“Now tell me about you,” Alex said.
On that, I was stumped.
“Erm, I’m currently going through a divorce, but I can assure you that doesn’t affect the quality of my work,” I said.
Gabriella placed her hand on my arm.
“You’ve no need to justify that,” she said. Once again, I was reminded how kind she was.
I thought for a moment. I had no hobbies; I had nothing to talk about. I bought myself some time by taking a sip of my drink.
“I’ve spent the past ten years immersing myself in my job, Alex. I was on board from day one. I made it a priority to give my all to Jerry while he was building up the business.”
“And now?”
“And now, I guess, I’m up for a new challenge.”
“And you can balance home life with work life?” he asked. I thought it an odd question at first.
“Yes, I believe I can.”
“We don’t want someone who works all the hours and burns out. We’re looking for someone to be with us long term, Lauren. It’s important that you have a home life, free time,” he said.
I simply nodded. I didn’t feel burned out.
“People that have a varied home life, we find, produce the best work. As an organisation, we think it’s important to socialise, to bond over a bottle of wine or our annual BBQ.”
It all sounded very ‘American’ but then, I guessed it was.
“Tell me a little about what would be expected of me,” I said, diverting the conversation away from me.
Alex spent a little time detailing what he did before our conversation was halted with the arrival of our lunch. I’d chosen a seafood salad but wasn’t expecting the large portion that was placed in front of me.
While we ate, we engaged in small talk. Gabriella regaled us of stories from her hometown, and I was once again transported back to those days in Gone With The Wind. We laughed at some of the antics of her mother. It seemed, as lunch progressed, that Gabriella and Alex were more than just work colleagues. She would tell a story of something funny that had happened and Alex was often featured in that. Either they socialised a lot, or there was a relationship there.
Once our meal was eaten and plates cleared, Alex ordered coffee.
“So, do we have you on board?” he asked.
“I passed the interview then?” I replied with a smile.
“I think we will make a great team until you’re ready to take over,” he said.
“Can I ask; why do you want to leave?”
“Because I’ve been given an opportunity abroad that I’d like to pursue.”
I didn’t press any further; although Gabriella hadn’t lost any of her composure, I did notice the very slight frown that had developed on her forehead.
“Ladies, I have to leave you. Please, stay, enjoy your coffee,” Alex said.
Alex stood and buttoned up his suit jacket. He was a very attractive man; his dark hair was gently peppered with flecks of grey at his temples. He held himself upright with an air of dignity, breeding, but without being condescending about it. Unlike Mackenzie, who oozed power, Alex came across as calm and serene, but when he smiled there was a twinkle in his eye, a little mischief there.
Gabriella and I stood; he shook my hand and gave a slight bow of his head. I watched him then place a hand on Gabriella’s shoulder and kiss her cheek. There was something intimate in that gesture.
After we’d taken our seats, there was a moment of silence, as if Gabriella wanted to compose herself.
“So,” she said, turning towards me. “Do you think you’d work well with Alex?”
“I do, he’s very charming. I suspect he’s going to be a great loss to you.”
“He is, and he will be.” She took a sip of her water, and I noticed the very slight shake to her hand.
“What happens now?” I asked, wanting to divert her attention away from Alex.
“I’ll have some contracts drawn up, we’re a month or so away from merging, so plenty of time for you to go through that. There will be a loss of some staff members. Sadly, that can’t be helped. We have an overlap, especially in our development section, and the better person for the job isn’t Scott.”
“I understand,” I said, but inside my stomach knotted. If he lost his job, he’d want the sale of the apartment completed quicker.
“You seem a little sad about that.”
“Not sad, it’s complicated. At the end of the day, Gabriella, if he isn’t up to the job, then he isn’t.”
“Complicated in what way? Although you don’t have to tell me anything that’s personal, of course.”
I sighed. It might be good to actually talk to someone about it.
“He wants half the equity in our apartment, half my savings and pensions. It was my money that bought the apartment, so I’m a little gutted about that, bearing in mind it was him that had an affair. If he’s out of work, he’ll push for that to be concluded quicker, I imagine.”
“As I said, we are a couple of months away yet. He’ll be offered a leaving package, he won’t walk out without a dollar in his pocket.”
“He’s just not a nice person. He already thinks I’m sucking up.”
“Sucking up?”
“Getting cosy with the new boss to secure my position,” I said, with a laugh.
“Ah, I had so many images flood my mind then.” She gave me a wink.
I was grateful I’d already swallowed the sip of water I’d just taken. I think I would have spat it over the table otherwise.
“Do you have a lawyer? We have a few, maybe you could chat with one.”
“I do, Gabriella, and he’s entitled to half. I’m just a little worried that I’ll need to move out of London, for financial reasons, once it’s all dealt with.”
“Not that I should say this yet, but you will be on a higher pay grade than you are now. If you want my advice, get it all over with as quickly as possible. Don’t drag it out. Then you can move on, have a fresh start.”
“Yeah, I think I will. You sound like you’re speaking from experience,” I said, and then thought I shouldn’t have. It was a little personal.
