by Wegner, Ola
Amy was afraid of one thing. She feared that Thomas’ heart would break if he witnessed the downfall of his beloved company.
Had she accepted Jake’s conditions it would have solved all their problems at once. But she would have condemned herself to the... arrangement. She didn’t even know what to call it. Definitely it wasn’t that something she wanted and dreamed of deep in her heart; the union of two people devoted to each other; people who trusted each other completely and supported one another against the hardships of the outside world, lastly the people who wanted to be together and spend their life together.
She frowned. Perhaps it was better to accept the fact that her youthful vision of love was a far cry from the real world. How many marriages like that did she know? Not many, perhaps her co-worker, Laura’s marriage was close to that. She’d met Laura’s husband and really liked him. He was like a huge teddy bear, and they had two great kids. So perhaps it was possible, but rare. She had once burned herself with Michael, who obviously hadn’t cared for her enough to take a risk to be with her.
Her stomach growled loud enough to turn her thoughts on more everyday life matters. She hadn’t eaten anything substantial since yesterday morning. She opened the fridge and didn’t find much there. She needed to buy some groceries. First, she would wash her hair. It would dry on her way to the grocery store, she decided.
About an hour later when she was trying to decide between the three different kinds of lettuce for her salad, her mobile rang. She flipped it open, to see her father’s phone number.
“Daddy?” She smiled warmly. “Everything all right? How are you feeling?” she asked.
As she listened to her father, her smile started to vanish.
“But Daddy, who told you that?” She listened carefully at his answer, then said, ““Jake himself?”
She stared at the vegetable in her hand, while her father kept talking.
“No, Daddy of course I’m happy.....”
She didn’t know what to say or how to answer her father. Her father seemed to be over the moon with the news Jake had presented to him, behind her back, and without her knowledge, not to mention her consent.
“Yes, I know he’s a good man.” she said, her throat tight.
Her tone must have alerted him because he asked if something was wrong. She swallowed hard and made herself speak in normal voice, trying to get a grip on herself. The last thing she wanted was to upset her father, especially now, in his present condition.
“No...” She shook her head. “I’m only surprised, that’s all. It all happened so suddenly and.....” she swallowed. “Listen Daddy, I have to finish now but I will call you later. Ok?”
She switched the phone off, left the basket with all the produce she’d picked earlier, on the floor just where she stood and ran out of the grocery store, straight to her car waiting outside. Less than half an hour later she reached the headquarters of Barry Contractors. It was sheer luck that some police patrol hadn’t stopped her.
She left her small car just outside and ran into the building, straight toward the elevator. She ignored the receptionist and security workers who called after her to stop.
She got off the elevator on the tenth floor and walked straight to the office she’d been in yesterday.
Marcia was behind her desk, and by the time she got out of it, Amy had already entered the room.
“Miss Carpenter, you haven’t an appointment,” Marcia protested from behind her back.
“No, I haven’t. But I must see him,” Amy stressed as she turned to the woman. “Where is he?” she asked, her eyes searching the empty room.
“He’s in a meeting.” Marcia sounded polite but at the same time determined. “A very important one,” she added seriously.
Amy took a deep breath. She needed to calm down. None of it was the assistant’s fault. She shouldn’t take it out on the poor woman, who was just doing her job, by being rude to her.
“Could you please tell him that I want to see him now?” she asked as politely and calmly as she could muster at that moment.
“I’m afraid that isn’t possible now,” Marcia answered, mimicking her tone. “But I am sure that Mr. Barry will contact you as soon as he’s able to.”
“Please, I must see him now. I really can’t wait.” Amy gave the other woman a pleading look. “I must talk with him.”
Marcia was like a rock. “I really want to help you, Miss Carpenter, but he’s with very important clients.” She leaned forward and added with a degree of confidence. “It’s about a major deal in building a new sports centre.”
It was Amy who relented first. “In that case, I shall wait.”
“But it’s only just started,” Marcia protested gently. “It may last for several hours.”
“Still, I would like to wait.” Amy was determined not to move from the place before having a good talk with Jake Barry.
“Yes, of course.” Marcia smiled at her. “May I offer you something to drink?”
Amy shook her head. “No, thank you.”
“I am sure that Mr. Barry will have nothing against you waiting for him in his office.”
“No, I prefer to stay here.” Amy inclined her head in the direction of the small sitting area.
Marcia nodded and sat down behind her desk. Amy sat in a comfortable chair under a big green tree planter, and took a magazine from the pile in front of her. She pretended to leaf through it, but in truth she was looking around carefully. She wanted to guess which doors led to the conference room. If he wasn’t in his office with his clients then he should be in the conference room. That must be the double door, she decided after a moment. She glanced at Marcia. The woman had returned to her own work and appeared to be completely engrossed in some documents. Amy seized the moment when the assistant was on the phone, and sprinted to the double door, opened them with a bang and marched inside.
