‘If you told him it was my idea he’d throw it out on principle. At least this way it will stand on its own merit.’
‘I hope so.’ Doug had a horrid feeling his father would shoot it down for the same reasons Abby had given. Because he’d think it was his idea.
A nanosecond after Doug had uttered his concluding sentence, his father threw his pen onto the table.
‘I’ve never heard anything so preposterous,’ Charles Faulkner announced loudly.
Doug inhaled slowly and counted to ten. ‘Which aspect, in particular, was preposterous?’
‘All of it. Haven’t we already thrown out a proposal on changing the packaging? Or did you think we’re so senile we’d forget that little fact?’
Doug straightened the notepad in front of him, only returning his attention to his father when he was certain he wasn’t going to leap up and grab the old man by his blasted tie. ‘Just so we’re all clear, which aspect of changing our packaging for something less expensive to buy and ship is preposterous?’
Silence echoed round the room and as he flicked his eyes over the group he wondered how many were metaphorically licking their lips, sensing a fight. His father’s cronies definitely, his mother he wasn’t so sure. Abby, definitely not.
A flush crept up his father’s neck. ‘The aspect of you meddling in nearly a century of tradition is preposterous.’
‘Is it the meddling in tradition that riles you, or the fact that it’s me doing the meddling?’
‘Don’t get smart with me.’
‘I’m trying to understand what the objections are.’
‘You’re trying to act the big guy in front of this group, when we all know you don’t hold any real power,’ he snapped. ‘You’re my puppet. A younger face to prove to the outside world we’re a dynamic company with a future. I still hold the majority of the power and I make the decisions.’
By his side, Doug heard Abby’s sharp intake of breath. How wonderful to be humiliated not only in front of the board, but also the woman he liked. Really, really liked.
But he bottled his anger, as he always did, and placed a hand in his trouser pocket, feigning nonchalance. ‘Then tell me this. How can you prove to the world that Crumbs is a dynamic company if you won’t change to more modern packaging?’
Abby watched the interplay between father and son with mounting incredulity. How could Charles Faulkner talk to his son like that? Though from the look of the faces round the room, it wasn’t the first time they’d heard Doug being called a … puppet. She winced. A managing director without any power? It just didn’t make sense why Charles would do that. Then again, why was Doug letting his father treat him like this?
‘You think putting our biscuits into crappy cardboard is a dynamic move?’ Charles thundered. ‘What poppycock. Customers want a biscuit packet that matches the quality of the contents. They want packaging that ensures when they open it, the damn biscuits are still whole.’
‘And not in crumbs.’
A dozen pair of eyes instantly swung in her direction and Abby realised she’d said the words out loud. Please God, open a hole in the floor so I can jump into it. When it didn’t happen, she tried to smile. ‘Sorry. I just thought it was funny that the company is called Crumbs, yet you’re anxious to avoid them.’
‘You think this discussion is funny?’
Bugger, bugger, bugger. ‘No, I think the packaging choice for Crumbs is a very important, serious issue. Which is why Doug has spent so long researching into it. Talking everything through with the teams invested in this decision; marketing, sales and manufacturing, before presenting the results to you today. What seems odd to me, though certainly not funny, is why you’re so opposed to his proposal?’
Charles’s face changed from red to purple but Abby was too fired up to care. How dare the pompous twit belittle all their efforts?
‘Market research has shown that the most important people, the current and future customers, prefer the cardboard packaging Doug’s just outlined to the old-fashioned tins.’
Charles thumped his fist on the table. ‘If I want the opinion of a glorified typist, I’ll ask for it. Otherwise, if you value your job, I suggest you shut that motor mouth of yours.’
Abby held his gaze and nodded, once. She wasn’t scared of him. Guys who thought they could get what they wanted by bullying didn’t faze her because she knew them for what they were. Men terrified of losing their power. Of getting old. But as she did want to keep her job and, more importantly, didn’t want to embarrass Doug any further, she kept quiet.
Gradually Doug steered the discussion onto a more productive footing and by the end of the session he’d even gained agreement to trial the new packaging on some of the more low profile brands.
