by Kate Hardy
Janet Keaton caught his eye, her expression faintly bewildered. What had she expected? That Sally would spill one of his deep, dark secrets?
Perhaps they’d both underestimated the newest employee.
For Sally, the rest of the workshop was every bit as much fun as she’d anticipated. There were all sorts of problem-solving exercises which brought out different people’s strengths and weaknesses and showed the benefits of working in a team. She found that she was a lateral thinker, good at listening and at being empathetic, but she wasn’t so hot when it came to logic and spatial skills.
In groups, they hunted for errors in messages, tried to find triangles inside pentagons and to draw circle-and-dot diagrams without taking their pens off the paper. There were even moments of self-disclosure where they shared fantasies.
Sally’s fantasy was to have long, straight, dark hair. The boss surprised everyone, except Sally, by claiming that he would love to have played Rugby League for Australia.
Logan disappeared at lunch time and missed the rather delicious smorgasbord served in the dining room.
Maeve pounced on Sally. ‘Poor you. What was it like being grilled by the boss?’
‘Nerve-racking until he thawed out. Then he was close to normal.’
‘I must say you looked pretty into each other by the end.’
Sally tried to make light of it. ‘We were just talking about travel. How was Prince Charming?’
‘Fabulous.’ Maeve’s eyes danced with excitement. ‘I’m going out with him tonight.’
‘Tonight?’ Sally gaped at her friend. ‘Wow! That was quick work.’
Maeve grinned happily. ‘Our chat session was as good as a date. A kind of blind date in the workplace.’
In a strange way, so was mine, Sally thought. Good grief. What would Logan say if he could read her thoughts?
Now she really was getting carried away.
The boss returned in time for the afternoon session. They were broken into competitive teams and given a kit of materials and instructed to build an ‘anti-grenade’ that would protect the shell of an egg. The time limit was thirty minutes.
Sally was hopeless at this and happy to cheer on her team mates. After they’d built their device from reinforced cardboard and crumpled paper, they went to a ‘test site’ in the park, where they had to throw their constructions.
Sally’s team broke their egg.
The boss’s team won, launching their device the furthest distance and keeping the egg intact.
He hadn’t been in Sally’s team for any of the day’s team activities, and he’d paid her no attention, but during the entire time she was ridiculously super-aware of him. It was awful, like having a high school crush on a senior boy, but so much more painful because it was so pointless.
Because it wasn’t supposed to happen.
After a scrumptious afternoon tea of scones with strawberry jam and cream, along with piping-hot tea, Janet announced that it was time to draw some conclusions from the day’s activities.
‘But, before that,’ she said, ‘I’d like you to return to the pairs you were in this morning, when we had that first ice-breaker session.’
Sally’s stomach tightened. From across the room, she saw Logan stiffen and glance her way. But his expression remained deadpan as he beckoned to her to come and join him.
Flashing hot and cold, she crossed the room.
‘This time, I’m going to give you a list of questions,’ Janet said as she moved between their tables, distributing sheets of paper. ‘Feedback from others is the most important form of reality check we can have. It’s a matter of lowering your façades and seeing yourselves as others see you and it’s very illuminating self-knowledge.’
Sally cringed. Receiving feedback from her boss would be bad enough, but giving it would be incredibly risky!
With trepidation, she read the questions on the sheet.
What was your first impression of me?
Why did you have that impression?
Who did I remind you of? Why?
How accurate do you now think that impression was?
Ouch! How could she be honest about her first impression? She’d met Logan Black on the day of the interview when he’d found Rose under his desk and she’d thought he was an arrogant prig.
Looking up at him now, she saw a dark red stain creep up his neck. He’s as uncomfortable with this as I am. She dropped her gaze to her hands and twisted them nervously.
Logan made a small throat-clearing sound. ‘Trust Janet to save the punchline for last.’ He shot Sally a piercing look from beneath half-lowered lids. ‘Would you like to start?’
She tried to smile and failed. ‘I’d rather not.’
Drawing back an immaculate white cuff, he looked at his watch, which was, of course, beautiful and gold and very expensive-looking. ‘Actually, I’m not sure we can do this. I have a meeting at four.
‘Yes, you mustn’t miss your meeting.’ Sally was as glad to escape as he was.
Logan stood, but Janet Keaton was too quick for them.
‘I hope you’re not planning to wriggle out of this, Logan,’ she said, loudly enough for several others to hear.
‘I have an important meeting at four,’ he said, jaw jutting at a distinctly antagonistic angle.
‘That’s fine. You still have plenty of time for a quick recap.’
Sally waited for Logan to pull rank and to insist that he couldn’t possibly stay. It would be dead easy for him to leave now. But, to her surprise, he caught her eye and smiled conspiratorially. ‘I guess we’d better do as we’re told.’
As Janet moved away, he sat down again, rested his elbows on the desk and leaned closer to Sally. ‘Don’t look so worried, Sally. I’m not going to eat you. As a matter of fact, I’m prepared to admit straight out that my first impression of you was completely off track.’
Sally gulped. ‘Really?’
‘I assumed you were a single mother,’ he said. ‘And a rather careless one at that.’
