Love by Design

by Violette Grey

  “I was thinking…” Laura began before Sean interrupted her, continuing on as if she hadn’t spoken.

  “It would be only until positions were finalized officially, of course,” he added quickly. “Anyway, since this is the most prominent office, I was thinking of moving in here, again, just until things are finalized.”

  “Well, Sean, that will not be happening,” Laura said firmly, her voice slightly raised so he would not be able to ignore her again. “I will be moving into this office. As a matter of fact, I was just beginning to get things set up.”

  Laura wished she had a camera to record Sean’s reaction.

  “I see,” he said finally. “Well, don’t let me keep you.” He headed to the door. “If you need anything, please let me know.” His voice was formal, but Laura could hear a twinge of anger.

  Laura didn’t like the way he had given in so easily. “Oh, and by the way,” Laura called out as he went to close the door behind him, “Emily will be joining our staff as a project manager. I have given her Richard Costan’s account. We have already met with him and he has approved her plans.”

  Sean’s face turned crimson, but he maintained his voice firmly. “Very well. We can finalize her appointment at the next board meeting…which I think we need to hold very soon.”

  “I couldn’t agree with you more,” Laura said in the most amicable voice she could muster.

  The window next to the door did not break when Sean slammed the door, but it did rattle. Laura let out a laugh and fell back into the chair. She was spinning the chair around when Emily walked in, wondering what was going on.

  “What happened?” Emily asked.

  Laura explained the interaction with Sean and they both set to giggling.

  “He was so angry,” Laura said. “I know he thought he could just come in and take over.”

  Emily walked over to her and pulled Laura from the chair into an embrace. “Yeah, well you showed him, didn’t you?” She leaned in and kissed Laura passionately.

  “Yeah, we’ll definitely show him what the power of a good woman can do.”

  Emily reached up and grabbed Laura’s breast and leaned her back. “How about I show you what a good woman can do?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sean Barkley was livid. That stupid bitch had wormed her way in and he was going to put a stop to it. He had worked too hard for too long to be outed for the chance to run Jensen and Barkley, to be at the helm. It was his right.

  “How dare she!” he shouted to the office after slamming the door behind him. He had thought it would be easy to seduce her after Terry’s death, when she was mourning and most vulnerable. His plan had been to seduce her and then get her to sell him her shares so he would be sole owner of Barkley Architecture. It never even occurred to him she had any interest in the business.

  He picked up his nameplate. ‘Sean Barkley-Jr. Manager’. He threw it across the room and then glared at the hole left in the wall in its wake. He walked around the desk and plopped himself into the chair and laid his head in his hands. He needed a plan.

  Then an idea struck him. Nodding his head, he left his office and marched back to Terry’s. He had some say in what happened in this company; she had no right to just come in and take over like she was.

  As he reached up to knock on the door, he glanced through the window into Terry’s office. Few people had his height, and the windows were not meant to allow people to look in, but what he saw made his jaw drop.

  Laura and Emily were wrapped in a lover’s embrace, their kiss passionate and probing. Emily had her hands under Laura’s dress, and Sean could imagine where her fingers were. Although the sight turned him on, Sean stopped himself from knocking on the door. This was better than anything else that he could ever have dreamed up.

  He watched as Laura’s head fell back in ecstasy at Emily’s caresses, and he had to stop himself from moving his hand to his crotch. He only wished it was his fingers inside her. Or his mouth. Or any other part of his body.

  Anger rose in him; the opposite side of the same coin, it overrode his arousal as he thought of how easily she had spurned him. All so she could be with that woman.

  His mind ran full-throttle. Now to just take this little tidbit of information and use it to get what he wanted.

  ***

  Laura pushed Emily away playfully.

  “We’d better stop doing this at the office,” she said breathily. “What if someone finds out?”

  Emily laughed. “So what if they do? What will they do about it?”

  Laura considered this. Emily was right. What could they do? It was not like she was having an affair. Terry was gone and she was now considered a free woman.

  “Yes, but it’s the office, not home.”

  Emily giggled. “Oh, like we’re the first to have a little fun in an office.”

  Laura felt her face heat up. There were always stories about affairs happening in offices, and now she was one of them. It made her want to laugh.

  “So, we have no meetings today, correct?” Laura said, trying to calm the heat inside her and also trying to change the subject to something safer. It was difficult to look at Emily’s hand and not remember where those fingers had just been.

  “No,” Emily replied, “we only have four people left to meet with. We have James Rightly tomorrow; he’ll be a quick and easy one.” She rifled through the papers on the desk and pulled out the schedule. “No one else was available for the rest of this week, but next week we have Shirley Barns on Wednesday, Thursday is Frank Gustafson, and finally, Friday is Peter Wallson.” She leaned in kissed Laura. “Then…” she kissed her again, “we,” another kiss, “are,” a final long, passionate kiss, “done.”

  It was hard not to grab Emily and pull her in by that time, but Laura refrained. “You, Emily Franklin, are a tease.”

  Emily grabbed Laura’s ass and said, “You know it.”

