by Tamie Dearen
“I like listening to the Beatles, James Taylor, and old classics like Frank Sinatra. Really, I like jazz and rock and classical too. Just depends on the mood.”
They studied the ceiling in silence. “You know, I hope everything comes out good with this meeting. I’m so afraid they’ll hate it, and it’ll be all my fault for not making a good PowerPoint.”
“I’m not worried at all. If they don’t go for it, I’ll just buy them out and do what I want anyway. It’s simply more profitable for me this way. Anyway, your presentations are great. And I’m really impressed with your grasp of the concepts. I think you’ve been hiding something from me. Maybe you secretly have an MBA you didn’t mention. I bet you’re some kind of corporate spy.”
“That’s it. You found me out—I’m a pie. I mean I’m a spy.” She giggled. “And you too—you’re Double-O Steven!”
“Have you been drinking?”
“Hmmm? What’d you say?”
“Are you drunk?”
“No, I’m not…” She turned on her side. “It’s kind of cold…”
Anne felt someone shaking her arm. “Anne… Anne, you need to wake up now.”
She stretched and pried her eyes open. She felt warm and cozy under her blanket. “Mmmm, I think I’ll just sleep here tonight. It’s a really big bed.” She chuckled, reluctant to move in her relaxed state.
“Anne, you did sleep here. You’ve been asleep here for seven hours.”
“What!” She jerked up, frantically looking around. She’d slept in a bed with Steven Gherring. And he didn’t have a shirt on. What else had she done? She tried desperately to remember.
“I thought you might want to go pretend to be asleep out there before I wake Jared up. Not that it matters to me—being the world’s richest playboy and all—but I know you worry about these things.”
Blood pulsed in her ears. “We didn’t… we didn’t… did we?”
“Of course we didn’t. You’re still dressed, aren’t you? So am I.” Her eyes fell on his bare chest. “I’m mostly dressed. I still have my pants on.”
“Why didn’t you make me move?”
“Really? Are you kidding? When you go to sleep, nothing will move you.” He shook his head. “At least when you take a sleeping pill of any sort. Even half a pill. Anyway, do you want to go protect your reputation?”
“I do.” She hurried toward the main cabin where Jared was still snoring softly in the same position. Anne lay down on her reclined chair.
He walked up behind her with a pillow and blanket and whispered, “You’ve got about ten minutes, if you want to snooze a little more.”
“I don’t think I can sleep now. My heart’s beating kind of fast.”
“Mine, too.” His breath on her ear sent a chill down her spine.
Anne unpacked in her room at the Bellevue Palace, pausing long enough to admire the accommodations. She hadn’t done a lot of traveling, but this was by far the nicest hotel she’d ever seen. Her room was small, but nicely decorated and furnished with pieces that looked custom rather than mass-produced. A relaxing blue color coated the walls, and the queen bed was covered with a lovely duvet. There was marble in the bathroom, and a guest bathrobe hung in the closet. Anne thought she’d be quite comfortable here, noting her view was similar to that of her New York apartment. She quickly freshened up and changed clothes, preparing for a long day working with Jared and Gherring in his suite on the top floor.
When Anne knocked on Gherring’s door, Jared opened it with a broad smile.
“Wait ‘til you see this room—it’s awesome. It’s even got bullet-proof glass. There’re two bathrooms. And there’s a view of the Bernese Alps over the Aare River. Come see.”
Anne followed Jared through the suite, allowing him to give her the grand tour. His enthusiasm was contagious and Anne had the same sensation she’d gotten when visiting Gram at her estate. It was rather dream-like and surreal. She observed Gherring’s amused expression as Jared exclaimed about all the great features of the Presidential Suite.
“The view is gorgeous,” she agreed. “But I really love the chandelier and all the furniture. Are you sure it’s okay to sit on this stuff?”
Gherring gave her a bemused smile. “We could order up a metal folding chair for you if you’d be more comfortable.”
Anne had already stretched out on the couch with her laptop in her lap. “Nope, I’m fine right here.” Then a terrible thought occurred. “Oh no—did Katie change the reservation for the meeting room to tomorrow?”
