by Nikki Ashton
“Morning Bobby, how are you getting on with the monthly results?" Charlotte asked, placing her bag on her desk.
“Huh, huh,” Bobby responded, with his dry cough again. “I'm almost there.”
“Good, well let’s not be late like last month shall we? And how are you today Gwen?” Charlotte turned to Gwen, as if dismissing Bobby.
“Not bad at all, actually I think my moon must be rising because I feel that I look particularly good today.”
Charlotte stared at Gwen in disbelief. Her lipstick was way above her top lip, all over her teeth, and her bedraggled old hairpiece wasn’t on straight.
“Yes, quite. Laura, do you think that you could take these letters down to Paul for me please?” Charlotte picked up a pile of letters from her tray and held them out to Laura, the angry teenage office junior.
“Right,” she mumbled, taking them from Charlotte’s hand.
“Oh and Laura, if you see Rob can you ask him to look at the heater in reception.”
“Why would I see Rob?” she demanded. Rob was the handyman and Laura had a definite soft spot for him.
“Because that’s where you always go when I ask you to do something. I have eyes everywhere Laura, remember that.” Charlotte winked at the frowning Laura.
Charlotte had been working for about half an hour, on a business case for a new computer system, when her internal line started buzzing; it was Debbie.
“Yes, Debbie.”
“Charlotte, I rang Mr Devine and he was wondering whether he could visit this afternoon. He will be in the area, say about 2 p.m.?”
“Err, I think that should be okay. Is Paul available then?”
“Yes, I’ve already checked.”
“Okay, oh and Debbie could you check whether he’s coming alone… you know… so I can organise coffee.”
“Sure no problem, thanks Charlotte.” Debbie's line clicked off.
Charlotte suddenly felt sick again, what if he brought Grant with him? She realised that she had to talk to Paul.
“You don’t really think that Grant would come here, do you?” Paul asked, running a hand through his mop of blond curls. "If he does I will refuse to see him, however, unprofessional it may seem. Okay, maybe not, but I’ll make sure that you don’t have to see him.”
Charlotte smiled at him warmly; he had been an excellent friend apart from being a decent boss, supporting her as much as Kerry and Bets when she and Grant had split up. He was a good man all round. At thirty-six, he was one of the youngest and most respected businessmen in the area, mainly because he was honest and not afraid of hard work. His big smile, happy nature and unruly hair, forever in his brown eyes, made him an attractive man, and a good catch for anyone. The only bad thing about Paul was he didn’t know how to dress. It was down to Charlotte that he wore Hugo Boss and Henry Lloyd rather than nylon trousers, and a home knitted pullover.
“You are kind Paul, but you’re right; we can’t lose business over this. Anyway, we don’t know how he knows Grant. Maybe he went to him first for the insurance, and Grant couldn’t help so he recommended us.”
“Maybe, we’ll see what happens, but I’ll be there. Actually, it will be a good opportunity for you to get your hand in for when you get your promotion.”
“Yes, it’s been a long time since I did any quotations. It should be a good experience.”
At 13:55 precisely Debbie’s number flashed on Charlotte’s telephone.
“Charlotte, Mr Devine is here. He’s alone by the way.” Debbie announced.
“Sorry?” Charlotte questioned.
“You know, you wanted to know because of coffee. His secretary wasn’t sure when I booked the appointment.” Debbie explained.
“Oh thanks Debbie, could you sort the coffee for in Paul’s office, and show Mr Devine down in about five minutes.” Charlotte replaced the receiver and let out a huge sigh of relief. Quickly, she reassessed her make up in her mirror, drew a brush through her hair, and then one last final detail, and swapped the square-cut diamond ring (a present to herself) from her right hand over to the third finger on her left hand. She was taking no risks; Grant may be a mere acquaintance of Mr Devine’s, but if he wasn’t then the report back would be that she was engaged. Finally ready she strode across the office.
“Gwen, I’m going into a meeting, when Laura gets back will you ask her to take any messages.”