‘When I was actually a careless aunt,’ she suggested with a small smile.
The responding warmth in his eyes sent a sweet shiver over her arms. She was about to comment that Logan seemed to enjoy his role as an uncle when he asked, ‘How is the little boy who had the asthma attack?’
Sally swallowed her surprise. She had no idea her boss knew about Oliver. ‘He’s much better, thank you. They’ve put him on some kind of preventative medicine that seems to be doing the trick.’
Logan nodded, then looked down at the sheet of questions. ‘I’m expected to say who you remind me of.’
‘Please don’t say a corn cob.’
‘Why on earth would I say that?’
‘It’s what my brothers called me. And then everyone at school.’
‘Because of your hair?’
Sally sighed. ‘You guessed it.’
His gaze rested on her hair for longer than was necessary, but he made no comment. ‘Actually, you’re rather like my sister, Carissa,’ he said. ‘You’re totally different physically, but she has the same kind of vibrancy as you.’
Vibrancy? The boss thought she was vibrant?
‘And you like to talk. You and Carissa both really like to talk.’
He glanced again at the question sheet. Without looking at Sally, he said, ‘But I must admit that my recent impressions have been more favourable than my first one.’
Sally was rather pleased that he didn’t look up to see her blush.
‘And now it’s your turn.’ He smiled at her gently. ‘Don’t be too brutal.’
‘And risk getting sacked?’ She gave a shaky laugh. ‘I wouldn’t dare.’
‘But there’s no point in being dishonest.’
Sally swallowed, took a deep breath. ‘OK. My first impression was that you were—er—very big and dark.’ When his expression remained blank she quickly added, ‘And I also got the strong impression that you didn’t like children.’
‘Good heavens.�
� He looked genuinely shocked.
‘You were holding poor little Rose away from you as if she might be infectious.’
He dismissed this with a shrug. ‘I’m not used to babies.’
‘Since then, of course, I’ve realised that was wrong. You’re wonderful with your nephews.’ She waited for him to frown or show displeasure that she’d mentioned this. When he did neither, she said bravely, ‘I’ve noticed that you’re always super-busy and nearly always very serious.’
‘That’s true.’
‘I thought you might not be very happy. Perhaps a bit lonely.’
He frowned at her.
‘But then the roses arrived,’ she said carefully.
‘Roses?’
‘The white roses that come every Friday.’
‘Oh, yes, of course.’
‘And I realised there must be someone very special in your life.’
A faint smile tilted the corners of his mouth.
‘And, if that’s the case—’ She paused and swallowed. ‘If there is someone special, then I’m sure you must be happy.’
His eyes, as he regarded her, were so thoughtful that Sally wondered what she’d said wrong. She glanced down quickly. ‘What’s the next question?’
‘Who do I remind you of? And why?’
‘Oh, yes.’ She’d never really known many men from the city. There’d been that one, of course, who’d caused her so much grief. But he’d been oozing smiles and pseudo-charm and Logan, thank heavens, was absolutely nothing like him.
‘Actually, you remind me of quite a lot of people,’ she said eventually. ‘Men I’ve grown up with. Graziers, head stockmen, gun shearers. You have the same kind of confidence and inner drive. I’m guessing that you’re very goal oriented.’
‘And I’d say you’re right.’
‘My first impression wasn’t accurate at all,’ she admitted. ‘You were very different—’ She paused and took a deep breath. Perhaps she shouldn’t mention how he’d looked during that memorable moment just before he’d fallen in the pond. Or this morning when he’d been talking about music. Instead, she said, ‘I think you have a softer side that you try to hide.’
Predictably, Logan frowned again.
‘But that’s OK.’ Sally knew she was skating on very thin ice, but the workshop was nearly over and she was feeling rather reckless. ‘I guess a boss has to pretend to be tough.’
‘It’s not a matter of pretence. A boss has to be tough. It goes with the territory.’ Logan glanced again at his watch and stood quickly. His eyes took on a kind of hooded hardness. ‘Now, if you’ll kindly excuse me, I really must go to this meeting.’
CHAPTER FIVE
IT HAD been the weirdest day.
Logan drove rather recklessly to his meeting, jumping lanes and taking corners too fast as his head reeled from the conversation he’d just had with his newest employee. Team-building was all very well—he had to admit he’d gained a new respect for many employees today—but he couldn’t believe he’d revealed so much of his inner self to Sally Finch.
Allowing a glimpse beneath his careful façade was completely out of character. And to the front desk girl of all people!
And then, what cheek on Sally’s part to suggest that he was not as tough as he made out. It was utter rubbish!
At the age of fifteen, when his father had gone bankrupt, he’d developed a super-tough outer shell. Since then, he’d hardened even more, had done everything in his power to make sure he never repeated his father’s mistakes.
The traffic lights changed to red just in front of Logan, forcing him to brake sharply. Fingers tapping impatiently on the steering wheel, he watched pedestrians swarm across the crossing—men in business suits, schoolgirls in straw hats and navy-blue uniforms and a family of tourists in jeans and T-shirts.
