Fashioned for Love

by Anna Hartman

  “Ok, will stay out of it. Let’s get back to work, we need to decide which of these three properties we should pursue” , she pulled out a pile of glossy real estate brochures and with their heads together they started to go into the details and pros and cons of each property.

  Rosalind tried to look composed and get on with her work for the rest of the day. She was working with Sally to source Edwardian furniture for their latest hotel in the Scottish highlands.

  “Rosalind, are you ok?” Sally asked gently

  “yes, fine thanks”

  “I’m sorry I hadn’t told you about Alice before, it just never came up in conversation plus she’s here so rarely that I always forget she is actually married to Brockley. They really don’t behave like a married couple and besides Brockley always has some glamorous date on all the events, so I’m not sure what kind of marriage they have”

  “It’s ok, it’s just a silly crush” Rosalind realised there was no point of keeping it from Sally, obviously she wouldn’t tell her about their night together but she could know that Rosalind had feelings for her boss. They could laugh at this together someday.

  CHAPTER 9

  By Monday Alice Graham had returned to New York and Brockley was back in his own office, busy as always, but present and Rosalind was surprised how the atmosphere in the office changed when the boss was in. From the laid back way everybody had been the week before it was now much more professional, not even the IT guys turned up in jeans when Brockley was in.

  Charlie and Sally kept Rosalind busy. She was sourcing furniture, wallpaper and paint. Sitting in meetings with the architects, followed by meetings with the marketing team brainstorming their upcoming campaigns. BG hotels were growing fast and becoming a very important player in the hospitality industry in the process. They were popular both with leisure travellers and business travellers especially now that they had started opening city centre properties. It was an exciting time to work in the business and although fashion was her first love she enjoyed the buzz in the office, being part of the team and all the creativity she could put in the projects. She realised that if you knew how to dress a female body you could figure out how to dress rooms to make the most of them.

  In the evenings Rosalind often had dinner together with Abigail, sometimes in a local restaurant but quite often at home, and any spare time she had she actually designed clothes, she still wanted to be a fashion designer and have her own brand, but right now she needed to work for money and enjoyed working with the brilliant Charlie.

  Rosalind dated a lot, most Saturday nights were spent on dates with perfectly nice men, but he just couldn't get Brockley out of her mind. He was completely professional at work, there was no flirtation, no gazes held a lot longer than necessary. He was pleasant and friendly, interested in how she was getting on but that was all. She had realised that it had been just a fling for him. Alice had not been in the office since that January day when she’d turned up and single handedly smashed Rosalind’s heart into million pieces.

  Then in late April Alice turned up again, there were a lot of urgent meetings, Alice spent a long time locked in with Charlie in her office and figuring out whom from the design team she could bring to New York with her. Although she would have preferred Charlie herself, she was too busy with the Middle East projects to go to New York for any length of time, Sally’s hotel in Scotland was getting ready for opening and she couldn’t be pulled out before it was complete, so it fell on Rosalind’s lap.

  “But she is too junior” Alice protested when Charlie suggested it.

  “Yes junior in tenure, but very talented and hardworking. I would completely trust her with this project”

  “I’ll see what Brockley thinks, I would much rather we pull Sally out of Scotland and Rosalind could managed that project until launch”

  “No, she’d be much better working in an early stages of the project she has more experience of that and then when Sally’s is finished in Scotland she can step in to support Rosalind if necessary”

  Grumpily Alice left the office and marched into Brockley’s.

  Raised voices could be heard through the door but they couldn’t make out the words.

  A flustered Alice burst out of the office 10 minutes later, picked up her jacket and bag and walked out.

  Soon after Charlie’s phone rang and Brockley commanded her into his office straight away.

  “So you think Rosalind would be ready for a project of this scale”

  “She’ll need support, but yes I think she could definitely do it, and do well.”

  “Ok, let’s give her the chance, I’ll speak to her”

  “I think I should….” Charlie started

  “No, I’ll do it” Brockley said in a voice that invited no objections.

  He called Rosalind in.

  Charlie was sitting in Brockley’s office when Rosalind walked in.

  “Rosalind, I need somebody from the design team to come with me to New York where we are looking to open another hotel. Charlie herself has her hands full with the Middle east project plans and needs Sally to focus on Scotland so Charlie suggested you, it would also be a good opportunity for you to see the process from the pre-acquisition onwards. We are taking the jet, make sure my assistant has your home address and a car will pick you up at 8 pm sharp. She will give you the itinerary. You’ll probably stay for about a month but pack lightly, you can always buy everything you need”

  Rosalind felt a quick flush of excitement and then her heart sank when she remembered that Alice Graham was also in New York. In fact as luck would have it she would be on the same flight.

  Rosalind left at four to give her time to pack, there would be business meetings, an awards dinner and site visits so she needed clothes that would work on all of those plus pack into small space so she wouldn’t look like she was travelling with her entire wardrobe. Alice Graham was the kind of woman who only ever travelled with hand luggage only and still managed to look chic and well put together at all times. Rosalind wanted to be like that too.