“Yes.” Gwen looked up at Charlotte, smiling to show lipstick stained teeth.
“Oh and Gwen.”
“Yes?”
“Please don’t use this time to read your Tarot cards for the week ahead. Remember the commission needs to be done by mid-morning tomorrow.”
Gwen raised her eyebrows, and took out her cards as Charlotte’s back disappeared through the door.
“So, Paul remember if he mentions Grant, that’s your cue to talk about my fiancé,” said Charlotte, pointing at the diamond on her finger.
“Oh you are a silly sausage, Charlotte. So what if he reports back to Grant that you are still single, after all these years of sleeping around?” Paul grinned from ear to ear.
“Three times in three years is not sleeping around. Anyway, one of them doesn’t count; he got far too excited before we’d even reached the bedroom.”
Paul winced at the thought of his friend Ted, with whom he had tried to fix Charlotte up. “Actually, did you know that Ted is engaged to Isabella Forsythe now? In fact, I think I have a picture here somewhere - it was in Cheshire Life last week.” Paul started to leaf through the magazines and pamphlets in his tray. Charlotte slammed her hand down on them, catching Paul’s fingers underneath.
“Sorry, suck them that will take the pain away. Look, I know that you think that I’m being silly, but I don’t want Grant to think that my life has been rubbish since we split up. Mr Devine may never see or speak to him again, but I don’t want to take that chance, so please will you play along?”
Paul nodded. There was a knock at the door. “Come in,” Paul called.
It was Agnes, Paul’s guard dog of a secretary. “Mr Devine for you Mr Palmer.”
“Thank you Agnes, show him in.” Agnes stepped aside to let Mr Devine into the office.
Over the years, Charlotte had gathered a knack of sizing up people without them even knowing, and this is what she did with Mr Niall Devine. Her first thoughts were Devine by name and so divine by nature, but she then remembered that she was in a business meeting and should behave appropriately, but she couldn’t help it. He was around six feet tall, with short black hair, big blue eyes and wore a beautifully tailored, navy blue, Versace suit. He gave Paul and Charlotte an amazing smile, showing off beautiful white teeth. Charlotte quickly scanned his fingers for a wedding band - not that it mattered of course, and she was going to be totally professional - she was, however, pleased to see there wasn’t one, just a thick silver band on his right thumb. He held out his hand, to Charlotte first, showing off a nicely tanned wrist. As she put her small hand into his big strong one, Charlotte shivered slightly, and suddenly felt very girly. Mr Devine then shook Paul’s, still smiling brilliantly.
“Mr Devine, so nice to meet you.”
“You too Mr Palmer.” Devine’s Irish lilt floated out across the office.
“No, please call me Paul.”
“Well you must call me Niall, and this must be Miss Price?” He asked turning back once more to Charlotte.
“Charlotte, seeing as we are all on first name terms,” Charlotte said, giggling nervously. She had to take a deep breath to calm herself; she certainly hadn’t expected that a new client would have such an effect on her.
Paul took the initiative to find out about Grant. “So, we were recommended to you by a Mr Grant Beddows were we?” Paul asked, indicating that Niall could sit down. “How do you know him?”
“He’s a friend of my Managing Director.” Niall replied, the smile momentarily leaving his lips.
“Well at the moment it is me that you will be doing business with;
however," said Paul, smiling at Charlotte, “from next year, Charlotte will be running things.”
“Oh promotion then?” Niall asked.
Charlotte didn’t answer immediately, briefly mesmerised by his accent. “Oh sorry, yes that’s right.”
“Ah, good for yer. Anyway, shall we get down to business?” Niall reached down for his briefcase. “I’m head of legal for the company, so it’s my responsibility to obtain some good insurance cover. Our business is getting larger and so need to have more than adequate policies, at the best possible price of course. If all goes well, we would be looking for things like public liability cover, and personal insurance for our employees, so that’s what I’d like to discuss with you today.”
