Chapter 4
Four
S teph arrived for work earlier than usual courtesy of a restless couple of night’s sleep, which meant that now, at just after half past ten, she was already knackered.
She was on her second cup of coffee when Rosie appeared in the doorway. “Are you still hung over from the wedding?”
Steph laughed. “No. Actually, I only had one glass of champagne all day. This is lack of sleep,” she told her assistant gesturing to the huge bags under her eyes that only she could see, although she did look tired.
“I see,” said Rosie. “More coffee or tea?”
“Give me half an hour and then tea would be nice,” Steph replied as she flicked through her emails and stopped at one from Brooker Incorporated.
Dear Miss Pryor,
Many thanks for your detailed, yet concise ‘proposed’ contract between Brooker Incorporated and Baker, Ross and Riley for Legal Services.
Your attendance is requested with Mr Jack Baker at the pre-arranged meeting with Mr Brooker.
In the event that you are unable to meet at the pre-arranged time, please contact me to rearrange the appointment.
Regards,
Andrea Stewart, P.A. To CEO Brooker Incorporated.
Steph nervously wondered if she had made some glaringly obvious error in her proposal and that was the reason why they were insisting she attended when her phone brought her back to the here and now. She picked her phone up and Rosie informed her that Jack Baker was on the line making her even more nervous that something was amiss.
“Good morning, Mr Baker. How are you?”
“Fine, thank you. I trust you are rested and ready to work,” he said, but without waiting he continued, “Have you checked your emails yet because Brookers want you to attend our meeting this afternoon?”
“I’ve just seen it.”
“I will meet you downstairs at two o’clock and we’re meeting at three, so cancel everything for the rest of the day and bring whatever may be useful, and dress smartly,” he said, making Steph feel slightly uneasy that she would ever be dressed any other way for work.
Rosie reappeared as she hung up. “You are popular this morning.” Steph frowned in confusion as Rosie explained, “I have an email about your meeting this afternoon and these have just arrived.” She held out a boxed arrangement of red roses. “There’s a card,” she added.
Steph gestured for her to put them down. “That tea would be nice now.”
Rosie knew when to leave and did just that. When she returned with tea, the flowers were where she’d left them. “You may need to move them.”
Steph accepted her tea with a confused frown at Rosie’s words as she left again, but quickly returned with a huge hand tied bouquet of mixed cream and ivory blooms, secured with a chocolate brown bow, the meaning of her earlier words now clear.
Steph stared between the flowers and Rosie’s grin. “Do we have vases?”
Rosie nodded and returned a couple of minutes later with several vases.
“Rosie, do I look smart? Smart enough for a meeting with Baker and Mr Brooker?”
Rosie studied her appearance briefly. “Yes. If you were wearing a shift dress I would say maybe a bit too sexy, well, the way you fill them anyway and trousers can be threatening to men, even in this day and age. So, a grey pinstripe pencil skirt with the matching jacket is perfect and a white button through blouse is always a winner.”
She looked down at her boss’ legs that were encased in smoky grey stockings and black stilettos and smiled again.
“If they’re tights you can keep the upper hand by knowing that they’re all hoping for stockings, but will never know, and if they’re stockings you will keep the upper hand by knowing that they will still never know, unless you flash them a little flesh.” She laughed making Steph shake her head.
“Thanks, I even put good, matching undies on, and they’re stockings. I must have known something.”
Once Rosie had left, Steph opened the card on the roses.
Stephanie,
Thank you for a wonderful day on Saturday.
I was only sorry that it ended.
Jon
She smiled as she read the card, assuming Charlie or Lindsay had told him where she worked, or had she mentioned her company at the wedding. She wasn’t sure as she moved onto the next one.
Apologies Stephanie,
Roses were such an obvious choice, predictable,
unlike you. Maybe these are more suitable, they
reminded me of you in your dress on Saturday.
Jon
She turned the card over and felt a stab of disappointment that his number wasn’t on it. How could she thank him? Was that what she wanted to do? To call him and say thank you? Of course not. She wanted to call him and let him convince her to meet him and then to be seduced by him. She wanted him to strip her bare, to spread her legs and touch her everywhere, like he’d offered on Saturday, like she’d wanted him to then and like she had wanted him to do every second since, to the point that she had dreamt about it, several times. Maybe she would catch up with him via Charlie when he returned from honeymoon.
