“He’s a horrible, horrible man,” Maddy said through clenched teeth. Tears began to well up and seep out from under the lashes of her scrunched up eyes. They slipped unhindered down her cheeks.
“If it’s the last thing I do, I will make him eat his words. How dare he treat me like some first-year student!” she exclaimed as she thrust the wadded-up blueprints onto Sharon’s desk. “He can make his own darn design and give it to Martin if he thinks mine is all wrong. And Martin can go to hell!”
Sharon’s eyes widened and her mouth formed an ‘O’ as Maddy plopped down on the chair in front of her desk. Sniffing, she reached for the tissue box that Sharon had set out as soon as Maddy entered. She had heard the quick staccato clicks of Maddy’s heels as Derek’s laughter echoed down the hall and figured that they had crossed swords, again. There was no doubting that this time it had been serious.
“What happened?” Sharon asked softly, pouring Maddy a glass of water from the carafe on her credenza.
Maddy’s words tumbled out as she told Sharon what had happened, stopping every now and then to blow her nose. When she finally lost steam, she gave her nose one last blow. Standing, she retrieved the crumpled blueprints from the desktop, hugged Sharon, and thanked her for listening to her rant.
“Anytime. You know I’m always here for you.” Sharon sympathized with Maddy’s frustration, and now she was more than a little aggravated with Derek for his continued harassment. She wasn’t sure what she could do about it; however, something had to be done.
Some time later, she noticed Derek walk past her office. Now is as good a time as any to have a little chat with you, buster, Sharon decided as she walked out of her office and hurried after him.
Sharon caught up with Derek and asked him just what it was that he had against Maddy. What was wrong with him? Did he take some kind of sadistic pleasure in needling Maddy? He brushed it off as ‘just teasing’ her—he didn’t mean anything by it. He just shook his head and laughed at Sharon’s concern.
“Maddy’s a big girl,” he joked. “Don’t see why she gets so upset about it. The rest of the women in the office love it when I tease them. She shouldn’t be so thin-skinned.” At that, he shrugged and walked away, leaving Sharon standing dumbfounded by his comments.
What an arrogant jerk, she thought. Maybe Maddy is right. She sprinted down the hall after him.
She was going to tell him a thing or two about his insensitive behavior. His ‘teasing’ had gone on far too long. It was time he stood up like a man, apologized to Maddy, and started treating her with the respect she deserved. If he didn’t, he would be doing his own darn research from now on. Just because Sharon liked Derek and enjoyed doing the research for the office architects, didn’t mean she would keep doing it. The other architects appreciated her hard work, but sometimes she got the feeling that Derek just took it for granted that she was his personal researcher. She needed to remind him that ‘research’ was not in her job description and definitely not one that Martin would ever dream of paying her for.
Well, all of that could change in a flash if he doesn’t modify his attitude toward Maddy, she decided.
Sharon caught up with Derek just as he reached his office door. She grabbed his arm and shoved him through the door.
“Sit!” she commanded, her green eyes shooting fire at him as she closed the door.
“What the…” he started to say, but one look in Sharon’s eyes and he thought better of it.
“Shush!” she exclaimed, her hands fisted on her hips. “You and I are going to have a come-to-Jesus-moment here and now. I’m going to tell you about Maddy and you are going to sit there and listen.”
She then sat down on the leather sofa across from the chair that she had pushed Derek into and proceeded to tell him about the things that Maddy had told her in confidence.
Sharon knew Maddy would absolutely curl up and die and hate her forever, if she ever found out that Sharon had shared any of it with anyone, let alone Derek, but she was tired of seeing her best friend discouraged and doubting herself because of this insensitive jerk sitting across from her.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, she rationalized, inhaling deeply as she prepared to divulge it all to Derek.
Derek sat there in silence as Sharon began telling him about Maddy and her struggle to get out from under the thumb of her domineering father.
