Chapter Sixteen
Falling in love is easy and I’d fallen for Peter on sight. I’d passed him in a corridor on my first day in a new job. The encounter had left me with a racing heart and feeling rather breathless.
At the time, Peter had been a rising star in a large London law firm.
I’d been a legal secretary in a float role.
Almost every day, from afar, I’d caught a glimpse of him and silently swooned.
From striding into one of the many boardrooms, or being in the vast canteen, to getting into one of the four temperamental lifts.
Whenever our paths had crossed, I’d been outwardly calm and collected.
Inwardly, I’d been a sweaty nervous wreck.
On one occasion I’d had the giddy pleasure of sharing the elevator with him.
Together, we’d travelled in silence from the twenty-seventh floor to the ground.
I’d prayed fervently for the lift to do its usual party piece and get stuck so that we might have a chance to strike up conversation.
Typically, that didn’t happen. Instead, I’d smiled shyly at him as he’d stepped inside the elevator.
For a split second his piercing blue eyes had held mine.
He’d then given me a perfunctory smile before turning his attention to the mobile in his hand.
The immediate absorption with the phone had given me the opportunity to discreetly study my crush.
The faint stubble on the strong jaw. The slightly hooked profile.
The dark blond hair which – back then – had been fashionably on the long side and had curled sexily over the collar of his pristine white shirt.
When the doors had eventually opened, he’d smartly exited leaving behind the faint scent of a heady aftershave.
I’d sniffed it appreciatively before stepping out of the lift.
A couple of waiting secretaries had brushed past me before moving inside the elevator.
Their conversation had drifted back to me in the moments before the doors had closed.
‘There goes my secret love.’
‘Peter Armstrong?’ A throaty laugh. ‘You can’t have him. He’s mine.’
‘Really? Or are you winding me up!’
I’d stopped dead in my tracks. Paused to rifle through my handbag on the pretext of looking for something, purely to eavesdrop.
‘I’m kidding, silly!’ A dreamy, gusty sigh had followed. ‘Anyway, I should be so lucky. He’s spoken for. Apparently, he’s having a ding-dong with Verity Henley-Brown.’
‘No!’
I’d caught my breath. Verity Henley-Brown was a ruthless and very glamorous senior partner. She had a voice like cut glass, was married, and had to be twice Peter’s age.
‘I swear to God it’s true, but keep it to yourself, eh? A little bird told me that Ms Snooty Posh-Pants has contacts in high places. Everyone knows that Peter is a ruthless climber of the business ladder. He won’t stop shagging our Verity until he’s got what he wants – a partnership.’
‘Bit young, isn’t he?’
‘Hence him being so proactive. He’s not going to get noticed if he’s not aggressively raising his profile.’ The secretary gave another smutty laugh. ‘Except in Peter’s case, it’s not just his profile that he’s raising.’
When the elevator doors had finally closed, I’d been left feeling physically winded.
Good God. How could I ever get myself noticed against the likes of Verity Henley-Brown?
She looked like a fifty-year-old version of Sharon Stone with her cropped blonde hair, high cheekbones and incredibly long legs.
She wore skyscraper heels with tailored jackets and short skirts.
I wondered if she’d impersonated the famous leg-crossing pose to ensnare Peter.
At the time I hadn’t realised that Peter Armstrong wasn’t just attracted to beautiful older women with long legs.
He was also attracted to money and power.
Peter was the sort of man who wouldn’t let a big age gap come between him and what he wanted.
I suspect he’d have pursued someone old enough to be his grandma if it had served his purpose.
And then, twelve months later, several things happened at once.
First, an announcement went out at work asking all employees to welcome Peter Armstrong as a partner, and to congratulate him on being the youngest person ever to have achieved such status in the firm’s considerable history.
At the same time, it was rumoured that the woman who’d championed this meteoric rise had been unceremoniously dumped.
Second, Peter’s secretary was about to go on maternity leave and HR offered the six-month assignment to me. I couldn’t believe my luck. The man that I’d worshipped from afar was to become my boss. There was no hesitation. My acceptance of the position was immediate.
Third, hours after the announcement of Peter becoming a partner, employees received the shocking news that Verity Henley-Brown had taken an elevator to the top of the building – but descended without it.