Her phone rang again making her jump and she could see it was Rosie. “I have a gentleman on the line on behalf of UK Floral Services for Scent with Love,” she explained.
Steph wondered why the florists were calling her, she knew both arrangements from Jon had come from Scent with Love, but who were UK Floral Services?
“Put him through,” she said.
She heard the call come through and for no reason she knew, immediately went into business mode despite the flowers she had received being anything but. “Stephanie Pryor, Head of New Business.”
She recognised his laugh and then his voice.
“You sound very intimidating in your day life. I bet that photographer still doesn’t realise what a lucky escape he had giving you orders on Saturday.”
She laughed at the memory. “Or how close he came to getting hit.”
Jon laughed now, then nothing.
“Thank you for the flowers, they’re lovely.”
“You are very welcome, which did you prefer?”
“The hand tied ones, like my dress,” she admitted, without hesitation.
“I knew it. I have to confess that the roses were from me but chosen by my assistant and then I decided that I should send something more personal.”
Neither of them said anything for a few seconds until she said, “I was sorry that Saturday ended, but I meant what I said about being a fling or a one-night-stand.”
“You were right, you deserve better than that, but I couldn’t stop thinking about you all weekend. Still can’t.”
“Me too,” she admitted, knowing this was dangerous, the conversation and the man.
“Maybe we should meet and talk,” he suggested.
“I don’t know,” she replied hesitantly, hoping he’d try to convince her.
“But you want to, we both know that and I want to and I always get what I want, Miss Pryor.” He sounded more like Jon from the club now. “Think about it and we’ll talk again, but I have a meeting now, okay?” he asked a little gentler again.
“Okay,” she replied and then realised he had hung up and she had no way of contacting him, so he was in control.
It was just before two o’clock when Steph arrived in the ground floor foyer and grimaced as she realised that Jack Baker was watching her boobs bounce as she almost ran towards him. She fastened the button on her jacket to end the entertainment as she reached him.
“You look very smart, Miss Pryor, and yet feminine, lovely,” he mused as he led her towards a waiting cab.
It took about half an hour to make the trip across town and as they pulled up outside the skyscraper of Brooker Incorporated Steph asked, “Which floor are they on?”
“All of them. The whole building is occupied by them in various guises; property, hospitality, tourism, retail, Mr Brooker has fingers in all kinds of pies which is why we could gain serious financial security from this deal because if we can get in on the act for one side of their business, as it expands further we will be laughing.”
Steph nodded at him and admitted, “I’m rather nervous.”
“So you should be, but so am I, although I wasn’t expecting them to invite you along too or I may have cancelled your leave last week.” He scratched his head as if wondering why they had invited her. “But that email was only sent on Sunday morning, so you may have been an afterthought.”
Unsure whether she had inadvertently been affronted by her boss’ reference to her as an afterthought, Steph almost missed Jack gesturing for her to lead the way into reception where she announced their arrival.
“Jack Baker and Stephanie Pryor of Baker, Ross and Riley for Mr Brooker.”
A security man stood up and nodded. “This way.” He led them to one of the lifts at the rear of the huge open and minimalistic foyer while the receptionist called ahead.
With security using a key to activate the lift it took them to the twenty-fourth floor where they were greeted by a very tall, willowy, blonde woman with perfect teeth and flawless make up while her hair was scraped back, into an unfeasibly tight and sleek bun.
“Good afternoon,” she said in a slightly ‘plummy’ accent that made Steph feel slightly uncomfortable and out of her comfort zone. “Andrea Stewart,” she introduced herself but was already leading them on. “This way please,” she told them until they stopped at a large mahogany door that opened into a huge conference room with a large mahogany table framed by at least thirty chairs.
“Sit down, please.” She gestured towards two specific chairs and as they sat she asked, “Tea, coffee, water?”
“Scotch would be better,” said Jack.
Andrea laughed lowly and repeated, “Tea, coffee, water?
Steph smiled at her. “Tea would be nice, thank you. Jack?”
He smiled at Andrea. “The same, thanks.” Andrea left them alone and as they sat there Jack said, “This is part of the game, isn’t it? Leaving us alone, to stew, to get jittery so that we end up giving away a better deal. Brooker is well known as a slippery bastard so be careful what you say.”
Steph nodded but said nothing as her nerves moved up several notches at the potential enormity of her situation.
