Mergers and Acquisitions

by A. E. Radley

  Sophie looked up. She swallowed and shrugged her shoulders.

  “Because no one is coming,” Kate supplied. “And why is no one coming?”

  “I-I…” Sophie stammered.

  “Because Georgina hasn’t told anyone. Now, why hasn’t she told anyone?”

  Sophie nervously fidgeted with her glasses. She pressed into the corner of the cart, seemingly trying to make herself as small as possible.

  “Because she wants us trapped in here,” Kate answered her own question. She looked at Sophie. Sophie who looked more frightened than someone who was simply afraid of Kate’s rant. She had the look of someone who knew something. Someone who was in some way to blame.

  Kate crouched down and looked Sophie straight in the eye. “What. Did. You. Do?”

  Chapter 34

  Georgina opened the sideboard in Kate’s office and smiled. She reached into its dark depths and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, then stood and plucked the phone from between her ear and her shoulder.

  “When do you think you’ll be home?” she asked.

  “Three days at the earliest,” Jessica replied with a chuckle. “Exactly like I told you earlier.”

  “Aw, can’t that be shortened?” Georgina felt herself pouting. She turned one of the unused glasses on Kate’s table over and poured herself a congratulatory drink. She sat down and put her feet up on Kate’s desk.

  “No, there are things I need to finish up here. Like I said earlier, I’ll be home as soon as I can. But I have obligations here.”

  “I know, I know,” Georgina murmured. This change in dynamic was going to take a while to get used to, but it was more than worth it to have Jessica back. Especially now that she knew the strength of Jessica’s feelings for her and the improbability of someone coming between them. No, now she knew that if the relationship was going to fail, it would be because of her and no one else. Modifying her own behaviour was all she needed to do to remain blissfully happy.

  “Besides, aren’t you busy trying to poach the Atrom account? Which, by the way, I think is a terrible thing to do,” Jessica said.

  “I’m not sure if it’s worth the trouble.” Georgina sipped at the whiskey, appreciating its rich vintage.

  “It’s all you’ve talked about for months,” Jessica pointed out.

  “I’m changing my perspective on things,” Georgina replied. “It’s the new me.”

  “I’m liking the new you.”

  Georgina smiled. “I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you, too. But remember that we both agreed to take this slowly. I’m not just going to come back and accept things the way they were, Georgina.”

  “I know, I understand and respect that. Like I said earlier, I will do my best to change.”

  Jessica chuckled. “Actually, I believe what you said was that you were an idiot.”

  Georgina bristled slightly. “I thought we agreed not to mention that again?”

  “No, I’m pretty sure no such agreement was made. Obviously, I’ll be sure not to overuse it. I’ll just bring it up when I really need to make a point.”

  “You’re a cruel woman, Jessica,” Georgina said with a smile.

  “Oh really? And here I was planning to fly to London to see you. Maybe I’ll be a few days longer…”

  Georgina sat up quickly. “No, please, darling. I want to see you as soon as possible.”

  Jessica’s laughter sounded down the line, and Georgina smiled. She’d missed that beautiful sound.

  “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Can’t have you walking around the city on your own for too long, someone will try to snatch you up,” Jessica joked.

  Georgina swallowed. “I should probably be honest and tell you that I dated someone.”

  “Wow, you don’t wait around, do you?” Jessica said, her voice was light and teasing. Georgina breathed a small sigh of relief.

  “It was very brief, we both did it for all the wrong reasons,” Georgina added.

  “Did you…?”

  “No! No, of course not. Jessica, I… you have to—”

  “I believe you, it’s okay. Even if you did, we had broken up. Who was she, if I may ask?”

  Georgina nervously licked her lips. She hoped she was doing the right thing by admitting what had happened. It would eventually come out anyway, so it was prudent that Jessica heard it from her now. “Kate Kennedy’s assistant.”

  “Jonathan?” Jessica spluttered.

  “No, a new girl, Sophie Young.”

