by Ber Carroll
In the small bathroom she reapplied her sunscreen and fixed her windswept hair into a tighter ponytail. When she came out she didn’t see Neil lurking to the side.
‘Katie! A word, please.’
She stopped dead. She knew at once what he wanted a ‘word’ about.
‘This fling you’re having with Jim is a big mistake . . .’
Slowly, she turned to face him. ‘That is absolutely none of your business, Neil.’
‘I beg to differ.’ He took a step closer. ‘I’ve invested a lot in your career, office romances don’t work –’
‘I can assure you that this is much more than an office romance,’ she said haughtily.
‘That’s what you think.’
‘That’s what I know.’
Neil’s face contorted into an ugly scowl. ‘You’re acting like a silly schoolgirl.’
She caught a strong whiff of alcohol from his breath. Neil, always so carefully in control of himself, seemed to be drunk.
‘Let’s go back upstairs,’ she said in a lighter voice. ‘People will be wondering where we are.’
Her suggestion fell on deaf ears.
‘All these years I’ve nurtured your career,’ he slurred.
‘And I very much appreciate all you’ve done –’
But there was no appeasing him. ‘If I’d known you were such an easy lay, I would have screwed you early on and not bothered pushing you up the ranks.’
She started to feel sick.
If I stay calm, he’ll stay calm, she told herself.
‘Don’t say that – you don’t mean it – now let’s go back to the others.’
Again, he appeared not to hear her. He took another step closer and, with her back right up against the bathroom door, she realised she was in big trouble.
‘Let me pass,’ she ordered.
His thin-lipped mouth descended towards her.
He’s going to kiss me, she thought in blind panic. I’m trapped – I’ve nowhere to go – no kerb to jump off.
She turned her face away but his hand gripped her chin and forced it back.
‘Stop it,’ she implored him. ‘You’re drunk – don’t do this!’
His mouth came a fraction closer and she could see the pockmarked pores around his jaw.
‘No, Neil,’ she cried, trying to shake herself from his vicelike grip. ‘No!’
Just as she thought it was all over, his head jerked back dramatically.
‘What the –’ he exclaimed, a pained expression on his face.
‘Get away from her!’ she heard Jim thunder.
Neil’s slim frame was no match for Jim’s strength and he fell back on the floor.
Jim eased Katie away from the door. ‘Are you all right?’
She wasn’t but nodded dazedly.
‘Did he –’ Jim couldn’t bring himself to complete the question.
‘No . . . you got here on time . . . just on time.’
‘You’ll pay for this,’ said Neil, scrambling to his feet. ‘Both of you.’
Jim ignored him as he guided Katie gently towards the stairs.
‘Go up to the deck,’ he said. ‘Put on a brave face and I’ll be up in a minute.’
Still in a daze, she ascended the narrow carpeted stairs. At the top she paused and strained to decipher the voices from below.
‘You’ll pay –’ Neil began again.
Jim spoke over him. ‘No, you’ll pay, Neil. I will not let you get away with this.’
‘I’m the managing partner – I’m your boss –’
Jim cut him off once more. ‘I’ll drag you through every court in the country if you don’t resign. Your career will be ruined . . .’
Katie didn’t need to hear any more. She knew that she could rely on Jim to deal with Neil. After everything they’d been through, she trusted him completely.
Epilogue
‘I do!’ bellowed Stephen.
‘Say it louder, Stevo,’ someone shouted from the back, and the crowd tittered.
Stephen grinned in the direction of the heckler. The wedding ceremony was being held on the beach and the atmosphere was very relaxed.
‘I do.’
Tamsin’s reply was much softer. She was the opposite of Stephen: petite, gentle and more than a little vague. She complemented him, softened his edges, but didn’t try to change him as all his other girlfriends had.
Katie’s eyes momentarily left the couple to scan the fifty or so guests that formed a semicircle around them. Of course, there was the usual gang of neighbours and friends. Alexander looked very suave and Russian in a black suit. Jean was unashamedly wiping away tears. Annie stood close to her mother, Zack stuck like a limpet to her leg.
