Italian Invader

by Jessica Steele

  From that Elyn guessed that Guy endorsed her mother's opinion of Loraine's latest. 'So how about you?' she asked him, and, recalling her last telephone conversation with her mother when she'd said that Loraine had brought home another unsuitable type, Elyn also recalled how her mother had said that Guy was looking around for a job. 'Mother mentioned that you were considering offering the workforce your services,' she teased.

  'I—er—had an interview only on Friday, as a matter of fact,' he told her, but he seemed so sheepish suddenly that Elyn just knew, since he was such an 'out in the open' kind of person, that there was more to it than that.

  'Sounds interesting,' she remarked. 'What sort of a job?'

  Again she was struck by his slightly shamefaced manner—but only began to suspect the reason for it when, he answered, 'My—own line.'

  'Designing? For ceramics?' she questioned.

  'Got it in one.'

  'Where?' she fired at him, but unless he was leaving home to work away, then since there was only one 'fine china' manufacturer in the area, she knew just where he had applied.

  'Zappelli Fine China,' Guy said swiftly, as though needing to get it said and done quickly. 'I know, I know,' he hurried on when, even though she was prepared for it, Elyn couldn't help a start of surprise, 'I know I've got a nerve after the hard time I gave you when you went to work there, but although it's taken me longer to see sense, I've discovered I'm at my happiest when I'm working. Anyway, Zappelli's were advertising, and I went on Friday and Brian Cole in the design section—do you know him?' he broke off to ask.

  'Yes, I know him,' said Elyn, and the rest of the design team—and they knew her!

  'Well, anyway, he's a sound sort of chap, and I thought we got on well. He certainly seemed to like the couple of examples of my work that I took along. Anyhow, he showed me round—they've got some fantastic equipment there,' he broke off to enthuse, 'so…'

  'You—er—sound a bit keen,' Elyn commented. She hadn't seen Guy so alive and eager for ages.

  'You could say that,' he grinned.

  'And what did your father say when you told him?' she asked.

  'Ah, well,' Guy said with another grin. 'You rather broke the ice there—thanks very much—' he inserted '—by going to work at Zappelli's first. I suppose I can say that you absorbed most of the flak, and that by the time my turn came Dad had mellowed somewhat. Did you know that he's thinking, seriously thinking, of selling Pillingers—the buildings, the land, the lot?'

  'No!' she gasped.

  'Straight up,' Guy assured her. 'Though I think I see your mother's hand in it somewhere—brochures for world cruises having been arriving daily.'

  'Grief!' Elyn exclaimed, and after some moments of taking that in, 'So Sam's accepted the way things are,' she commented softly.

  'And the way things have to be,' agreed her step­brother, going on, 'Anyway, he took my news about trying for Zappelli's far better than I'd expected. Though he did try to look stern as he told me that if it weren't for the fact that he's got nothing to leave me, he'd dis­inherit me.' Elyn smiled; she could see Sam saying it.

  'So you think your interview went well?' she asked. She hadn't known that there was a vacancy in the design department, or she'd maybe have found a way of tact­fully suggesting he apply for it.

  'I think so. He introduced me to the rest of the team, anyhow, and I don't think he'd have done that had there been no chance.'

  'You already knew Hugh Burrell, though,' Elyn commented.

  'Does he work there?' Guy seemed surprised, then shrugged. 'He must have been out somewhere,' he com­mented, and went on, 'Brian Cole had one or two others to interview, so he said, but he's going to let me know as soon as he can.' And, with another huge grin, 'I say, if I do get the job, we can go into work together. I can drive you in and…' Something in her expression caused him to break off. 'What's…?' he began, and Elyn knew this was something she could not keep to herself.

  'I—er—don't work for Max Zappelli any more,' she said flatly, just Max's name on her lips making her feel wobbly inside.

  'You don't! How come?'

  Grief! Families! she sighed. Nothing was sacred. She didn't want to answer. But Guy was waiting, and he'd had a rotten time of it, and she loved him too. How come? There was no way to dress it up. 'I—er—walked out,' she said flatly.

  'You walked out!' Guy exclaimed, appalled. 'For heaven's sake, when—why?'

  When, was easier to answer. 'This morning,' she told him.

  'Without giving notice?'

