Lalita opened the door to her house in Singapore and stepped inside. She shut it before crumpling into a heap on the cool tile floor. By sheer will power, she’d been able to keep it together on the taxi ride back to Heathrow airport. She’d managed to make it on the night flight to Singapore with only seconds to spare. And that was only because she was travelling without any luggage, having left her bag at Jeremy’s door.
Thank God she hadn’t told anyone except Grace that she was going to the UK. She didn’t know what she would have told her parents as to why she only spent three hours in the country. The looks she’d gotten from the Singapore Airlines counter staff had been bad enough. She recalled blubbering something about a family emergency. That, coupled with her ashen face, must have convinced the staff to hold the plane while she ran to the gate.
Lalita crawled over to the phone and dialed her secretary’s office number. She left a message for Grace saying that she was terribly ill and wouldn’t be in the office until Wednesday. The tears she held back making her voice sound as though she’d swallowed gravel. At least she sounded as sick as she felt.
Lalita disconnected the house phone line, shut off her mobile, and shoved her laptop under the sofa. With the world turned off, Lalita let herself go. Tears coursed down her cheeks, forming a salty puddle on the terracotta tile.
Hadn’t she told herself a million times that Jeremy was too good to be true? That his immense charm must hide a fatal flaw?
The little voice in her head that said I told you so laughed for a minute before it was stabbed to death with the razor-sharp shards of her shattered heart.
• • •
“Grace, will you please come in my office.” Lalita put down the phone and leaned back in her chair. She’d been in the office since six A.M. and had managed to catch up on all her emails — forwarding to Grace ones from the Director of Marketing, deleting ones from Jeremy’s personal email account.
“You look dreadful, Lalita. Are you sure you should be at work?” Grace’s first words did nothing to make Lalita feel better. Lalita gestured for her to close the door and sit down.
“I’m not contagious, if that’s what you’re worried about. Unless you, too, have been deceived by Jeremy Lakewood?” Lalita’s voice hitched on saying his name.
“No, I managed to avoid that one. I’ve still got hopes that Damian Lindstrom will notice I exist,” Grace replied. “Do you want to tell me what happened?”
“Let’s just say that Jeremy was not what he appeared to be. So, this is how it’s going to work. First, no one must know that I went to the UK last weekend. No one.”
Grace nodded.
“Second, I want you to filter all my calls and emails from Jeremy or his secretary. Anything that is purely business-related let me see, anything personal I want you to delete. I’ll get over this in time; it’s just going to take a few days.” Or a few decades.
Grace raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.
“Third, I am probably going to be leaving my position as DAO in the next couple of months. I have to speak with the CEO about my relocation. I think our operations should expand in Central and South America, and we should also pursue a greater market share in the United States. You will see a lot of emails and correspondence in the coming weeks about my relocation and replacement. I want this kept confidential.”
“I understand completely.” Grace paled at the news.
“Grace, we work well together. Once I know where I am going, I want to extend the invitation for you to accompany me, if you feel you can leave Singapore. Otherwise, I am sure the new DAO will appreciate having an experienced hand to hold while he gets acquainted with the position.”
“Any idea who will replace you?”
“I have a few suggestions, but have to put them past the CEO. I’ve arranged a video call with my father later this afternoon. Hopefully, by then I won’t look like I’ve fallen under a bus.”
“I’ll get you a cup of tea and keep everyone out of your office for the rest of the morning,” Grace promised. “And, Lalita?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry things didn’t work out with Jeremy. I liked him. He was good for you. He made you laugh. He saw the real you and wasn’t intimidated by your professional accomplishments. But if there is anything I can do to make your life easier in the coming weeks, throw darts at his picture or burn an effigy of him, let me know.”
Lalita laughed as best she could. The hollow sound echoed in her empty heart.
“Thanks, Grace. A cup of tea will do for now.”
Four hours later, Lalita put aside her personal heartbreak and tried to convince her father that now was the time for her to move on to a new challenge.
“Lalita, I must say that I did not anticipate this request. I expected you to ask to be transferred back to the UK. I’ve been preparing a suitable position for you here in London. You were supposed to fly home when you sorted out that situation in Manila.”
“You forget, when you say ‘go home’ it means a different city to me than it does to you.”
“Semantics, Lalita. You knew exactly what I was saying. Okay, I’ll be blunt as we seem to be dancing around the subject. Why do you not want to return to England and be closer to Jeremy? I thought you loved him. Is he moving on? Is that what’s behind this sudden desire to move to Santiago, of all places?”
“No! I mean as far as I’m aware, Jeremy is very happy in his current position. On a personal level, it isn’t going to work between us. However, that has nothing to do with my desire to relocate,” Lalita lied. “I simply feel the need for a new challenge. Manila debacle aside, and I apologize for not having seen that coming, I think I’ve done about as much as I can do here.”
“DAO is one of the company’s most prestigious positions. Asia is our biggest market.”
“It wasn’t when I started here. I want to take a new, emerging market and build it. From my research, I believe our products and services would be well received in South America. However I’d be willing to consider Russia and its former states. Or a job in the US.” Lalita waited for her father’s reaction.
