Dream Lover

by Peterson, Nicola

  ‘Fine,’ he said flicking through the contents quickly before giving her two other identical files, ‘do the same on these, I’ll send a courier to collect them around lunch time tomorrow. I gather you can have them ready for then?’ he did not wait for her reply but looked at his watch. ‘I have to go,’ he added abruptly before leaving the room once again.

  As the door closed on his immaculately dressed back Quinn gave way to the tears she had been fighting all day. While the tears washed down her face she wished with all her heart she had never met Maxwell Cordell.

  It was after ten when she decided to go the small shop she had seen in the hotel foyer, all her crying had achieved nothing, except to give her a headache, hopefully she would be able to get some painkillers there.

  Quinn heard Max's laughter before she saw him walking toward her with a tall elegant blonde on his arm. He hadn’t seen Quinn up until that moment; he was too busy looking into the eyes of the beautiful woman by his side, his dark head lowered as he whispered into her ear.

  Pride would not let Quinn duck her head, keeping her eyes forward she walked straight past the couple with her head held high. From the corner of her eye she saw his head move and she knew without a doubt Maxwell had seen her, at first she was unsure if he spoke but then her suspicions were confirmed when she heard his companion asking, ‘Who was that?’

  Quinn heard his deep voice as he replied but was too far away to actually hear his words as he replied.

  Having delayed in the small shop as long as she could, and making purchases she didn’t really need or want she made her way back toward the lifts. Confident if Maxwell had taken his lady friend to his room she would not meet them she made her way back to her own room. To her dismay she did see the couple again, sat cosily side by side in the lounge bar. The blonde was looking seductively up into his eyes her long fingers stroking the lapel of his jacket. Quinn’s heart hammered against her chest so hard she felt sick. She gave a grateful sigh when the lift doors opened and slid inside quickly pressing the button for her floor, then closing her eyes tightly she tried to dislodge the vision of the couple together.

  Opening her mini bar she took out a bottle of cold water, forcing the painkillers past the lump in her throat she undressed and then lay down on her bed. She tossed and turned, trying very hard not to think about Maxwell Cordell, she had been foolish to even contemplate getting involved with him. Stupidly she had broken all her own rules; never date anyone you work with, especially the boss. Why oh why had she gone for dinner with him, and why had she let him kiss her. Despondently thinking it hadn’t taken him long to find someone else to spend his evening with.

  Later Quinn dreamt she was standing by her balcony window the cool evening breeze ruffled the fine lace curtains making them billow into a swirl of white froth. Maxwell was standing behind her, his hands warm and gentle against her bare shoulders.

  ‘Get back into bed,’ he said softly.

  She turned and rested her head against his bare chest, ‘Will you stay with me?’ she asked lifting her face from the warmth of his skin.

  ‘No, get into bed…’ he said more firmly.

  ‘But I want you to stay, I love you,’ she slid her hand around his neck and ran her fingers through his hair. She sighed as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her across the room, when he lay her down against the pillows she pulled his head toward her own and pressed her lips against his, sighing softly when he returned her kiss, and kissed her passionately. Then suddenly his lips left hers.

  ‘Go to sleep Quinn,’ he said softly untangling her arms from around his neck.

  ‘Max I love you….’ she whispered but he was gone.

  Quinn woke with a start and looked around her room, when she saw the windows were tightly closed she dropped her head back on the pillows and sighed. Another stupid dream to haunt her nights, ‘I’ve got it real bad’ she sighed, ‘I can even smell his after shave!’

  It was almost seven when Quinn slid out of her bed and into the bathroom; on her way she saw a neatly folded sheet of paper pushed under her door. No doubt a message from Max, and it was, telling her the documents he required would be collected around lunchtime and that he would be back at the hotel to collect her for their journey home. There had been another change of plan; they would be leaving that evening instead of the following day. He went on to tell her to pack for him and make sure she was ready for five o’clock prompt. No please or thank you just curt demands, back to normal once again.