  'I—was—er—cross about something,' she excused herself.

  'Cross!' Oh, Elyn! How could you?'

  'How could I?' she blinked. Was this the same young man who'd joined in the general harangue when she told them she'd applied for a job at Zappelli's?

  Guy did not answer her bounced-back question, but his expression suddenly went from grinning to defeated. 'Well, that's it! I might just as well forget that I ever had that interview last Friday!'

  'How do you make that out?' she asked.

  'Simple! My interview with Brian Cole was taken up solely with the job. But I was interviewed first by some bod named Nickson from Personnel. When I mentioned that I'd got a stepsister who was employed by them and gave your name, Nickson straight away remembered you. I thought he'd warmed to me from that point on, but I wish now that I'd kept quiet about you—at least that would have left me in there with a chance. Once word gets in from Italy—and it'll only take a minute to send a fax from Personnel to Personnel—that you…'

  'You think my walking out has ruined your chances?'

  'Don't you?' Guy tossed back gloomily. 'A fine im­pression for reliability our family will have made, with you walking out like that!'

  'You're exaggerating,' Elyn argued faintly, though, as she thought about it, there was already suspicion hanging over her head about that missing design without having another black mark against her for leaving the firm's employ without giving proper notice. Oh, Lord, perhaps Guy was right, and it would have been far better for his prospect of employment with the firm had he not owned to having her for a stepsister. Add to that the fact that she had taken a swipe at the owner of the whole shoot—not that she could regret that—but, even given Guy's tremendous ability, it did not augur at all well for him.

  She looked over at his despondent expression, and felt pulled in two about the normally good and gentle person he was. No way did she want to go anywhere near any firm that Max owned ever again. Against that, though, it was a certainty that Max would be spending most of this week—when, she winced, he wasn't holed up with Felicita—in Rome. Elyn had no idea if he had any plans to visit England after that, but, for Guy's sake, would it matter? Couldn't she, for her stepbrother's sake, go into the office tomorrow and, while at the same time keeping her ear to the ground for news of Max visiting the place, work out her resignation? Certainly he wouldn't come seeking her out; certainly, if she knew he was there, she'd make darned certain that she kept out of his way.

  'Smile, sunshine,' she told her stepbrother quickly before she could change her mind. 'So I'll report at Zappelli, Pinwich, tomorrow, and do the decent thing.'

  'Decent thing?' questioned Guy, starting to look hopeful.

  'I'll formally resign—and work my notice out. Will that help, do you think?'

  'Would you?' he asked eagerly.

  'I haven't anything else to do,' she smiled.

  'Oh, thanks, you're a pal, Elyn,' he declared, and she knew why she loved him like a brother when he added, 'You don't have to, you know.' And, 'What was it that made you so cross you felt you had to walk out?' he asked.

  'Nothing that you need trouble your pretty little head about,' she teased, and he had just whacked a cushion at her, when their parents came home.

  Elyn went to bed that night having been greeted by her mother and stepfather in astonishment at seeing her home, but having been able to conceal from them the inner torment she was enduring. In her room, though, with no
need to pretend any more, she collapsed on to her bed and felt exhausted. She tried to put Max com­pletely out of her thoughts—oh, that it was so easy! Though, with the anguish of love tearing her to shreds, it gave her little chance to fret too deeply about putting in an appearance, an unexpected appearance, at Zappelli Fine China tomorrow.

  'Why, hello, Elyn!' her two assistants chorused in sur­prise when they arrived at the office they all shared the next morning.

  'Good morning, Diana, Neil,' Elyn smiled.

  'We weren't expecting you back yet!' Neil exclaimed, adding to warm her heart, 'But I'm glad you are. I need your instruction on several points.'

  'Me too!' added Diana.

  'If you can get them ready, I'll be back in ten minutes,' Elyn told them, but refrained from telling them that she was on her way to the Personnel department.

  'Elyn!' Chris Nickson exclaimed, the moment he saw her. 'What are you doing here?' His greeting was so de­lighted that by then she was beginning to have real re­grets that she had to leave. But, for her own peace of mind, she had to go through with it. In giving four weeks' notice there lay a risk, slight though she would make it, of seeing Max if he happened to come over. But she had to leave—if indeed, after yesterday's walk-out, she wasn't pushed.