“Larry Ramsford runs the US offices. Are you suggesting I get rid of him?” Larry and her father were long-time friends.
“Not at all. Larry and I might not see eye-to-eye on strategy but he does a good job of keeping the US offices running smoothly. However, we’re number six in the US market. I could put a proposal forward for a position such as Market Development Director or something along those lines.”
Lalita held her breath. The one thing she believed could cleanse her system of Jeremy was to throw herself into a new challenge. She was fluent enough in the major regional languages that she didn’t get a headache after a ten-minute conversation. For the most part, the offices ran smoothly, requiring little input from her. And once Jeremy’s new marketing strategy began to pay off, she wouldn’t have much to do to increase their profitability. She needed something that would exhaust her brain, and hopefully her body, so she could get over the heartbreak — or at least cope with it.
“You have given me a lot to think about. I’ll have to discuss your ideas with the Board.”
“You mean Mummy.”
John Evans laughed. “Yes, she will be dreadfully disappointed. She was excited that you were coming home at last.”
“Did you tell her about Jeremy and me getting together again?” Lalita was horrified. If her mother knew, her sisters would know. Then there would be no hope of avoiding the interrogation of what went wrong.
“No, I simply said I thought you might be ready to return. But she is your mother; you can talk to her about these things.”
Except Julia isn’t really my mother. That was something else she should talk to her father about, but now wasn’t the right time. She was already emotional enough, bringing up the lies she
’d been raised on would only make her break down worse.
“I know. Maybe I will next time I see her. I’m still coming for Jessica’s wedding. She’d kill me if I missed that.”
“Yes, she would. While we’re discussing personal issues, Lalita, I have to say that Jeremy has been rather frantic about getting ahold of you. He was in my office first thing on Monday morning asking if I knew where you were. He seemed particularly upset when I told him you were ill and wanted leave to fly out to Singapore. I figured something was up so sent him to Spain instead. Are you sure it’s over between you?”
“Yes.”
“Can’t say I’m terribly upset. There’s something about him I don’t trust.” That surprised Lalita.
“He’s still an excellent Marketing Director and I’m sure he will be a valuable asset to the company.”
“You are a more important asset, Lalita. If the situation becomes untenable, let me know.”
“Thanks, Daddy. But I am sure we are both professional enough to still work together.”
Wow, I am getting good at this lying.
Maybe it would be true by the next time she met Jeremy. Until then, she would have to avoid him like a debtor does their loan shark.
“I’ll talk to you Monday, Lalita. I hope you feel better.”
Chapter 12
Jeremy woke with the same pounding headache he’d gone to bed with. He reached for his mobile phone on the bedside table. Opening one eye, he scrolled through the messages. Still nothing from Lalita. Even Grace wouldn’t speak with him, except to say that the DAO had instructed her to screen all calls and that Lalita didn’t wish to speak with him at the moment.
The fact that Lalita was alive was the only good news to come out of the week of hell. He’d waited at home for four hours on the Friday evening after discovering her suitcase at his door. With no answer on her mobile phone, and frantic to find her, he’d then asked his neighbor to wait at his house while he went out to search for her, stopping off to pick up his phone from his nephew on the way. There had been five missed calls from Lalita but none since he’d arrived at home to find her suitcase. He’d been terrified that she might have had an accident.
When his search had failed to provide any clues as to her whereabouts, he’d asked Robert to go by the Evans house to see if she’d shown up there. Although almost midnight, Robert had agreed, coming up with some weak excuse for his late night visit.
Saturday, Doug died. Jeremy’s mother called at six in the morning. When the phone rang, Jeremy had at first thought that it was Lalita — at last. His mother’s voice brought him back to reality with the definiteness of the referee’s final whistle. He spent the day trying to console his sister and help his nephew and niece come to terms with the loss of their father. The emptiness he felt seemed nothing compared with theirs.
Sunday, he finally found his sister Susan.
She eventually admitted that she had spoken to Lalita. Susan refused to say, however, why Lalita had left without waiting for him to return. Jeremy was now even more impatient to talk to Lalita and find out what lies his bratty younger sister had told her. He hadn’t counted on being stone-walled by her secretary and sent on irrelevant business trips by her father.
Right after his brother-in-law’s funeral, he planned on flying to Singapore. Doug’s death had served to remind him of the transience of life. He couldn’t wait another five years. If he had to stalk Lalita’s home or office, they’d talk. He couldn’t go on like this.
Three hours later, Jeremy slammed the door of his office, not caring who knew he was upset. John Evans was at work to destroy his relationship with Lalita. Instead of flying to Singapore he’d been ordered in the opposite direction. He was to leave Sunday afternoon for Chicago and begin a four-week tour of the US offices. Four weeks in the company of the stuffy Larry Ramsford. It was not an appealing prospect.
• • •
Lalita wanted to ask Grace if the enquiries from Jeremy had ceased or if he still tried to contact her daily. It had been two weeks since she’d ran from his place. Time enough to consider what his sister had said. The woman had lied to her from the start; what was to say the rest of what she’d told her wasn’t made up as well?
