Miss South

by Kay Williams

  I had no idea who Heronsgate really was, we had only had a handful of conversations and those had been conducted after he had done something that could easily be contrived as manipulative and creepy, I was usually much more careful with new people than this.

  My phone buzzed, shoving off the door I picked it up. Rosemary and Jonathan had just landed and would be at the hotel soon. I told them to meet me in the bar when they were ready. I saved my words, grabbed a change of clothes and headed for the shower.

  # # #

  Henry Heronsgate

  I ran fingers back though my hair cradling the ache in the back of my neck with laced fingers as I tilted my head back and closed my eyes. The dinner meeting had gone better than I had expected but the long day was starting to catch up with me. I had headed for the hotel bar thinking that it was going to be as quiet as it had when I shared one last drink with South, only to find a large group of executives and the echo of their rowdy celebrations seemed to vibrate against the walls. It hadn't been the quiet, relaxing drink I had thought it would be. I had left quickly, returning to my suite I lay on the couch with South's book trying to wish the headache and the tension away. It wasn’t working. My eyes had blurred the words into black smudges, I couldn’t get comfortable on the bed or the sofa I needed another way to relax.

  Pulling on a pair of comfortable swimming shorts, covering up with a polo shirt and some lightweight linen trousers I grabbed a towel and headed for the spa on the fiftieth floor. Looking forward to a solitary dip in the heated infinity pool; perhaps a long hot soak and some fresh air would do me good. The evening was cool and quiet as I padded barefoot along the decking the lights of the city twinkled far below, the sounds of traffic drifted up but I was high enough to muffle the noise.

  I took a deep breath of cool air and froze as the sunken pool came into view, though not as deserted as I had anticipated the sight of South bathing was far from unpleasant. South was relaxed back against the cushioned sides of the pool her skin flushed and glistening from the steam inviting my tongue to lick up the droplets of moisture that gathered high on her cheeks, the curve of her shoulder and at the hollow of her throat. I watched her soft sigh a smile tugging at her full mouth she hadn’t heard me yet and it gave me time to imagine her without a bathing suit hugging her perfect body. I took a few silent steps forward and the illusion was broken when I noticed the simple ties on her bikini vanishing into a halter style at the back of her neck, half disguised by the wet tendrils of her hair.

  South was simply the most beautiful women I had ever had the pleasure of meeting, and the more I knew about her the more infatuated I became. I hadn't stopped thinking about our kiss, I had spent most of the evening smiling and talking business but thinking about what could have happened if I had been able to stay in South's room and if I had been very lucky.

  “Harriet?”

  I hid my smile as she jerked in surprise and forced myself not to preen when she ran an appraising eye over my attire, I had received many complimentary looks over the years from women but South was always capable, with one look, at making me feel as if she didn’t see any other man on Earth.

  “No suit,” she smiled.

  I accepted the tease with a smile, if I had been going anywhere other than the pool I wouldn't have been wearing what I was. I walked to where she had left her things and I heard her twist to watch me drop my towel next to hers, perhaps it would have been polite to ask if I could join her but her smile had been warm and welcoming.

  I pulled my shirt off being careful to arch my back slightly and give her a full show of the flex and play of my muscles under the skin. I worked hard at maintaining my figure so I could eat and drink the things I loved in moderation. I had watched my board slowly put on weight due to stress and inactivity behind a desk and had no wish to share in their pudgy fingers, double chins or over-hanging bellies, and from the slight hitch in South’s smooth breathing every minute on a bike and lifting weights had been worth it. I attacked my trousers next pulling them off smoothly, perversely I liked how they looked left haphazardly against her abandoned skirt.

  I heard South turn back around and enjoyed her discomfort at my proximity as I slid into the tub across from her and leant my head back as she had been doing earlier.

  I almost sighed as I realized that my headache had already dissipated which left me to enjoy South’s company. I opened my eyes watching as she scrubbed whatever she was thinking off her face when she put her hands down back into the water our eyes met and the pool suddenly felt incredibly intimate.

  “How was your meeting?”

  “Bearable,” I answered. “Your publishers?”

  “John is taking everything in his capable stride, Rosemary is frighteningly eager. I'm dreading tomorrow.”

  “Is that why you are here?”

  “I just couldn't seem to switch off.”

  “I know what you mean.”

  South smiled and relaxed deeper into the water, she went to back to learning on the cushion with her eyes closed. I was glad she wasn’t aware of how I lingered on her skin nor the ache I harboured to lean in and nuzzle at her throat, an ache that I was sure had made it to my face.

  One of the nicest things I had noticed about South was how capable she was of putting who I was to one side. The few rather traumatic times I had met and spent time with fans of motor sport as part of a prize they had all giggled, flushed and stammered. Even the ones who tried to play it cool ended up more standoffish and difficult than natural, but from the first time we spoke at the new author function she had been herself, at the auction she had teased and laughed, on the flight our conversation had been unrestrained, uninhibited and not once had it been difficult for there only being two of us.

