When I Saw You

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When I Saw You Page 10

by Laura Branchflower

“Hi, Taylor, I’m Joseph.” He shook her hand. “How old are you?”

  “Five,” she said after a short hesitation. “I’m in kindergarten.”

  “Is that all? I thought you were going to say you were in second grade.”

  Taylor beamed. “I’m tall for my age.”

  “I can see that. Are you ready for Santa Claus to come?”

  She gave him an exaggerated nod. “I can’t wait,” she said, and then began to recite her Christmas list.

  Lia watched the exchange silently, impressed by his ability to bring out the usually shy Taylor. Taylor appeared outgoing while she talked to Joseph Craig, her little body animated as she described the different presents she knew Santa would bring.

  After a minute or two he stood up. “She’s the most beautiful little girl I’ve ever seen,” he said.

  “Thank you.”

  “After you.” He held out his hand towards the elevators.

  Lia took Taylor’s hand and slowly walked in the direction he indicated, conscious of his presence behind them.

  “Would you push the up arrow for me, Taylor?”

  Taylor pressed the button and darted onto the elevator as soon as the doors opened. “Look, Mommy, sixteen floors!”

  Joseph followed Lia onto the elevator and then inserted a key into a slot above the floor buttons and turned it to the right.

  “What are you doing?” Taylor asked.

  “I’m releasing a lock so the elevator will be able to open on our floor.” He pulled the key out and looked down at her. “Can you reach sixteen, Taylor?”

  “I think so.” She stepped up on her tiptoes and managed to reach the button. “I did it. I did it.”

  “Good job,” Lia said, her eyes meeting Joseph’s. She breathed in deeply, feeling overwhelmed by him.

  “You’re tall,” Taylor said. “Much taller than my daddy.”

  Joseph smiled down at Taylor. “Maybe you’ll be as tall as me one day.”

  She laughed. “Girls aren’t as tall as boys.”

  “No? I guess they aren’t.” His eyes again found Lia’s. “Your mommy’s very tall.”

  “Not as tall as you,” Taylor said.

  “No, she’s not,” he agreed, his eyes not leaving Lia’s.

  The elevator door opened. It took him a moment to react and then he was holding the door open with his hand and motioning for them to precede him into the lobby.

  “Wow,” Taylor said, spinning in a full circle as she looked around. “Look, Mommy, a waterfall!” She ran to investigate a rocky fountain beside a seating area with leather couches and chairs.

  “I brought my computer so she can watch a movie,” Lia said as she stopped beside Joseph in front of a reception desk.

  “We can feed it to the projector in the conference room beside my office. That way she can watch it on a big screen.” He was again meeting her eyes.

  Lia could feel her hands clamming up. She felt like she was standing beside a movie star instead of an attorney, but there was something so familiar, so appealing about him. And it wasn’t only his looks. He was magnetic. And then for the first time since meeting him, she remembered Kathy Paige. He was dating a supermodel. A wave of disappointment rocked through her body. She sighed, disgusted by the line of her thoughts—hadn’t she learned anything?

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yes. I’m fine.” She forced herself to smile.

  Ten minutes later, Taylor was situated in the conference room, watching a movie on the flat-screen television, a soda and cookies before her on the table, while Lia accompanied Joseph to his office next door.

  “Let me take your coat,” he said, moving up behind her. As his hands touched her shoulders, she felt an urge to lean back against him. She closed her eyes, willing herself to get under control.

  “Thank you,” she said softly before taking a seat in one of the two chairs facing his large cherrywood desk.

  He hung up his own coat before taking the seat behind his desk and opening his briefcase. “I’ll be right with you,” he said as he began removing some files.

  She felt a degree better with the distance between them. She looked around his posh office, admiring the exposed-brick walls and abstract paintings. The room was warm and masculine, like the man sitting behind the desk. And then the reality of why she was sitting across from him hit her and she had a desire to flee, not knowing if she could discuss such a personal matter with him. It had been hard enough with his colleagues.

