‘Yes,’ Hayley acknowledged guardedly. She supposed there wasn’t much harm in their knowing that. Everyone was bound to find out eventually.
‘Well, that was quick,’ the blonde said. ‘Audrey’s seat is hardly cold and he’s filled it already.’ She grimaced. ‘I don’t see why he couldn’t have given the job to one of us.’
The other rather mousy girl giggled. ‘That would have pleased her ladyship...I don’t think.’
‘She’s not going to be too pleased when she hears this bit of news either.’
They stood up to leave, obviously agog to pass on their snippet of information. The blonde placed a hand on Hayley’s arm and said confidentially and seemingly without rancour, ‘Lucky you. He’s a stunner, isn’t he?’ She made an assessing survey of Hayley’s appearance. ‘Make the most of having him to yourself. When Audrey finds out what you look like, my guess is she’ll get better in a hurry.’
The mousy girl giggled. ‘Nothing short of a minor miracle.’
They left, and Hayley heard them giggling all along the corridor, probably bound for the typing pool.
She had a sticky bun and a cup of tea and went to sit in the corner by the window, ruminating on what the girls had said. It was obvious that Audrey Blake wasn’t too popular with some of the other girls, who seemed rather less than sympathetic at the news of her accident. Most of it was probably jealousy, since they just as obviously lusted after Marcus Maury, or at least the job as his secretary. If she was here for any length of time she would be bound to come in for her own share of catty remarks.
She took the coffee back to the office, wondering if he might have wanted a sticky bun with it. On the whole, she thought not. His hard, muscular body showed no tendency towards flab, and she guessed he would not be an admirer of junk food.
The door to her room was open and she pushed it wider, her attention on the cup of coffee and the task of making sure none of it spilled over into the saucer. She almost dropped it in surprise as the couple embracing in the room moved apart at her entrance.
By superhuman effort, she managed to steady the cup in its saucer and cover her embarrassment.
‘I hope I haven’t kept you waiting too long for your coffee,’ she said, managing to sound unperturbed.
‘Not at all.’ There was not the smallest hint of embarrassment on Marcus Maury’s countenance, and he didn’t hurry to remove his arm from about the woman’s waist as he indicated to Hayley that she should put the coffee cup on the desk. ‘Could you manage to find another for Miss Braun?’
‘Of course.’ Hayley had recognised the young actress. She was hard to mistake, with glowing red hair and a wide gleaming smile, only slightly fixed as her gaze rested on Hayley.
‘Oh, don’t bother for me, Marcus, darling. I drink too much of the stuff anyway, and I haven’t time to stop.’ She tossed a thick tress of hair out of her eyes in an elegant gesture. ‘Won’t you introduce me?’
‘Yes, of course. This is Hayley Morgan. She’s taken over today, in lieu of Audrey Blake, who’s had an accident.’ To Hayley’s surprise he added, ‘So far quite capably, I’m relieved to say.’
To Hayley he said, ‘I presume you know Miss Felicity Braun.’
Looking into the girl’s assessing hazel-green eyes, Hayley thought she probably knew her rather better than he did himself. Or, at least, the actress was being very transparent at the moment. Her expression was definitely territorial and issued a subtle warning to trespassers.
‘Yes, of course,’ Hayley agreed with a formal little smile. ‘My flatmate is a great fan of Miss Braun’s.’ And then, because that sounded a bit double-edged, she added hastily, ‘I am too, of course.’
‘Thank you.’ Felicity’s eyes turned glacial. ‘I’m sure Marcus is very lucky to have found you to step into the breach so quickly and so efficiently. Most agency staff are notoriously inept these days.’
Ouch! That puts me in my place, Hayley thought, with a spurt of wry inner amusement. She might have disputed the agency dig, but that wasn’t the point at issue, she knew. Was the jealousy personal, she wondered, or did it extend to any female who came within touching distance of Marcus Maury? Hayley was inclined to think the latter, ruminating that the job of defending that magnificent specimen of manhood against predatory females would undoubtedly be an exhausting occupation.
