by Cassidy Coal
Screw them. If that's what this was about, she wasn't going to bow her head and apologize this time around. She'd had enough of that for a lifetime.
"Have a seat, Sarah." Horowitz gestured towards the chair in front of his desk and closed the door behind her.
"What is it, Mr. Horowitz? You're acting strange."
He sat down without saying anything, his brow scrunched down and lips tight.
"Sarah, I…" He steepled his fingers and rested his mouth against them, studying her. "This is an awkward conversation to have. Um…"
She waited for him to continue, crossing and uncrossing her legs, trying to smooth her skirt down as it scrunched its way a little too far up her hips.
He let out a deep sigh. "Well, there's no way to do this except be direct. Sarah, are you sleeping with Mr. Corrigan?"
Sarah laughed, part in shock, part in amusement at the pained expression on Mr. Horowitz's face.
"No, sir."
He stared directly into her eyes looking exactly like a disappointed father who'd just been lied to by his teenage daughter.
"Sarah…I saw the expense reports from Paris. Or, should I say, the lack of them? You didn't even bother to get your own hotel room."
Sarah stared down at the floor, tears prickling in the back of her eyes. How stupid. She wasn't even sleeping with the man anymore and now her boss knew and was…what? Going to write her up for it? Lecture her?
He certainly couldn't fire her for it.
"Sarah…"
She sniffed and shook it off, meeting his eyes. "I did sleep with Mr. Corrigan on that trip, sir. But it ended shortly after that. I was telling you the truth when I said I am not sleeping with him. Seems I was just a way for Mr. Corrigan to entertain himself over the holiday."
She knew she shouldn't have added that last bit and it really wasn't fair because Tyler had tried to continue things, but she didn't really care.
"Oh, Sarah. I'm so sorry." He genuinely looked it, too.
She stared at him, surprised. She'd been expecting the "that's what you get for sleeping with a co-worker" lecture.
He laughed softly. "It was obvious to me that you always had a bit of a crush on Corrigan. You don't have as good a poker face as you think."
She sat back stunned. Sure, she'd found Corrigan attractive since the day she'd met him, but she'd also thought he was an arrogant, entitled, privileged asshole that she could barely stand to talk to.
Mr. Horowitz leaned back, crossing his arms across his chest. "I would've never pried into your personal life, Sarah, but…we have a situation."
She stared at him, waiting for the bad news. When Horowitz said they had a situation, it generally meant Sarah was about to get hosed.
"What kind of situation?" She crossed her arms and then uncrossed them again, settling for gripping the armrests on the chair.
"Corrigan wants someone from my team to come down to Sydney for a month to help the accounting department get up to speed on our systems."
"A month?"
He nodded. "A whole month."
She sighed. "And I'm the obvious choice."
Everyone else in the department was either married, had kids, or both. A month away from home would be difficult for any of them, especially in February when the kids were in school.
"You are now. If you'd been sleeping with Corrigan, I would've sent someone else."
She frowned at him. "Why?"
"Because you're too valuable to have out of commission for a month. I thought this was an excuse Corrigan had come up with to get you close to him. I was going to refuse. It's a hard time of year to lose one of our team. But if you two really are over…"
"We are."
"Then he really must want someone to help out down under. So, what do you think? I won't force you to go, given what's happened between you and Corrigan, but you really are the best choice."
Sarah chewed on her lip as she stared at the floor. She'd never been to Australia. Maybe she could even manage to do some touristy things while she was down there. But…
She didn't want to see Corrigan again. And her mother was definitely not going to understand. Bad enough she'd missed Christmas. If she was gone all of February she'd miss her nephew's first birthday, her niece's third birthday, and her sister's birthday. She'd never hear the end of it.
"Can I think about it?" she asked, wincing, waiting for him to refuse and insist that she go. Mr. Horowitz's requests were never really requests.
He nodded, his brown eyes warm with sympathy. "Sure. Tell me in the morning."