  “Young,” Jessica chuckled. “And is she?”

  “Twenty-five,” Georgina admitted. She took another sip of whiskey.

  “You certainly have a type,” Jessica said.

  “It didn’t mean anything. As I said, it was short-lived, and we were both wrong to do it. Both replacements for each other’s true affections.”

  “She has a thing for Kate Kennedy?” Jessica asked.

  “Yes, and Kate for her.”

  “Oh my God, Kate Kennedy has a thing for her young female assistant?” Jessica all but squealed.

  Georgina chuckled. “Yes, I’ve seen the way they look at each other. There’s no denying it.”

  “Sophie dated you as a replacement for Kate? And you dated her as a replacement for me? And presumably to bug the hell out of Kate? Oh, Georgina, that was mean.”

  Georgina bit her lip. “I know.”

  “They’re just like us,” Jessica mused. “We have to get them together.”

  She had known Jessica would agree with her. Georgina was just proud to be one step ahead. “Already in motion,” she smirked.

  “What have you done?” Jessica’s voice turned cold and serious.

  “Jessica, there’s no need to take that tone—”

  “What. Have. You. Done?”

  Georgina swallowed. Suddenly she was reminded of all the times she had incorrectly read a situation and Jessica had to be drafted in to mop up her mess. She had to admit it had happened a few times. Maybe a lot of times. In fact, it was probably most of the time.

  She coughed to clear her throat. “I may have arranged to have them trapped in an elevator together.”

  Jessica sighed, a sigh that Georgina knew meant she had done the wrong thing. A sigh that usually preceded a very exact explanation of what she had done wrong. But first came the shouting.

  “Why on earth did you do that?” Jessica yelled.

  “It worked for us,” Georgina exclaimed.

  “Barely!”

  Georgina frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Georgina,” Jessica sounded exasperated. “Do you even remember that day?”

  “Of course I do,” she lied. She’d long since forgotten the exact details. All that lingered were the results.

  “So, you remember how awkward that time stuck together was? You remember how we eventually started to talk, but I had to push every single step of the way? You remember how I asked you out and you rapidly shot me down with every reason you could think of? You recall perfectly how I fought, fought hard, to get you to agree to go out to one dinner with me? You remember all of that?”

  Georgina swallowed. “Well…”

  “Oh, Georgina, what have you done? I know you don’t want to hear this, but the truth can be painful. Kate Kennedy, she’s a lot like you.”

  Georgina scoffed.

  “She is! I’m sorry, but you two are very similar. The real question here is, is Sophie like me? Will she be persistent? Does she know what she wants? Will she go for it with all her heart? Will she be able to stand up to Kate?”

  Georgina considered the matter. She knew in her heart that Sophie would collapse like an over-whipped soufflé. Her silence spoke volumes.

  “Oh, this is a disaster,” Jessica muttered. “Why didn’t you wait until you’d spoken to me? You know you don’t do matters of the heart.”

  “I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought they would be together by the time you arrived, and I could tell you that I did it.” Geor
gina got to her feet and started to pace the room. “I thought you’d be happy.”

  “How did you even do it?”

  “There’s an IT technician with no balls.”

  “You made one of Kate’s own staff lock her in an elevator?” Jessica sighed.

  “Yes. What’s wrong with that?” Georgina wasn’t sure what was wrong with the situation, but Jessica was sighing a lot. She started to wish that she’d never gotten involved. Matchmaking was obviously a lot more convoluted than she imagined.

  “Let them out before it makes matters worse. If they are secretly pining over each other, then trapping them in an elevator might make things worse.”

  Georgina sneered. “Why do you think that?”

  “Because they’re both afraid of rejection and have their walls up. If neither has a clue that the other is interested, then they’ll be on the defensive. You can’t just recreate our situation and assume the same thing will happen. For someone so intelligent, Georgina, you can certainly be an idiot sometimes.”