  They fixed their hair and checked their makeup before grabbing purses and heading out to buy moving boxes from a local storage company. It was time for Laura to get her office ready. In two weeks, she would announce her plans for Jensen and Barkley.

  Chapter Sixteen

  On Tuesday, Laura and Emily sat in their regular table waiting for James Rightly to show up for their meeting, each with a red wine in front of them.

  “I tried to confirm today’s meeting, but I wasn’t able to get ahold of Rightly. But I’m sure he’ll be here.”

  “I’m not too worried,” Laura said. “He was always a nice man; he’s been with our company since the first, always coming back when he’s ready for a new construction. He’s worked with Terry for years.”

  Ten minutes after the meeting time the man still had not shown, and Laura became concerned. “Maybe we should try him again,” she said.

  “I don’t want to do that,” Emily said. “I’ve already left two messages, one last night to confirm and one this morning. I also tried calling him two more times before the meeting. We don’t want to come across as pushy.”

  Laura agreed, but she was still concerned nonetheless. This was the first time they had had a no-show, and to have it be someone who had been with the company for so long, it seemed off.

  “I hope he’s OK,” she said. “Maybe we should at least call his office and see if they have seen him.” When Emily gave her a frustrated look she added, “I’ll do it and not tell them who I am.”

  “Fine.”

  Laura dialed the office number listed for James Rightly. A pleasant voice answered. “Hello? Yes, I have an appointment with Mr. Rightly in half an hour and I was wondering if he was already in his office.”

  “Yes, he is, would you like me to transfer you?”

  “No, no, that will be fine. I just wanted to be sure. Thank you.” Laura hung up the phone. “He’s in his office.”

  Emily sat back into her chair. “Should we just go over and talk to him there?”

  It was all a little disconcerting, to say the least. Why would he
agree to the meeting and then not show up? He had not contacted Emily to cancel, which was not like him.

  “There has to be something else going on,” Laura said finally. “How about this…I’ll head back to the office and send him an email. I’ll make sure there is a received receipt on it so I know if he’s opened it or not. If I don’t hear back from him by tonight, I’ll go over and see him tomorrow.”

  “OK, that sounds fine. I’ll wait here another fifteen minutes, but if he’s still in his office, he’s not coming. It would take him thirty minutes just to get here with the traffic right now.”

  Laura leaned in and kissed Emily before getting up from the table. “Oh, and order something to eat. I’ll grab something later.”

  Five minutes later Laura was at her computer typing up an email to James Rightly. After hitting send, she watched for the return receipt. As expected, within two minutes, it was in her inbox.

  “James has always been a good client,” Laura said aloud. “I would certainly like to know what’s up with him.”

  She sat at the desk for several more minutes looking at the pictures arranged there. She had kept the one of her and Terry but had added one of her and Emily. They had taken a selfie in the park and she had printed it out and put it in a frame.

  The architecture books had been boxed up and were waiting for Emily’s new office, which would be next door in a room currently used for storage. In their place were books on office management, speaking to clients, as well as a few on business mathematics and records management. The decor had stayed pretty much the same, but she added some feminine touches, a couple of green plants, and a large painting of the Irish seaside from the western side of Ireland, a place she had always wanted to visit but never had with Terry’s busy schedule. There were so many things they missed out on.

  A knock came to the door and Emily walked in, a small bag from Rizzo’s in her hand. “I figured you probably didn’t stop anywhere to get food,” she said with a smile. “And no, he never showed.”

  “Yeah, I didn’t think he would,” Laura replied. “Thanks for the food. I was getting hungry.” She smiled. “I was thinking…now that you’re going to be a project manager, do you think I need a secretary?”

  Emily laughed. “You do know that I was hired on because Terry wanted me for my architectural skills and not to be a real secretary? That’s what Felicity is for.”

  “True, but it would also make my position in the office be even more outstanding, don’t you think?”

  Emily shrugged. “Maybe. But if you hire a woman, she better be old and ugly.”

  Laura almost spit out her food when Emily had said that. “What?” she said when she could catch her breath again. “You might get jealous?”

  “You never know these days with office managers and the help,” Emily said with a sly grin.

  A ding sounded on Laura’s computer and she glanced at her inbox. “Oh, it’s an email from James. About time.” She opened the email and read it over, anger rising. “What the…”

  “What is it?” Emily asked and Laura swung the monitor around she she could read the email. “Oh, my God,” Emily murmured as she read the words silently.

  Ms. Jensen,

  I regret to inform you that I will no longer be doing my business with Jensen and Barkley through you. I will not be taking my business to another firm but will be working directly with Sean Barkley instead.

  I appreciated the time I had with your husband, but feel it is in my best interest to stay with Mr. Barkley.

  Thank you for your understanding.

  Sincerely,

  James Rightly

  “Why?” Emily asked.

  “I don’t know,” Laura said, anger threatening to burst from every orifice, “but I’m going to find out.” She grabbed her purse.

  “Not without me,” Emily said as she followed Laura out the door.

  ***

  Forty-five minutes later they were standing outside James Rightly’s office.

  “Are you sure you want to do this?” Emily asked.