“He dictated everything that happened in Maddy’s life. Maddy’s desires were always overridden and dismissed as frivolous. He especially made her life miserable for months after she would return home from her summer visits with her grandmother in Monterra. He only tolerated his mother-in-law because she came from royalty and that meant money. Money that he would one day control through Maddy. He knew Lady Lydia doted on Maddy and was positive that she would leave everything to Maddy in her will.
“When Maddy turned sixteen he announced that she would be going to Harvard Law School. It had all been arranged with the school after her father an alum of Harvard, gave the school a million-dollar donation. She would graduate, take the bar exam, and join the family firm alongside her brother. Maddy protested. She had her own ideas about what she wanted to do with her life and being a lawyer was the least of them. Those ideas were the cause of many heated arguments between her and her father.
“She had always loved designing and constructing cardboard houses for her dolls, and as she grew up, she was drawn to the beauty in the architectural designs of buildings and the process of designing them. In spite of her father’s disparaging remarks about her drawings, she was not discouraged. She knew she had talent and her grandmother’s full support. Still, her father maintained his single-minded plan—she would go to law school. In spite of her mother’s pleadings, her father had threatened to disown Maddy and not pay for her college if she was determined to follow through with such utter foolishness as studying architecture. This time even the pressure from her grandmother wouldn’t sway him.
“In the end, she gave in, because she could no longer stand to see the stress their arguments were having on her mother. Her grandmother supported her decision and told her the opportunity to study architecture would come.
“As planned, she went to Harvard Law School and studied law for a year. While there, she quietly submitted her application to the Harvard School of Design, and they accepted her application. Her father went ballistic when he found out, and cut off all funds. Never one to be discouraged, Maddy refused to accept her grandmother’s offer to pay for her college. She was determined to do it on her own, so she held down two jobs and still kept her grades up. She was determined to reach her goal in spite of her father. Unbeknownst to him, though, her mother and grandmother sent money from time to time to help with expenses.
“Then in her final semester, it got twice as hard for her when her mother succumbed to a heart attack. Her father didn’t even bother to call and let Maddy know about her mother until she died. At graduation, neither her father nor brother bothered to come to see her graduate as class valedictorian and receive her second Cranston International Award. The only family at her graduation was her grandmother and her cousin Nico, Royal Prince of Monterra.
“After graduation, Maddy applied to several of the larger architectural firms in New York. Although she had graduated at the top of her class and received the Cranston Awards, she did not have the practical experience that most firms required. Then, out of the blue, Bleeker’s HR called, asking her to come for an interview. After the initial interview and two callbacks, she was hired. She was elated, only to be crushed a week later when she realized that she would be the only woman architect in the office and would be working with a bunch of chauvinist jerks.
“Maddy only endured the rudeness and innuendos the others threw her way because she wanted to design buildings and she needed the experience. But, instead of being assigned any building design jobs, she was handed the interior designs and the playground jobs. ‘Something where a woman’s point of view would b
etter suit,’ Martin told her, giving her a condescending pat on the back. However, that did not deter her. She gave each job a hundred and ten percent and turned out flawless projects.
"When Martin finally did give her a building to design. It was for a backyard playhouse for Senator Markowitz's granddaughter. She heard the none-too-subtle snickers from her male counterparts seated around the meeting table as Martin handed her the assignment. She accepted it with the graciousness her grandmother, Lydia had instilled in her, and in the end, Senator Markowitz's granddaughter got the finest playhouse any little girl could ever want. Martin was speechless when Markowitz came to the office to personally congratulate Maddy and hand her a five-hundred-dollar gift card as a personal thank you from his daughter.
“Over the next year, Martin begrudgingly gave Maddy a few higher-profile jobs, mostly due to Senator Markowitz’s glowing praise that he continually shared with his friends about Maddy’s expertise. Even though it was a bitter pill to swallow, Martin had to begrudgingly admit that she had the makings of a first class architect. However, there was no way he would accept her as ‘one of the boys’. Still, she fought to gain the respect of the other architects in the office and was well on the way there until Martin hired you.”