The meeting continued for another hour, with Niall and Paul drawing up some proposals for Johnson & Cathcart, resulting in a profitable day’s work for Palmer Insurance. Throughout the meeting, Charlotte had tried to throw in some ideas, about the amount of cover needed, and the type of policy, but each time Niall would listen and then say, “What do you think Paul?” So that in the end, Charlotte sat back and took notes.
“Well Niall, it has been a pleasure to do business with you.” Paul held out his hand.
“Thank you and you too Paul, oh and of course, you Charlotte.” He took Charlotte’s hand and shook it quickly. “Perhaps next time we meet you will be getting a bit more into yer stride.”
Charlotte’s mouth dropped open, had he meant to be so condescending, or was he just ignorant?
“I expect it was all a bit boring for yer today. Anyway, nice to meet yer.”
A few minutes later, a charmed Paul, and a smarting Charlotte, watched from the office window as Niall drove his Silver Audi R8 from the car park.
“Hmm, one step up from Grant’s old prick mobile,” Charlotte, muttered under her breath.
“What a thoroughly nice man,” gushed Paul.
“He was okay; the main thing is he gave us a lot of business and doesn’t seem to have much to do with Grant.”
“Just as I thought, so that little subterfuge wasn’t necessary was it?” Paul stabbed a finger towards the diamond ring on Charlotte’s finger.
“Hmm, I’ll be at my desk if you want me.”
Chapter 5
That evening, while packing her work away in a now deserted office, Charlotte felt that she needed a drink and some female company; she picked up the phone and dialled Kerry’s number.
“Hiya, are you okay to come out to play tonight?” Charlotte asked, as soon as she heard Kerry’s voice.
“God please. I am so fed up you wouldn’t believe it. I really do need a good laugh. What time and where?”
“Oh err, eight o’clock at the Gander. Listen Kerry are you okay? Would you prefer to go somewhere quieter, so we can talk?” Over the last few weeks, Kerry had become increasingly morose and going on about how bored or fed up she was.
“Yeah fine,” she replied, “just a little sick of baby talk; that's all. I’ll see you later then.”
“Okay, I’ll give Bets a call, bye.”
Charlotte replaced the receiver, still a little unsure if Kerry was okay. She called Bets, but there was no reply. Sighing heavily Charlotte packed away the last of her things and left to go home. As she got into her car, she noticed Paul’s office light burning; he was probably still working on the proposals for Mr Devine. The thought of him reminded her Grant again. Charlotte shook her head, she couldn’t think about him now, she would wait and tell Kerry all about it.
After a quick wash and change at home, Charlotte made it to the pub a little late. Kerry was already there, sitting at their usual table, nursing a white wine. As she approached the table, Charlotte noticed how glum Kerry looked. The frown on her face was becoming a permanent fixture.
“Hi, sorry I’m a little late,” she said. She pointed to another wine on the table. “Is this mine?”
“Yeah, you’re okay; I was early anyway.” Kerry pushed the glass across the table, smiling feebly at her friend.
Instantly, Charlotte felt the need to speak to Kerry about her constant bad mood. “Kerry, listen, don’t go off on one again, but don’t you think that you should go and see the doctor? It’s not right that you are feeling so depressed all the time.”
“Charlotte, don’t go on. I had enough the other night with Bets and Kelvin on at me. I’m not depressed I’m a little fed up that’s all. Maybe I’m over tired, what with Esme teething.”
“Maybe, but I still think you should go. It could be more to do with the baby than you think.” Charlotte winced slightly; she and Bets had discussed the fact that Kerry may have some form of postnatal depression, but until now hadn’t had the nerve to raise it with her.
“What do you mean?” Kerry asked, thrusting a hand to her hip and frowning.
“It’s just that you haven’t seemed yourself since you had Esme.” Kerry’s face was stony. “Look, all I’m saying is that we are all worried about you; you just don’t seem yourself. I think we should talk about it another time maybe.”
Kerry nodded, as she took a sip of her drink. “No, I don’t think this is the time, or the place, thank you.”