What a pity Hayley couldn’t reassure Felicity that the actress’s presence in Marcus Maury’s life was far from being an annoyance. It made Hayley feel safe. At least she needn’t fear being the recipient of her boss’s unwanted attentions, with this vigilant lioness about.
Hayley was dismissed with that distinctive toss of the head, and moved around to sit at her desk as Felicity drew Marcus towards his office, shutting the door firmly once she’d got him inside.
Hayley was unaware it had opened again, seconds later, until she felt a hand on her shoulder.
With a muffled cry she wrenched away, turning to face him with a look of defensive anger, which quickly turned to embarrassment as she saw his astonishment.
‘I...I’m sorry. For a moment I thought...’
She ground miserably to a halt.
‘That I was going to attack you, judging by your reaction.’
‘No. I was just surprised.’ She took a deep steadying breath. ‘Did you want something?’
A frown formed between his brows. ‘Just my coffee.’
He reached around her to the desk to pick up his cup, and she stood there, tense and on edge.
‘I didn’t take you for the nervous type,’ he said a little shortly. ‘Relax! I’m not going to bite!’
‘I’m sorry,’ she apologised again. ‘My first day. It’s been a bit unnerving.’
He nodded and moved away with his cup. He seemed suddenly anxious to get back to his office.
‘Yes. Well, don’t overdo it,’ he said absently. ‘Perhaps you’d better store what you’ve done so far and go home.’
He didn’t toss his hair, but it was distinctly a dismissal, Hayley noted, trying not to feel irrational annoyance. Miss Braun might not be able to stay long, but they obviously intended to make the most of the time she had available. And Hayley was definitely extra to requirements.
* * *
‘Where on earth have you been?’ Anthea was sitting in the kitchen with a plate of beans on toast in front of her. ‘I was beginning to get really worried.’
Hayley flopped down tiredly into a seat opposite, kicked off her shoes, and stretched out her long legs.
‘I’ve been working like a slave all day.’ She eyed the beans on toast with a sigh. ‘Is that all there is to eat? I’m starving.’
‘So was I,’ Anthea said, sounding cross. ‘I hung on as long as I could in case you were bringing something in...perhaps a pizza or...’ She stopped. ‘What do you mean? Working all day? Where?’
Hayley laughed. ‘You’re so quick on the uptake sometimes it amazes me.’
‘Skip the comedy.’ Anthea pushed her plate away. ‘Have you got a job? I mean, a real job.’
‘It’s real enough. For the time being. I’ve been taken on temporarily by the Maury Corporation. I’m to stand in for the managing director’s secretary, who’s had an accident.’
‘Wow!’ Anthea sat back in her seat with a stunned expression on her face. ‘You’re working for Marcus Maury?’
‘Yes. Why? Do you know him?’
Hayley remembered Marcus Maury’s disbelief that she hadn’t recognised him. Perhaps he’d had a right to be surprised after all.
‘I know of him. There’s something about him in the papers all the time,’ Anthea said. ‘And I’ve seen photographs. He’s quite nice-looking, isn’t he?’
The photographs couldn’t have done him that much justice, Hayley thought in amusement, otherwise Anthea would have recognised him at the station, where she’d admired him only as the latest acquisition of Felicity Braun.
For some reason, now the time had come to reveal her surprise, Hayley felt disincline
d to reveal it. If nothing came of this job, maybe it would be less embarrassing if he remained a shadowy figure labelled ‘boss’.
‘He’s not bad,’ she said offhandedly. ‘A bit of a perfectionist, perhaps.’
‘And a slave-driver too, by the sound of it!’ Anthea said critically, adding firmly, ‘Well, if you’re sensible you’ll begin as you mean to go on and let him see you don’t intend to be put upon.’
Hayley laughed. ‘I’ll try. At the moment I’m too busy trying to keep my head above water to be bothered with planned strategies.’
‘Well, first things first, I suppose,’ Anthea conceded and then added belligerently, ‘And don’t forget to let him know, while you’re at it, that you won’t put up with any of the other nonsense either.’
Hayley felt a rush of affection for her friend. ‘I don’t think I need have any worries in that direction. He already has...a girlfriend.’