“Ms. Carson has taken care of all those changes with the hotels and the companies. You need to concentrate on the presentation. We can’t go to sleep tonight until we’re done.”
“So, I guess we’re working through lunch and dinner?” Jared asked.
“No worries. The room service here is amazing. We’ll have to hold back so we don’t eat ourselves into a stupor.”
The three started working in earnest, stopping for a quick lunch around two thirty. Anne had finished Jeff’s PowerPoint and was entering the last of Jared and Gherring’s information on slides. They were planning the logistics of the actual presentation at the meeting.
“So I guess I’m free to wander the city tomorrow.” Anne was excited about the chance to explore Bern, even by herself.
“Actually, I think I want you to be in the meeting tomorrow,” Gherring said. “I’ve found through experience a team presentation is more easily accepted. Somehow, if it seems the ideas are just coming from me, people feel defensive. So it’s very important you don’t come across as my PA. You’re a team member in the Contract, Merger, and Acquisition department, just like Jared.”
“But you and Jared will do all the talking, right?” Anne felt a little lightheaded.
“I think you should have at least a small part,” Gherring said. “Nothing to be nervous about. You can just give the introductory information, and then I’ll take over before we get to the parts where there can be questions.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I have this fear of public speaking. Not a tiny little fear. It’s like the size of a planet. Maybe a solar system.”
“There are several female executives who’ll be present tomorrow. They won’t like it if you don’t say anything at all. They’ll see me as being anti-feminist and repressive. I would’ve brought Shanna Matheson if she weren’t out on maternity leave. So this could actually be a lucky thing for us.” His blue eyes bored into hers. “I won’t force you to speak if you really don’t want to.”
“I’m not refusing. I want to help, but—”
“Great, then it’s settled,” said Gherring with a satisfied smile. Anne felt her heart beating franticly, but made no further protest.
Jared, who’d been silently observing the exchange, winked at Anne. “Thanks for the lesson in negotiation, Mr. Gherring.”
When Gherring turned his back, Anne stuck out her tongue at Jared, who laughed and reciprocated in the same fashion.
By five o’clock the group, feeling stiff from inactivity, decided by consensus to take a short break. Anne slipped her coat on and walked onto the balcony to call Henri.
“I’m standing on a balcony, overlooking the river and the Alps.”
“I wish I could be there,” he said. “It kills me to know you are so close. Are you at the Bellevue Palace? That’s where he usually stays in Bern.”
“Yes—it’s amazing. We’re in the Presidential Suite.”
“We? You are staying with Gherring in his room?”
“No, don’t be silly. Jared and I are working in the suite with Mr. Gherring. I have my own room.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“Come on, Henri. There’s nothing to be jealous of. Unless you think I’m the kind of girl who’d be in a threesome.”
“Hmmm,” Henri pretended to think. “No. The girls I’ve had threesome’s with were nothing like you.”
“Henri! You’ve actually—”
“I am teasing you
. You are so easy to tease. I cannot resist. You believe anything.”
Anne chuckled for a moment before sobering at the thought of Henri’s niece. “Do you know any more about Anna-Laure? Did she have more tests done?”
“She had a bone scan today. And they’ve scheduled an MRI tomorrow.”
“So when will you know something?”
“Probably not until Friday.”
“We’ll be here until Saturday, I think.” She realized she hadn’t asked Gherring if they would return earlier since the presentation was a day early. Gherring might have scheduled a Friday return. Certainly Jared would be anxious to get home to his wife and baby Emery. “Anyway, you can call me as soon as you know something.”
Back inside, Anne discovered Jared hadn’t yet returned, so she got on FaceTime and managed to connect with Charlie.
“Just look at this room.” She circled the room while aiming the camera outward. “Isn’t it amazing? And that’s the Alps over there. You can see them past the river.”
“Wow, Mom. It’s beautiful. Have you gotten to tour or shop or see anything?”
“No, but hopefully I’ll get to see something on Friday before we leave. We have the big meeting tomorrow, so I’m guessing that’s an all-day thing.”