  She chose a simple black dress, one of her own designs for the gala dinner, it could be easily accessorised for other surprise events as well and she knew she was a complete knockout in it. A business jacket with matching skirt and trousers and 3 crispy shirts, a simple wrap dress in case she had any time to meet up with friends and a pair of jeans for the site visits. For the flight she wore stretchy skinny trousers with cashmere jumper and flat ballet pumps. Simple and elegant and both items could be mixed and matched with the rest of her outfits.

  The buzzer of their flat rang at 8pm sharp. The driver downstairs asked if she needed help with her luggage but she declined his offer of help and carried her suitcase down the narrow stairs by herself.

  She was met by an uniformed driver and a big Mercedes. On moments like this she was very grateful for the privileged childhood she had lived so she never felt out of place in such situations.

  The driver opened the door for her and to her surprise Brockley was already sitting in the car, she had expected him to have his own car.

  “I’m glad you could make it in such short notice Rosalind”

  “Of course, us single girls are flexible like that. Just had to cancel a date and my supermarket delivery and off we go” She said in a sarcastic voice but in reality she was actually pretty excited , first of all she couldn’t wait to get back to New York, she had not been back since she left nearly 2 years ago when she found out her father had died and she was also thrilled to be given such a high profile project, it must mean that they believed in her. What Rosalind had learned about Brockley in the past 18 months was that he took his business very seriously and would not give a project to somebody just to see if they could do it.

  Then she tried to put on a more professional tone, not to let him see how he’d hurt her.

  “I’m actually really excited about this project! Thank you for picking me.”

  “I’m glad, it will be a lot of hard work b
ut I have a lot of faith in you and Charlie completely backs you up. She didn’t hesitate suggesting you for this. Just so you know Alice will be catching a ride on the jet with us”

  “Great, will be great to spend some time to get to know her”

  “She’s pretty great and absolutely fantastic in her job”

  Rosalind looked out of the window quietly.

  During the flight to New York they did a little work to begin with. Alice briefed her on the project and talked a little bit of the US market. She also asked questions about Rosalind’s background and her time in New York, and the whole time was perfectly pleasant and professional. If she suspected that anything was going on between her husband and Rosalind she definitely didn’t let it on. Also she didn’t let her feelings about having a less experienced staff member to work with her to be known. Brockley had told her to keep it professional in no uncertain terms.

  And she did actually feel a bit guilty about her behaviour earlier. She remembered well what it was like to be young and madly in love with your boss. Although her and Brockley’s relationship had deteriorated quickly after their whirlwind marriage they had always worked well together and had immense respect for each other, they were just supposed to be business partners and not spouses.

  She actually liked Rosalind, coming from a tough working class background herself she’d had to fight tooth and nail for her place in the sun and often felt that these poor little rich girls who’ve had the best education, the best connections and the easiest lives were a little smug and knew nothing about the real world. But Rosalind was different, obviously passionate about her budding career, hardworking, talented and down to earth. Kind of like Alice used to be like, but a posher version, so she wouldn’t have to fake it in social situations like Alice had had to do for so many years, figuring out what fork to use and how to eat artichoke.

  Although it felt a long time ago, Alice had never forgotten what it felt like to be so out of your comfort zone that you felt sick in your stomach. Now looking at her polished exterior and listening to her refined mid atlantic accent no one would have guessed that she had grown up in an east London council estate and only got out by sheer guts and determination. Her blonde hair was expensively highlighted, her make up immaculate and her clothes obviously perfectly tailored but classy and not a designer logo to be seen.

  She loved her life in New York, it wasn’t snobbish about your roots like England was, well at least not if you came from another country and they couldn’t place you by your accent or where you grew up. She had a beautiful apartment, a sexy boyfriend and a career that she loved

  After they landed to New York and limousine pulled on the tarmac next to their jet. They first dropped Alice off in her downtown apartment close the BG Hotels headquarters and then continued to the Plaza where Rosalind and Brockley were staying and were tomorrow’s Awards dinner would also be held.

  As it was around 1am by the time Brockley wished her goodnight and they made their way to their rooms. They agreed to meet for breakfast and then take the car to the office together the following morning.

  CHAPTER 10

  Rosalind was wondering why Brockley didn’t stay the night with his wife but she didn’t dare to ask. And his behaviour was completely business-like with no signs of any recollection on what had happened between them on New Year’s eve. All those months ago. Sometimes Rosalind thought that it had been a dream as nothing has happened since

  Rosalind had contacted some of her friends from Parsons to organise drinks with them, it would be great to catch up.

  The Jet lag woke Rosalind up at 4am, for a while she tossed and turned and tried to make herself fall asleep again, but after half an hour she realised it was not going to work and decided to get up. She switched on her laptop. She might as well respond to her emails and work on some of the designs she was due to finish in the next few days.

  As soon as she was logged in the company’s internal messenger she heard the ping that announced a new message.

  Brockley Graham: Hi, I see the jet lag got you too

  Rosalind Langley: Yes, I thought I’d make a most of it and catch up some work

  Brockley Graham: Lol. Are you hungry?