There was another tedious half hour of board business before the meeting was officially called closed and everyone began to drift away. As she cleared up she saw Doug give his mother a very formal goodbye kiss on the cheek.
Then he closed the door, and it was just the two of them.
‘Well, that was a real eye-opener. Are board meetings always this much fun?’
The man walking towards her didn’t look like he thought anything was fun. She’d never seen him looking so furious. Oh the cool mask was still in place, but there was no hiding the fury in his eyes as they glared at her. ‘Don’t ever do that again. If I need you to come to my rescue, I’ll ask you.’
His words were so clipped, so cold, she felt telltale pinpricks at the back of her eyes. ‘Okay, fine. I apologise for sticking up for you.’
She grabbed blindly at the stack of papers she’d collected, determined not to cry in front of him. Not over something so stupid. Biting at the inside of her cheek she collected everything she needed before walking over to where he stood waiting by the door, jacket slung over his shoulder.
‘I can understand why your ego doesn’t want a girl defending you,’ she said as she drew close, ‘but why didn’t you do it yourself? Why let your father bully you?’
He flicked her a hooded look. ‘It isn’t wise to comment on matters you don’t understand.’
His frosty tone sparked her temper. ‘Do you ever get really angry, Doug? So angry that you scream and shout? React instinctively, without thinking?’ When he continued to stand impassively, his hand on the doorknob, she carried on. ‘I do, lots of times. I did today, when your father tried to belittle me. At that moment I didn’t give two hoots who he was, or where we were. I wasn’t going to let a man like that intimidate me, or make me look a fool. Nobody should allow another human being to talk to them like that. Nobody.’
‘Your sermon is much appreciated.’
The urge to shake him, to ruffle his composure, bubbled inside her. ‘Come on, drop the guard for once. Stop standing there like a stiffly starched shirt and react like a real man.’
The twitch in his jaw muscle told her she was getting to him. ‘Are you trying to bait me?’
‘Perhaps. How am I doing?’
‘Too well.’
‘Good. Maybe I should keep going.’
‘That’s enough,’ he interrupted shortly, yanking open the door, tension fizzing off him. ‘I need to go. I’m late for an appointment.’
She glanced at her watch. ‘It’s half five. I don’t have a record of anything in your diary.’
‘It’s outside work.’
As he charged off down the corridor Abby struggled to keep up with him. ‘Look, I’m only trying to help. It would do you good to shout a bit, get everything off your chest. It’s not healthy to keep it all festering inside you. It’s like a boil, ready to erupt.’
‘First the sermon, now the psychological assessment. It would appear you’re on a roll.’ He marched into his office, unplugged his computer and slid it into his bag, before swiping his car keys off his desk and heading back out.
‘Doug, wait, please.’ Her heart pounded as she looked at his tense face, the strain of all that control evident in every one of his beautiful, rigi
d features. ‘I’m worried about you. Are you sure you’re in the right frame of mind for going out?’
The edge of his lip curved upwards in something closer to a sneer than a smile. ‘For where I’m going, my frame of mind is exactly right. Have a pleasant evening.’
As the door to his office banged closed Abby trudged slowly back to her desk. And burst into tears.
Doug knew his curt dismissal had upset Abby but he couldn’t stay in that bloody building a minute longer. Besides, he was still reeling from the way she’d marched to his defence in the meeting. It mortified him that she’d felt the need to face up to his father, clearly believing he didn’t have the guts to do it himself. There’d been a time when he had done, but he wasn’t going to drag that memory out again in a hurry.
Slowly the shame of the way he’d spoken to Abby washed through him. He’d let his self-disgust morph into anger and then directed it at the one person who’d been on his side. It wasn’t her fault that in standing up for him she’d made him appear pathetic. Not her fault that it was precisely because he was pathetic that he was in this shitty situation.
When he pulled up outside the gym he found Luke already waiting against his car, arms crossed. ‘Too much of a hot shot to make it here on time, eh?’
