“You forget I’ve got a daughter, boy problems are not new to me.” She laughed. “Unfortunately, duty calls. Neil’s going to be breathing fire if I don’t get my butt out of here. Call me if you need anything, ok?”
“Will do,” Kathryn said, watching as Sandra left.
Feeling the emptiness of her office, Kathryn sat down and sipped her coffee. An intense vision of herself and James entangled on the desk filled her mind. She trailed her fingers across the surface and stared wistfully at the nameplate. James’ words seemed to echo through the room and she missed the lingering scent of his cologne.
The jarring ring of the phone startled her.
“Kathryn Denton.”
“Good morning, Kathryn,” Lakisha said with her typically crisp professionalism. “Mom on her way down yet? Neil’s pacing like an expectant father down here.”
Kathryn laughed. Mother and daughter clearly shared a quirky sense of humor.
“Tell him to relax and breathe deeply,” she said. “Dr. Sandra’s on her way.”
“Thank goodness,” Lakisha replied. “Thought I was going to have to find a Lamaze coach. By the way, there’s a package waiting for you. Shall I have Mom bring it up for you?”
“No, I’m coming down anyway. Just leave it there for me.”
“Okay, gotta run,” Lakisha said.
Kathryn hung up and tried to focus on her work but concentration evaded her. Noticing a list of upcoming venues for James that Frank Manticorp wanted to approve, she emailed it to him with the intention of following up later. She had only scrolled through a few of her unread messages when the phone rang again.
“Kathryn Denton.”
“Kathryn, I’m so glad I caught you. I scanned through your list. Excellent choices. Perhaps you can stop by so we can discuss them in further detail.”
“Thank you, Frank. It’s amazing what a fatigued mind can do!”
Frank laughed heartily. Their relationship had evolved to where good-natured banter was now an acceptable norm. Kathryn found it ironic that she’d find pseudo-parental replacements at her workplace. Though Frank had not yet become the confidante that Sandra was, she began to see the dashing entrepreneur certainly as a mentor.
“Well, perhaps I should try the Denton technique sometime,” Frank quipped.
Thinking she had heard footsteps, Kathryn paused to glance toward the door. Hearing nothing further, she assumed Sandra had forgotten something.
“Can you give me a few minutes?” she continued to Frank. “Just want to finish up a few things here first.”
“Not a problem. I have a few calls to make, but if you can try to stop by before lunch that would be great as I’ll be out for the rest of the day.”
“Okay, see you shortly.”
An indistinct sound drew Kathryn’s attention. She hung up and glanced toward the door. Used to spending time alone when James and Sandra were both gone, she had come to recognize the silence, and her senses told her that this was a different kind of silence.
Rising from her chair, Kathryn approached the door and looked into the reception area. And then she smelled it... a faint, but distinctively unforgettable fragrance. A tendril of fear roiled in her gut. Hesitating at first, she approached James’s office and knew even before she stepped inside that Heather had been there. She glanced back down the corridor toward the other offices but knew there would be no reason to check them.
Kathryn felt the hackles rise on her neck. These days she tended to stay away from James’s office but his residual energy literally grabbed her by the throat. Memories inundated her, triggering an unwanted wave of emotion. She turned to look at his chair and remembered her first day on the job. Things had evolved in ways she could never have imagined, the Kathryn Denton that battled butterflies in her stomach that fateful day was far removed from the woman now standing before the same desk.
She wished she could reach out and touch the phantom image of James she envisioned sitting in the chair with his back to her. His silken curls, the texture and flavor of his skin... Kathryn suppressed a shudder of arousal. It was just as well Heather had not chosen yesterday to come sneaking around.
Enough she thought to herself. Stop playing these mind games with yourself.
Kathryn followed the faint perfume trail lingering around James’s desk. Fortunately, James’s password would have prevented Heather from snooping around on his computer, but it was bad enough to know that she might have been poking around and listening at her office door, perhaps while she spoke with Frank. No doubt she would have been furious at the level of familiarity with which they now spoke, but the more Kathryn thought about it, maybe overhearing her conversation was the only thing that prevented a meltdown.