  'Hello, Chris,' she smiled, and, wanting this interview over, 'I know I wasn't expected today, but I've decided to leave, and I felt I'd rather work out my notice in England.'

  For a few surprised seconds he stared at her, then, 'Take a seat,' he invited, 'and tell me what brought this on.' And five minutes later Elyn had finally convinced him that her 'personal reasons' for leaving were so strong that there was nothing he could do or say that could persuade her to change her mind. 'We'll be sorry to see you go, Elyn,' he accepted at last. 'None more so than me,' he added sincerely.

  'Thank you, Chris,' she said, and stood up.

  He walked to the door with her. 'I hope those "per­sonal reasons" don't mean you're going to go back on your word to have dinner with me?' he questioned.

  'Of course not,' she said at once, but found she wasn't feeling ready to date anyone just yet, so she hastily tacked on, 'But I'm a bit—er—preoccupied this week.'

  'Then I shall be in touch with you first thing next Monday,' he grinned.

  Elyn returned to her office, but could not settle. There was a restlessness in her, a yearning to be, not there, but back in Italy. Even as she repeated over and over again that she had done the only thing possible, and that it was ridiculous to want to be back in Italy, she could not help but want to be back.

  She tried to throw herself into some work, but again and again she would find she had drifted off and had her head filled with thoughts of Max again. He would be in Rome for sure by now.

  On Wednesday not only was he constantly in her head, but she began to feel jumpy each time the internal phone rang in case it might be Chris Nickson to say he'd had orders from Italy to dismiss her.

  When on Thursday Chris Nickson did ring through, at first she nearly died from the embarrassment of it. Consequently her thoughts were in turmoil when it turned out that his reason for contacting her was not to ask her to go and see him, but to tell her, 'I know you said you were a bit preoccupied this week, but I've just been given a couple of theatre tickets for tonight, and I wondered if…'

  Elyn replaced her phone a minute later, and a minute after that realised she had just accepted an invitation to the theatre that evening! Well, it was too late now to do anything about it, she decided. And anyway, she lied to herself, perhaps an evening out might make her feel better.

  The play might have been good; Elyn owned she was having difficulty in giving it her full concentration. Which was perhaps why she showed more enthusiasm than she felt to counteract that when Chris suggested that they go for a Chinese meal. 'Anywhere else will be closed by now,' he explained.

  'I love Chinese,' she declared, and saw that Chris looked pleased that the evening was being extended.

  He wasn't Max, but he was very pleasant, though, since what they had most in common was their place of work, a good deal of their conversation revolved around Zappelli Fine China.

  But while Elyn desperately wanted to ask Chris if he knew how her stepbrother's job application was pro­gressing, she was torn between the ethics of asking, and the certainty that Guy would be put out if she let this opportunity go by.

  Families! she thought again, but she loved hers. She felt warmer towards Chris too when, having discussed a few aspects of his work, just as if he had read her thoughts, he commented, 'You knew your stepbrother had applied for a job in the design section?'

  'I've been afraid to ask about it,' she smiled, 'but I'm bursting to know if I can pass on some good news,' she added openly.

  Hopefully she waited, but as Chris stared at her and she realised that perhaps she had just overstepped the bounds of friendship, to her great surprise he didn't follow up what she had said, but, his eyes still on her, he exclaimed, 'You really are quite astonishingly beautiful!' Oh, heavens, Elyn thought, flattered, but not sure how she felt if his compliment was a prelude to him wanting to become more friendly. But she didn't have to employ any backing-away tactics, she found, for a second later his intent gaze altered, and he was teasing, 'You didn't come out with me just to find out how your stepbrother's interview with Brian Cole went, did you?'

  'Good heavens, no!' she exclaimed. But she relaxed and smiled when she could see he was teasing, and joked back, 'Not that I wouldn't have put in a good word for him with Brian had I known he had a vacancy in his section.'

  .

  'Didn't you know? Of course you didn't! It was a nine days' wonder at the time. But…' Chris thought for a moment, then ended '… it must have happened on the afternoon before you flew out to Italy the next morning. It was, I remember now, because you cancelled our date for that evening. I…'

  'Chris,' Elyn stopped him before he should muddle her further, 'switch the light on.'