Sharon sat there glaring at Derek, waiting to see if he would respond. When he didn’t, she continued.
“Shortly after you were hired, she accidently overheard a couple of the younger architects laughing and asking Martin whatever possessed him to hire a woman architect. Martin laughed and said the only reason he had hired Maddy was to help an old golf buddy. He explained that he and Maddy’s father had known each other for years and his law firm just happened to be Bleeker’s attorneys. Martin said he had felt sorry for Whitcomb since he had been so distraught over the fact that his daughter had disrespected his wishes and refused join the family business.
“After hearing that, Maddy was devastated, and it took her two weeks to come to grips with the fact that Martin perceived her as a charity case, one to be pitied. What hurt more than anything was the fact that she had not been hired for her abilities but as a favor to her father, who had arranged the job for her just like he had arranged everything in her life.
“Then you,” Sharon jabbed her finger in Derek’s direction, “started with your incessant teasing, as you call it, when Maddy was most vulnerable, causing her to question her ability as an architect. You and the others in the office have been real jerks to Maddy, and I for one want it to stop now, starting with you. I’m tired of seeing Maddy stressing over your callous and cruel remarks, working twice as hard as anyone else to show she is worthy of respect as an architect.”
Derek sat there, deflated. “I had no idea,” he said slowly, shaking his head. “Why didn’t she stick up for herself more?” How could I not have noticed that?
You were too wrapped up in your selfish shell, his inner voice pointed out.
“She did, but you all shot her down at every turn, and she’s too nice to play that dirty little game like the rest of you.” Sharon leaned back on the sofa and crossed her arms. She narrowed her eyes. “But I’m not. As of today, you and anyone else who comes to me for help with their research will find I am unavailable. And, if you breathe a word about Maddy’s past to any of those other jerks out there,” she gestured toward the door with her thumb, “I will personally see to it that your ability to have children in the future will be greatly restricted, if you get my drift.” Sharon narrowed her eyes.
“Oh, yes.” Derek cleared his throat, sitting up straighter in the chair. “You are coming through loud and clear.”
~~~
Derek sat there staring at the brown stain made by the cup of coffee Maddy had knocked over earlier, his mind racing as all of Sharon’s revelations sank in. He hadn’t given any thought to the effect his behavior or his words would have on Maddy, or anyone else, for that matter. In fact, he never even considered the feelings of any of the women who he so generously lavished with his attentions while still keeping them at arm’s length. It had been his way of never getting too close—never letting any of them inside his head, his heart. But now, looking at it through Sharon’s eyes, maybe he had been a little too careless about their feelings.
But he couldn’t let it happen again. Never again, he had promised himself. He just couldn’t go through it again.
You must let go of the past, his inner voice said. She isn’t Veronica.
No, Maddy wasn’t Veronica. Not by a long shot. Where Veronica had been demanding and manipulative, Maddy was strong in a quiet way and gracious to a fault. Although, she could be a spitfire when pushed too far, as he had just found out.
It had been two years since he and Veronica split. It had been nasty. She took him for everything. It couldn’t have been any worse if they had actually gotten married and had a divorce. Veronica had been his business partner for two years before they fell in love; at least he had fallen in love with her. What a lovesick fool he had been when he had given her fifty-one percent of the business to celebrate their engagement. It only took her two months to clean out the business’s assets and leave him with nothing but his car and his clothes. She probably would have taken the car, too, except she hated the little hybrid. The last he saw of her was by chance while flipping through a discarded newspaper in Starbucks. Her name flashed across the society page in inch-high type. Veronica Sutton to Wed Harvey Marshall, Wall Street Magnate. He had wondered how long it would be before she did the same thing to poor old Harvey.