  I couldn't remember the last time I had gotten along with someone so quickly.

  In the comfortable silence that followed, I noticed that the moon had begun its graceful rise over New York, a slight breeze brushed across the deck and South shivered slightly in the water next to me.

  “What do you do?” She asked as I dropped my arm behind her shoulders fighting the need to tug her closer and share body heat.

  “Me?”

  “I know what Heronsgate Industries does, but what about you?”

  “I used to be quite involved in the day to day stuff,” I answered. “But now we take part in too many races and events. I try to get home to Ohio as often as possible but I travel quite a bit for fundraisers, championship titles and that sort of thing but I'm not on the pit lanes or on the sidelines so much any more.”

  I could help the slight disappointment that went through my tone every time I realized that my success in winning races had taken me further from the tracks, South smiled softly as if sensing my mood, so I changed the topic.

  “Are you cold?”

  “A little,” she answered. “Time to get out maybe?”

  I shook my head, covering my displeasure at the idea of her putting on clothes, the bikini wasn’t a designer one, but that didn’t stop it hugging to her every curve perfectly. Instead I leaned over a little more, loving the brief contact of her shoulder against my chest as I opened the pool control panel and turned it up a couple of degrees, the double impact was enough to send little tingles racing along my skin and I watched a slow flush creep along South’s skin.

  Smiling I hit the mood lights. Pale blue ones emitted from the seats beneath us brightened the water, the heat lamps on the deck switched on glowing red and orange like a banked up fire and were just as warm, and soft white lights in the decking turned the poolside shadowy and close.

  I could almost believe that we were somewhere private and not in a hotel where other guests could come upon us at any moment.

  “Better?”

  “Yes, but I think you spend too much time here to know where the controls are and how to use them.”

  “I would agree with that.”

  “So you don't have a place in New York where is your house?”

 
; “My family has an estate in Ohio.”

  “Yeah,” South said slowly, “My parents have a house in Lambeth but I don't live with them, and I wouldn't move in there if I got married and started raising a family.”

  I saw the distinction she was trying to make.

  “I don't actually have a house of my own,” I admitted. “I never saw the point in getting one when I am constantly travelling and staying in hotels or company apartments.”

  “You'd be paying for the upkeep of something you don't get any use out of.” South didn't judge me as most people had, she saw it my way.

  “When I get the chance of a holiday I prefer to go home and spend it with my family.”

  “Holiday? Some might call distracting you from your duties is irresponsible,” South teased.

  “I know my responsibilities,” I smiled.

  I had chosen them, made them my own and worked for them with absolute dedication, I fully intended on having something to pass on to my children as my grandfather and father had done. Heronsgate Industries wasn’t just a company. The company was a part of the family, something we had all added something unique to, something to nurture and something that would always grow over time.

  South sank a couple of inches deeper in the water and I followed, shaking off thoughts of my company to concentrate on the women in front of me. I followed her move not wanting to appear as if I was looming over her.

  “Where do you go on holiday?”

  “Ten feet and hundreds of thousands of light years,” South smiled.

  “You stay at home and write,” I concluded.

  “Always seemed pointless in paying hundreds of pounds to go on holiday only to sit and write when I got there.”

  “Sorry,” I apologised, ashamed when I yawned and it caused her to return it. “It's not you.”

  South waved off my apology, I was tried so was she, but neither of us wanted to be first to leave the pool and retire.

  Heavy footsteps on the decking made us both jerk, we were low in the pool and it was dark enough that we could have been anyone to the woman who walked past the pool and into the sauna but it broke the intimate atmosphere and South left the pool to grab her towel and dry off enough to pull on a one piece dress and hop into her shoes. I waited until she was dressed before doing the same, it was getting late and I had another early start.

  We walked back to the elevator together and I said goodnight when it stopped at my higher floor first.

  I lay wide awake for several more minutes before I managed to drift off to sleep.

  # # #

  Harriet South

  I turned in front of the mirror again.

  Everything might have been new and bought with the idea of wearing them in different combinations into an office and a new job, but I hadn’t bought them with a signing in mind. Knowing that the press would likely be present in some capacity and fully ready to criticize my outfit in barely three hours’ time wasn’t giving me confidence in what I had chosen.

  I had gone with the heels, a loose red and white stripped skirt, and a white shirt which I had topped with a waistcoat; it had red front panels, with white buttons and a white back, the silver chain and new pocket watch looked bright against the red.

  I knew the knock at my door was Rosemary and I forced myself to smile when I opened the door, she was dressed in simple black trousers and a light blue blouse and I would have swung the door shut and gone to change if she hadn’t reached out and touched my waistcoat.

  “I love this.”

  “Thanks. Am I smart enough? Running away from home without my wardrobe has been an experience I’m not sure I wish to repeat.”

  “You look great. You always look great. I’m really envious about the way you always manage to look smart.”