  Georgina huffed as she stormed out of Kate’s office. “You might be right,” she allowed.

  “So, let them out.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  Georgina stood by the IT technician’s desk. “The ball-less wonder has gone home. He didn’t want to be around when Kate was released back into the wild.”

  “So, how were they going to be released?” Jessica asked.

  “It’s on a timer.”

  “A timer?”

  “Yes, an hour and a half and then it would start up again.” Georgina was experiencing a sinking feeling. Her brilliant plan suddenly didn’t seem quite so brilliant.

  “Well, can you undo it?” Jessica asked.

  Georgina looked at the screensaver. She wiggled the mouse. “His computer is locked.”

  Jessica sighed. “Okay, call maintenance. At least make an effort to get them out before things go bad.”

  Chapter 35

  Kate watched as Sophie pressed herself into the corner of the corner of the elevator cart.

  “Don’t make me ask you again,” Kate said.

  “I…” Sophie trailed off.

  “This has a Sophie Young trademarked mess written all over it. What have you done?” Kate asked again. She stood over the girl, her arms folded as she glared down at her menacingly.

  “I didn’t do anything, I promise.”

  Kate pursed her lips. She didn’t believe her for one second. Sophie was almost hyperventilating. She knew something and wasn’t willing to let it go, despite Kate’s best efforts. Sophie looked up at her pleadingly, clearly wishing for the interrogation to stop.

  “You’re seriously expecting me to believe that your girlfriend—”

  “She’s not my girlfriend,” Sophie interrupted.

  “Oh?” Kate raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t new information, but it was from a new source. “Did she dump you for a graduate?”

  “No! We agreed that we weren’t right for each other.” Sophie broke eye contact to fidget with her glasses.

  Kate folded her arms. She took a couple of steps back, giving Sophie some breathing room. She may be angry, but her pressuring Sophie wasn’t going to get them their freedom any quicker.

  “She was too old for you, I presume?” Kate fished.

  “No,” Sophie whispered.

  “Too… shapely?” Kate raised a questioning eyebrow.

  Sophie swallowed. “No, just not… the right person. We wanted different things.”

  “Clearly she wanted Jessica.” Kate leaned against the opposite wall of the cart and looked at Sophie. “But what did you want?”

  Sophie cheeks blushed intensely. She looked down at her lap where she nervously twisted her hands.

  “That’s private,” she murmured.

  “I… of course, I’m sorry,” Kate said. She felt terrible for pushing Sophie when she clearly didn’t want to talk about it. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have questioned you like that. I was just stressed about the situation. I apologise.”

  Sophie looked up and gave her a small nod of acknowledgement. Her big blue eyes looked so sad, and Kate felt her heart clench. She wanted to reach out, but she knew it was inappropriate.

  She took a quick breath. This was the last thing she wanted right now. To be stuck with Sophie Young, virtual puppy. She spun around and tried the alarm button again.

  Forty minutes had passed. Kate had given up figuring out why Georgina had locked them in there. She had even given up hope of ever being let out. She sat on the floor with her legs stretched out in front of her. She’d taken her heels off and placed them next to her coat and bag, all neatly stacked up as a barrier between her and Sophie.

  Not that Sophie had remained sitting for long. As soon as Kate had stretched out, Sophie was on her feet and pressing buttons on the control panel. Kate watched as Sophie tried every button multiple times in multiple ways. Even some together. She’d taken a panel off the wall and started messing around with the wires inside when Kate couldn’t stand it anymore.

  “You’ll electrocute yourself in a minute,” Kate pointed out. “And I’m not good with dead bodies.”

  Sophie dropped the wires she held in her hands. She turned around and looked at Kate. After a moment of contemplation, she sat down opposite her.

  So much for my barrier, Kate mused.

  “Maybe we could talk?” Sophie offered.

  “And just what are we going to talk about?” Kate asked. She sighed in feigned boredom, hoping to throw Sophie off the idea.