  “Thank you for coming in on a Sunday,” he said.

  Lia looked down at her hands, willing herself to start thinking of him as her lawyer instead of a man. After her recent experience with Eric Nettles, it was disconcerting to feel such an attraction to a complete stranger.

  “Are you okay?” The soothing timbre of his voice had her lifting her eyes.

  “Yes.” She nodded. “This is—it’s awkward discussing this. It’s something I’d like to forget ever happened.”

  “I imagine you would, and hopefully this will be the last time you have to discuss it.” His eyes were warm, and Lia felt herself relaxing.

  “You don’t see this making it to a courtroom?”

  “No.” His eyes remained locked with hers. “Not based on what I heard from your friend, Claudia.”

  “She isn’t my friend.”

  “Your coworker,” he corrected. “Based on what I’ve heard, this case will never see the inside of a courtroom.”

  Lia narrowed her eyes. “Then why did you agree to take it?”

  “Why?” He hesitated, seemingly choosing his words carefully. “I like a challenge. This is going to be difficult to prove.”

  “But if it’s never going to make it to a courtroom, I’m confused as to why you’re interested. I mean, what’s in it for you?”

  “If I can find proof to back up your allegations, I’m sure Zurtech would be willing to pay a nice settlement for your pain and suffering.”

  “I’m more interested in exposing them, so they’ll stop recruiting and humiliating innocent women,” she said. “It was Claudia’s idea to retain your firm. I thought we should go to the police.”

  “You didn’t, though?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Claudia talked me into coming here first.”

  “Good. Don’t go to the police.” He opened a drawer and took out the small recorder. “Do you mind if I record our conversation?”

  “I’d prefer you didn’t.”

  “I like to record so I don’t have to take notes during my meetings.”

  “This whole incident repulses me, and the thought of it being recorded…I can’t.” She dropped her eyes.

  “I understand.” He slipped the recorder back into the drawer. “I’ll just take notes then.” He watched her for a long moment. “Are we okay?”

  “Yes, I’m sorry.”

  “There’s no need to apologize. I know this is hard for you.” He waited for her to lift her gaze before continuing. “Would you like something to drink— something to settle your nerves?”

  “Scotch,” she said. She’d never had scotch, but she saw the bottle when they first entered the office.

  He raised his eyebrows, hesitating only a moment before standing up and crossing to the bar on the other side of the office. “Ice or water?”

  “Uh, how do you normally drink it?”

  “I drink it neat, but—”

  “Neat is fine,” she said, not knowing what it even meant.

  “Here you go,” he said moments later, handing her a highball glass a quarter full of scotch.

  “Thank you.” She watched him resume his seat as she brought the drink to her lips. She took a swallow, grimacing as it burned her throat.

  “Take smaller sips,” he said, watching her. “It’s made to be sipped.”

  “Sorry.” She breathed in deeply, avoiding his eyes. She took another sip of the strong liquid, this time forcing herself not to react. Within a few minutes, she could feel a calm beginning to sett
le in, and then she was looking across the desk and meeting his eyes.

  “Can you tell me what happened?” His deep voice sounded almost soothing to her ears.

  “Yes.” She nodded and began to talk.

  One hour, one and a half glasses of scotch and two interruptions by Taylor later, Lia was describing the final reception she attended. “And I followed him back. And there he was, having sex with Claudia and Carmen at the same time.” Her voice was light, but devoid of emotion.

  “And then what did you do?”

  “I went to the bathroom and threw up. And then I went home.”

  She watched him from across the desk. His head was bent as he wrote something on the legal pad. Her eyes dropped to his hands. His fingers were long and his nails were perfectly manicured. Her eyes traced the veins running up the back of his hands. She imagined those hands touching her. She lifted the glass of scotch to her mouth and finished it in two gulps.

  “Do you want more?”