  “I’ll take your word for it,” I laughed.

  Rosemary led the way down into the lobby of the hotel and then through a connecting door into a large reception area. Long windows lay along one side and the blinds were pulled shut but I could see people already lining up outside. Jonathan was in the process of laying the tables out into the same style as they had for the London signing with the same promotional materials decorating the room.

  Rosemary was quick to show me the one difference that New York had over London.

  There was an extra table set up with merchandise; T-shirts with the book cover on the front and #NewYorkSigning! with the date on the back, a large pile of paperback copies of the book and lastly posters of the book cover topped with a copy of my fake signing signature and today's date. Postcards would still be given away free when people came to see me.

  Less obvious but still in view was a tall stand selling digital copies of all the books in Lemon Grove’s library, a gentle nudge towards their other authors and turning my sudden success into exposure for other just as talented writers.

  “You guys are going all out,” I managed. “You sure that’s going to be cost effective?”

  “I’m more worried about running out,” Rosemary laughed.

  As a business I knew I couldn’t fault them for wanting to make as much money as possible, and everything they did to advertise my book might lead to another sale that would keep me supported when I got home, but at the same time there was also a weight of expectation now and the growing pressure that I wasn’t sure I would be able to meet it.

  “What if I flop?” I asked.

  “I don’t think there is any chance of that,” Jonathan answered more kindly than Rosemary rolling her eyes. “Just relax, and enjoy yourself like last time.”

  “I’ll try,” I said, taking my place behind the table.

  “We never covered merchandise sales in your original contract, because we have never had to do that before,” Jonathan added. “But we have been plagued on the boards for fan items and we know that these will be well received. But we certainly don't want to skim you out of the potential profit. It is your book and your public image that is driving the demand of these items and we want to pay you fairly for your work.”

  “I'm no businesswoman,” I confessed, “but I know that getting those things together, booking flights with rooms and renting this conference space all in the same hotel and all last minute is going to kill any profit that you might have made from the sale of merchandise. So I am happy to call it quits on this signing if you are.”

  “That's is all true, very generous and not what Simon would advise,” Jonathan smiled.

  “I went out yesterday and it was rare not be at least recognised by people, that fact coupled with the people begging for merchandise means that my popularity will probably burn longer than we all thought it would.”

  “Rosemary and I thought the same the day you called for the file to copy. Good thinking on that score, by the way.”

  “Thank you.”

  “Even with your earnest job hunt, which I fully realise will be your first priority when you get home, the UK is so small and elemental shuttles so reliable we don't think that organising several weekend events in major cities will be a problem.”

  “With better planning and better figures you are going to have a better idea of the projected profit and what portion of it you are willing to part with,” I smiled. “If I might offer a suggestion though? If profit margins are slim I would be happy to be subsidised in travel costs, or hotels if we end up overnight in places.”

  “That is an interesting proposition,” Jonathan hummed as he turned the idea over and went back to the merchandise stand.

  In the ten minutes before the doors were due to open I texted Cornwall. Telling him I had read his statement and would buy him dinner when I got home to find out all about his new Pack. That he was still my lawyer and about the merchandise and travel money arrangement that I would be grateful if he got his teeth into, and offering to buy him a present if there was anything he wanted.

  His response was quick in coming and declared cheerfully that he knew I would forgive him eventually and asking for a particular bottle
of wine that was hideously expensive to import to the UK.

  With a smile I silenced my phone and settled more comfortably in my chair.

  Rosemary opened the doors a few minutes later and the first seven that fell through it were faces I didn’t think I would ever forget. They squealed in delight when they realised I not only remembered our encounter, but also their names. This time it was the postcards they had been too shy to ask for before and individual photos as well as a group one. Their delight in seeing me set up my smile for the rest of the day and any time I felt like I was flagging I only had to remember them to get me back in a happy place.

  # # #

  It was only six but I was exhausted.

  We had closed doors at five after four frantic hours, though the merchandise hadn't run out as Rosemary had feared there was only a few items left. She had posted the excess stock on the forum and was confident that they would be sold and posted by the end of the week.

  She and Jonathan had headed out, while I had opted for lounge clothes and the room service menu. It was more than lazy that I couldn't even be bothered to get in the elevator and go to the restaurant, but I didn't care. Tonight was about being comfortable; I would keep up appearances tomorrow.

  I growled at the knock on my door and dragged myself to it.

  I was surprised to see Heronsgate at my door; I hadn't heard from him all day, not that I had tried to encourage communication after our blistering kiss and moonlit dip the night before. I had chickened out of my usual material I texted to men after a good first date and had assumed that he had done the same.

  This evening he was wearing a garish purple and blue tie. It was endearing and sweet that he would travel with the gifts his mother gave him even when he knew that she wouldn't be here to see him wearing them.

  “I missed the skirt,” he complained lightly as I let him in. “Is that what you are wearing to dinner?”