As usual, he had got his own way. Telling people what to do. Ordering them around. Controlling them. It was a way of life to him. Well, he could think again if he believed he was going to control Shannon Ryan. She was her own boss. Time to pack up her things and get a cab home right now.
She paused with a spare pair of pants in her hand – she always brought extra. She needed him to not be her boss any more. She needed to move on. She threw the pants into the case. Her laptop was on the desk where she’d left it earlier. She would email her resignation right now.
Shannon had written more than one of these letters in the last ten years. Thankfully, most people changed jobs every couple of years in the IT industry, so her CV didn’t look out of the ordinary because she’d moved around so much. Thanks to Irish grandparents, she had a European passport and had worked in England for over eight years. The job she’d had with Kate in London had been the longest she’d ever had. Probably why Kate was still one of her closest friends. It was only when Kate had met Luke that Shannon’s feet had started to itch again. Since Kate had had the baby, Shannon had worked for two other companies in the UK before moving to France.
Baby. Even the word was making her feel queasy. Was she really going to have this baby? And was she going to have to do it on her own, without Robert?
An old business card fell out of her laptop case. ‘Shannon Ryan. PA to the Sales Director.’ Her new card didn’t have a job title because no one could work out how to describe the many random parts to her role. She had been a damn good PA; everyone Shannon had ever worked for had remarked on how organised she was. Every event under her watchful eye went seamlessly. She had an instinct for the details, but she was also a people person. People came to her if they weren’t happy and she sorted it out. That’s what she did. So why couldn’t she organise her own life?
She opened the minibar and looked inside. Wine? Off limits. Toblerone? Disgusting. Nuts? Could you eat those when you were pregnant? She had no idea what the rules were. It would have to be the sparkling water. The bubbles were the most excitement she was likely to get. She poured it into a glass and took it back to the laptop.
Was resigning a dumb move? If she was going to have a baby, she would need a job. And getting a job in Europe was difficult enough as an American. Doing it pregnant was likely to be impossible. Maybe she should hold off for now?
She clicked open the last email from Adam and skim-read the contents. It was pretty much the same as his voicemail.
Hi Shannon. I don’t know how to tell you this but I guess I’m just going to say it. Faye is in Paris. She knows everything and she is determined to hunt you down. She has your address. I couldn’t persuade her out of it. Please call me. Adam.
Shannon let her head fall back on her shoulders. There was nothing else for it but to call Adam and find out what the hell was going on. What exactly did he mean by ‘she knows everything’? What in the name of all things holy had he told her? Could that mean he had given her Shannon’s home address too?
It looked like Shannon would be staying here tonight after all; Faye wouldn’t be able to track her to the hotel. Would she?
There was a knock on the door.
It was followed by a loud whisper. ‘Shannon. Are you in there?’
Robert.
She toyed with the idea of ignoring him. Letting him wonder if she was even still there. But that would be childish. ‘I’m in bed. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.’
There was a soft thump, as if he had knocked his head onto the door. ‘Please, Shannon. We need to talk. I’m sorry. I reacted badly. It was just a shock.’
What did he think it had been for her? A minor surprise? ‘I know. And you’re right, we need to talk. But not now, Robert, not tonight. I’m tired.’
That wasn’t a lie; she felt exhausted. But she also needed to call Adam and find out what the story was with Faye. And there was no way she wanted Robert in earshot of that.
There was a rustle, which must have been Robert’s back sliding down the door. When he next spoke, it sounded like he was speaking from the floor. ‘Are you absolutely sure you’re pregnant? Have you done a test?’
Now she was cross again. Did he think she was a dumb teenager? ‘Of course I’ve done a test. Look, I’m sorry I told you like that. That I just blurted it out. I was angry. My hormones are… No, that’s not an excuse. I shouldn’t have told you like that. We will talk about it, I promise. But not now. Definitely not now.’