  Her eyes met his. “I don’t think so,” she said. “Not unless you’re offering to drive me home.”

  “I don’t mind.”

  As she met his eyes, she had no doubt he meant it. “No, thank you.” She dropped her eyes to her hands. She’d already had more than was prudent and was feeling a warm buzz as a result. “Should I continue?”

  “If you’re ready.”

  “The next day when I arrived at work, I confronted Claudia. We weren’t exactly close, but we had lunch together sometimes and she knew I was dating Eric. I couldn’t understand why she would do that.”

  “And what did she say?”

  “She told me the truth,” she said. “She told me everything: the bonus system, the clients, the parties. Everything finally made sense.”

  “What do you mean? ‘Finally made sense’?”

  “Why Carmen was making so much money when she appeared completely incompetent. Why all the B2Bs seemed to be in competition with each other. Why there were so many beautiful women. Why Stan transferred out perfectly good employees. I wasn’t really even interviewed for the position. He didn’t ask me any questions about my skills. He just looked at me and then told me about the position. It was all so obvious once I knew the truth.”

  “So you quit?”

  “Yes, I quit. I gave him a week’s notice. I would have left that day, but I wanted to see if I could find proof.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “And did you?”

  “No. There’s no proof. That’s why I was surprised you wanted to see us.” She stood, restless, and could definitely feel the alcohol in her system. “Tell me what I’m missing, Mr. Craig.”

  “Call me Joseph,” he said, his gaze following her as she crossed the office and stopped at the window.

  “What am I missing, Joseph?” She stared at the US Capitol, visible in the distance. “I’m here because I’m angry and I want Zurtech to stop what they’re doing, but I don’t see how you’re going to be able to make that happen.”

  “What they’re doing is illegal.”

  “But doesn’t that mean it’s a criminal and not a civil matter? Shouldn’t we be going to the police?”

  “The two aren’t exclusive of each other. And I don’t believe you have enough information for the police to obtain a warrant.”

  “Well, how can we get enough?”

  “That’s my job to figure out.”

  She turned, her eyes meeting his. He was leaned back in his chair, one ankle resting on the other leg, a pen twirling between his fingers.

  “There isn’t a jury in this country that’s going to give us money,” she said.

  “What makes you so sure?”

  “Claudia knowingly slept with clients for money. That makes her a prostitute.”

  “True, and that’s illegal.”

  “Of course it’s illegal, but she knew what she was doing.”

  “You didn’t,” he said. “And I’m handling your cases separately.”

  She turned back to the window. “I’ll come across as a woman scorned. There’s no proof I was being used as a perk for clients.” Just saying the words left a bitter taste in her mouth.

  Joseph came to his feet and crossed the office. “You were an uninformed participant.”

  Lia turned, surprised to hear his voice so close. He was at the bar, pouring himself a glass of water. “But the only thing that makes me different than any other woman who sleeps with a man is I received a hefty bonus as a direct result.”

  “This Eric. He knew the system?”

  “Oh, yes. According to Claudia, he targeted all the new women.” She turned back to the window. “He was a regular.”

  “Have you heard from him since that night?” He was beside her, his eyes moving over her profile as she looked out the window.

  “No, he got what he wanted and moved on.”

  “And you’re sure Zurtech doesn’t know why you quit?”

  She nodded. “And that’s one of my regrets.”

  “What’s that?” Barely a foot separated them. “What do you regret?”

  “That I didn’t confront him.” She could smell his scented aftershave, and realized how close they were standing. “I should have confronted Stan Hall, and told him what a despicable excuse for a person he is.”

  “It’s better that you didn’t.”

  “I guess, but it would have made me feel better.” She turned to walk back to the chair and felt unsteady.

  “Easy,” he said, gripping both sides of her hips with his hands.