  Rosalind Langley: Actually now that you mentioned it, yes, yes I am

  Brockley Graham: we could order room service but I know this great little 24/7 diner around the corner, how about coffee, pancakes and bacon?

  Rosalind: Sounds great

  Brockley, Ok, meet you at the lobby in 15

  Rosalind Ok

  There would be no time for a shower and blow dry to make herself look presentable. She quickly splashed some cold water on her face, applied a little bit of blusher and mascara and lip balm, and slipped into her jeans and and a simple cashmere jumper. Flat ballet pumps on her feet, hair piled on a quick bun and she was ready.

  Brockley was already downstairs, looking handsome in his jeans and shirt, looking weirdly freshly showered and smelling gorgeous. But he did look tired, like he hadn’t slept at all.

  He smiled at her and took her arm as they walked the two blocks to Angie’s diner, which wasn’t exactly busy at 4.30 am but there seemed to be a regular stream of shift workers and night owls coming for early breakfast or post party pancakes.

  They got a booth by the window and ordered breakfast.

  Rosalind was fully expecting Brockley to talk about work, but instead he asked her about her time in New York, where she had lived and how she had spent her time. He said he had spent a year living in Manhattan around 7 years ago and really loved it too.

  After 20 minutes of pleasant conversation about their joint love of New York Rosalind decided to bite the bullet and ask the question she most wanted an answer for.

  “So how do you find living in London now when your wife is still here?” She deliberately used the word wife instead of saying Alice’s name.

  “Well Alice is my wife in name only. We separated five years ago but as there has been no need to get the paperwork done we have found it easier to stay married on paper than go through the divorce and dividing of assets and all that it entails. We lead totally separate lives. I mean she has a live in boyfriend”

  “oh” That was all she could muster but inside Rosalind felt her heart sing with joy with this news, but only for a short moment. Then she thought that the fact he hasn’t told her that before meant he wanted her to believe he was not available.

  “She seems, lovely. Why did you split up?”

  “We were very young when we got together and just grew apart, there was no drama, no third parties just two people realising they are the best of friends and not lovers”

  “Oh”

  “Oh?” Brockley raised an eyebrow. “Oh, is that all you have to say on the topic?”

  “Well, what do you expect me to say?”

  “How about, interesting, that’s great, I’m pleased that you are single so I can date you?”

  Rosalind blushed.

  “So would you like to go on a date?” Brockley asked moving his lips dangerously close to her ear.

  Rosalind could only nod, but deep down she was shouting yes please.

  “Great, on Wednesday I’ll pick you up at 8 and take you out. Tomorrow we’ll be busy in the office and tomorrow night is the awards ceremony but Wednesday we are free to have fun.

  “That would be lovely”

  They paid the bill and walked back to the hotel, the sun started to rise and the city was slowly waking up to a sunny spring Tuesday morning. Rosalind was hoping he’d invite her back to his room but he didn’t. He kissed her on the cheek and told her to be ready to be for the car to pick them up at 8:00am.

  She went back to her room puzzled. He had clearly told her he had feelings for her but then done nothing about it. Why suddenly turn into a gentleman when they had already spent a night together. Wasn’t it a bit late to play hard to get?

  With mixed feelings she had a shower and got dressed for the office, she also called houseke
eping to come and pick up her evening dress for steaming so it would be ready for tonight.

  She walked downstairs a few minutes before 8 wearing a business suit, her hair neatly in a chignon and subtle but polished make up. She wanted to look like a New York business woman.

  He was already downstairs talking into his mobile, wearing another one of those navy Savile Row suits he seemed to have hundreds of.

  He smiled at her but didn’t finish his conversation.

  In the office the three of them Brockley, Alice and Rosalind and the guys from Alice’s New York team sat in the meeting room, going through the plans in minute detail. Each giving their views and suggestions and scrutinising everything. The next day they would be meeting with the builders so had to have it all nailed down before the refurbishing works started the following week.

  They worked through lunch and finally at 6pm Alice said” Great, I think we are as ready as we can be. I want Rosalind and Nick to come to the site with me tomorrow, we are meeting the builders there. Get there for 8:30 sharp. Now go and get ready for the ball. I’ll see you there in 2 hours”

  Rosalind took a yellow cab back to the hotel. Brockley had left a few hours earlier for a meeting somewhere. Rushed into her room and ordered a pot of tea and a sandwich to snack on whilst getting ready. Her evening dress was hanging in her wardrobe and all ther stuff she had been way too tired to unpack was neatly organised in her bathroom and wardrobe. She remembered a time when this was the life she used to live every day. Growing up they had always had servants who picked up her dirty laundry, delivered it washed and ironed back into her wardrobe like little elves, people she never saw but pre-empted her every move. The first time she had started to do things for herself was when she had gone to university, she used to find it fun and exciting but now 7 years down the line cleaning, cooking, laundry and shopping had become mundane and boring. And she really enjoyed the luxury of this.