  Quinn hesitated before going into his room, the last thing she needed was to go inside and see the evidence that he had ‘entertained’ his lady friend there the night before. Maybe if she waited until later the maid would have been in and made the bed, but she realised he would have checked out of his own room and therefore the maid would not be around until much later that morning. Taking a deep breath she pushed the handle and opened the door, his bed was the usual mess after he had been in it so couldn’t really tell whether he had spent the night alone or not.

  ‘None of your damn business,’ she muttered to herself dragging his suitcase from the wardrobe.

  It took only about ten minutes to complete his packing; then when she had finished she did her usual systematic sweep of the room to ensure nothing had been left behind. A small white card edged in gold caught her eye as she moved back the bedcovers; it had obviously been on the bedside table and had fallen off.

  Azzurra De Santos and a London telephone number was all the information printed on the elegant card, for just a split second Quinn was tempted to rip it into pieces but didn’t instead she slipped it into his jacket pocket and zipped up the case.

  At one thirty the courier arrived to collect the files and to leave her another one to work on, together with a message from Maxwell telling her the courier would return at three thirty to collect it.

  Quinn was standing by the window looking out at the view when her employer arrived back. She turned when the door opened he stood hesitantly for a moment before speaking.

  ‘Everything packed?’ he asked unnecessarily.

  She nodded, ‘Yes,’ she said turning away from him as she noticed he looked drawn and tired. She didn’t want to contemplate why he did, it hurt too much.

  ‘If you’re ready then we’ll make a start the traffic will probably be heavy.’

  When she turned back he was still standing in the doorway, he looked about to speak again but the bellboy had arrived to collect their baggage and he turned away. Picking up her jacket she walked quickly toward him making sure she didn’t look up into his eyes. She loved his eyes, the clearest blue she had ever seen fringed with thick dark lashes any woman would die for. And when he smiled… ‘Stop!’ she told herself and deliberately thought of something different. But he was still there in the back of her mind, memories of his smile, his kisses the expression in his eyes when he looked at her.

  The traffic was heavy but they were still at the airport in plenty of time for their flight. ‘Do you want a drink before we board?’ he asked after they had checked in.

  ‘Please,’ she replied still avoiding looking at him.

  ‘Alcoholic or coffee?’ he asked as they sat down.

  ‘Black coffee please,’ she replied still not looking at him.

  Maxwell gave in their order then sat drumming his fingers on the table. ‘Why did you ignore me last night?’ he asked suddenly.

  Quinn creased her brow, ‘I did, when?’ she replied, feigning a puzzled tone to her voice.

  ‘You know damn well when,’ he snapped, she shook her head, ‘when I was walking through the hotel with…. my date, I said hello to you, you snubbed me.’

  ‘I’m sorry Mr Cordell,’ she said sweetly, ‘I didn’t see you...’

  Maxwell snorted, ‘At almost six feet five I’d be hard to miss, especially as I was standing straight in front of you,’ his fingers still drummed angrily against the tabletop. ‘Maybe you need glasses,’ he snapped irately.

  ‘I certainl
y don’t need glasses, I have perfect eyesight,’ she told him testily, ‘You mustn’t be quite as noticeable as you think you are,’ she told him smugly; deeply pleased she had obviously annoyed him.

  Just at that moment the waiter brought their drinks, Maxwell stopped drumming his fingers long enough to snatch up his glass and swallow the contents in one mouthful. Slamming the glass down he stood up, ‘I’m going to make a phone call don’t move,’ he said turning on his heel and walking away.

  She watched as he marched away toward the bank of telephones snatch one up and start dialling. Even from across the room she could see the difference in his expression he was smiling, more relaxed, now he was away from her. When he started to laugh he looked toward her then quickly away. Determinedly she kept her eyes averted when he came striding back to their seats.

