Just Tell Me (The Justice Series) (32 page)

“I will get the travel arrangements sorted out” he continued “you will have to stay two nights I’m afraid its going to mean you will be travelling back Saturday”.  Anna didn’t care she was just pleased to be going, and this would mean she would be spend
ing Friday night in the city, she idly wondered if Edward had been before and decided to send him an email.

To Edward Wright

From: Anna Morgan

Subject: Rome

Hello Edward

I thought I would drop you an email and formally introduce myself as we are going to Rome together – have you been before?

Anna

HR Manager

She pressed send and an email pinged back into her inbox a moment later.

To Edward Wright

From: Anna Morgan

Subject: Rome

Hello Anna

No I haven’t been, have you?   

Edward Wright

Finance Director

She smiled.  No mention of the scone.  No wonder he hadn’t looked her in the eye he was probably as embarrassed as she was and he probably didn’t expect to see her in the board room.  Her heart was racing and a few replies flitted through her but she didn’t want to get into a flirty email game, not with him, not here.

To Anna Morgan

From: Edward Wright

Subject: Rome

Yes lots of times, it’s my favourite place in the world!

Anna

Ps: thanks for the scone; so embarrassed.

Edward looked at the message on his screen and pressed delete on the email string
.  She seemed friendly enough and he laughed at her apparent embarrassment, he didn’t know what had come over him buying her a scone but he just thought it was funny, she had looked so uncomfortable when he had caught her pulling the note from her bra.  He didn’t realise then he would have to work so closely with her. 

She was incredibly attractive too and he couldn’t deal with it and he felt her beauty emasculated him further, he couldn’t even look at her in the board room it was bad enough when he had to introduce himself without the added distraction of Anna
.

They had barely spoken and yet he felt a twinge of anxiety at having to spend time with her in
Rome, but he knew he would never have a relationship again and pushed all thoughts away.  He was so busy with his new job he didn’t have time to get into an email discussion anyway; he looked down at the mountain of financial paperwork in front of him.
Oh god what am I supposed to do with all this?
  He had been amazed when he had been offered the Finance Director role for Sterling and he had only applied to it on the spur of the moment. 

He remembered back to when he had met David Jones.  He was heading home one Friday evening as he was stuck in rush hour traffic on the motorway, his iPhone rung from the docking station of his Volvo. 

“Is that Edward Wright?” the voice was commanding and he could hear the slight Leeds accent.  Edward confirmed and the voice continued “its David Jones, you have applied for the Finance Director role at my company.  I would like to meet you”.

Edward had stuttered his agreement and much to his surprise he found himself driving an hour south towards
Sheffield, David had requested they meet at a remote pub a few miles away from the junction.  He arrived at the pub, it was dark and almost empty and he spotted David at the bar, his expensive suit and crisp white shirt was out of place with the checked shirt and jumper clad locals and he was taking the first sip from a pint of lager.

“Edward?” he greeted him, and smiled.  His dark hair was flecked with grey and his face was naturally tanned, the start of laugher lines round his eyes gave away his true age.  “Can I get you a drink?” 

He ordered another pint, despite Edwards’s protests that he was driving and actually he didn’t drink pints but couldn’t tell him.  David ushered them to a quiet corner of the pub and they sat down on bar stools, their pints on the small round table.

“So thanks for meeting me at such short notice” David spoke again “as you know we are looking for a new FD.  I saw your CV and I liked what I saw”.  Edward gulped his drink down, he felt intimidated under this mans intense gaze.

“erm yes, well I am looking for my next move and the role looked like a challenge, somewhere I can stay and really make a difference” Edward gained some confidence.  “I would like to be considered as a serious candidate for the role”. 

David filled him in on some of the particulars of the role
, he took his tie off and loosened his collar as he spoke and it wasn’t the interview Edward was expecting, he felt disappointed.  He wanted to move to a professional company where he could really develop his financial skills and sat here in this grubby pub with this man wasn’t how he saw it.