‘Don’t you bloody start,’ Doug muttered, hauling his bag out of the boot. ‘I’m ready to throttle someone and it might as well be you.’
‘Had a fight with the Shetland pony?’
Doug shot him a look. ‘Shut it.’
Luke strode ahead and stopped at the doorway, blocking his path. ‘Either you drop the pissy attitude and we train like we planned, or I take you on right here, right now. Your choice.’
Doug clenched his fists, itching for a fight. But it wasn’t the guy who stood in his way that Doug desperately wanted to thump. Slowly he let the air out of his lungs. ‘Let’s train.’
They entered the locker room in silence and began to get changed.
‘You ready to talk about any of it yet?’ Luke asked finally as he secured his belt round his judo style gi.
‘No, but I might be when I’ve choked you into submission.’
‘Not in this lifetime, buddy.’
Doug followed his friend out of the changing room and onto the mats. ‘How did it go with Geraldine? Enjoying yourself with my cast off?’
And suddenly Luke was barrelling into him.
A punishing hour later, the heated sparring session – or rolling as they called it in BJJ – being followed by a more disciplined training session, they sat next to each other on the bench getting their breath back. Doug felt drained. Drained not just of energy but also of the burning fury and resentment that had propelled him here. Right now, for a short while at least, he felt at peace.
‘Do you think you’re ready for next month?’ Luke asked, after glugging back half a bottle of water.
In a moment of utter madness, Doug had entered the Surrey BJJ open. ‘No, but we could train every night between now and then and I’d still not be ready.’
Luke chuckled. ‘Yeah, well, I told you at the time you were nuts. You’re too competitive, that’s your trouble.’ He glanced at him. ‘So what happened with your father today?’
‘How do you know it was him?’
‘Because every time you see him you turn into a boorish thug.’
‘Thanks.’ He wiped at the sweat on his face. ‘He did his usual let’s-humiliate-my-son act.’
Luke snorted. ‘He’s done that plenty of times before. Why were you so wound up this time?’
‘Abby was in the meeting. And rather than sit and listen to him quietly—’
‘She stuck up for you.’
‘Yes.’
‘Which made you feel even worse.’
‘Score another point. It wasn’t humiliating enough that my father told the board my preposterous idea would never get approved because he holds all the power and I’m just his puppet. No, I also had to have my twenty-four-year-old, five foot nothing PA sticking up for me because she clearly thinks I haven’t got the balls to do it myself.’
‘Ouch.’ Luke leant forward, his eyes swimming in sympathy. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve considered telling Abby about what’s going on, have you?’
‘Of course I haven’t.’
‘No, because that would mean letting someone in, and you can’t have that, can you? You are Douglas Faulkner the recluse. The man who walks alone.’
‘Bugger off.’
Luke gave him a long, considering look. ‘You know that none of what you’ve just told me would hurt so much if you weren’t falling for her, don’t you?’
Doug glared back. ‘Bollocks. You’ve got enough on your hands with your own love life. Don’t go meddling in mine.’
Grinning, Luke got to his feet. ‘You’re not wrong there. Geraldine is … well, quite a girl. Not as tough as she appears, though. I think the bravado is a front and I’m looking forward to knocking it down and finding the real woman underneath.’
‘Good luck with that.’ Doug swiped his towel off the floor and followed Luke into the changing room where he went through the mechanics of showering and getting dressed. All the time his mind kept playing Luke’s words over and over in a loop in his head. None of it would hurt so much if you weren’t falling for her. What if the guy was right? What was he supposed to do about that?
Chapter Fifteen
She’d begun working at Crumbs in early March, when frost had still been an occasional visitor. Now it was summer. An unbelievable sixteen weeks had come and gone, during which she’d got to grips with her job, and fallen hard for her boss.
The first she was proud of. The second, not so much.