  ‘Why didn’t you tell me about Devlin?’ he demanded when he sat down again.

  ‘I didn’t think I’d have to, I thought you would have read my personnel file,’ she couldn’t look at him, this was neither the time nor the place to discus her former employer, but still felt compelled to tell him, ‘None of the stories were true I never slept with him or any of them…’

  ‘You don’t have to tell me I know you didn’t,’ he said savagely. So savagely she looked up into his eyes for the first time then just as quickly looked away again, the mixture of emotions etched on his handsome face was troubling.

  ‘When did you find out?’ she asked after a long uncomfortable silence.

  ‘I asked for personnel to email me your details after you did your little ‘I’m not sleeping with you routine,’ I remembered some comment you’d made about hating your last job,’ his hair received another rough raking before he carried on. ‘I just wish you had told me it would have saved all this,’ he waved his hand vaguely in the air, ‘rubbish.’

  ‘It’s not ‘rubbish’ I find such situations stressful…’

  ‘Stressful!’ he snorted, ‘You don’t know the meaning of the word,’ he told her with feeling.

  They had been too busy arguing for her to think about the forthcoming flight, but now they were on the plane and in seconds she had worked herself into a panic. Max stowed away his brief case, leaned his head back and closed his eyes, leaving her to face the prospects of the flight alone.

  As the plane started to taxi down the runway Quinn closed her eyes, gripping the armrest as tightly as she could she tried to control her mounting fear. The faster the plane went the more afraid she became and she knew she was just seconds away from passing out or screaming. Clasping one hand against her mouth she gasped and opened her eyes when his hand touched hers.

  ‘It’s okay Quinn, don’t be afraid,’ he took her hand and held it between his two, his long fingers gently easing the tension from her as they pressed gently against her fingers and palm. Although they didn’t speak for the remainder of the journey he still covered her hand with his own as the plane started its descent.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Life settled down into a mundane pattern, although Quinn would often accompany Maxwell on his trips; he never invited her to join him for dinner unless it was a group invitation, in other words ‘business.’ But if she was truthfully honest she missed him and the way they had been if only for a very short time.

  The incident in Paris was never mentioned by either of them, but every so often she would find him watching her with a strange look in his eyes as though he knew something she didn’t, which obviously puzzled and troubled her.

  A week after the Paris trip she walked into Maxwell’s office to find him on the telephone. The small gold edged card she had found by his hotel bedside held between his fingers, he was smiling and talking quietly until he realised she was there as he looked up he spun his chair away from her.

  One thing, which puzzled Quinn, was that Jay never repeated his invitation to her to join him for a drink, he was always polite but she noticed Maxwell watched him carefully when ever she was in the car with him. Quinn had the sneaking suspicion that Jay had been warned off, she very rarely saw him on her own so it was difficult to ask him, until one afternoon Maxwell called her into his office.

  ‘I seem to have lost my mobile phone, go down to the garage and see if I have left it in my car,’ he spoke distractedly while searching through his immaculately tidy desk draws.

  Obediently she went in search of the missing phone, within minutes she found it on the floor underneath the driver’s seat and was returning to the office when she spotted Jay pulling into one of the executive parking bays. With a quick look around the garage she headed off in his direction, Jay smiled and jumped out of the car when he saw her approaching.

  ‘Hello Quinn, what brings you down here?’

  She held up her boss’s phone, ‘Maxwell dropped this in his car,’ she explained quickly. ‘How are you keeping I haven’t seen you around lately?’

  He shook his head, ‘No he’s keeping me pretty busy,’ he hesitated for a moment, ‘I haven’t had a free night for ages but….’

  Suddenly Quinn’s name was yelled loudly from across the garage followed by, ‘My office now both of you!’ Maxwell Cordell bellowed at them.

  Jay cursed quietly, ‘Look Quinn let me speak to him…’

  ‘Why we weren’t doing anything wrong?’ she started to say, bristling indignantly as she started toward the staircase.