Sarah didn't know who to talk to about the trip. Jane would say go. But then again, Jane didn't know about what had happened with Corrigan. It was too salacious for Sarah to share with anyone. She hadn't even told her best friend from high school, Hannah. Tell one person, it was bound to get out.
And she knew her mother's answer. "This job demands too much of you, Sarah. Don't they understand you have a family? You put in your forty hours, that should be enough for them. All this overtime and travel, you're never going to meet anyone. And what about your family? How do you think John Jr. will feel when you're not at his birthday party?"
Forget the fact that John Jr. was one and wouldn't remember anything about his party, her mother would. And every single time Sarah was over, she'd point to a picture of the whole family from John Jr.'s birthday and say, "It's too bad you had to go work and couldn’t be there for your nephew's first birthday party." And then she'd frown at Sarah and say, "I certainly hope you can make the next one, Sarah. Kids grow up so fast."
Everyone might think that Sarah didn't have commitments just because she was single, but they were wrong.
Of course, the real reason she'd asked for time was because her immediate reaction had scared the hell out of her.
Yes! Absolutely. When can I leave?
Her first thought had been that she'd get to see Tyler again. And that maybe…
Maybe he hadn't given up on her yet. Maybe this was all an elaborate ruse to get her to Australia so he could see her again.
A small sliver of hope buried itself in her heart and wouldn't shake loose.
She should say no. Avoid the heartbreak.
But the next morning she told Horowitz yes.
Two days later, she found herself on Tyler Corrigan's private jet, once again faced with his personal stewardess, the picture-perfect Daphne.
Daphne tilted her head to the side and forced a small smile. "Miss Baxter. Welcome back. A whiskey, straight up, as I recall?"
Sarah wasn't really in the mood for a drink, but at the sight of that smug little judgmental smile, she said, "Why, yes, Daphne, thank you. That would be wonderful."
Fortunately, Tyler Corrigan was not going to be on the plane. It was just Sarah and the crew.
Or so she thought until the willowy blonde from the Sydney launch stepped into the cabin. She wore a soft brown cashmere dress, her makeup and hair flawless.
"Ah, you must be Sarah," she said in a cultured British accent, her mouth not even twitching in the direction of a smile.
Sarah tried not to feel embarrassed in her ratty sweats and t-shirt. It was a twenty-plus hour flight; she'd dressed for comfort. Of course, that probably revealed her low-class roots, right? I mean, she was in public. Appearances mattered. At least they clearly did to Blondie, who eyed her up and down with a slight sneer.
"Yes, Sarah Baxter," Sarah answered, her voice hard and flat. She held out her hand. "And you are?"
"I'm Fiona Jones. The new head of accounting for the Sydney office." The woman said it as if she was surprised Sarah didn't already know. Her grip when she shook Sarah's hand was limp like a wet noodle. Sarah had to fight the urge to wipe her hand on her sweats after.
"What are you doing here?" Sarah realized how rude the question sounded only after it was out of her mouth.
Fiona laughed. "I relocated from London at Tyler's request. My mother was in hospital this week and Tyler was kind enough to loan me his jet
so I could visit her. He and I are very close, you know." She smiled a fierce little smile. "He asked me to pick up some additional things from his apartment on the way back. And…you. Saves the company a few pennies, I guess." She tried but failed to hide her look of distaste.
"Yes, well, Tyler Corrigan is nothing if not a cost-conscious man." Sarah tried not to choke on the words, which were complete and utter bullshit.
Daphne walked up with her drink. Sarah grabbed it and shot back the whiskey in one swallow, relishing the burn as it went down. "I'll take another, Daphne, when you have a chance. Oh, and sorry about your mother, Fiona, I hope she's doing well," she added, not really caring one bit about the superior shrew's mother.
"Yes, quite, thank you." Fiona turned away from Sarah, clearly dismissing her.
Sarah plopped herself down in one of the cushy leather seats as Daphne and Fiona greeted each other like long-lost friends. This was clearly not the first time Fiona had spent on Tyler Corrigan's private jet.