  “Sorry.” She clasped his arms to steady herself and lifted her eyes to his. She felt like a deer with its eyes caught in the headlights, a now familiar feeling of awareness coursing through her body. She couldn’t remember ever having such a physical reaction to a man. She shouldn’t have had the second glass of scotch. She was no longer thinking clearly. “I—I need to sit down,” she whispered. “I just felt a little dizzy.” And then she was stepping around him and fleeing back to her chair.

  Joseph slowly followed and took the chair beside hers instead of behind his desk. He watched her in silence for several seconds before speaking again. “Do you think higher-ups at Zurtech were involved?”

  “I don’t know.” She shook her head. “I assume Stan was acting alone.”

  “Why do you assume that?”

  “I don’t know. I just can’t imagine something like this being corporate-wide. He was almost obsessed with knowing everything about these elite clients. And the files we compiled were available only to our division. He would want us to record every detail about their lives.”

  “Such as?”

  “Everything.” She reached for her briefcase and pulled out a manila folder. “I meant to show you these earlier.” She held out the file.

  Joseph took the folder and opened it, his eyes scanning the first sheet, a spreadsheet with dozens of rows and columns. “What am I looking at?” he asked, his eyes narrowing as he continued to study the sheet.

  “That’s an elite-client profile.” She pulled the sheet back from him and turned it towards her, reading the name on top. “This is Alan West’s, from West to East Communications.” She leaned forward and spread it out on Joseph’s lap. “The client’s name is here.” She began running her finger along the top of the sheet, inadvertently touching his thigh through the paper. “And these columns”—she trailed her finger across the various columns and down several inches on his thigh—“list everything from their children’s names”—she paused as she poked the column heading—“to their country clubs”—again she poked the column heading—“to—”

  “I get it,” Joseph said, abruptly coming to his feet, the sheets on his lap scattering to the floor. “Sorry, my fault.” He kneeled down and quickly gathered them up, dropping them on the chair and crossing to the bar, his back to her as he poured himself a glass of water. He quickly drank it down and then poured himself a second glass.

  Lia watched him, wondering what had caused his sudden mood shift.

/>   A couple of minutes passed, and then he was returning from the bar and sitting down behind his desk. “Okay. Where were we?”

  “I was telling you about the elite-client files.” She picked up the papers from the now vacant chair and set them on his desk.

  “Right.” He took a long swallow of water. “Why did you bring Alan West’s file?”

  “I brought a few. They’re just samples so you could get a gist of the information we gather.”

  “But why specifically is his part of the group?” He lifted up the spreadsheet.

  “His was the first client file I was shown. Stan wanted all files to look like that one. Basically it was the template all elite files should be modeled after.”

  Joseph studied the spreadsheet in silence for over a minute. “What do these names in the lower right corner represent?” He held the sheet out to her and she leaned forward, her eyes scanning the area he indicated.

  “Those are the B2Bs who put information in that particular file.”

  “So, would I assume he had sex with the three women listed here?” He lifted his eyes to hers.

  “Maybe, but not necessarily. I added information to several of the files besides Eric’s, and I never had sex with those men.”

  “Why did he need all this information?” He continued to study the sheet. “What purpose did it serve?”

  “He wanted us to know them, so when we interacted with them it was more like they were our friends.”

  “This is more information than I know about any of my friends. His siblings’ names and addresses? His children’s school?” He lifted his eyes. “It doesn’t make sense.”

  “That’s why I said he seemed almost obsessed with them.”

  “Are these for me to keep?”

  “Yes.” She leaned back in her chair, watching him as he slipped the spreadsheet back into the folder and then jotted a few things down on his legal pad.

  “The woman from human resources who interviewed you,” he began, pausing as he flipped back a few pages in his notes, “this Cecile Mann. She’s obviously in on it.” He looked up from the page.

  Lia frowned. “Why would you say that? I don’t—”

  “As soon as she discovered how beautiful you are, she contacted Hall.”

  Lia knew the alcohol in her system was the only reason she didn’t blush at his unexpected and matter-of-fact compliment. “I don’t think so.”

 

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