by Katie Dowe
“You mean to work in one of those huge financial holdings of yours?” she shook her head. “I'm content being a school teacher. That is what I'm good at. Big businesses scare me.”
He looked around the homely room and saw the cheerful throw rugs and the slightly worn furnishings. “Are you sure you don’t want me to get you a bigger place?”
Lina laughed in delight. “I love the fact that you want to take care of me Julian. I love having you as a big brother, but no, I'm quite happy with things the way they are.”
“If you need anything please let me know.”
“The money I got from you is more than I could possibly need.” She squeezed his hands. “How is your mother?”
“Doing much better.” He got to his feet and so did she, and he could see the look of disappointment on her attractive face. He didn't get to spend a lot of time with her but she understood and was so grateful for the time she got that it was heartbreaking. “I promise to keep in touch.”
“I wish I could go and look after your mother while you're gone,” she said wistfully as she followed him to the door.
“So do I.” he took her hands in his and held them. “But remember what we talked about.”
“I know. She doesn't know about me and we don’t want to shatter her illusion about her husband.” Her grey green eyes, the replica of his, looked up at him. “Go please, and be careful on the streets. It’s icy out there.”
“Take care.” He hugged her briefly and then left, knowing that she was standing there looking after him and making sure he drove off safely.
He drove off with a wistful smile on his face and wished things were different.
Chapter 2
“As you can see Mr. Gessner, the place is magnificent and there is no need to really redecorate. Unless, of course, you want to,” Annika Fearon added hastily as she glanced up at the tall, handsome man silently looking around the huge living room. She'd gotten the call while she had been just about to show a place over at Lincoln and when she'd heard the name of the potential client she'd passed the Lincoln place on to one of her associates quickly. Julian Gessner was a name that could open doors for her, besides, she'd also heard that he was single. Who knew, maybe this was her chance to finally land herself a wealthy husband and get back into the society she rightfully belonged to. Annika Fearon was a former socialite who had fallen on hard times when her parents had messed up in their investments. Now she had the degrading job of showing houses to people she'd rubbed shoulders with in her previous life. She couldn't wait to get back to her original life. She'd put on more makeup than usual and had chosen brand new suit, one that would more probably be more appropriate for a formal occasion but she wanted to make a lasting impression.
Julian took one last look around and went over to the window to look out over the lush lawns. He could have chosen a condo, but he'd decided not to. Speculation had been flying around even before he'd come into town, wondering if he was going to be taking over all the banks that were failing.
*****
He wanted absolute privacy and he'd stressed that when he'd called the agency. The place was too big for one person, but he was going to be spending a lot of time here and eventually possibly even settling. He hadn't said anything to his mother or his sister yet but he had no intention of telling them until he'd decided. The place was secluded with a towering fence and there were no neighbors for miles. It was perfect.
“I’ll take it.” His deep voice sounded in the room and caused Annika to jump a little.
“I will prepare the paperwork as soon as I get back to the office.” She said, it was obvious she was trying to hide her excitement.
“Could you please leave me alone for a few minute?” It wasn't a request, he expected her obey him. She did automatically.
“Of course, I will just head on back.” She hesitated for a second and then asked, “Will you be occupying the place all by yourself?”
He turned to look at her, his grey-green eyes wandering over her face coolly. “Am I required to tell you that?”
“Of course not! I just wanted to make sure everything is as it should be.”
“It is,” he nodded his head in dismissal.
“I'll be in touch,” Annika told him and made a hasty retreat.
Julian watched her drive out from his position at the window with an amused smile playing on his lips. He knew women like her. He'd read up about the agency before he had made the call and knew that she'd been wealthy before the market had taken her parents’ money and she'd been forced to work. He knew that it must be hard on her but he wasn't into feeling sorry for people who landed on their feet. Her name had secured her a cushy job and she got a hefty commission. It could have been worse. He'd grown up with wealth but never took it for granted. He worked hard to maintain the company that had been in his family for several generations, and had added to the growing establishment and made it his own. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his dress pants and stared over the lawns a little moodily. He was restless and edgy as his mind went to his father. He'd grown up admiring the way his parents lived. His father had been an important man in Zurich but had never allowed that to stop him from spending time with his family. He'd thought that they were the perfect couple until this illusion had been shattered when he'd discovered the child his father had with another woman. His mother still thought of her husband as being the standup perfect husband and he wasn't going to be the one to shatter her illusion. He was very careful when he went to see his sister and made sure to keep all financial transactions discreet in order to keep the secret away from the press. Whatever they did made news and he had no intention of them airing their dirty laundry for the world to read. His sister Lina lived a very simple life and he didn't want to change that. He moved away from the window and walked around the living room. The air conditioner had been left on and the cool air permeated the rooms. There were four bedrooms with their own baths and a huge kitchen, which he wouldn't be using much. He was going to have to hire someone to take care of the place, he thought with a slight frown. He stepped down the few stairs and into a foyer that had rooms on either side. He'd chosen a sunken bedroom as his own with an adjoining bathroom. The décor pleased him: smoky grey with a hint of green. The curtains were a match and gave the place a pleasant look. With a final glance around he left the place. He had a luncheon at the club.