Figured. Sarah wondered if it was the surfing drawing Tyler back to the Australian office or the picture-perfect Fiona Jones.
She grabbed a book and pretended to read it as she imagined Fiona and Tyler jetting around the world together, having orgasmic sex in the bedroom between stops. He probably called her Fifi in private.
What a fool Sarah had been to pretend that she was anything special to him. That what they'd shared in Paris had meant something. She was just another conquest. A convenience because he didn't have a skinny blonde around to screw at the time.
Already she regretted saying yes to this trip. And Fiona was the new head of accounting? Great. Just what she wanted. Front-row seats to their little love affair.
The flight to Sydney was completely awkward. Once they took off, Sarah and Fiona busied themselves on their computers, neither one talking, both pretending to work. They had to trade off sleeping times, each one taking six hours in the bedroom with Daphne thoroughly cleaning the room in between.
As they approached Sydney, Fiona put away her laptop and stared at Sarah. "So, I heard that you and Tyler traveled to Paris together over Christmas."
Sarah was tempted to play it up, to make it sound as romantic and amazing as possible, but she didn't trust this woman one bit. And no matter how jealous she was, she was not going to admit that the trip had been more than just a business trip.
She wondered how much Daphne had said. She had to know what had happened. Had she told Fiona? No. You didn't last long working a private jet if you couldn't be discreet.
Sarah forced a laugh. "You make it sound so fun and interesting, which it most definitely was not. One of the executives in the Paris office misappropriated funds. I went to unravel the whole mess. Mr. Corrigan had to go as well because there were documents he had to review that weren't allowed to leave the country. Fares were through the roof because of the holidays, so I hitched a ride with Mr. Corrigan, but then we both went about our business."
"Is that so?"
"It is."
Fiona smiled a smug little smile. "You know, last Christmas Tyler and I went skiing in the Alps together. We had a wonderful time. He said it was the best Christmas ever."
Sarah bit her tongue. She wasn't going to rise to the bait no matter how much she hated hearing this woman call him Tyler all the time or how wrong she was about how special their Christmas together had been. "Well, good for you. Personally, I hate skiing. It's nothing more than an excuse for rich people to show off for each other."
Fiona ran her eyes up and down Sarah's body. Sarah had changed into a summer suit. It was a brilliant blue color and the top she had on underneath had a cowl neck that was probably a bit too low. Sarah twitched her skirt down a little further under Fiona's scrutiny.
Fiona smiled a thin-lipped smile. "Yes, it's obvious you wouldn't belong in our world. Breeding shows, you know." She took a sip of her coffee. "I just thought I'd ask because it wasn't clear to me why Tyler would let some low-class junior accountant fly on his private jet."
Sarah shrugged. "Well, it wasn't exactly clear to me why he'd let some entitled bitch use it either, but I figured that was his business."
Fiona stared at her, mouth gaping open in surprise.
Sarah stood and walked into the bedroom, smiling to herself.
She shouldn't have said that, but, man, did that woman rub her the wrong way. So perfect, so superior.
Of course, now she was just sure Fiona would tell Corrigan about it. Not to mention, she'd just made an enemy of the head of the department where she was going to be working for the next month.
Stupid, stupid, stupid, Sarah.
Oh well. It felt good to shut that snotty woman up, even if only for a second or two.
Sarah paused in the doorway of the plane, relishing the feel of the hot sun on her skin. That was one good thing about this trip—she was able to miss an entire month of winter.
She watched Fiona walk up to a black limousine parked nearby. The driver opened the door and Tyler Corrigan stepped out, smiling. Fiona didn't waste a minute running into his arms and kissing him on the cheek.
What the hell was he doing here?
And did he really have to be so blatant about him and Fiona so soon? Had he brought Sarah down here just to punish her?
Maybe this was how he reacted when women told him no. Like a bratty little kid rubbing it in her face.
Haha, you didn't get me. See what you're missing?
Well, she wasn't going to let him see that it hurt her.