Feeling distinctly uncomfortable, she approached the door and peeked outside. Her gaze traveled toward the stairwell. If Heather had been spying, the sound of the elevator would have given her away. Kathryn stepped into the reception area and glanced at Sandra’s desk. Though she noticed nothing out of place, the fading wisp of perfume lingering in the direction of the stairwell confirmed her fears.
Kathryn slowly approached. When she reached the door, she half expected Heather to burst out like a maniacal puppet leaping from a jack-in-the-box, but the door opened only to an empty landing and stairs beyond where the fragrance wafted more strongly. She sighed. She didn’t need this, and she realized she still had to meet Frank before he left for lunch.
Returning to her office, she ensured her computer and other devices were password locked. She took a careful look around before stepping into the elevator, her mind a chaos of tasks, to-do lists and worries. In her distraction, it wasn’t until the elevator opened at the lobby level that she realized she had forgotten to stop at Frank’s floor.
“Kathryn, where’s your head?” she muttered under breath.
She was about to press the number to Frank’s floor when he emerged from another elevator. They noticed each other at the same time. Kathryn quickly dodged some staff members rushing to catch the elevator and approached him.
“There you are,” he said with a broad smile. “I called your office but I must have just missed you.”
“I’m so sorry, Frank,” she said. “I know you’re on a tight schedule.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” he said. “Lunch meeting got pushed back to tomorrow. I just have a couple of things to attend to and I’ll be back in my office shortly.”
‘Okay, I’ll talk to you then,” Kathryn said, relieved that she had not made a fool of herself by forgetting to stop off at his office. Since she was already at the lobby, she threaded her way through the bustle toward the reception desk.
Lakisha, dressed in a stunning emerald and bronze outfit that would have made Sandra proud, efficiently demonstrated her multitasking skills. Despite dealing with a phone call and two university interns standing at the desk, she managed to acknowledge Kathryn.
“Do I need to take a number?” Kathryn asked.
Lakisha smiled, reached into a shelf below the desk and handed her a package.
“Thanks,” Kathryn said, heading toward the elevators. She paused when she sniffed an irresistible aroma wafting from the cafe. Though Sandra had left breakfast treats on her desk, whatever was cooking proved too much a siren’s song.
The packed tables and lineup at the counter confirmed her suspicions, and when Kathryn spotted the special of the day chalkboard indicating “homemade macaroni and cheese”, her stomach responded with an anticipatory rumble. She got in line and feasted on the goodies displayed in the counter.
A flash of blonde hair threading through the crowd caught her attention. Recognizing a fragrance she was by now beginning to detest, Kathryn tried to focus on the slowly moving line.
“Well, if it isn’t the up and coming executive,” Heather said. “Long time, no see.”
Kathryn’s heart leapt to her throat. Her hands unconsciously clenched the package. Though she simply wanted to walk away, she knew she had to sta
nd her ground. Reluctantly, she turned. It was too late to conceal the shock of seeing Heather again. So far removed from the glamorous woman that had made herself at home in Kathryn’s office the day they met, the woman Kathryn now stared at was thinner and pale even beneath her somewhat obvious bronzer.
Darker blonde roots were visible at Heather’s hairline, and her fashionable jeans and sweater seemed looser than her normal style. Kathryn noticed an edge to her face that reminded her of too many late nights studying for exams. But it was Heather’s dilated pupils that frightened her the most, lending her eyes an almost demonic quality. She recalled the smorgasbord of drugs she had seen at the club and realized Heather was probably high on coke.
“Hello, Heather,” she said, struggling to keep her voice from quavering.
“Aren’t you the busy little bee these days,” Heather replied with obvious sarcasm.
Aware of a few curious stares, Kathryn struggled to retain her composure. If Heather intended to bait her this was a game that could easily escalate and a crowded lobby was not her battlefield of choice.
“Haven’t seen you around lately,” Kathryn said.