There were more than ten men at the long dark conference table and Jake presided over them.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Barry, I’ve tried to explain to Ms Carpenter that you’re busy, but she refused to listen to me,” Marcia cried, slightly out of breath from behind Amy’s back, her voice lacking its usual calm quality.
Jake stood up and moved toward them. From what Amy could observe, he didn’t look angry because of the interruption. On the contrary, he walked to her, took her arm gently, and asked with a warm smile, “What are you doing here, Amy?”
She stared at him incredulously. He actually dared to ask her what she was doing here after all that crap that he’d told to her father. Was he making an idiot of himself or her?
“It’s all right, Marcia.” He inclined his head toward his assistant. “Thank you, I’ll take care of her.”
The woman nodded with what Amy thought was huge relief, and closed the door after herself.
Before Amy managed to say anything, Jake clasped her hand into his, and pulled her closer to the group of men who sat at the table.
“Gentlemen, may I introduce you to my fiancée, Amelia Carpenter?” he asked, and she could swear there was a genuine pride in his voice.
She blushed instantly, not so much because he’d called her his fiancée, but because she suddenly became painfully aware of the fact that she must look a fright. She wore old faded jeans with a hole on the knee and a tank top, a good outfit to shop for groceries, but not to be introduced to a bunch of prominent entrepreneurs as someone’s wife-to-be. She was of course without any make up, at all. Even worse, she was positive that her too long hair had gone wild, as it’d been still wet when she’d left her condo earlier in the morning. To cut things short, she stood there, in front of all these men, among whom at least three she recognized as her own father’s business associates, looking like some crazy hippie.
Taking a deep breath, she straightened, inclined her head towards the men, and smiled at them. To her surprise, all of them smiled back at her. She turned to Jake. “I need to speak with you,” she said quietly. “Now,” she stressed.
He smiled strangely at her, and his hand wrapped possessively around her waist. He leaned over and whispered into her ear, but loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
“You know I always want to speak with you as well, but this meeting is very important. My guests came from far away. I will take care of you later.” He bent his head and nuzzled her neck. “I promise.”
Amy opened her mouth to answer him when a chuckle came to her. She looked around. The men smirked at one another and exchanged amused glances. This time she went as red as a beetroot. She realized what they thought of Jake’s words to her; they thought that the main reason for her sudden visit was of a far more intimate nature.
“I can’t wait,” she insisted, embarrassment flooding her.
“Gentlemen, will you excuse us for a moment?” Jake asked his guests.
All of them nodded in unison, and Amy was pretty sure that one of them murmured wistfully something about being young again.
She let him lead her to the side door. As he opened it, he whispered, “Wait for me in my office. This should end in an hour or so.”
He kissed her on the cheek, pushed her gently inside, and closed the door in front of her before she managed to say a word. All she wanted to do was kick this door back open and later, kick him. She didn’t do that, of course.
She glanced around the room with a resigned sigh. She recognized it as the same office she had visited yesterday. Somehow she hadn’t noticed that it was connected with the conference room when she’d come here yesterday. Perhaps she’d been too nervous to notice.
She had little choice, but to wait for him. She wasn’t going to go back, and demand an explanation from him in front of all those strangers. She’d already made a complete idiot out of herself, and didn’t fancy repeating it again.
Still she was determined not to leave the place until Jake Barry answered questions. Although, she couldn’t think how he could explain his behavior in a reasonable way. He had absolutely no right to tell her father that they were getting married. And the worst of it was that her father was delighted with the idea, judging from his enthusiastic tone when he’d talked with her on the phone. He’d seemed so happy and optimistic, and so relieved. How could she tell him, now, that it wasn’t true? He’d be so disappointed.
Amy knew that her father was worried about her and, in his opinion, the rather lonely life she led. For some time he’d gotten into his head the strange idea that he must see her safely married to some decent guy, the sooner the better.
Jake Barry was exactly the kind of man her father wanted her to marry and have children. Moreover, more than once, her father had mentioned that he’d love to enjoy grandchildren in the near future. Obviously, he didn’t see Peter as the one who could provide them, which wasn’t surprising. Her brother always kept some girlfriend around, but never longer than for a few weeks. And there was no doubt that he knew how condoms worked. The first time Amy had found the shiny packets under his bed, he’d been a few days shy of fourteen.
She checked her watch. Only fifteen minutes had passed. She spotted a long leather sofa and sat on it with her legs curled under her. A few minutes later, she stretched out on it. Amy tucked her hand under her cheek as a cushion and twenty minutes later, she fell asleep.
When she woke up, the sun was considerably lower in the sky. The office windows were to the west and the warm light of the setting sun filled the room. Jake sat in the chair beside her and looked at her, his chin supported on his fist. He was only in his shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He’d loosened his tie, and the top buttons of his shirt were open. He looked tired, and at the same time ...vulnerable.
Amy shrugged away the last thought and lifted herself on her elbow. She rubbed her eyes and yawned when she noticed that she was covered with his jacket.
“What time is it?” she murmured.
“Almost five o’clock.”
“I’ve slept so long,” she groaned as she lifted herself to a sitting position.