Gherring walked up behind her. “We don’t need to leave early. I love Switzerland, even in November. We can wait until Saturday to leave.”
“Awesome,” said Anne. “I guess I’ll see Bern on Friday.”
“Did you finally get a stamp in your passport?” asked Charlie.
“I did, but we had to ask them to do it. I didn’t know they don’t automatically stamp your passport when you fly on a private plane.”
“So, now that’s off your bucket list. What’s next?”
“I don’t know. I also got to fly on a private jet, and that wasn’t even on the list. Hmmm, maybe seeing my girls married and having grandkids.”
“Oh no—you don’t get to put us on your bucket list. That’s strictly for things you can do.”
“I guess that means you don’t want to go hang gliding with me, then.”
“Heck, yeah. I’m going with you.”
“Either you’re in the bucket with me or you’re not.”
“Fine, I’ll promise to get married and have kids one day in the far, far future, if you’ll take me with you when you go hang gliding.”
“Deal.”
Gherring spoke from across the room. “Emily doesn’t want in on this?”
“Not hang gliding. Not Em,” said Charlie.
Anne said, “Unless maybe I bribed her with a first edition of Little Women or Pride and Prejudice.”
“I used to be able to talk her into anything, but she’s gotten really stubborn lately,” complained Charlie.
Gherring said, “I think she gets that from her mother.”
“Absolutely,” Charlie agreed.
“Be careful,” Anne said. “You’re still partially on the payroll.”
“Just kidding, Mom. No need to play the money card. But even Grandpa says you’ve always been stubborn. He says you got it from Grandma.”
“Luckily for you, Jared is back. So I’m going back to work. Otherwise we’d be having a little talk.”
“Awesome. I’d love to give you The Talk. I thought you already knew about the birds and the bees, but I guess you are a little naive.”
Anne blushed crimson, and mumbled in a low voice, “Charlie, stop it. They might hear you.” She backed into the second bedroom.
“Too late! We already heard!” Jared was chuckling along with Gherring. “So this is what happens when your sweet baby girl grows up... She turns on you.”
Two hours later, Anne was making a few final changes on the slides. Gherring had Jared practice his presentation, which took about an hour without questions or discussion. The bulk of the PowerPoint slides were devoted to the portion that had been Jeff’s responsibility. Gherring said, “Jared’s part is first, of course. Then we’ll have a short break. Anne, you’ll start at the beginning of part two with the introduction and just keep going for a while. Probably to about slide fifteen. When they ask a question you can’t answer, I’ll step in as if we planned to switch at that point.”
“What about introductions and opening the meeting?” asked Jared.
“I’ll do all the prep work and introduce the two of you. Jared, you’ve met about a third of these people, but Anne won’t know anyone. I’ll know all but a few.”
“And they’re all going to speak English?” asked Anne.
“Yes,” said Gherring. “French will be their primary language, but all of them will understand English. Most will be pretty fluent, and I’m pretty fluent in French as well. Most of these people speak at least three languages.”
“I didn’t know you could speak French,” Anne said.
“Oh yeah, he speaks French, German, and Spanish too.” He looked at Gherring. “You speak anything else?”
“I’m passable in Italian and Portuguese. I know some Mandarin Chinese, but I’d never try to conduct business in it.”
Anne wondered what else she didn’t know about Steven Gherring.
“I guess I should try to practice.” Her hands were already sweaty. With her irrational fear of public speaking, she’d managed to avoid taking speech class in high school and college as well.
She started the presentation, reading from her slide notes in a tentative voice.
“Look up,” said Jared. “You wrote that stuff. I know you mostly know it.”
Anne tried to look up, but Gherring’s stare made her incredibly nervous. Her mouth was dry, and she couldn’t process her thoughts properly.
Gherring said, “I don’t think that’s right. Are you sure your notes are correct? Maybe you were a little careless copying from Jeff’s notes. We may have to start over and double-check everything.”