Now she knew Marcus Maury a little better she thought the retaliatory kiss he’d given her on the train had been merely a reaction to her challenge to his male pride. What else could it have been, when he already had the vibrantly beautiful Miss Braun in his life?
Anthea cried scornfully, ‘Since when’s that been any guarantee?’
‘Since I met her this afternoon.’ Hayley laughed. ‘And believe me, even if I wanted to, which I don’t, I wouldn’t get a look-in.’
‘Don’t be too sure,’ Anthea said darkly.
But Hayley did want to be sure. There was no way she would be able to suffer the furtive gropings... She caught herself up impatiently. Could she really tar every man, including Marcus Maury, with Frank Heaton’s squalid brush? The kisses on the train her been at her instigation, forced on him by circumstances. He had kissed her back merely to punish her.
But from the moment she’d stepped through his office door he’d been correctness itself. It was time to regain her sense of perspective. All men were not the same, she assured herself desperately. Look at Martin Lukes, who had found it possible to convey friendly admiration without leers or lunges.
‘To change the subject,’ Hayley said determinedly, ‘I’m starving.’ She groaned, putting her hand to the aching void that was her stomach. ‘Is this really all we have in the larder?’
Anthea stood up with a laugh and ladled beans over two pieces of overdone toast, handing the plate to Hayley.
‘No. But it will have to do for tonight. Now you’re working I suppose I’ll have to take my turn at cooking, but I warn you, I’m no galloping gourmet, and you’ll just have to put up with my efforts.’
Hayley groaned. ‘If this burnt offering you call toast is any sample of what I can expect, perhaps I’d be better off eating out when it’s your turn at the cooker.’
‘You may be right. But anyway, we’ll certainly be eating out on Saturday.’ Anthea grinned widely. ‘My day hasn’t exactly been without its excitements either. What do you think I managed to get?’
‘I don’t know.’ Hayley eyed her beans without enthusiasm. They were cold and already beginning to congeal unappetisingly. ‘Surprise me.’
‘Two tickets for the première of Felicity Braun’s new film. If you grovel enough I might condescend to take you and stand you a meal later, to celebrate both pieces of good luck.’
Looking at Anthea’s glowing face, Hayley tried to feel some excitement. Perhaps it was tiredness, but she felt, perversely, that she’d get more pleasure out of staying at home to wash her hair.
CHAPTER THREE
MARCUS MAURY was already in the office when Hayley arrived next morning, punctually at eight-thirty.
She’d woken with an inexplicable glow...a desire to leap out of bed to start the day. For a moment, still not quite fully conscious, she had been at a loss to explain the phenomenon. It was a long time since she had felt such enthusiasm for work. And then she remembered. It wouldn’t be Mr Heaton Senior awaiting her arrival, with Junior lurking in the corridors, but Marcus Maury.
He looked up as she entered his office, to give her an approving nod. ‘Glad to see you’re punctual, Miss Morgan.’
Hayley fought down the flush which crept beneath her pale creamy skin.
She said, coolly efficient, ‘I’ve brought up the mail. Do you want me to do that first?’
‘If you would. Bring it in when you’re ready. I’ll sort through, but won’t be dictating today, unless it’s something important. The priority is the minutes of yesterday’s meeting. I’d like you to finish them some time today.’
He seemed a little detached, his head lowered again over his diary. Hayley found herself wishing he’d look up and afford her another glance from those blue, blue eyes. But perhaps best not.
Each encounter brought a fresh reminder of his good looks. As always, he was immaculately dressed, this morning in a blue-grey suit and pale blue shirt which enhanced his slight tan and gave him a healthy, virile look that had her trembling inside.
‘I should manage it,’ she said, determinedly dragging her mind back from forbidden paths, and then wondered why she wanted so much to impress him. She couldn’t really understand why it meant so much to her. It wasn’t just that she needed the job. ‘I was about halfway through yesterday.’
‘Good girl.’ The sun came out in a blinding flash as he glanced up and smiled, a real smile that deepened the blue of his eyes. Hayley’s liberated soul hated the small condescension, but the rest of her couldn’t help basking in the brief warmth.
The glow lasted until disaster struck.