  “Oh, I’m sure,” Laura said as she tried to compose herself. “I want to know what the hell is going on.”

  She opened the door and walked up to the small desk where a larger woman sat, her dark hair streaked with gray and pulled back into a severe bun. “May I help you?” the woman asked.

  “I would like to speak to James Rightly, please.” Laura said.

  “Do you have an appointment?”

  “No, but I can wait until he’s available.”

  “And your name?”

  “Laura Jensen.”

  The woman picked up the phone and hit a button. “Mr. Rightly, a Ms. Laura Jensen to see you. Yes, sir.” she hung up the phone. “I’m sorry, but Mr. Rightly is in a meeting at the moment. But you are welcome to wait.”

  Laura and Emily sat down, Laura’s foot bouncing in its high heel as she sat cross-legged in the chair.

  Twenty minutes later, James Rightly stood at a door speaking to someone behind him. “Well, I appreciate you coming to see me. I can see we have a lot of work to do, but I’m sure you can handle it just fine.”

  Laura and Emily both gasped when from behind James came Sean Barkley. When he saw them, a sneer crossed his face and he turned immediately back to James and shook his hand.

  “I’m glad to be of help, James,” he said. “I know that I’ll be able to deliver what you need, just as you would have expected from Terry. I know the business inside and out, so you should notice no differences in our services.”

  Rightly looked out into the waiting room, and when he saw Laura and Emily, his face went blank, as if he had forced all emotion from it. “Hello, Mrs. Jensen.” She did not miss the formality in his addressing her.

  “James,” Laura said as she put out her hand. “Do you have a moment?”

  There was a quick glance between James and Sean before Sean said, “Well, I’ll be on my way.” And he walked out the door.

  “I have another meeting scheduled, Mrs. Jensen, but I can see the person has not arrived yet. I have a couple of minutes.” He led them to a large office at the end of a short hallway. He offered them chairs and he sat behind a desk piled high with papers and files. “What can I do for you, Mrs. Jensen?”

  “Well, first off all, it’s been eight years since you called me Mrs. Jensen,” Laura said, her voice even. “So why all the formality? And why did you change your mind about meeting with me?”

  James leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers before clearing his throat. “Well, I have simply decided to work through Sean Barkley, as I mentioned in my email. I’m sure you are a capable office manager, but you know nothing about the business. I need someone who does. Sean has been there since the beginning, so I trust his judgment.”

  “And you do not trust mine?”

  “It’s not your judgment in architecture that I do not trust, Mrs. Jensen.”

  Laura was taken aback. What other area could this man be worried about? She voiced aloud the same concern. “I’m sorry, what is it that you do not trust?”

  He gave a meaningful look at first Emily and then Laura. “I have no prejudices, you understand, but I am not quite ready for that type of interference with my work,” he said cryptically.

  Laura still had no idea what he was talking about. She glanced over at Emily, saw the anger on her face, and his meaning hit her as if he had physically struck her.

  “I see,” Laura said. “Well, then I guess we have nothing more to discuss.” She stood and Emily followed her out the door.

  Once the elevator doors closed, Laura turned to Emily, who was seething. “He knows about us.”

  “How would he know?” Emily asked.

  “Oh, I have a good guess who told him. I just want to know how Sean Barkley found out.”

  ***

  Laura held Emily in her arms that weekend. They had yet to discuss the issue with James Rightly, but Laura knew they would have to before the meetings they had se
t up for the following week.

  “Do you think Sean has already contacted the others?”

  “I’m sure he has,” Emily said. “We’ll know if Shirley Barns doesn’t show up to next Wednesday how she took the information.”

  The next morning, Laura was up early. She wanted to go for a jog; it had been a while and she really need the release. Not that there was no release when she was with Emily. She giggled at this thought. No, this was something different. It would enable her to clear her mind and think clearly.

  As she made her way through the woods, she wondered what would happen if the other clients they had already met with found out about her and Emily. Would they, too, want to go to Sean’s side? She hated that she had to look at it as her side or Sean’s side, but there really was no any other way to think of it. They had set up battle lines and she had to do what she could to set up for fight.

  But what did that mean? She was in love with Emily, of that she was sure. However, would she be better off for the business if she did not let people know about them? What would Emily think of that? Yet, Laura knew that if Emily did the same to her, she would be terribly hurt.

  “I don’t know what to do,” she murmured aloud.

  By the time she returned home, she still did not have a plan.

  Polly was in the kitchen already when Laura walked in through the back door. The smell of coffee filled her nostrils and her ritual craving came to life.

  “Bless you, Polly,” she said as the woman handed her a cup. “Is Emily up yet?”

  “I haven’t seen her,” Polly said.

  That was unusual. Emily was always up and about by now. Laura headed upstairs to the bedroom, but Emily was not there. She also was not in the shower. On the nightstand, a note was propped up next to the lamp with Laura’s name scrawled across it in Emily’s handwriting.

  Laura took the note and slowly lowered herself down on the edge of the bed. She was afraid to open it. No good note would be left like this, not sitting on the nightstand like it had been.