And that, Caitlin thought, was probably the crux of the matter. Her mother had always worried too much about what others thought. ‘I’ll do my best to patch things up,’ Caitlin said on a rueful sigh.
‘My life is in tatters, Caitlin. Totally and irretrievably ruined.’
Caitlin tried to give a glow of hope. ‘Somehow it will turn out right.’
‘No, it won’t.’ Her mother gave another wail of absolute distress and despair, and hung up.
Caitlin ran through a mental list of places where her father might have stormed off to. Before she recollected the important business tactic she had to set in motion, the door to her office opened and in strode David Hartley, emitting enough sparks to start a conflagration.
Caitlin’s mind exploded in horror. Time had passed too quickly. It was now too late to call Paul Jordan!
David came to an abrupt halt. He glared at the splendid arrangement of red roses. He glared at the beribboned basket containing the puppy and the chocolates and the luxurious toiletries. His glare swung back to the roses, fastening even more fiercely on the elaborate Valentine Card. Finally, he fired bolts of blue fire straight at Caitlin.
‘What the hell is going on out here?’
Caitlin started guiltily from her chair. ‘Nothing.’
‘Well, something has been going on in there.’ David pointed to the boardroom. ‘The delegation is not only muttering about alleged design flaws, they’ve been talking to Crawley.’
Michael Crawley was David’s main rival. The mere mention of his name was enough to set David aflame. There was litigation pending between the two companies over patent infringements.
‘I’m sorry...’
‘I’ve been trying to contact you for the last twenty minutes,’ he grated. ‘Your line has been tied up. You’ve made me look like a first-class idiot.’
She flushed. ‘My mother called.’
He looked at her incredulously. ‘Where’s Jordan?’
Caitlin tried to think of an appropriate reply.
His gaze flashed savagely to the roses, then back to her fiery cheeks. ‘Did your mother send the roses?’
‘No. You did,’ she reminded him.
He looked at her as though she had gone stark raving mad. ‘I did no such thing. What do you mean...I gave them to you?’
A great bottomless pit formed in Caitlin’s stomach. She wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. She fought down the feeling of emotional panic. ‘If you didn’t send
them, who did?’
‘Ask your mother.’ His voice dripped acid. His eyes raked hers with scathing disbelief at her dereliction of duty. ‘In the meantime, can we get back to running this business?’
Her chin came up in fighting mode. Everything had to be done to the beat of his drum. He didn’t listen to her. He didn’t understand that she had problems as well as he. He didn’t give her roses or consideration or caring. She had duped herself into thinking David had relented in his tyrannical attitude towards her. He had not bent one iota.
‘David, I think we’re finished,’ she said tightly.
‘Damned right!’ he agreed. ‘Get Jordan up here. He might do the job required of him.’
A stinging rebuff.
She watched him as though from a far distance as he swung on his heel and headed back to the boardroom.
Cold, hard and ruthless. As his competitors saw him. As Michael Crawley must see him. As the German delegation must see him. As Caitlin now saw him.
With a heavy hand, she lifted up the phone. There was no answer from Jordan’s office. She rang Jenny.
‘Where’s Paul Jordan?’ she asked bleakly.