“Not me, I’ve never married. But…” She pursed her lips as if thinking on whether to continue or not. “Our mutual friend has been hauled over the coals, as you Brits call it, for a long time.”
Has been, not was. Did that mean he was still being ‘hauled over the coals’?
“We don’t, sort of, talk about personal things,” I said.
“No, he’s very closed off. He was deeply hurt by her betrayal.”
Gabriella laid her napkin on the table and made to stand. Our conversation was clearly over. I stood and we walked to the entrance of the restaurant.
“It was great to chat to you, and Alex, of course,” I said.
“It’s nice to make a new friend. It gets a little lonely sometimes, being so far away from home,” she said, surprising me a little.
“Well, if you ever want to meet for dinner, or drinks, just give me a call.”
She smiled. “I will, thank you. I’ll be in touch about those contracts.”
Although she’d placed her hand on my arm, there was no hug goodbye. She smiled and then walked in the opposite direction. In that last half hour, I’d noticed the sadness. I hailed a taxi and headed back to work.
I sat in my office, not working, and just thinking about her, Alex, the job, my life, for ages. Things had progressed so fast, I hadn’t taken the time to sit back and really decide if I was going in the right direction or not. I’d always planned. I’d always known where I was going to be in a year’s time, and for the first time ever, I had no idea what was going to happen the following day.
Part of that was Mackenzie, most of that was me. Maybe this was an early mid-life crisis, or the result of a traumatic break-up. Wasn’t it usual to go off the rails for a while? I wanted to go with it, to just experience being free of any commitment. Perhaps I’d put a time limit on myself. I’
d enjoy Mackenzie, and all he offered, for another couple of months and when I started my new job, I’d rein myself in, become Miss Sensible again.
****
For the next couple of days, I noticed the change in atmosphere at work. It felt like people were winding down a little. Everyone was on edge, not sure what the future held. I guessed they didn’t want to put in any effort, in case they lost their jobs. I did the total opposite. Someone would either be replacing me, or my work given to another team. I wanted all loose ends tied up; I wanted everything in order so someone could literally walk in and pick up where I’d left off. I even reorganised all my filing, archiving the old and preparing files for new projects. I was back to some late nights.
I hadn’t heard from Mackenzie and I didn’t expect to. I understood what it was between us. It was nothing more than two people getting together for some fun. We didn’t date; we didn’t talk much either. Being the woman that I was, someone used to a relationship, it felt strange. I was lonely, especially at night. I pushed all thoughts of any kind of a relationship with Mackenzie to the back of my mind. Whatever had happened between him and his wife must have affected him greatly, and he was hardly in the country at that moment.
Chapter Twelve
I’d taken a shower and giggled as I prepared myself. I was nervous, as if I was about to embark on a first date. I’d shaved every stray hair from my body, pampered, manicured, and painted my toenails. I stood naked, in front of my wardrobe. He’d told me to wear loose clothing, I hadn’t thought about that at the time. I wondered why. I selected a shirt and a pair of loose fitting trousers, not sure if they constituted his version of loose or not.
I constantly checked my watch as I blow dried my hair and applied my makeup. The closer it got to eight o’clock, the more nervous I became. It felt a little late to be going out to dinner. I wondered where he would take me.
I was dressed and standing in the kitchen, sipping on a glass of wine, when the intercom buzzed. I saw him in the TV screen and released the door. I checked my teeth for lipstick, or red wine stains, in the hallway mirror before opening the door.
He was dressed casually but smart in a white shirt and dark jeans. He smiled as he exited the lift. He placed his hands on my shoulders and leaned down to kiss my cheek, as one would greet a friend.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hello. I was just having a glass of wine, if you’d like one.”
“No time. Are you ready?”
“I am.” I walked into the kitchen and collected my handbag. “Do I need a jacket?” I asked.
“No.”
As I shut the apartment door, he threaded his fingers through mine. I like that he’d held my hand, it was a comfort and helped quell the nerves.
“Where are we going?” I asked, as I climbed into his car.
“Surrey,” he said, closing my door.
“Surrey?” I asked, when he’d reappeared at the driver’s side.
“Yes.” He clearly wasn’t giving much away.
“So, how did you get on with Alex?” he asked, as we pulled out of the car park and into the traffic.
I told him about our lunch, and how I felt I could work well with him. I also watched his body stiffen a little when I’d said I thought he was a very charming man.
“He was impressed with your work ethic, what you’ve done in the past. I think you’ll work well together,” he said.
“How long will I have before he leaves?”
“That depends on when he thinks you’re ready to take over.”
“You don’t have a say then?”
“I know everything that goes on. I can veto anything I want, but I trust my team to make the right decisions.”
“Do you meet with them all frequently?” I asked, because he seemed to be out of the country a lot.
“Weekly, either face-to-face or by Skype.”
He had entered the motorway and headed away from London. A thought occurred to me.
“Where exactly is your office?”
“I have two, one at home and another, as I’ve already told you, in Canary Wharf. Not far from your apartment block. I’ll take you there,” he said and smiled over. “I’ve been coming back and forth to the U.K. for about ten years now, but only moved here three or so ago.”