Then there was the Irish contingent. Liz, looking totally rapt at the experience of attending such a ‘bohemian’ wedding ceremony, was standing close to Alexander, who she had declared was ‘a very dashing man’. Carmel, the wheels of her chair sunk into the sand, had a look of quiet achievement on her face. It had been a phenomenal journey but she had managed it well enough with Liz’s assistance.
‘The world is a lot more accessible than I thought,’ she had told Katie on their arrival at Sydney airport.
Last of the Irish delegation was Ellen with Paul, James and Ciara. Ellen’s dress was bright and beachy, and perfect for the occasion. Only Katie knew that her sister was a little unsure of herself in this gathering of virtual strangers. She was still processing her first impressions of Stephen and Sydney. In fact, that she’d decided to come at all had been somewhat of a surprise.
‘I’m really not sure,’ she’d said to Katie on one of their regular phone calls. ‘I hardly know Stephen . . . I’ve only talked to him a few times . . . and I won’t know anybody else at the wedding, other than you and Frankie and Rose.’
‘It’s the perfect opportunity to get to know Stephen, and everyone else. And you’ll see some of Australia too. Think of it as an adventure.’
‘Problem is I’m not very adventurous,’ Ellen had returned.
Still, here she was, and Katie knew her sister well enough by now to appreciate the effort it had taken: Paul’s locum, pulling the children out of school, passports all round. Paul was clearly enjoying himself, and the children were wide-eyed and wonderful. Katie felt very proud of all of them.
The celebrant declared the couple man and wife, and the guests clapped and cheered as Stephen bent to kiss Tamsin. Katie felt Jim’s hand on the small of her back and she looked up to smile at him. He looked completely at ease, his white shirt opened at the collar, his chinos the same colour as the sand beneath their feet. Ten months had passed since she’d first introduced him to the family, and now it was as if he had always been around.
A lot had happened in those ten months. She and Jim had bought a lovely old Federation house in Sydney’s North Shore. They were so ridiculously happy that Katie often stopped to do a reality check. Somehow she had found a man who not only didn’t mind her mess, but on occasion cleaned it up. Who agreed that alarm clocks were evil and insisted that she be woken with a gentle morning kiss. Who had proved to her time and time again that he would never let her down. All this on top of being extraordinarily handsome and clever.
After Neil’s resignation, Meredith Allen had been unanimously voted in as managing partner, the first woman to hold the position. Meredith had made an immediate recommendation to the board that all remaining High Potential participants be offered partnership. Her strong views on work-life balance and community service were at the core of Katie’s decision to accept the partnership.
Katie was back in regular contact with Claudine but wasn’t able to convince her to return to her old job.
‘You must think I was mad to stay on at MFJ all those years with Brent refusing to acknowledge me or Ethan,’ she’d said when Katie made the job offer, ‘but I was terrified to lose my income, even for the short while it would take to find another job. We were hand to mouth – the loss of one week’s pay would have put u
s on the streets. Now that I’ve finally got that bastard where it hurts the most – his money – I can take some time to find the right job.’
Ethan was fully recovered, but for the fact his right leg was a little shorter than the left. The doctor had assured Claudine that it would catch up over time. It didn’t stop him from playing soccer, riding his bike or beating Katie at computer games.
Life was domestic bliss for Oliver and Isabelle, who both had babies on the way. Carole was more condescending than ever now that she was a partner, but Katie had learnt to tolerate her. Only just, though. David was working in a small country practice. Katie had made a few unreciprocated attempts at contact but had eventually accepted that he wanted to be left alone.
Katie glanced over to Rose, who seemed to be clapping harder than everyone else. Her mother had every reason to be happy. It was her son’s wedding day. Her dearest friends were there to share in her happiness, as were her long-lost sisters, who were as much at home on this South Sydney beach as they were on their own Velvet Strand. And Ellen, the baby she had left behind, was in the midst of everyone, where she belonged. In many ways, this was Rose’s day as much as it was Stephen’s.
Katie came back to the present as Jim’s arm tightened around her waist.
‘Happy?’ he asked.
She smiled again.
‘Yes.’
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