Sitting in front of the computer half an hour later, she simply couldn’t believe her eyes. The work she’d so carefully saved before leaving yesterday was nowhere to be seen. She’d listed the file in her log under ‘Minutes 1’, but there was no trace of that file anywhere that it might have been. And though she searched for another hour, she had eventually to give up and accept that, somehow, goodness knew how, she’d lost it.
With the stress he placed on efficiency, the prospect of having to confess the loss to Marcus Maury loomed dauntingly, but she would have to tell him, and it would be better to do so sooner rather than later, because she was going to have to retype the lost work all over again from scratch, which meant there was no chance she would finish the whole thing today.
She got up, with a reluctant sigh, and crossed to his door. He was on the telephone. She couldn’t hear what he was saying, but from the softened tone of his voice she guessed he wasn’t speaking to a colleague. Probably Felicity Braun, she thought, with a little spurt of irritation.
Her watch said nearly ten-thirty, the time of the official tea-break. Perhaps she should have a cup first, before bearding the lion in his den with the bad news. It might steady her nerves a little too.
The tea room was rather fuller than it had been yesterday afternoon, and Hayley was half tempted to go back to her office. She was in no mood this morning for curious appraisals and whispered remarks.
But the little blonde was there, and Hayley was forced to acknowledge her cheery wave. She got into the small queue at the counter and was less than pleased when the blonde got up to join her.
‘I could do with another cup of tea,’ the girl said brightly. ‘Slaving over a hot computer is thirsty work.’
‘Yes.’ Hayley’s response was unenthusiastic.
‘Especially when things go wrong, hey?’ She pulled a wry face. ‘A whole lot of effort gone up the spout.’
Hayley’s attention was caught. ‘You’ve lost something on your computer?’
‘Yes, everybody has.’ She nodded at Hayley. ‘Except you, possibly. I don’t suppose you had time to do very much in the way of work on your first day.’
‘I did, as a matter of fact. Half the minutes of a very long meeting. And Mr Maury wanted them finished today.’
‘Phew!’ The girl blew out her cheeks sympathetically. ‘You poor thing!’
‘Yes,’ Hayley agreed glumly. ‘How did it happen? Do you know?’
‘Not exactly. But we’ve got a good ide
a.’ She nodded towards the mousy girl with whom she’d been sitting yesterday. ‘Theresa’s still fairly new here. She’s still not sure what she’s doing on the computer, and about fourish yesterday afternoon she tried to move a file from one of her own discs into the main computer memory. Nobody, including herself, knows what she did exactly, but it blanked out everybody’s screen, losing everything that hadn’t already been saved. We all lost something.’
‘But I was sure I had saved my work,’ Hayley said vexedly. ‘I pressed all the right buttons before it vanished.’
The blonde shrugged sympathetically. ‘You probably timed it a split second too late to escape from Theresa’s blundering efforts.’
Hayley groaned. ‘And there’s nothing anyone can do?’
‘Not that I know of.’ Her brow wrinkled in thought. ‘Sometimes things get saved on the universal memory, and can be dug up, but I don’t know how to get into it. If I did, I’d dig up my own stuff.’
Hayley let out a sigh. Well, at least she wasn’t the only one with problems. And it was a relief to know her loss wasn’t the result of her own folly. Though how far that would go in saving her from Marcus Maury’s annoyance it was difficult to say.
Hayley took him back a black coffee. When he heard what had happened, he’d probably need it. He was off the telephone and hunched over a pile of paperwork on his desk. He looked up with the hint of a smile as she handed him his coffee.
‘Thanks.’ He took the cup and saucer and made space for it on his littered desk. ‘How’s it going?’
Hayley had intended waiting until she’d taken a last look through the computer files before saying anything about the lost manuscript, but decided he would be furious, once he did know, that the news had been delayed.
‘I’m afraid there’s a bit of a problem.’
Briefly, without laying too much emphasis on the inept Theresa’s part in the situation, she explained what had happened.
He didn’t actually swear aloud, but she saw the movement of his lips. For a moment he closed his eyes as though he couldn’t bear to look at her, then he straightened up and asked crisply, ‘What’s the likelihood of the thing being completed today?’
When Strangers Meet Page 4
