The Lethal Encounter (20 page)

Katie looked at her friends
and, with all things considered, her life was OK! She smiled back at them.

“The only trouble is....” she
paused. The others stopped joking around and stared at her.

“Oh my God, you're not
pregnant are you?” said Fran in horror.

“No, no, nothing like that.
It’s just Peter. Well I know I told him to fuck off, but the truth is, I didn't
want him to! It took all my will power to say that, and even then it was only
anger driven at that moment in time. As soon as I closed the door, I wanted to
open it and call him back....so what's that all about?”

“You're obviously in love
with him, or at the very least in serious lust, which can be as bad,” said Mary
frankly and seriously. “Mind you, that’s along with half the single girl
population of London. You do have an insider advantage though.” She added with
a smile on her face.

“But I don't want to be,”
moaned Katie. “I want my old uncomplicated life back where the job was good and
I was almost in a relationship with a lovely bloke who does not have airs and
graces and baggage and all that.”

“Tut, tut, Katie. Let’s not
look a gift horse in the mouth shall we?” murmured Josie. “In my view, you
should take the new job, go back to Peter and see what occurs. If nothing else,
you could have a few months of splendour, extravagance and great sex.”

Katie looked at Josie. She
was deadly serious and that's exactly what she would do, given the same
position. But Katie was different to her friend and she knew a course of action
like that, not withstanding the fact it would be totally out of character for
her, would be very difficult.

“I agree with Josie,” said
Fran. “You should definitely give it a real go with Peter….if for no other
reason then we could have a crack at his rich single friends. And think of the
parties you could get us invited to. Hey girls, this could be the highlife for
us. Actually, I think Katie now has an obligation to go out with him. Do you
agree?”

Josie and Mary nodded
seriously and then they all burst out laughing.

“It would be pretty cool,”
said Mary. “It would mean that we girls had finally arrived!”

“Oh, bugger it. Give me
another drink and let's get pissed. Anyway, enough about me. What's happened to
all you guys?” Katie exclaimed.

The next few hours passed in
a happy and increasingly drunken daze. All four girls had strong independent
lives and they had a lot to catch up on. Katie left the bar at closing time
after spending the final hour being chatted up by a cute and obviously very
rich banker who had spied the group from across the room. He had made Katie
laugh a lot and she was definitely attracted to him and, as Josie had whispered
into her ear, who knows what might have happened in another time, another
place?

After saying her goodbyes on
the street, they each took taxis and went their separate ways, promising to get
together again soon to get updates. Katie got home and unsteadily undressed in
her room. Despite everything, she had had a great night and was feeling happier
and more confident than she had been for some time. She forced down a pint of
water and, after brushing her teeth vigorously, she dropped into bed and fell
into a dream filled sleep.

CHAPTER 15

Whilst the previous evening
ended on a high note, the same could not be said for the following few days in
the office.

The trouble seemed to start
when Katie walked past Sue's office the next morning on the way to a technical
meeting. She had noticed with a start that Peter Jarvis was sitting on the sofa
along with her boss and Julie. They were having an animated conversation about
something and, as they passed Peter glanced out, caught sight of her and
smiled. She had purposefully turned her head to ignore him but not before she
had noticed the look that passed between Julie and Sue. Her heart had sunk as
she entered the meeting room and she tried to apply her mind to the matter at
hand.

Now, sitting back at her desk
she became despondent again. What had they been discussing in that room? Had it
been her? Or was she just being paranoid? He was the Chief Executive after
all…..but then in all her time here, she had never seen him in Sue's
office.....or anywhere near it to be precise. Perhaps she would find out more
when she and Sue met that afternoon.

She sighed and closed her
eyes for a second. The darkness calmed her and she realised that she had not really
given the job offer much thought. The way things were going here, she thought,
the more attractive the offer was becoming. Her feelings were in turmoil and
she swayed one way then the other depending on the circumstances and her mood.
One thing was sure however, they would not wait forever and would be calling
her soon for an answer.

She let her mind imagine a
new office and work environment, out of the increasingly pervading atmosphere
here at Shire Electronics. The more she considered her position, the more she
thought that a move would be a good idea.

She opened her eyes and
pushed her chair backwards. Making her way slowly to the little kitchenette,
she felt her mind making up.

In the kitchen, a couple of
colleagues were making coffee.

“Hi Katie, how goes it,” said
one.

“Fine thanks, Marion.....and how are you getting on with the German company. Is it OK?”

“It’s actually working well
thanks.”

“Hey Katie. Did you hear the
latest rumour?”

Katie raised her eyebrows
and, sighing, turned to Brenda, one of the support personnel who stayed in the London offices to provide back up to the teams in the field.

“And what rumour might this
be.....please tell.”

Brenda lowered her voice
conspiratorially.

“Well, it concerns our good
boss, no less that Mr. Jarvis himself. Apparently he is head over heels in love
with some new flame. What do you say to that?”

“Not a lot I can say really.
Do we know who and what are his symptoms?” Katie tried to remain aloof and
hoped that her growing blush would not be noticeable.