  Catching her arm Jay pulled her to a halt, ‘Quinn wait, let me go…’

  ‘No he doesn’t scare me,’ she tugged her arm free and pressed the button for the lift. They argued all the way up to their boss’s office, Jay didn’t want her to go in but she insisted.

  They entered Maxwell’s office through Quinn's room and now they stood before his desk like a pair of naughty children.

  ‘I will not have staff socialising in company time, you,’ he pointed rudely to Quinn, ‘were told to go and retrieve my phone from the car when I tell you to do something you do just that, you don’t spend the next twenty minutes chit-chatting with your friends.’

  Before she could open her mouth Jay cut in, ‘It was my fault, I spotted Quinn across the garage and called to her...’

  Quinn sighed loudly, ‘I don’t believe this. I was not gone twenty minutes and Jay didn’t call me I called him. I’ll work extra time or you can stop it out of my pay,’ she ignored the enraged expression on the Chairman’s face and carried on. ‘We were not doing anything wrong just saying ‘hello,’ more time has been wasted here than down in the garage.’ She turned to Jay, ‘I don’t know about you but I have work to do,’ with that she turned and started toward her own office, stopping when she realised she still held the phone in her hand and turned back to Maxwell, ‘Here’s your phone,’ she snapped, slamming it down on his desk.

  As she sat back behind her desk Quinn suddenly realised she had probably over stepped the mark by a mile and for the first time since she had worked for Maxwell she was concerned about her position with the company. Muffled raised voices drifted in from the other side of the connecting door, even with her ear pressed hard against the wooden door she couldn’t make out a word that was being said all she could hear were loud male voices. She just prayed that Jay would not lose his job.

  Almost fifteen minutes later the adjoining door was snapped open. ‘I’m off to a meeting. Don’t think for one moment you have heard the last of your little outburst in there,’ Maxwell lifted his hand and checked his watch. ‘I will be back at four thirty, you be in my office at four thirty one.’ The door slammed and he was gone.

  Quinn spent the most fraught day she could recall in a long time, at precisely four thirty she heard his door open; taking a deep breath she stood up, smoothed down her skirt and knocked on the door.

  ‘Get in here now!’ he yelled, so loud she flinched.

  For the first time since she had come to work for Maxwell Cordell, Quinn was actually a little afraid of him. It was every bit as bad as she expected he yelled, loudly, threatened her with instant dismissal if she
ever so much as dared to think about answering him back again.

  ‘I don’t want to sack you Quinn, but I promise you one more outburst like that and I will,’ he finished quietly, ‘now get back to work.’

  Without uttering so much as one word she turned and walked out of his office then after closing her door she slumped into her chair, too stunned to do anything more than stare at her blank computer screen for the first few minutes. Dismayed at how two work colleges saying hello to each other could escalate so far out of hand. But Quinn was also disappointed with herself for not standing up to her boss this time, but deep down inside she was appalled that that he would berate her the way he had.

  Purely by chance that very weekend Quinn was out shopping when she met Jay at the local supermarket. They both looked around nervously before laughing.

  ‘I keep expecting him to leap out from behind the tins of beans,’ he laughed. ‘Did he give you a hard time?’ he raised his eyes when she nodded, ‘sorry, I did try to take the blame.’

  ‘I know but I couldn’t let you do that, I was concerned he was going to sack you,’ she said manoeuvring her shopping trolley out of the way of other shoppers. ‘What did he say to you?’

  He shrugged his shoulders, ‘Not much really, just told me it was against company policy for staff to fraternise,’ he shrugged his shoulders once again, ‘first I’ve heard of it. Anyway I must dash before the frozen peas thaw,’ he gave a half smile at his lame excuse and dashed away.

  Quinn watched as Jay went hurrying away; with the distinct feeling that he was keeping something back from her with a shrug of her shoulders she concentrated on her shopping once again.