Through narrowed eyes, Logan watched the tourists—parents with two kids, a boy and a girl. The father’s arm was draped loosely around his son’s shoulders and, as they reached the safety of the opposite footpath, they seemed to share a joke.
Logan and his dad had been close like that.
The traffic lights changed again and Logan accelerated. He drove to the meeting on autopilot, his mind lodged in the past, on the lessons he’d learned from his father.
Dan Black had been loved by everyone for his hail-fellow-well-met bonhomie and it went without saying that Logan had also adored him and looked up to him as his hero. During the football season, they’d gone to every home game, the two of them dressed in the red and green colours of their adored team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs.
Back then, Logan had been blissfully unaware of the dangers of his father’s impulsive, happy-go-lucky nature. It was only later that he’d understood the perils that came when a man’s heart ruled his head.
Dan Black used to joke that he was the most successful businessman he knew who didn’t work to a business plan.
Who needs strategies, son? Follow your heart and you’ll always be right.
Sure, Dad.
For a while Dan Black had done well in real estate. Until there’d been a downturn. He’d come up with a grand scheme for aquaculture and set up a fish farm on the north coast. Six months later it had been wiped out by disease. Another dream, growing hydrangeas for the cut flower market, had been shattered by a hailstorm. Dan hadn’t been insured.
The problem was clear to Logan now. His father had never focused on the main game. He’d never been prepared for potential problems, hadn’t researched projects carefully, and his cash reserves had always been too low, so he hadn’t been able to afford insurance, or to hedge against downturns.
After the final disaster, when Dan had been declared bankrupt, he’d collapsed with a complete nervous breakdown. He’d let his family and his investors down. Friendships had collapsed because Dan had eloquently persuaded pals to invest. Some had actually borrowed money to help him with his disastrous projects.
Logan and his sister had been forced to leave their private schools in the middle of term. Their teachers had been terribly upset, which had only added to their mortification.
Only their mother had adapted quickly to the changes the family had faced. Happily giving up her social life of tennis and bridge parties, she had taken lowly office jobs, intensifying Dan’s humiliation by working for their friends.
The lesson for Logan had been crystal clear and painfully personal. Men who led with their hearts rather than their heads brought humiliation and hardship on the people they loved. It was absolutely vital to be disciplined, to put one hundred and ten per cent into studies and planning and business.
To make this happen, Logan had devised his five-year plan. Only when his finances were secure and he’d reached the very top of his game would he relax and allow himself to think about starting a family of his own.
He wondered now, as he drove into an underground car park, if he should have told Sally Finch about his plan. She’d given him the perfect opening when she’d suggested he was goal oriented. Perhaps he should have told her then exactly what his goals were and what he was prepared to give up while achieving them.
That would have stilled her tongue. He doubted she would have continued then about his hidden softness.
In retrospect, he wished he’d been honest, was surprised that he hadn’t been.
Then again, he thought with a wry smile, revealing exactly how tough he was might have snuffed out the dancing lights in Sally’s eyes.
A man would have to be criminally insane to do that.
That evening, for the first time since she’d come to Sydney, Sally felt strangely unhappy and restless. Lonely too and just a little homesick.
How annoying.
She had been dead set on proving to herself and to her family that she was ‘cured’. And today she’d taken an important step—she hadn’t shied away from the conversation about dancing. She should be celebrating. She’d won a major battle with that particular demon.
Actually, she’d achieved man
y of her goals already. She had an interesting job, money coming in, new friends. Everything would be perfect if her boss were old and grey and happily married with a family.
OK…face the truth, Sally. Logan Black is your problem.
How silly. It was bad enough that she’d been smitten by the boss’s good looks ever since that first sight of him on the day she’d applied for the job. But now, after their long and intimate conversations, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. Not for a second. He was a man of such intriguing contradictions.
Today she’d caught glimpses into all sorts of interesting facets of his personality.
Stop it, Sally. Stop it now! He’s out of bounds.
Promising herself for the hundred and fiftieth time that she would put the boss right out of her mind, she cooked up a big bowl of comforting pasta and poured a glass of white wine. Rather than eating alone at the kitchen table, she took her meal through to the lounge room, where she drew the pretty floral curtains and turned on the pink lampshades.
Usually, this room with its thick cream carpet, its lovely paintings and welcoming cushiony sofas lifted her spirits as soon as she entered it, but tonight the lovely house wouldn’t—or couldn’t—work its magic.
Sally knew it would be foolish to listen to the Brahms concerto tonight when she was trying, desperately, to forget about Logan Black, but in the end she was too weak to resist the temptation.
Curled in one of Chloe’s squishy armchairs, she ate the pasta and drank her wine while the lush sounds of the gorgeous music swelled to fill the room.
I’m an idiot.
She longed for Chloe to be alive and here with her. She could picture her godmother sitting on the sofa in one of her bright kaftans with her silver hair piled gloriously on top of her head, a warm smile at the ready, as she offered sage advice.
But Chloe was gone and Sally was alone and she didn’t want to ring her mother. Her mother was too attuned to her every mood and she would know immediately that something was wrong, and Sally was supposed to be proving that she was fine on her own.
With a heavy sigh, she turned her thoughts to Maeve, who was out tonight on a date with her young geologist.