“So what have you done today then?” Charlotte asked, desperate to change the subject.
“Oh the usual, although I did see something funny on daytime T.V. today. There was a woman on one of the chat shows that was 26 stones. Well, it turned out that she was a glamour model; apparently, there is a big call for fat, naked women. She makes an absolute fortune, and her husband knows all about it. I’m damn sure Kelvin wouldn’t let me do that, not that I’d want to because I haven’t got the fat, the tattoos or the long greasy hair.” They both laughed, the previous dark moment forgotten.
After a few second's silence, Charlotte decided to tell Kerry about Grant.
“I had a little visit from the past today,” she said.
“Oh, what was that then?” Kerry moved her stool closer to Charlotte’s.
“Someone called Grant.”
Charlotte had expected Kerry to be shocked, but she hadn’t expected her to spit her wine all over the table. She spent the next few minutes explaining what had happened earlier that day.
“But why did you feel it necessary to pretend that you were engaged?” Kerry reached out and rubbed Charlotte’s hand gently.
“I don’t know, it does seem silly now. I’m not really sure he has much to do with Grant anyway, but if he does, hopefully Grant will get the message that I’ve moved on.”
“Charlotte, you don’t have to be engaged to someone else to have moved on. Think about what you have achieved since you off loaded the dick head.”
“I know; I know; I'm an idiot. I’ll get us some more drinks.”
While was at the bar, Charlotte pondered what Kerry had said about her achievements.
“I think,” she said as she came back with the drinks. “I pretended that I was engaged because so many people measure achievements by relationships. You know what it’s like, people think that you are successful if you are settled with a good partner, not whether you have got a big car on the drive.”
Kerry put an arm around Charlotte’s shoulder and hugged her closer. “That’s silly, you know it isn’t true. Everyone is proud of you. Look at me, what have I ever achieved in life?”
Charlotte pulled away, and stared at Kerry in amazement. “You, you’ve got a good husband, a beautiful baby, a fantastic house. You are a bilingual legal secretary for a goodness sake. I can’t always speak proper English, never mind another language. You have achieved loads of things.”
“I notice that my job was last on the list; anyway German isn’t that difficult. You’ve judged my success on the suitability of my husband, and the attractiveness of my daughter isn’t that what you’ve just been complaining that other people do?” Kerry laughed, but Charlotte sensed that she didn’t really find it funny.
“I’m sorry,” Charlotte said. “It’s just that despite what I say I do think that being in a ha
ppy, loving relationship is important. Look at my mum and dad, they weren’t rich or anything when we were all growing up, but look how happy they were, because they had each other. You think about all the people that we know with plenty of money, big houses, fancy cars, and everything. They are all single and as miserable as anything. Bets and I included.”
Kerry laughed quietly and shook her head. “Charlotte you are an old romantic. Perhaps the money and the career have just been your substitutes for what you really want, do you think?” Kerry asked.
“Yes, I do. I think that they just helped to mend my broken heart, but after hearing Grant’s name today I realised something; I hate him. Do you know I’ve felt sick all day? I never thought that after all these years that it would affect me like this.”
Kerry started to giggle. “Charlotte, he used to make me want to puke all the time, so I wouldn’t worry about it. Do you want another one?”
Charlotte nodded.
A couple of rounds later Kerry came running back from the bar, spilling the drinks as she did so.
“Quick, look over there. Bets is in here with a fella.”
Charlotte stood up quickly, almost toppling over the glasses that Kerry had placed on the table. “Who is it?” she asked, standing on tiptoe to see above the crowd.
“I don’t know. I just turned around, and there they were. She simply smiled and turned her back to me, you know, like she usually does.” Kerry, too small to see above everyone’s heads, sat back down.
“Oh God, I can see them. Bloody hell I think it must be that new lifeguard at the swimming pool. She told me last week that he was quite fit.” Charlotte flopped into her seat.
“So he should be, if he’s a lifeguard,” muttered Kerry - Charlotte groaned.