With a sigh she sat back on her chair and shut her eyes, her mind instantly conjuring a mental image of the man sitting round the corner. Wildly handsome face, dark slightly dishevelled hair, striking blue eyes. She shouldn’t have fallen so quickly, so easily, but surely it was hard for any woman to resist that combination? Especially when the man beneath the dramatic looks was every bit as attractive. Kind – giving Roger a job was proof of that. Brave, at least when it came to protecting others. Funny, when he allowed himself to relax. He was also deeply unhappy, working in a job he didn’t like, for a father he also didn’t seem to like. All for reasons he clearly didn’t want to share.
What hope did she have of getting close to him when he didn’t want to let her in?
Since their altercation in the boardroom, Doug had become even more distant. In fact his manner had been so excruciatingly polite that if he said ‘would you mind’ to her one more time, she was going to scream.
The sound of a polite cough made her look up with a guilty start. Straight into a pair of cool blue eyes.
‘Is now a convenient time for you to discuss the line extension project?’
That’s a new one. With a sigh she reached for the report she’d spent the last two weeks working on and followed him into his office. As she took the seat opposite him she stared mutinously at his expressionless face and thought, sod it. ‘Aren’t you going to ask if I mind taking you through the report now?’
His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. ‘Sorry?’
She flung the report onto the desk. ‘For the past few weeks you’ve preceded every request with a would you mind. It’s been would you mind setting up this meeting. Would you mind phoning Mr Blogs. Would you mind peeling me a grape.’
‘I’m pretty certain I didn’t say the last one.’
‘Not yet, maybe.’
Slowly he reached into his jacket pocket for a pen, taking so long that Abby’s teeth actually began to ache. ‘Do you have a problem with me being polite?’ he asked finally, setting the pen down in front of him.
‘Yes. As a matter of fact, I do.’
Surprise flared briefly in his eyes. ‘Why?’
‘You’ve never treated me like a PA, Doug. Not even from day one. You’ve always treated me more as … well, a person you liked. Except for the last f
ew weeks.’
He steepled his fingers as he considered her question in his frustratingly slow manner. ‘So am I not allowed to like you and be polite?’
She resisted – barely – the urge to strangle him. ‘You’re missing the point. You don’t have to mind your p’s and q’s around people you’re supposed to like. Abby, I’m ready to go through the report now. That’s what you’d have said a few weeks ago. Not the cringe-inducing is now convenient, or the dreaded would you mind. You know I’d be really happy with Abby drag your fat arse in here and take me through that damn report. Though I’d prefer if you dropped the fat part.’
‘I see.’
‘Do you? Do you really?’
He let out the ghost of a smile. ‘No, not really. I was just saying that to shut you up.’
Finally, a glimpse of the old Doug. ‘That wasn’t very polite.’
‘I was told off for being polite. Now, sit on your definitely-not-fat arse and take me through your damn report.’
Laughter burst from her and when she looked up she found Doug was laughing, too. And oh boy, if she could fall for the distant, sad man, how was she supposed to hold back when the relaxed version showed up? Her eyes drifted to his mouth and all she could think was how much she wanted to kiss him.
He caught her eye and everything seemed to go into slow motion as they stared at each other. She was dimly aware the laughter had stopped. Acutely aware of the blue of his eyes as they burnt intensely into hers. But just when she was sure he was going to do something about the sexual energy that fizzed between them, he broke the contact.
‘So.’ He cleared his throat and started again. ‘What are your recommendations?’
Just like that, he was all business again. But you know he’s still attracted to you. There could be no mistaking the heat in his eyes just now. He might not want to acknowledge it, but it was there and they both knew it.
‘Abby?’
‘Oh crumbs, yes, the project.’ With a huge effort of will she unscrambled her brain. ‘As, umm, as you can see, I considered the usual line extensions a biscuit company might consider. The healthy option ranges, which could be low sugar, low calorie or less fat. The low-cost budget range and the luxury range. I’m not convinced any of these fit with your current market position, though. When people think of Crumbs they think of fine ingredients, which already puts it at the luxury end of the market. Bringing out a budget brand wouldn’t align with that, nor would a healthy option line because consumers look to Crumbs for an indulgence. In my opinion Crumbs should bring out a range of savoury biscuits that fit with its current brand values of quality and excellence.’
Oh Crumbs Page 14