“Well, people close to him
say he has been acting really strangely…..going around the place with a kind of
knowing smile and talking to himself.”

Despite everything, Katie
could not help but be interested in this news. Could this really be her that is
causing all this? Or was this just her being hopeful? Anyway, hadn't she
resolved to put all this to one side and move on? Then why on earth couldn't
she?

“Yes.....and that's not all.
The word is that the object of his affections works here. Can you believe
that?”

Katie started visibly and
then tried to recover.

“Mmmn, not sure about that. I
think it would be pretty obvious if that was happening. Mind you, lucky girl,
whoever she is.”

“Oh, so you are another Peter
Jarvis fan. I don't really see the attraction myself. A bit too clean cut and
macho for my liking, I like them a bit rougher round the edges.....if you know
what I mean”

Katie inwardly shuddered at
the thought of Brenda's type of man and thought that it was time to collect her
drink and get back to her desk. This kind of chat could only lead to trouble.

She left the kitchen and
walked slowly back to her workstation. Her mind was, once again, in turmoil.
She knew that what she had just heard was only office tittle tattle - she had
heard similar rumours circulate several times since she joined the company -
but the timing was surely more than just a coincidence? She did not really
believe, whatever his reputation, that Peter could be carrying on with someone
else at the same time as his dalliance with her. Still, whatever her feelings,
she certainly didn't want anyone to twig that she may be the object of his
latest affections…..that would really speed up her departure to pastures new.

As she manoeuvred her way to
her desk, she recalled the words of advice given by Josie about leaving her job
and getting back in there with Peter. If only she could do that without
worrying about what other people thought of her. Josie might be able to do that
but she knew she could not.

No sooner had she settled
back down in her chair and taken a sip of coffee, then her internal phone rang.
Seeing it was Sue, she picked it up immediately.

“Hi, Sue.”

“Katie, hi. Can we have our
meeting now? There's just a couple of things I need to discuss with you.”

“Sure, I'll be there in a
sec.”

Katie detected the atmosphere
as soon as she walked across the threshold of Sue's office. The normally smiley
Sue hardly looked up at her.

“Hi Katie, sit down.”

Katie eased herself down onto
the sofa and watched Sue whilst she finished looking at some papers on her
desk. Katie did not think she was actually reading…..if anything she seemed to
be gathering her thoughts. Katie's heart sunk. What on earth was this all
about?

“Katie, I had a meeting with
Peter Jarvis this morning and he told me about seeing you in Prague the other
day. He said that he introduced you to a colleague but you seemed quite
hostile. I told him that did not sound like you at all. Don't get me wrong, he
only mentioned it in passing.....he didn't make a meal of it or anything, but
it got me thinking, particularly after that presentation fiasco. Do you two
have an issue or something?”

Katie felt her hackles
starting to rise. This was all just too much!

“Look Sue,” she started.

“Its not that it’s any of my
business of course, but I don't want it to affect your work, and therefore my
work. Particularly with this re-shuffle going on,” she added.

“Look Sue,” Katie repeated.
“I'm just getting a bit fed up about all this rumour mongering that seems to be
going on. It's as if people don't have anything better to do. Our noble leader
might be London's best kept bachelor or some crap like that, but there is
nothing “going on” and there is no “issue” between us. I thought we had spoken
about this and cleared it up before.”

“Well, I thought we had but
people have been talking and I think it is untenable for someone in my group to
be in any way involved with the Chief Executive.”

“How many times do I have to
say it?” Katie knew her voice was rising and she fought to stay in control.
“There is nothing going on. I did see Peter in Prague and yes I did go over and
say Hi. OK it was morning and maybe I was not on my smiley best, but it is
unfair of him to say I was rude.”

“Oh, he never said you were
rude.....not in so many words anyway. He just seemed to intimate that, or
something….” her voice tailed off.

“Well, that does not sound
like evidence enough to have me in here for a grilling. So if that's all, I've
got work to do.”

Katie got up with as much
aplomb as she could muster and flounced out - her head held high and her cheeks
smarting with indignation.

Like any confrontations, the
real effect comes into play afterwards and Katie sat down with a heavy heart.
Her first inclination was to ring Mary, the head hunter and accept the job on
offer immediately.

Her second, was to storm back
into Sue's office and threaten her with harassment.

Her third was to race
upstairs and give Peter Jarvis a piece of her mind. How dare he on the one hand
knock amorously on her door late at night and on the other, criticise her to
Sue? It just wasn't fair.

Her fourth inclination, and
probably the correct one, was to take a few deep breaths and a sip of now warm
coffee and consider the situation before doing anything rash.  

After about ten minutes of
slow breathing, she had calmed down. Suddenly her course of action was clear.
Irrespective of how the job approach had come, she had got the offer though her
ability and work record and it represented a massive leap forward in her
career. Whilst a few weeks ago she was happy and contented at Shire, that was
no longer true and she knew things would not just go back to normal.