There was a silence on the other side. Had he gone? She was about to open the door to check when he spoke again. ‘I’m sorry about my daughter. About telling her she could turn up at the boat.’
Shannon took a few deep breaths before she answered. Stay calm. ‘That wasn’t fair, Robert. Not fair at all.’
‘I know.’ There was another long silence before he said, ‘I just wanted to make it happen. I wanted you to realise that I was – am – serious about us.’
This was exactly what had made her so mad. It was what he wanted. ‘And what about what I want, Robert? I never pretended that I wanted something serious between us. You are the one changing everything.’
‘I know. I know.’ His voice was muffled. Was he crying? She felt bad if he was crying. And then irritated. Was he just manipulating her?
‘You have to go, Robert. One of the sales team might walk past and…’
‘Then let me in!’ His voice was back at head height again. And forceful.
Shannon gritted her teeth. ‘No. I will talk to you tomorrow. Just go.’
‘Why are you being like this? You are impossible!’
She heard him walk away. He was stamping so loudly, the whole floor probably heard. She breathed out. Now Adam.
What was the time in Chicago? It didn’t matter. This was an emergency.
Adam had given her his mobile number and a landline. She tried the mobile, just in case Faye had come back. She couldn’t risk her answering the phone.
The phone rang an agonising amount of times before the call connected. Shannon’s heart was beating along with it. Getting up from the bed, she paced the floor and counted the rings. Seven. Eight. Nine. ‘Hello?’
It was so strange to hear his voice. So familiar, yet so unreal. Shannon was almost grateful that she could blame the pregnancy hormones for the tears at the back of her eyes. ‘Adam.’ It came out like she was being strangled. She coughed. Tried again. ‘Adam. It’s Shannon.’
There was a silence at the other end. Maybe he was shocked to hear her, too. ‘Shannon. I’m so glad you called. I’ve been trying to reach you for the last two days. Longer, actually. Do you not read your emails?’
‘I know. I’ve been… er… tied up with work.’
‘Did you get my voicemail? About Faye? She’s in Paris and she knows where you work.’
‘Yes. I read your messages. That’s why I’m calling. It was a bit of a shock, obviously.’
‘Yeah, I can imagine.’ The international line was so good she could hear him scratch his head; a habit he’d had even when she’d first known him nineteen years ago. ‘She’s an impulsive one, that girl. I guess she gets it from her mother.’
Shannon stiffened. ‘Jessie doesn’t strike me as the impulsive type.’
Adam sighed. ‘I meant you.’
Chapter Thirty
Laura
Opening her eyes very, very slowly, it took Laura a few moments to take in where she was. With relief, she recognised her hotel room, although something about it looked different. Were the ceilings higher? As she rolled onto her side, the carpet greeted her. She was lying on the floor.
On the plus side, she was alone and fully dressed from the night before. Gingerly, she raised her head, waiting to see if there was a hangover about to pounce. So far, so good.
What time was it? Eight a.m. That gave her an hour to have a shower and get ready before the breakfast meeting at nine. What had Paolo called it last night? Croissants at dawn. Officially, this was supposed to be an informal socia
l session before the formal presentations began, but everyone knew that Robert would be circling, probing, ensuring they felt as uncomfortable as possible before they had to stand up in front of the whole team and defend their activities for the previous three months.
Slowly, she peeled herself up from the floor. Was there time to lie down on the bed for just ten minutes? It looked so inviting and soft. What had she been thinking, spending the night on the floor? Clearly, she hadn’t been able to get herself any further into the room, although this was strange as she’d managed to find her way here and get the key card to work in the lock.
Working out the shower took a couple of minutes; she was consecutively scalded and then frozen before managing to find a happy medium. Standing, head back, allowing the water to massage her forehead, she tried to piece together the night before.