“Well nice to meet you Edward, I am impressed by what you have said; I will have a talk with the board and be in touch with you next week”. They stood up and he shook Edwards’s hand, and walked out of the pub. 

Edward stood for a moment, he was unsure about what had just happened and walked slowly back to his car.  He drove it steadily on the motorway, he hadn’t finished his pint but felt its effects as he took the road north to Tadcaster.  Later that weekend he received a text from David asking him to come to his office for a formal interview, and felt more optimistic about working for Sterling. 

He was disappointed to meet David alone again in his office, but when he saw the money at stake and the benefits package he knew he would be a fool not to accept the position.  Despite his earlier reservations he accepted. 

Four weeks later he was sat at his new desk, not knowing exactly what he was supposed to do with the complicated mess that spilled out from the reams of paper.  Edward sighed and looked at the time, it was gone 5pm and it was Friday night everyone else had gone home and the office seemed eerily quiet.  He picked up some of the accounts, he could work over the weekend but he needed to get out of the office. 

An hour later he arrived in the small market town of Tadcaster, the only people on the streets between this twilight zone of day and night were teenagers and Friday early drinkers.  He turned into the road past the identical estate houses and pul
led his car into his driveway, the landscaped gardens of his neighbours were identical, immaculate lawn and herbaceous shrubbery formed the border between each property.

Edward had moved to the town two years ago when he finally left his father, he was pleased with the new build he had secured on the site.  It had been a discount off plan, and had been able to put his own mark on the place as the builders let him choose the layout and the fixtures.  He took his shoes off in the hallway and place them neatly neck to his slippers and his mobile and wallet were placed in their usual spot on the corner of the table. 

His soft brown leather sofa was pristine and he looked approvingly round the room, the cream carpets were pristine, and he was distracted to see the large fig plant in the corner had dropped a few brown leaves. The only marks in a sea of organised cream.  He stood up and picked the leaves off the carpet, took his tie off and loosened his shirt. 
I should go and get dressed for the weekend
.  

He loved his weekends
, he had everything planned out, in control of his life now.  The weekend routine gave him comfort like his life depended on it and he put the oven on to cook his frozen pizza as he always did on a Friday night.  The lawn needed cutting tomorrow. Edwards mental list grew as he planned and scheduled his life, and he would ring his father. 

He didn’t need a woman in his life; he stopped himself thinking about Helen. 
The bitch. 
She had never come to his new house after they had split, and he was glad, it wasn’t tainted with her laugh or rather the way she had laughed at him, bitterness hit him and he remembered how she had told him she had found someone else, someone who could satisfy her in the way he couldn’t.  He didn’t care about any of that now, he decided as he settled down to watch television with his pizza, he had plenty of friends he could rely on and was looking forward to the weekend. 

Saturday night was a date he had marked on his fridge calendar, “
Leeds with Steve!” and he was looking forward to a night out with his oldest friend, it had been too long he knew he had to go out.  No excuses left.

He woke up early, refreshed and jumped in the shower, Edward felt happy as he drank his coffee, secure.  He would go into town and get
his hair cut, a Finance Director hair cut, they didn’t look like he did and he knew he needed a makeover after years of the same haircut. 

New clothes were on his list too, it had been a while since he had paid any attention to his appearance and he knew his old suits were starting to look worn.  Two hours later his hair was short and he was driving to the designer shopping centre, he kept looking at his reflection in the mirror
it was like seeing someone else, his hair was short and textured on top, the hairdresser had shown him how to style it properly with wax. 

He pulled up in a parking space and sat in his Volvo for a moment longer, the sounds of Chase and Status played from his CD player and he tapped his hand on the steering wheel.  The shopping centre was busy and he wandered through the designer shops, the price still shocked him even though he earned doubl
e his old salary, he flinched at the cost of the shirts as he handed over his credit card, but he knew it wouldn’t even make a dint on his bank balance.  He wanted tonight to be good and he wanted to show Steve, his oldest friend he was doing ok, he didn’t want anymore sympathy.  Steve knew some of the problems Edward had gone though and he wanted to forget about it, he needed to move on.