“Do you miss home?”
“Sometimes, for sure. I don’t miss LA, pretentious place, but I miss my family.”
“Do you have brothers, sisters?” I really didn’t know that much about him when I’d thought about it.
“No, only child.”
“You don’t give much away, do you?” I said, and then laughed.
He looked over to me. “I answered your question, Lauren.”
“I know, I was kidding.” I wasn’t, but I didn’t want to start the evening off on a sour note.
He sighed, took one hand off the steering wheel and clasped it around mine.
“I’m a little stressed lately, I have some personal shit going on. I don’t want to bore you with it all. Let’s just concentrate on having some fun, we both need it right now.”
I smiled at him. I didn’t want to, I wanted to ask if that was all I meant to him, a little fun. But then, hadn’t I decided that’s all I wanted as well? When I wasn’t with him I could rationalise it all, but the minute I saw him, smelled his aftershave, or heard his voice, I was in knots. My stomach was somersaulting and my mind clouded by his presence.
“How about some music?” I said. I didn't want to spend the rest of the journey in silence; he obviously wasn’t in a talkative mood.
****
We drove through a pair of large, ornate iron gates; the headlights illuminated a long gravel drive with lawns to either side. In front was a manor house, very old, imposing yet beautiful at the same time.
“Wow, what is this place?” I asked, as we pulled to a halt in a circular drive. I could see a man standing on the steps beside the front door.
He turned off the engine and shifted slightly in his seat. “Are you ready to play?”
“Play?”
“Are you ready to fulfil the fantasy you asked for?”
I swallowed hard, all of a sudden the air in the car had changed, it became dense, electrified.
“I’m nervous,” I said.
“Nervous is good, but one rule, Lauren. You do not run. If you don’t like what you see, you speak out and we leave.”
“You’re scaring me a little,” I said, with a nervous chuckle.
“Nothing to be scared of. I’ll be with you all the time. I just don’t want a repeat of that weekend. You fucking scared me, and I don’t like being scared.”
I stared at him; I’d scared him? Before I could respond, he’d opened his car door. At that point, the man beside the front door of the house walked forward. Mackenzie walked around the car, ignoring him, and opened my door. He held out his hand to help me. Once he’d closed the door, he then handed the man, who had stood silently, his keys and his mobile phone.
“Do you have a phone?” Mackenzie asked me.
I nodded. “Can I have it?” he asked.
I took it from my bag and handed it over. I watched as he gave it to the man, who nodded before getting into Mackenzie’s car and driving off.
“And that was…?”
“Valet parking, Lauren. No phones or cameras are allowed inside.”
“Why?”
At first he looked at me as if he couldn’t believe I’d asked the question, then he smiled that wicked smile. His pupils had dilated, his voice lowered a little.
“You’ll see.”
He took hold of my hand and we walked up the stone steps to a large, oak front door. Before we’d reached it, it was opened by a stunning blonde woman, dressed formally in a trouser suit with her hair pulled tight in a bun.
“Good evening, Mr. Miller, Miss Perry. May I escort you to the bar?”
I wanted to ask Mackenzie how she knew our names, but I was struck dumb by the opulence of the hallway we had e
ntered. A grand oak staircase dominated the vast area and a chandelier lit the room. Wood panelling covered the lower half of the walls and the light blue paper above it, shimmered. If I touched it, I imagined it would be silk. My heels clipped across a marble floor as I followed our host.
We were shown into a room with sofas, a roaring fire at one end and a large oak bar at the other. It reminded me of a gentlemen’s drinking club. There were couples and small groups already seated or standing at the bar. Each smiled or offered a greeting as we passed.
“Mr. Miller, we have your whiskey. Miss Perry, what may I get for you?” the woman asked as she stood beside us.
The barman had placed a small cut crystal glass on the bar and was pouring Mackenzie a drink.
“I’d like a wine, red, please,” I said, trying hard not to stammer and show my nerves.
“Perhaps you’d like to see a wine list?” She smiled as she spoke, putting me at ease.
“Thank you.”
She handed me a menu and I was thankful to hold something to stop my hands from shaking.
“I’ll leave you to make a decision, please let Hendrick know what you’d like.”
I watched her walk away and chat to some of the guests before leaving the room.
“You’ve obviously been here before,” I said.
“Yes.”
“And what exactly is it here?”
He took a sip of his drink before answering. “A club, a very exclusive, members only, club. Have you decided?”
I looked at him. “On a wine,” he said.
“Oh, I don’t mind, you choose.” I handed him the menu as I perched myself on a stool.
“You won’t leave me, will you?” I asked, quietly.
“Of course not,” he said, and then ran the back of his hand gently down my cheek. My stomach flipped at his touch.
He ordered me a glass of wine while I scanned the room. Like the hallway, the walls were panelled with wood halfway, large paintings in ornate frames were hung on every wall. Above the open fire was a large mirror, its glass tinted with age. Red tapestry curtains hung from floor to ceiling windows and two chandeliers gave a warm glow over the room.
“Shall we sit?” I asked, indicating to a sofa opposite another and separated by a low table.
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