When she’d got back to the bar, everyone was already pretty drunk and they’d made her drink quickly to catch up. All of the talk had been about travelling; places they’d been and those they’d like to visit. Laura had always had a bug for travel. She’d always wanted to live in another country for a while; experience another way of life. Kate had said yesterday that she’d spent a year living here in Paris. Laura would have loved to do that, but James had ruled it out because of his job. Paolo had talked about being certain he’d do some more travelling at some point, but didn’t mention what he’d do about his job.
At some point, someone had decided it would be a good idea to buy shots. Had they started with sambuca? There had definitely been some tequila in there at some point too. Laura’s stomach rose at the thought. Maybe the only reason she didn’t have a hangover was that she was actually still a little drunk. She remembered someone had made a joke about forming the three a.m. club, so they must have been at it for a while.
The phone call! Like an icy bullet, she remembered leaving a voicemail on James’ phone. What had she said? She put her forehead against the cold tiles. It all came back in a rush. She had told him his time was up – if he couldn’t set a date for getting married then obviously she wasn’t the right person for him. Had she actually said it was all over? Had she? What was she thinking?
She and Paolo had been flirting terribly; holding hands at one point. She remembered walking back to the hotel room. Paolo had been with her. He’d walked her to the lift, up the corridor, to her door. She felt a burning sensation in her chest, the heat rising until her face was glowing. Her eyes closed as she remembered.
Paolo had kissed her. And she had kissed him back. They had kissed. She was living with one man and had just kissed another. Passionately. What had happened to her? Who was she? A cheater?
Technically, it wasn’t cheating. She had broken up with James first. Although, were they broken up if he hadn’t yet listened to the message? Did that make it worse? Or better?
Shutting the shower off, she stood and let the water drip from her body. Focus. It was time to work out exactly where she was and what she needed to do next. What were the facts?
* * *
She had left a voicemail on James’ phone to say that she was leaving him.
This would mean she had nowhere to live.
She had been snogging someone who was (a) her work colleague and (b) quite possibly a complete philanderer.
She had to give a sales presentation this morning to the European Sales Director (Robert), which was not going to rock his world, which meant:
She could also be out of a job; and
The hangover from hell was just about to arrive.
* * *
Not bad work for one night, really.
Pulling a large fluffy towel around herself, she peered into the mirror above the sink. It wasn’t a pretty sight. Thank goodness there was no one here to see her looking like this.
Was that a knock on the door?
She listened. There was the knock again. She held her breath. Should she just ignore it? Then there was a voice.
‘Laura! Laura! Are you there?’
Breathing out in relief, Laura opened the door to Shannon. ‘Thank God it’s you.’
Shannon smiled broadly. ‘Well, well, well, and what have you been up to?’
How did she know? What had been said? ‘What do you mean?’
‘I was in the corridor in the early hours. I saw Paolo “walking you back to your room.”’ Shannon made mock quotation marks in the air for the last part. ‘You were being very affectionate.’
Groaning, Laura sat on the bed and put her head into her hands. ‘Shannon, I have a boyfriend. What have I done?’
Shannon wasn’t picking up the vibe of panic and fear in the room. She sat down next to Laura on the bed, crossed her arms and gave her a mock serious face. ‘Anything you want to tell me?’
Laura’s head shot up. ‘Nothing happened. It was just a kiss. Nothing else.’ She prayed that her memory was serving her well and shook her head at Shannon’s raised eyebrow. ‘Nothing!’
Shannon shrugged. ‘Oh, well. Good for you. You know I think you and Paolo would be a good match.’
‘Are you crazy? Apart from the fact I actually already live with someone – or at least I think I still do, and’ – Laura raised her finger to stop the predictable interruption – ‘that Paolo lives in a whole other country.’
Shannon shrugged again. ‘Long distance relationships can be fun. I’ve tried it a couple of times. Have you never heard of phone sex?’
Laura shuddered at the sex comment. Her delayed hangover had really started to make its presence felt and she could feel the beginning of a headache lapping the edge of her brain. All she wanted was to lie down. Not face Paolo. Not think about James. And definitely not present her sales figures to Robert in about two hours’ time.