Still, she was afraid to call Jeremy and lay bare her soul for further abuse. Finally, she was able to sleep for four hours a night. She didn’t want to jeopardize even that minor achievement.
“Grace, is everything set for our office tour on Monday?”
Lalita and Corey Ewings sat in Lalita’s office. Grace stood at the door with two folios in her hand.
“Yes, I’ve made all the arrangements, flights, hotels, cars, etc. Let me know if you want any restaurants booked, although the country manager’s secretary usually does that.”
“Thank you, Grace. Remember the official word is that Corey and I are conducting an audit of the offices, nothing more.”
“Yes. As far as I’m aware, only the three of us and the CEO in London know that Mr. Ewings is taking over from you in a month’s time.”
“Please, call me Corey.”
Grace smiled. Corey Ewings was young, handsome, and kind. With deep chocolate-brown eyes and a smile that made women melt, Grace was smitten. Even Damian Lindstrom had fallen in the secretary’s estimation. Lalita wondered if Grace would follow her to her next assignment or decide to stay on in Singapore.
Lalita had had several rather tense discussions with her father. It had finally been agreed that she would start up a new office in Santiago, Chile. The one stipulation on which her father wouldn’t budge was that she didn’t move until the beginning of January. She was to come to London for Jessica’s wedding, then stay on for a few weeks’ holiday.
Lalita tried not to think about Jessica’s wedding. To forget that in a few short months, she would be tripping up the aisle on Jeremy’s arm. The arm that had held her against his taut, fabulous body until she’d screamed his name as she climaxed. It was enough to bring on a cold sweat, or a hot flash.
• • •
Enough. Jeremy had had enough. If the relationship was over with Lalita, he was damn well going to know why. They had made no verbal promises of commitment, no avowals of love but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. He still felt as connected to Lalita as he had after the first time they’d made love. He wasn’t going down without a fight.
Jeremy stabbed the lift button. For a week now, he’d been running through various scenarios in his mind. He had finally decided that a confrontation in the office offered him the best chance of success. His pulse accelerated with each floor passed until finally the doors opened on the twenty-ninth floor.
He strode through reception. Ignoring Grace’s gasp, he grabbed the handle to Lalita’s office door. The full, robust laugh of a man, followed by Lalita’s infectious chuckle halted his progress for one second. A black haze blurred his vision as he thrust the door open. His eyes automatically searched behind Lalita’s desk. Shock vied with incredulity as a brown-haired man rose to his feet. His suit jacket was off and hung on the hook where Lalita usually kept hers. If Jeremy had found the man’s slippers next to Lalita’s bed, he couldn’t have been more enraged.
Another movement at the corner of his vision caught Jeremy’s attention. He turned toward the motion, not quite taking his eyes off the man behind the desk. Lalita, who had been sitting in the chair at the front of the desk, was frozen mid-stand, her almond-colored eyes huge. Jeremy’s heart went into double-time.
Lalita looked thinner, her face gaunt. Dark bags she’d tried to hide with makeup were under her eyes. She shook her head, as if trying to decide whether he was real or a figment of her imagination.
Jeremy turned back to the man behind the desk.
“Leave us,” Jeremy commanded.
The man turned to Lalita, silently seeking her direction.
“It’s okay, Corey. Could you give us a few minutes, if you don’t mind?” Lalita answered without taking her eyes off Jeremy.
Corey grabbed his jacket, then skirted the desk and walked warily past Jeremy. His eyes darted between the two as if deciding the threat level.
“I’ll be outside if you need me, Lalita,” he said as he reached the door.
“Thank you.” Lalita smiled in the man’s direction. Jeremy clenched his teeth.
“Good afternoon, Mr. Lakewood.” Lalita moved to stand behind her desk, putting the large piece of furniture between them.
Jeremy forced his fist to unclench. He wanted to grab Lalita, pull her into a kiss she’d never forget and lose what little was left of his mind. Instead, she stood there coolly addressing him like a tax lawyer she’d met once in passing.
“I think I’ll decide if the afternoon is good or not, based on whether I wind up in your bed — or back on an airplane.”
Lalita sat on her chair as if her legs would no longer hold her.
“Well then, I can spare you the wait and wish you a nice flight.” She picked up a piece of paper from the desk. Her hand shook so much the paper quivered as though an electric shock ran through it. She put it on the desk and folded her arms across her chest.
“I am not leaving until I find out exactly what my sister told you. And why you didn’t have the courage to confront me personally with the accusations.”
All color drained from Lalita’s face. She once again gazed up at him, her eyes tormented.
“I don’t think the office is an appropriate place to discuss this.” She stalled.
“Neither of us is leaving here until we talk, Lalita. Unless, of course, you want me to kiss you first? Then we can talk as we try to find our clothes.” Jeremy purposely eyed the sofa that sat across the room.
“You are very sure of yourself.” Lalita straightened at the challenge. However, six weeks ago, her eyes would have flashed fire; now they simply simmered.
“Yes.”
Jeremy took one step toward the desk.
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