Anna was sat on the terrace of her penthouse apartment over looking
Leeds, the hammock swung and she closed her eyes as the early summer sun shone weakly on the decking.  Last nights hangover had gone thanks to the Prosecco she had been drinking; she sipped the warm remnants from the glass and was ready for the night ahead, out in town. 

The apartment was her statement, out of character to be so flamboyant but she had purchased it just before she started working in HR.  Her dad had come round a couple of times since their fall out and she could tell he wanted to shout at her, but he had showed some unusual constraint. 
Fuck all to do with him anyway
.  It was still strained between them but he could see she was as determined as ever to prove she could make it without his help. 
Yeah push me further dad, I will show you.
She stretched out on her sun lounger and shielded her eyes as looked across the decking, a collection of oversized pot plants gave the penthouse terrace a green feel and she could hear the faint noise of the city beneath her.  Rome. Her heart did a little skip, she couldn’t say what it was about the city or Italy that made her so happy.  She had often wondered if she should just live over there but didn’t want to burst the bubble, it was a perfect holiday escape.  She was happy living in Leeds, it had good transport links, property was cheaper than London and it was a great night out if you knew where to go.  The distant sounds of Leeds town hall clock rang and she checked the time. 

Nicole and Libby were coming to
Leeds and she felt a ripple of giddiness when she thought about meeting her oldest friends.  She had met Nicole at university; they had shared a house with their gay flatmate Paul for two years and were still close, although opposites in every way.  Nicole was reserved and quiet in comparison to Anna.  Libby had visited them often from Manchester and Anna found herself bonding with Nicole’s oldest friend from school.  Nicole wasn’t much of a drinker and would often go to bed early leaving Libby and Anna to stay up drinking and chatting, or they went clubbing until the early hours.  The three girls were still close and kept in contact; they got together at least every quarter for a girly get together and a night out.  After university, Anna moved to Oxford and returned to Yorkshire two years later, her professional skills were polished and she relished the challenges it offered her, both financially and personally. 

Anna and Libby returned to their twenty one year old university personas when they got together, they loved to embarrass Nicole when they went out.  They would drink shots, dance all night and all their drinks were bought by men.  Nicole would sit quietly, convinced that any free drink would be laced with drugs and Anna was always telling her
to live a little, she found her naivety endearing but sometimes she couldn’t believe anyone could go through life like Nicole did.  Tonight would be different, she had planned dinner at Whitebait, a fish restaurant by the river and then they would go to GaGam a new club that had opened up by the markets.  It was the place to be seen and she was looking forward to letting her hair down, it had been ages, Anna couldn’t remember the last time she had gone clubbing, she had spent more time on her own drinking wine and thinking about the events that had brought her to Leeds.  Her pride was still bristling. 

The penthouse apartment had a wall of glass between the open plan kitchen and the terrace, the entire wall disappeared when the sliding folding doors opened; they made the open plan kitchen and living room feel part of the terrace garden.  Anna put some dance music on her iPod and poured herself a glass of chilled wine.  She walked through to the bedroom and picked out some clothes for the night ahead, settling on a dark red dress, its fabric clung to her body and she knew she looked good in it.  They had promised Nicole a quiet night but n
ot in this dress, she giggled as she curled her long dark hair into loose ringlets and made her eye make up dark to compliment her green eyes.  There was a buzz at her door and she ran to let her friends in.  Nicole was the tallest of the three friends and she had a trouser suit on tonight, looking more like she was going to her office than a girly night out, she gave her a hug and Anna opened some wine.  Libby’s blonde hair was straight tonight and she had a short black dress on which fitted her perfectly, her eyes glinted with naughtiness as she hugged Anna.