“Oh, but I’ve certainly seen enough of you. More than enough, actually. Maybe you could find the time to slot me into your calendar so we can catch up over a drink or two.”
Now a few more patrons looked their way. Kathryn felt her face flush. She forced herself to glance at her watch.
“I’d love to stay and chat but I’m running late,” she said, avoiding eye contact with those around her. “I’ll see you later.”
She stepped from the line and quickly walked away, feeling Heather’s dagger-like stare squarely between her shoulders.
“Rushing off so soon?” Heather called out.
Kathryn winced at the shrillness of her voice and kicked up her pace toward the elevators. Clicking heels pursued. Kathryn began to feel like a character from a spy movie being chased by an assassin through a crowded train terminal.
“No time to chat to an old friend?” Heather challenged loudly.
Several passers-by turned to stare. Kathryn prayed that no one she knew was watching and make the scene even more awkward.
“No time to chat to anyone,” she said, turning to face Heather, the retort on her lips cut short when Heather scrabbled through her purse for a tissue and pressed it to her bleeding nose. Kathryn watched the tissue turn scarlet with morbid fascination.
“Everything okay here, ladies?”
Kathryn started at the sound of Frank Manticorp’s voice. She felt her body sag with relief and turned to smile at him.
He nodded to Kathryn and looked at Heather’s sickly demeanor with concern.
“Are you alright, Heather?” he asked. “You don’t look at all well.”
Heather hastily wiped her nose and crammed the bloody tissue back in her pursue. “Just a nasty cold,” she mumbled. “If you’ll excuse me, Frank, I’m feeling a little sick.”
She rushed off without a further word. Frank watched her beeline for the restroom, attracting more than one curious look as she pushed past several people. He turned to Kathryn with a thoughtful look.
“Tell me, Kathryn,” he said after a moment, “have you spent much time with Heather? I’ve been meaning to ask how the two of you have been getting along.”
“To be honest, I haven’t spent that much time with her,” she said, knowing at least that part was truthful. “I’ve been so busy with the campaign I haven’t had time to focus on anything else. I... hope that’s not a problem.”
“It’s not,” Frank said. “I have only the greatest admiration for your work and dedication to the company.” He smiled charmingly. “In fact, if I knew of a legal way to clone you, I’d actually consider it.”
“Let me know if you do,” Kathryn said in an attempt to lighten the mood. “I could do with a few myself.” She watched him, sensing that he wanted to say more but hoped he wouldn’t. What she did notice, with great interest, was a look of vague disapproval in his eyes as he glanced toward the ladies’ restroom.
“Do you have time to meet now?” she asked, hoping to change the subject. “I’d like to go over that venue list with you. I thought of a few more I’d like to add.”
Frank smiled. “Now would be a good time.”
As he and Kathryn walked toward the elevator, Kathryn glanced back to see if Heather had emerged from the restroom. Maybe if she knew Kathryn had an ally with Frank she’d back off.
Though the meeting with Frank had gone well, the tension raised by their encounter with Heather lingered through their discussion. Kathryn had felt awkward and more than a little worried that Frank might ask for her opinion about Heather. She knew that once that Pandora’s box was opened, there would be no closing it. Her mind raced with possible ways to deflect such a conversation and fortunately, a long-distance call from Europe had cut their meeting short.
Back on her floor, Kathryn stepped from the elevator with a sigh of relief.
“Girl,” Sandra said, her eyes dropping to the package Kathryn held with a death grip. “You’re a full time job in itself. What’s going on now? You catch a glimpse of James somewhere and now you’re all hot and bothered?”
Kathryn followed Sandra’s gaze to the package and noticed the indentations on the corners left from her fingers. “Worse,” she conceded. “I bumped into Heather at the cafe.”
Sandra rose and escorted Kathryn into her office. Taking the abused package from Kathryn’s hands, she placed it on a nearby credenza before they each sat in chairs near the desk.
“Tell me what happened,” she said with unaccustomed seriousness.