*****
“I wish you would talk to me.” Brian looked at his sister curiously as she took her seat at the table. His wife Alyssa was in the kitchen making a salad to go with the meal that she'd brought out.
“When you talk to me,” Sydney sipped the wine and looked at her brother. She loved him even though she hated the fact that he was so unambitious. She'd tried to get him to expand his business but he'd told her that he wasn't like her and that he was content with where he was. He looked tired and drawn and she'd seen the tension between him and Alyssa. She had a feeling that her sister-in-law wished she was somewhere else.
“What’s to tell?” he asked her casually as he sipped his wine. They were out on the small porch where they had meals in the summer. A lazy breeze stirred the parched leaves on the trees and the scent of peonies permeated the air. The place had belonged to their parents and had been left to both of them. Sydney had given him her share of it and had ignored his protests. “You have a wife now Bri,” she'd told him gently. “I'm fine.”
He hadn't done much to the place and Sydney could see the cracks in the walls and that the porch needed stripping and polishing. She couldn't blame Alyssa for her disillusionment. But that still didn't give her reasons to step out on her brother, as Sydney suspected she was doing. She looked up as the girl came with the salad bowl. There was a pout to her lips and a strained look on her face. Alyssa Manchester was a fairly pretty girl with spiky natural hair and dark brown skin. She'd put on some weight in the last year and it didn't look very good on her. What happened to them?
“I have to go into the offi
ce,” she said petulantly as she avoided her sister-in-law’s gaze.
“On a Saturday?” Brian asked her heatedly.
“I'm an employee Brian, and my salary pays most of the bills here,” she told him coldly.
“You don’t have to rub it in,” he told her bitterly. “I'm doing my best.”
“Are you?”
Sydney felt the discomfort of the escalating argument and knew she had to put an end to it. “Guys, there's no need for this,” she said soothingly. She looked at her sister-in-law for a moment. “I'm sure Alyssa wouldn't be going to the office if it wasn't important work. Would you?”
The girl shifted uncomfortably and avoided her eyes. “No,” She muttered.
“Good,” Sydney said briskly. “I'll keep Brian company until you get back. When will that be?”
The woman looked as if she wanted to tell her to mind her own business but thought better of it. “In three hours or so.”
“I'll be here,” Sydney said firmly.
The girl hurried away and Sydney turned to look at her brother, who was staring out across the parched grass. The heat shimmered off the plants and the humidity was a little suffocating. Sydney had made allowances for the heat by wearing a cool cotton romper that came to mid-thigh. Her thick hair was twisted into a ponytail and pinned up off her neck.
“She's seeing someone else. Probably one of those asshole accountants at her office.”
“You don’t know that,” Sydney pointed out, although she suspected as much.
“The signs are all there, sis. We don't talk to each other and when I touch her she moves away. Where did it all go wrong?”
“She said she's paying most of the bills.” Sydney leaned forward and forced him to look at her. “What is going on?”
“Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about.” He stopped short of patting her hand.
“Don’t do that Brian!” she told him sharply. “Talk to me.”
He sighed. “I haven't worked in a couple of weeks,” he admitted reluctantly. “The drought and the heat of summer aren't very good for the lawn mowing business.”
“So do something else in the meantime. You have a wife to take care of Brian, and if you aren't the man in your own house, someone else will be,” she said impatiently.
“Are you taking her side?”
Sydney sighed. “I'm not taking anyone’s side, Brian. I love you and you know that, but I'm being real. She's frustrated and I can see why.”
“She's lucky that we live mortgage-free and rent-free,” he muttered.
“But there are other bills and she's probably looking at the fact that you weren't the one who bought this place.”
“We got it because of me,” he insisted.
“That’s not good enough,” Sydney said in exasperation. She couldn't believe he was her brother. “You need to earn a living or you're going to lose her.”
“Maybe I already have.”
*****
Marco Purcell brushed invisible lint from his tailored jacket and forced his knees to stop their trembling. Gessner had asked him to lunch at an exclusive restaurant, that even as a banker he'd never been able to afford. On top of that he was kept waiting, no doubt as a sign of not only disrespect but probably to show who had the upper hand. He hadn't asked to see him at the bank but here at the restaurant and he had little doubt why. He'd been pouring over the books with the accountants and although he'd paid back some of what he'd ‘borrowed’, Marco knew that it would still show up. It was now official, Gessner Financials had bought Midwest and would be taking over in a month. Changes were going to be made. He snapped to his feet as the tall, commanding figure of Julian Gessner came forward with the eager restaurant manager preceding him. People turned to stare at him and Marco felt envy pulling at him. No matter how long he lived he would never be able to command that amount of attention. “Mr. Purcell,” he said briefly as he extended a hand.
“Mr. Gessner, a pleasure,” he said a little nervously.