She turned away, pretending she'd forgotten something in the plane to give herself a moment to recover. When she turned back, Tyler was right behind her.
"Sarah, how was the trip?" The smile on his face faltered as she glared at him.
"Just great. Fiona's lovely. You two are well-suited for one another." Sarah pushed past him.
"Sarah…" He followed her as she tried to carry her laptop bag and navigate the stairs down to the tarmac in four-inch-high heels. (A stupid last minute choice because Fiona made her feel so frumpy and inadequate. Shoulda stuck with the tennies…)
He grabbed her elbow to steady her. She wanted to pull away, but she needed the support to avoid falling on her face.
"Is the car just for her or do I get to ride along, too?" she asked as she finally reached the tarmac and pulled away from him.
"Of course it's for you."
"Great. Oughta be cozy." She glanced at him, resisting the urge to lose herself in those gorgeous green eyes of his.
"Sarah…"
Fiona came up to them, taking Tyler's arm in hers. "Tyler, do you mind if I pick your brain about a few ideas I was working on during the flight over here? You're such a busy man, it's almost impossible to pin you down."
Sarah wanted to puke at Fiona's sickly-sweet smile and batting eyelashes. She rolled her eyes and quickened her pace to get ahead of them.
"Uh, yeah, I guess we can do that…" Tyler said.
As soon as she was seated in the back of the limousine, Sarah closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. She was not going to watch this crap.
Didn't save her having to listen to Fiona praise Corrigan for his brilliance every ten seconds as she talked about her ideas with him. They weren't even good ones either. If he was going to hire his girlfriend, the least he could do is make sure she was competent.
Corrigan gave one-word answers for the most part, sounding nothing like the man who'd listened with avid interest to Sarah's ideas on the flight to Paris.
At least that was something.
They put Sarah up at the Marriott in downtown with a view of the Sydney Opera House out her window. It was amazing.
Not that she got to see that view much the first few days she was there. Or any view at all.
Monday morning Sarah walked into the offices of Corrigan Australia Ltd. and stared around in awe. They were on the top floor of a glass office building with a view over Sydney Harbor. Sarah could see for miles. It was stunning. So much water and a clear b
lue sky, a large bridge arching over the boats and ships that cruised along the channel of water.
"Quit gawking, we have work to do," Fiona said when she came to fetch Sarah from the reception area. Without another word, she led Sarah through a secured door and down a hallway past big spacious offices with equally amazing views. Most of the offices looked empty and Sarah wondered whether she'd be assigned to one of them.
That would be nice. She could just close the door, ignore Corrigan, ignore Fiona, and enjoy the view if nothing else.
But no. It seemed there were consequences to calling the head of the department an entitled bitch.
Fiona led her to a small windowless room with a flimsy folding table and chair in the corner.
"This is where you'll be working for the next month."
"What about one of those offices that we passed?"
Fiona shook her head. "They aren't set up yet and IT has better things to do. This will be just fine for you."
The fluorescent light above Sarah's head flickered. She'd dealt with enough mean girls in her life to know it was best to just ignore the insult, so she set down her laptop bag and smiled at Fiona. "Great. Thanks. I'll get my laptop set up and then we can sit down and discuss the systems."
Fiona stared at her, a slight sneer on her face. "I don't need you to explain the systems to me."
"Then why am I here?"
Fiona snorted. "I don't know. Ask Tyler. But since you are here, I'm going to use you. We're still down an office assistant and need someone to input all the invoices into the system. I'll have Brad bring them by. I'm sure you can figure out how to do that? You do know how to type, don't you?"
Sarah swallowed about ten responses that would get her fired and forced a smile onto her face. "Happy to help in whatever way's needed. Let me know what else I can do. We're all family here at Corrigan after all."
Fiona glared at her one last time before leaving.
"Bitch," Sarah muttered as she turned around to assess her new "office." It was awful. Gray walls, gray carpet, no windows, no phone, the flickering fluorescent light, a crappy chair…