“I was in line at the cafe,” Kathryn sighed. “Blame my craving for today’s special of macaroni and cheese. Suddenly Heather’s in my face spouting off in front of everyone. I pretended like I was running late and took off, but she followed me.”
“Go on.”
“Luckily Frank happened by before it got too heated, but Sandra . . . she looked bad. Her eyes were dilated and she sprung a nose bleed.”
“Sweet Jesus,” Sandra said with a shake of her head. “ At the rate she’s going, there won’t be a wedding.”
Kathryn bravely tried to smile but her lips quivered. “Seems a bit late for that, don’t you think?”
Sandra looked her in the eye. “Not necessarily.”
“What are you talking about? Have you heard anything?”
“Not yet, but I think it’s time we did.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I’ve never been one to discuss my dirty laundry,” Sandra said, taking a deep breath before she continued. “But the reason I divorced my husband was because I discovered that he was with other women.”
Kathryn felt a pang of empathy for her friend, who had been nothing but loyal to Kathryn since the day she stepped into the Manticorp Tower. “I’m so sorry, Sandra. How’d you find out?”
“Well, one day, after Derek vanished for a week, I got so frantic I finally called my Mom. I told her everything, and she came over with the son of a friend.”
She paused, her voice thickening with emotion. Kathryn tightly gripped her hand.
“Well, Sam and his father were apparently private investigators. Mom had hired Sam without telling me to keep tabs on Derek. I knew from the moment I saw their faces that trouble had come to my doorstep, and I almost didn’t want to let them in, but the look in Mom’s eyes told me everything I needed to know. I invited them in, and it turned out to be the longest afternoon of my life.”
“What happened after that?” Kathryn asked softly.
“What else was there to do? Filed for divorce. Knew child support was never going to happen, but Mom helped out until we got back on our feet. Sam, too. We started seeing each other after I left Derek; he was the first good guy I’d ever been with.”
“You’re still together after all these years,” Kathryn said. “He must really love you.”
“Well I hope so!” Sandra joked. “
But what I’m trying to tell you is that I’ve asked Sam to look into Heather. I’d hoped the situation with her wouldn’t get to where it has, but it’s time James and Frank know the truth.”
“I don’t know what to say,” Kathryn said. “It was never my intention to break up his relationship.”
“You know what they had wasn’t a relationship, it was all politics and money. It could never have worked.”
“What if Heather finds out?” Kathryn asked. “She’s already threatened me once. If she suspects that we’re looking into her—”
“Girl, the way Sam works, Heather wouldn’t notice if he’d set up camp in that walk-in closet of hers. Trust me.”
“Okay, so what happens when he has the information he needs?”
“When we know we have airtight evidence, we show it to James. She’s a threat to him and his company, and he’ll want to know what she’s involved in.”
Kathryn shuddered at the recollection of Heather’s disheveled appearance, dilated pupils and most of all, her nosebleed. “How long do you think this will take?”
“I’m calling Sam now. We’ll meet this evening to discuss the game plan and then he’ll get started.”
“Should I be there?”
“No. Better you stay out of it for now. We’ll let you know when we need you.”
Kathryn smiled. “I don’t know what to say, Sandra. I can’t believe you’d do this for me.”
“I’m doing this because I care about you and James,” Sandra said, “but I’m also doing this for myself and Lakisha as well. Keep in mind, if Manticorp goes down because of Heather, we all do.”
The import of Sandra’s words affected Kathryn more than she anticipated. Until now her concerns had focused primarily on her own future and the fallout from her relationship with James, but she hadn’t realized the havoc Heather was capable of wreaking on the company.
Kathryn rubbed her throbbing temples. Right now all she wanted to do was sink into a bubble bath and sip a large glass of Chardonnay.
“I’m really happy here, Sandra. I don’t want that to change.”
Sandra reached for her hand and gently squeezed it. “There’s always change; it’s inevitable. But it will be change for the better.”
Shattered (Book Two of the Beautifully Broken Series) Page 4