“Just a limeade for me please. I'll let you know what we'll have to eat in a few minutes,” he said to the manager.
“Of course sir,” the man bowed as if he was facing royalty and Marco suspected that he was in fact richer than most kings.
“Thank you for meeting me,” Julian said as soon as they were seated.
As if I had a choice, Marco thought darkly. “No problem,” he said out loud.
“I'll be moving my team in to streamline the bank as soon as possible,” Julian said without preamble as soon as their drinks were brought to them.
Marco felt a dart of fear go through him and he stared at the man in front of him. He was dressed in a casual blue cotton shirt, which looked anything but casual, and his dark brown hair was a little mussed but his face was as hard as granite. “What about the current employees?”
“And you?” Julian seemed slightly amused as he looked right through him.
“Yes, of course. But my employees have a right—”
“They're not actually your employees anymore, Mr. Purcell,” Julian interrupted him.
“I mean—” Marco gestured with his hands helplessly.
“The people who work there at the moment have a job for now. I'm assessing and deciding who goes and who stays.”
“I worked hard—”
“You worked cunningly,” Julian interrupted him again. “Or seemingly cunningly. You've been pilfering money for years. I'm going to give you a chance to pay back what you owe and then ask you to leave.”
“You can’t do that,” Marco protested weakly.
“It’s that or prison,” Julian’s voice was deceptively soft.
“We can work something out,” Marco’s voice was thin with fear.
“That's why I'm here,” Julian paused as the waiter came forward to take their order. “A fruit salad for me.” His eyes swung to the sweating man opposite him. “For you?”
“The same,” Marco said in a strangled voice.
Julian waited until the waiter left before he continued. “Your marketing VP, Sydney Manchester, is actually doing a good job. I'm going to meet with her soon.”
“She's very committed,” he said grudgingly. “What's going to happen to me?”
“That’s up to you Mr. Purcell,” Julian said sardonically. “I don’t think you're cut out for banking.”
*****
Sydney slipped out of her heels and wriggled her cramped toes wearily as she padded into the kitchen. It had been a hectic and stressful month with all the uncertainty surrounding them, but it was now final. Gessner Financials had taken over and would be moving in within another two weeks. Marco had called her into his office and had told her about the lunch. “The bastard told me that he won't be keeping me on,” He'd said bitterly.
“What about us?”
“Thanks for the sympathy,” he had said to her angrily.
“You dug your own grave Marco,” she'd told him bluntly.
“He wants to meet with you sometime this week,” he had told her a little spitefully.
“Okay,” she'd nodded coolly, not wanting to give him the impression that she was scared. “Did he say when?”
“His assistant will call.” He had looked around his office. “What am I going to do?”
“I'm sure you will think of something.”
Sydney put the kettle on. She hadn't eaten for the better part of the day and her stomach was protesting. She hadn't had time to think about her brother and his domestic problems, but now they came pouring back. Alyssa had come back within four hours and had gone straight to their bedroom. She'd seen the look on her brother’s face and felt her heart breaking. She'd left shortly after that.
She jumped as the kettle started to whistle and hurried over to turn off the flames. She picked out a sachet of chamomile tea to put in the cup before pouring the steaming water over it. She'd lost her parents, one right behind the other. First her mother who had died of lung cancer because of her incessant smoking and then h
er father who had died of a broken heart. They'd been very happy together and as a family, she and her brother had been comfortable knowing that they hadn't had rich parents but they'd had ones who loved them and took care of them. That had been five years ago when she'd just left college and then three years ago her best friend had died of breast cancer. Sydney had chosen work as a solace and had put everything into it. Her brother had chosen the first woman that had looked his way and had married her three months after meeting her. Sydney had told him that it was a mistake but he'd told her that he needed someone in his life. Now it was all falling apart. She sipped the tea pensively as she stared around her small, compact kitchen. He hadn't called her and she was afraid to call him. Besides, she had her own problems. She knew that Marco was on his way out but how many more of them were on their way out as well? She'd worked so hard to get where she was and she didn't want to think that it would come to an abrupt end just because the company was being taken over. But it wasn't only that. Marco hadn't been very good at taking the helm and she'd known that for a very long time. He sat in his big office and pretended that he was in charge and left all the work to her. She finished her tea and went to the sink to rinse out her cup. She blinked as memories assailed her suddenly. She missed her parents so much. They'd been her rock and now she felt as if both Brian and herself were drifting on a sea to nowhere. She picked up the phone and hesitated before making the call.
“Hey!”
“You okay?”
“Why shouldn’t I be?” his tone was a little defensive and she knew him well enough to know that he was far from being okay.
“Brian?”
He sighed loudly. “I can't get her to talk to me. What should I do?”
“You should find a way to talk to her Bri,” she suggested as she moved into the living room. She didn't feel in the least bit sleepy and she had a lot of things on her mind. “Are you still in love with her?”
“I don’t know,” his voice sounded weary. “It’s hard to think of love when everything around you is falling apart. She's the one paying all the bills, Syd. And I haven't felt like a man in a very long time.”