“You really are a sleepyhead, aren’t you?” he asked warmly.
Amy glared at him. “I was tired, that’s all,” she said defensively in a cool tone. “I haven’t been able to sleep much lately. I’ve been thinking about Dad and everything. I told you.”
He kept looking at her without saying a word.
“You made a complete fool of me in there,” she reminded him grudgingly. “You gave them the impression that I stormed in there to have wild sex with you right on the conference table.”
He chuckled, and bent his head. Amy thought that she heard him murmur. “That’d be nice.”
She frowned in anger. “That’s not funny,” she muttered through clenched teeth.
His jacket slipped off her to the floor. She picked it up quickly, and placed it carefully on the backrest of the sofa.
“I recognized those men, some of them do business with my Dad,” she said. “They must now think me to be some cheap, lusty, shameless chit.”
“Amy, no one who knows you, or even saw you once, would ever think you cheap or shameless. Such a thing wouldn’t cross anybody’s mind,” he assured earnestly. “Don’t you know that there’s a quality in you that nothing can overshadow. If anything, they’ve probably thought we’re in love, that’s all. And that I’m one hell of a lucky bastard.” Ignoring her snort, he continued, “Marcia told you not to enter. It wasn’t very tactful of you, you must admit that. It’s was a very important meeting.”
She looked up at him with some remorse, but then she cried defensively. “What did you expect after calling my father with the news that I agreed to marry you?” she demanded. “You introduced yourself as his future son-in-law when you have no right to do that. You thought I would just sit at home and wait for you to pay me another unannounced and uninvited visit?”
He said nothing to this but averted his face.
“Look,” she sighed. “I’m sorry that I stormed into your important meeting like that, I really am. It wasn’t my intention to spoil your business meeting, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. When Dad called me, and told me how thrilled he was that I was marrying you, I just saw red and came straight here. But I do hope that I didn’t ruin anything,” she added quietly.
Lounging back in the chair, he appeared very relaxed. “No, you didn’t ruin anything. I would even say that you helped to break the ice. They started joking around that I would have an interesting married life.” He raised his eyebrows with a smile as he said the last words.
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, really?”
“Amy, listen to me.” He reached for her hand. “Your father was very happy with the news. Not only because the company will be saved, but because you’ll have someone to take care of you. You must know that he’s worried about your future. He wants you happy, and protected, with your own family, a husband, perhaps children one day and not living all alone like now.”
“I like living alone!” She stood up, her hands curled into fists on her hips. “I don’t need anyone to take care of me. I can take care of myself, and I’m happy with my current life. I like it! Neither you nor my father have any right to interfere in my life, telling me how I should live it.” She paused, her breathing labored as she tried to gain control of her emotions. “Why are you doing this? All this nonsense?” she demanded after a moment when she regained her power to speak with some semblance of control.
He sat next to her, his hands joined together, resting on his thighs, while she hovered above him.
“Couldn’t you just simply help my father? I’m sure the company will make profits soon and...”
“It’s not about the money and the profits,” he said.
He stood up and moved past her towards the floor length window.
Amy stood for a few moments where he left her. “Why are you doing this?” she asked again, in a very quiet voice this time.
He shrugged his shoulders. He stood with his back to her, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his slacks.
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br /> “I told you, I want a wife and a family. My mother practically demands grandchildren from me almost every time she calls.” His voice sounded almost disinterested, emotionless. “I am thirty-four, and it’s high time. I always liked and respected your father. He was like a father figure to me, in some way making up for the father I barely remember.”
“So perhaps you should ask him to adopt you, instead of involving me in all of this,” she blurted, before she’d thought how it would sound.
She saw him still. She’d gone too far. Jake’s father died when Jake had been just a kid. Mrs. Barry had been a nurse, worked double shifts to support both of them, until Jake had been old enough to help her. Amy had met her only once, years ago, and found her to be genuinely kind. She knew, as well, from her father that Jake had bought a nice house in Florida for his mother, where she lived for the most part of the year, especially during the harsh Minnesota winters.
Amy walked to him. “I’m sorry,” she said softly and touched his arm.
Jake didn’t look at her, his gaze focused on some point in front of him. “I don’t want to be cruel, please believe me.” She let a miserable sigh. “I just don’t understand you. You say you like and respect my father, but at the same time you try to blackmail his only daughter into marriage with a total stranger. It doesn’t make any sense.”
He turned to her. “It does make sense to me,” he persisted, his eyes solemn.
“So, please enlighten me, because I don’t understand,” she cried as she lost her patience again.
“You really can’t guess?” he asked, and there was a kind of pleading expression and a new vulnerability in his eyes.
She only stared at him in confusion.
He sighed, closed his eyes, and started again, patiently. “You have wonderful qualities, even if you tend to underestimate yourself. You would be a wonderful wife to any man. I’d be an utter and total fool if I didn’t grab the opportunity before me.” He took her hands into his, stepped closer, and looked deeply into her eyes. “I do believe that our marriage can stand a chance and be successful.”