  “Um… well, I’m… I’m going to paint my bedroom,” Sophie started. “It’s sort of a lilac colour. It’s nice.”

  Kate stared at Sophie.

  “Okay, um… I… h-have you seen Game of Thrones?” Sophie tried again.

  Kate reached into her bag for her mobile phone and stared intently at the screen. She needed space, and this certainly wasn’t it. How was she supposed to push aside her feelings for Sophie if she was stuck in a box with her?

  And now Sophie wanted to talk to her. Down this path it would only be ten minutes before they were braiding each other’s hair and swapping stories of high school romances. She needed to get things back onto a professional level. She couldn’t think about the colour of Sophie’s bedroom walls or picture her watching television after work.

  “Did you get that courier package off to Yannis?”

  “Yes, he signed for it at three.”

  “Good. I need you to send me the latest online advertising stats for the Malloy account.”

  Sophie picked up her phone and started to type a note to herself. “I’ll do it as soon as we’re out of here. I’m sure it won’t be long.”

  “It will be as long as Georgina desires. She clearly has something to do with this.” Kate looked over her phone and met Sophie’s eyes. She couldn’t stand that Sophie was keeping something from her. “And you know something. Don’t think I don’t see that.”

  “I-I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Yes, you do,” Kate pressed. She wanted answers. Time was dragging on and they were no closer to freedom. She had a right to know what was happening. “You sit there, looking so innocent. Like butter wouldn’t melt. But you know something and you’re refusing to tell me. Still loyal towards her, I see.”

  Sophie lowered her phone and stared at her. “I have never been disloyal to you. I would never—”

  “Oh, come on, you knew that going to her for career advice would push me,” Kate accused. “You saw an opportunity to change the balance of power in my office. And you took it.”

  “I never—”

  “You wormed your way into my office,” Kate continued.

  “Jonathan told me to take over,” Sophie argued.

  “And then you took the first chance you saw to belittle me in front of my staff!”

  “I didn’t!”

  “And now you know something is up. I’m locked in here for a reason, and you,” she pointed
her finger, “you know why. But you refuse to tell me. Because you’re still involved in something with her.”

  The elevator cart lurched. Suddenly they were moving again. As soon as the doors opened, Sophie grabbed her things and ran, nearly colliding with Georgina as she did so. Kate got to her feet. She glared at Georgina and the elevator engineer.

  “I’m sorry, there was a fault, and for some reason the alarm didn’t sound. Miss Masters came to get me,” the engineer said.

  Kate shooed him away with a flick of her hand, but all the while she stared at Georgina. She grabbed her belongings off the floor and stalked out of the cart.

  “What on earth did you do?” she demanded.

  Georgina looked to where Sophie was hurrying to the other side of the floor, making a beeline for the stairwell. “You should go after her,” Georgina suggested.

  “Why don’t you? You’re her ex-girlfriend after all,” Kate replied bitterly.

  “Because she’s in love with you, you moron,” Georgina said.

  Kate felt her mouth drop open. She stared at Georgina in surprise. “What?”

  “Sophie is in love with you. And I’m pretty sure you feel the same way. You need to go after her, go after her, and tell her you’re an idiot.”

  Kate leaned against the wall as she watched the door to the stairwell close behind Sophie.

  She shook her head. “Is this some kind of sick joke?” she demanded.

  Georgina shook her own head. “No, no joke. I’ve seen the way she looks at you. She’s all but admitted to me that she has feelings for you. And I know you feel the same about her. I was,” she sighed, “I was trying to fix things. Trying to help you. But I’m really bad at this.”

  “I’ll say,” Kate agreed.

  “Look, let’s go and get that drink,” Georgina said. “I have some things to explain.”

  Chapter 36

  Georgina waited for the bartender to pour two large glasses of wine. She stood, anxiously tapping her bank card on the bar. Looking in the mirror behind the bar, she could see Kate at their table. She still looked shell-shocked and confused. Luckily at least, the anger had waned.