Shannon was still looking at her. ‘There was another reason for me coming to see you.’
Laura’s heart sank. She knew exactly what Shannon was going to say. ‘The Machon order?’
Shannon nodded. ‘I checked this morning. They sent it late yesterday.’
Yesterday evening, Laura had had other things on her mind. Plus, she’d been checking her emails, not the internal reports. Damn. Damn. Damn. ‘I don’t suppose we can keep this from Robert?’
Shannon shook her head and squeezed Laura’s hand. ‘He’ll be checking it this morning too. But it’ll be okay. Explain to him what happened. It wasn’t your fault. He’ll understand.’
Laura very much doubted that, but she didn’t have any other option. ‘Okay. Thanks for letting me know.’
Shannon stood up. ‘I’ll go and let you get ready. I just wanted to check that you were okay and give you the heads-up on the return.’ She looked at her watch. ‘You have about half an hour left of breakfast and then we are starting in the Renoir Room. Do you need me to do anything?’
Laura shook her head. She’d checked her presentation a thousand times; there was no conceivable way to make the figures look any better than they did, whatever colour she made the bar charts. Especially now she’d have to factor in the return. ‘No, I think I’ve got everything, thanks.’
‘Okay. I’ll leave you to it.’ When Shannon got to the door, she turned back. ‘Seriously, though. Don’t rule Paolo out. He’s a good man.’
As she closed the door, Laura allowed herself to fall back on the bed. She hadn’t thought about calling James once.
* * *
The best cure for an impending hangover was a whole plate of carbohydrates in the form of every type of pastry from the breakfast buffet. Another reason to love Paris.
Paolo had already been snared by Robert when Laura arrived and the conversation didn’t look like fun, so she didn’t interrupt. Thankfully, Gabriella was nowhere to be seen, so she joined Sylvie, Andre and Henrik at their table. According to the schedule, they had about twenty minutes before their team meeting began.
‘All ready for the lion’s den?’ Henrik grinned at her over a large plate of cured meat and cheese.
Laura shrugged. ‘No. I’m just hopi
ng one of you has worse figures than mine so that Robert leaves in anger before he gets to me.’
Henrik nodded in Paolo’s direction. ‘I think the Italian numbers are the worst. I wouldn’t want to be in Paolo’s shoes at the moment.’
Laura chanced a glance in Paolo’s direction. He was nodding at Robert, who was clearly expounding one of his many theories of sales strategy. Poor guy. Was his hangover as bad as hers?
Shannon arrived at their table with a sheaf of papers and a smile. ‘Good morning, everyone. How are the heads this morning? There’s been a last-minute change of plan to the proceedings this morning. Robert is going to meet with you all individually. There won’t be a nine a.m. group meeting, so you can take your time over breakfast. Paolo will be first, Robert’s telling him now, and the rest of you just need to turn up to the Renoir Room at your appointed time.’ She handed out agendas.
This was new. Normally they all had to sit through the presentations from each country, in the interests of learning from good strategies or bad. Paolo and Robert were getting up from their table and leaving the breakfast room. Were they starting already? She hadn’t even had a chance to smile at Paolo, much less actually speak to him. There was something worrying about all this. Ominous.
Henrik had noticed them leave too. He nodded in the direction of the exit. ‘Judging by their faces, you might get your wish about sales figures, Laura.’
Now she felt sick. And it wasn’t the hangover. After Paolo, she was next.
Chapter Thirty-One
Kate
That morning, as usually happened when a new day dawned, everything seemed a little less bleak. Kate couldn’t remember the last time she’d had a full night’s uninterrupted sleep and, as her mum would say, she felt a lot better for it. After a long shower, she dressed slowly and carefully; she wanted to look perfect. She took care to apply just the right amount of make-up. Luke had always said that he didn’t like make-up on women, although every time Kate had been made up for a night out he would remark on how pretty she looked.
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