“That secretary is a pretty little thing. Hot, isn’t she? I would certainly give her one, although I wouldn’t stand a chance, but I reckon Brooker is fucking her.”
Steph looked at him shocked now, shocked by the meaning behind his words, but also by the crudity of them.
“Why do you say that?” She was curious to know her boss’ logic behind his assumptions.
“Because you don’t employ women that look like her for any other reason than to get into their knickers and I bet they’re very little knickers at that.”
Steph was horrified that her boss thought that way, even more so that he spoke those disgusting thoughts aloud. She pushed her distaste away, then said, “If this is part of the game I hope the room isn’t bugged or under surveillance or you could be in trouble if Brooker is shagging the lovely Andrea.”
Jack looked uncomfortable now making Steph smile smugly as Andrea reappeared with a tray of tea and coffee.
She put it down in front of Jack and Steph before sitting opposite Jack and smiling.
“Mr Brooker will be here shortly, he has been delayed on an overseas call,” Andrea explained.
They sat for possibly only a matter of seconds, but it felt longer as Steph shuffled the duplicate schedules she had brought with her.
“Apologies for my delay,” came the voice behind them and as he appeared, Steph smiled in spite of the game play at work.
He extended a hand across the table. “Miss Pryor, Mr Baker.”
“Mr Brooker, I assume?” asked Steph.
“Assumption correct, Stephanie.” He smiled a panty dampening smile at her.
“I barely recognised you in day clothes,” she joked, turning his smile into a grin as he cocked his head and winked at her resulting in her stomach doing somersaults. Then as she felt the clenching sensation low in her body she flushed slightly.
“I think you should probably explain our past to Mr Baker and Miss Stewart. I would hate for them to get the wrong idea,” Jon teased.
Steph wasn’t quite sure which version of their past he meant. Their strange encounter at the hen and stag night or the equally strange, but far more pleasant day at the wedding.
“Why so coy?” As he looked across at Jack he explained, “Miss Pryor was a bridesmaid at the same wedding where I was best man on Saturday, for one of your lawyers actually, so our attire was slightly different at our last meeting, although she was unaware of my identity as CEO here.”
“Ah, I see. Charlie.” Jack smiled a tight and ever so slightly forced smile.
“Right, down to business,” said Jon as Steph passed out the duplicate proposals and quickly gave an overview of its contents.
Jack kept interjecting with details on the company background and little grovelling comments about how he would personally take extra good care of Brookers.
Jon looked across at Steph. “I think your proposal is dressed very well, but I think you thought you could take advantage of my company looking at the costs you propose charging.”
“You’d be wrong,” she replied tersely.
“Well, thank you for your time, but I think we may spread our net a little wider, especially as your proposal didn’t arrive until late afternoon on Friday, two days later than I had requested.” Jon stood to dismiss them.
Steph stared at him knowing that the deal she had put together was a good one. What was he playing at?
Jack suddenly turned on her. Her fears that he was looking at her as a potential scapegoat in this were proving horribly accurate. “Miss Pryor, I think you should leave. Mr Brooker, please, I should have ensured that Miss Pryor was up to the job of compiling an appropriate deal for you and complying with your time scale. Please allow me to get a more senior accounting team together and we will be sure to find something to satisfy you.” Jack was virtually begging as he looked back at Steph. “I think we may have been overconfident in your ability when you were promoted so quickly. Be in my office in the morning at half-past-eight to discuss your future with the company,” he said and gestured for her to leave.
She turned towards the door, then quickly turned on her heels to address Jon. “You are full of crap. My proposal is more than fair. I was told to make the deal viable for us, but a good deal for you and it is and if you find another company that offers you more for less then you should run away as quick as you can because they will be circling the drain.”
He smiled at her infuriating her further.
She continued, “That deal on the table is too good. If I was putting together a proper deal, fairest to both parties then you would have ten percent less service for twenty percent more than we propose charging you.”
“You think so?” He turned serious, business like.
“No, I know so,” she spat at him absolutely furious now.
Suddenly, Jack grabbed her arm and proceeded to push her towards the door roughly.
“Take your hands off me,” she barked at Jack who was absolutely seething. She attempted to shake his grip from her but simply squeezed her arm tighter.
“Forget meeting with me in the morning. Go back to the office and clear your desk, Miss Pryor. You’re fired with immediate effect.” He still held her arm tightly.