Veronica had left him with a heart hardened against all women. He built a false façade of charm and charisma, used his looks to lure women in, and then left them in the dust. He swore no woman would ever touch his heart again. That was until he had met Maddy.
He couldn’t believe there was a woman who wouldn’t fall for him. But, Maddy hadn’t. When she still gave him the cold shoulder after his first six months at Bleeker’s, it had become a challenge to add her to his long list of conquests. Unfortunately, it had been almost two years since he had actually treated any woman with respect or any consideration of their feelings. It no longer came as second nature to him, the way it once had. Instead, his new persona came with such ease now that he didn’t give a second thought to how his words or actions would hurt as long as they got him what he wanted.
However, today, Maddy finally had let her tightly held reserve slip and told him exactly what she thought of him. It hadn’t been pretty when her soft, chocolate colored eyes turned hard as stone and she shouted at him through clenched teeth. He could feel all of the anger and frustration that he now realized she had held in check over the past year come roaring at him like a mini hurricane. He had been so stunned that all he could think to do was laugh. It wasn’t until sometime later that he realized that maybe this time, he had gone a little too far. He had been on his way to Maddy’s office to apologize when Sharon had waylaid him.
Chapter 4
Making sure Maddy was steady on her feet after his pre-planned collision, Jason bent down and gathered up the scattered folders. Handing Maddy her wayward folders, he said, “There, that’s the lot.”
He let his hands linger a little longer than necessary on hers as he took the opportunity to apologize for the sudden turn of events. He should have stood his ground when Martin approached him in the bar last night. He already knew just how persuasive Martin could be when he wanted something, and Martin did sweeten the pot with that two-hundred-thousand-dollar kickback if the Cornish board went with Derek’s proposal. However, Jason needed Maddy to get the job. There was too much as stake if she didn’t. Martin’s two hundred thousand was a drop in the bucket compared to what he really needed. So, in order to placate Martin, Jason proposed a compromise—both Maddy and Derek should present their proposals in person to his board in Sydney. Rather than lose the contract altogether, Martin had reluctantly agreed.
Jason grinned at Maddy’s blush, noticing that she refused to look him in the eye as he briefly apologized.
>
“You do understand, don’t you?” he finished, tilting his head slightly, trying to catch her eye. Her blush deepened. He barely heard her stammered response. His mind was already planning how to sweep her off her feet as quickly as possible. He didn’t have much time left.
Maddy clutched the folders to her chest and hurried down the hall. Fascinating, Jason thought, a half-grin forming on his face as he leered at Maddy’s petite form disappearing into her office.
She had intrigued him ever since he had been introduced to her. There were many things about her from the start that he found interesting about her. He just wasn’t exactly sure which one it was that attracted him the most. Maybe it was the fact that she was the lone female in a male-dominated arena of architects or that she seemed completely oblivious to all that testosterone. However, to get right down to it, it was the fact that her father Michael Whitcomb was the most powerful and influential multi-millionaire lawyer in New York City. And as an added bonus, he had learned that her grandmother was the aunt to the crown princes of Monterra. That opened up a whole other avenue of possible ready cash, too. Yes, he would make sure Maddy would be the architect for his project.
His interest was further piqued when he had inadvertently overheard several younger architects commenting on what a ‘cold fish’ she was. One young buck had laughed and said, ‘I bet it would be like taking an iceberg to bed. You might wind up with frostbite.’ The group had laughed as if it was the funniest thing they had heard all year.
Jason had to admit that maybe subconsciously that ‘cold fish’ remark had in some minute way influenced his choice of Maddy’s design over Derek’s. Of course, there had been no doubt that she had the better design. And, there was no denying he had been immediately taken by her perfect five-foot-six, curvy body, from her flowing copper-colored locks to the delicate pink-painted nails on her toes peeking out of her open-toed shoes. But, first and foremost, it was her father’s money that had really made his final decision. That was the answer to all of his troubles.
The Royals of Monterra Page 2