  'Switch…' he broke off, and as it clicked that she was asking him to put some light on what he was saying, 'My apologies, Elyn. Shall I go back to the beginning?'

  'It might help.'

  'Hugh Burrell—' he began.

  'He works in the design section,' she said, to let him know she was now on his wavelength.

  'Not any more, he doesn't.'

  'He doesn't?' she exclaimed. 'He's left?'

  'Helped on his way,' Chris explained. 'Though to be more accurate, he was given instant dismissal.'

  'Instant dismissal!' she gasped, and as what else he had said about it happening that afternoon—that never-to-be-forgotten afternoon—prior to her going to Italy the following day, started to sink in, she just knew it had to have something to do with that missing design. 'Did he steal that design?' she asked shakenly.

  . 'You knew about it?' Chris asked, and when she nodded, to her gratitude he didn't question how she had known when, until it was all out in the open, no one else had, but answered, 'Yes, he took it. Though he hadn't managed to get it off the premises when it was found.'

  'It's been found!' she echoed, and Chris nodded.

  'It's my guess that he was waiting for things to cool—security was instantly if discreetly stepped up when that valuable design went missing,' he inserted.

  'Where was it?' she asked.

  'He'd hidden it at the back of a solid, very full and therefore immovable cabinet in Brian's office—the last place anyone would think to look.'

  'Only somebody did?'

  'Security,' he explained. 'It seems the design was a rather large piece of work, so that, in the time allowed, it seemed unlikely it could have been got out of the building. While Security kept discreet surveillance for the rest of that day, a thorough search was instigated that night.' Chris broke off. 'Honestly, it's so like some­thing out of a spy film that I'm still blinking myself! Since they still didn't know who took it, though, hidden cameras were placed in Brian's office.'

  'Good heavens!' Elyn gasped. 'T
hey caught Hugh Burrell when he went to get it?'

  'They caught him on film going straight to the im­movable cabinet and checking the back to see if it was still there.'

  'And was it?'

  'It had been substituted, but he didn't know that when he half pulled it out, smiled, and pushed it back again,' he replied, but already a sick feeling inside Elyn was making her feel quite ill, and other questions were queuing up to be asked.

  'Did—er—Mr Zappelli know all this was going on?' she asked, every scrap of brain power telling her that he must have known—only she didn't want to believe it.

  'Oh yes,' Chris smiled. 'You might say he directed operations.'

  Elyn drew a steadying breath. 'So he knew that afternoon, that Tuesday before I went to Italy on the Wednesday, that Hugh Burrell was the guilty party?'

  'I'll say he did! He flew in specially from Italy that day, especially for the purpose of interviewing him. It was Mr Zappelli who dismissed him from the company, Mr Zappelli who, that Tuesday afternoon, personally sacked him.'

  Elyn lay sleepless in her bed that night, too furious for sleep. That Max could do that to her! Could, all this time, when he knew that she was innocent of any crime, string her along and let her believe her honesty was still in doubt. He had kissed her—and she—she had let him! My stars, garrotting was too good for him!

  By morning her fury had simmered down to ice-cold anger—and hurt. Damn him, it was plain that she still loved the treacherous swine, or she wouldn't feel that pain, she acknowledged as she went down to a breakfast she didn't want, but which would be preferable to her family asking where she was and what was the matter.

  'Maybe I'll hear today!' Guy said hopefully as he joined her in the breakfast-room.

  'Er—yes,' she said vaguely, then realised that he must be talking about his job application. Then she began to feel guilty that, in the first instance, what Chris had re­vealed last night had taken completely out of her head all idea of sounding him out about Guy's chances, and in the second instance, that she might yet snooker any chance Guy had.

  She had not had any intention of going anywhere near Zappelli Fine China that day. But suddenly she was thrown into a dilemma. Max had once said to her, 'I hope I'm fairer than that.' But, given that she had hit him, given that she had walked out of Zappelli Internazionale and had flown home, did the fact that he had continued to allow her to think there was some doubt about her honesty, or the fact that she had turned up at Zappelli Fine China to resign and work out her notice go for nothing? The way she equated it, she was more owed than owing, but would she end her stepbrother's hopes if she didn't honour her four weeks' notice?