage possible customers and give the hesitant ones the nudge they may need to take the plunge.”
Jamie was nodding his agreement and understanding of Eve's point.
“There is still a stigma attached to online dating and the negative stories make it harder to overcome it. Add to that the truth of some of your members looking for nothing more than a quick bunk-up, despite their profile saying they are looking for friendship, companionship, maybe more,” Eve explained, recalling some of the profiles she’d read and compared them to the likes of the man who had been reluctant to take no for an answer in the bar of The Stanford.
“Mmm,” agreed Jamie again. “So, who are these real people with realistic stories?”
“Your client base,” replied Leon. “You can't manufacture the people and the stories.”
Eve nodded her agreement now.
“How would you publicise the stories?” asked Jamie.
“There are endless opportunities available in this day and age, but before Leon shares all of his best ideas, you would need to commit to Frontiers in some way,” said Eve, suddenly irritated by his hand resting on her knee, uninvited.
“What? You think you can blackmail to commit, to dangle a carrot and then pull it away?”
he asked furiously as she moved his hand.
Looking at Leon's equally angry face, Eve considered that this may be her shortest employment ever.
“Mr Lewis, this is not a carrot, but as a business man you wouldn't expect to get a freebie beyond, oh I don't know, a 'limited profile sample browse',” she said, using the phrase his own company used to describe their own roam before you register offer.
Suddenly, his face broke into a huge grin and the room sounded with loud laughter.
“You, Miss Mariner, I like. You've done your homework. Leon, let's book a full appointment to talk money and contracts and Eve, maybe I could interest you in lunch.” he said brazenly, making Leon stare across at her.
Eve replied immediately. “No thanks, I have plans.”
“Dinner then,” he said, still smooth and perfectly calm.
“Definitely got plans for dinner.” She smiled thinking of her evening plans with Gray.
“Breakfast?” he asked cheekily, making her and Leon laugh.
“I'll show you out,” said Eve flatly.
“At least that wasn't a no.” He sounded smarmy now.
Turning to face him behind from Lou's desk, Eve explained.
“Mr Lewis, I have no desire to make you beg or in turn humiliate you with an audience, but breakfast is the biggest no you could ever imagine.”
“I think you protest a little too much, Evie,” he said throwing her momentarily.
“My name's Eve and my boyfriend would protest at your persistent attempts to get me between the sheets, so maybe you should stop now. I could give you the details of an online dating site if that's of any use.”
He laughed again which shocked her considering they had an audience.
“I really like you, Miss Mariner, but boyfriends, they don't scare me, they just offer a challenge, so unless one of the skeletons in your cupboard is a husband...” he said and although he couldn't know about Max and he didn't mean the phrase literally, not the skeleton bit anyway, it knocked her sick.
New Beginnings Page 24