Her temper flared. “I double-checked and triple-checked. Look here on the next slide, you can see how the numbers changed from year to year. That’s exactly what I said. And on slide five, you can see the totals averaged over five years. I didn’t make any mistakes.” She fumed with indignation. She’d poured her heart and soul into that presentation, and she knew there weren’t any errors.
“All she needs is a little emotional distraction, and she’s fearless.” Gherring grinned at Jared.
Jared’s eyes were wide. “No doubt. I’ve never seen you so mad before.”
Anne began to chuckle and felt the tension leave her body. “Promise you won’t provoke me on purpose, tomorrow. If I really lost my temper it wouldn’t be a pretty sight.” After that, she kept going through the first hour of the presentation.
Gherring held up his hand. “Okay, that’s enough for tonight. I’ll probably take over long before we get to that point. There’ll be a lot of complicated questions on section three.” He stretched. “Eight o’clock—not bad. I say we go out to eat instead of ordering in. We’ll go someplace casual. Let me call the concierge, and we can meet downstairs in, say, fifteen minutes?”
A short drive brought them to Restaurant Meridiano. Anne was happy to let Gherring order for her, as long as it was “something good I can't get in the United States.” She had a four-course meal with a matching wine for each course. She started with Vietnamese spring rolls, followed by redfish and then Simmentaler veal with a basil mash. Dessert was a chocolate bombe filled with ice cream, Grand Marnier, crunchy crisps and cream. She was absolutely stuffed, but refused to leave a morsel of the delicious dessert on her plate, no matter how miserable she felt. Both men ordered a tasting menu with twelve different entrees, and appeared equally sated and wretched.
On the way back, Jared asked, “Did you ever see that really old Alka-Seltzer commercial? I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.”
“I’m just glad I didn’t try to actually finish all that wine. Y’all would be carrying me to my room,” said Anne.
Gherring rubbed his belly, which didn’t protrude despite the am
ount of food he’d eaten. “I always eat too much at that restaurant. Every time. I should be more judicious, but it’s too good to resist.”
“There won’t ever be a next time for me. I’ve got to eat everything I can on this trip,” Anne said.
“You don’t know you won’t ever be back. You didn’t even know you were coming here until two days ago,” said Gherring.
Anne smiled. “You have a point. My life has changed so much in the past six weeks, I guess I really can’t predict my future.”
“I hear you might be living in Paris someday,” teased Jared.
“That’s not true,” said Anne, grateful for the darkness to hide her crimson face.
“It’s all the talk in the break room. All those women have evidently been after Henri DuBois for a long time. They’d only heard rumors until someone saw you talking to him the other day when they were getting coffee. It’s true, isn’t it?”
“We’ve become friends. That’s all.” Anne glanced at Gherring as he scowled out the window, his jaw muscles flexing.
“Whatever you say…” Jared smirked. “That’s not what I heard. I heard—”
“I hate to interrupt,” Gherring said. “But we need to plan tomorrow morning. We’ll meet in the suite at eight o’clock. I’ll have a light continental breakfast there. The meeting starts at nine.” He spoke with an edge of sarcasm to Anne. “Do you think you’ll have trouble waking up?”
“No sir. I’ll be fine. No need to worry.”
Seemingly oblivious to the tension between them, Jared said, “I’m gonna sleep like a baby. No, not like a baby, because they wake up all night. I’m gonna sleep like the parent of a baby on vacation.”
He chuckled to himself, while Anne kept her gaze trained in her lap, somehow sensing the heat of Gherring’s murderous glare.
Anne was terrified as she sat in the meeting room, waiting for the group to arrive. She’d been unable to eat any breakfast, instead pushing a crescent roll around on her plate, tearing it into pieces. Jared seemed unaware of her anxious demeanor. He chatted happily and showed her a picture of his baby his wife had emailed the night before. She tried to act interested in the photo, but her heart was pounding so hard she thought she might have a stroke. She kept her hands clenched in her lap to hide their shaking, but Gherring was not fooled. She knew he was counting on her, and she couldn’t let him down. Unfortunately, this thought made her even more nervous. Why hadn’t she simply refused when he told her she needed to speak? She was going to make a fool of herself and Gherring as well.
