The Baby Verdict. CATHY WILLIAMS
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strangers, even if it was simply because she was in the company of Bruno Carr.
He looked up suddenly from the menu and she dropped her eyes, ruffled to think that he might have caught her stare and followed the train of her thoughts from it.
‘So,’ he said lazily, ‘shall we launch immediately into a work-related discussion or would you like to have a glass of wine first?’
Why did she get the impression that, although he recognised her intelligence, he was secretly laughing at her?
‘I do have it in me to converse about things other than work,’ she told him coldly, unsettled by his attitude. She felt as though he was toying with her, in much the same way that a cat toyed with a mouse. ‘I just thought that that was my reason for flying over to see you at this time of the night.’
He ignored that part of her little speech. ‘Other things than work...well, I guess that means...play?’ He had ordered a bottle of white wine, and he looked at her as he tasted a thumbful, nodded, and then waited while two glasses were poured. ‘So, aside from law books and court cases, what other forms of play do you indulge in?’
He tilted his head slightly to one side, sipped his wine and contemplated her with a gravity which she knew was fake. He was highly amused by her and she found it exasperating.
‘I’m sure you know,’ she informed him calmly, taking a mouthful of wine and savouring the taste on her tongue, ‘considering you had my CV in front of you in my office and it was all listed there. But, in case you forgot, I enjoy going to the theatre, reading and foreign travel. What about you?’ She looked at him without blinking and decided that two could play that game. ‘Oops, sorry. I saw firsthand in your office what sort of play you enjoy indulging in.’
Had she said that?
Had she gone completely mad?
He grinned at her wickedly. ‘I do enjoy going to the theatre, reading, and foreign travel as well. But I’ll admit there are other, more absorbing types of play I prefer.’
‘Right.’ She could feel colour stealing into her cheeks, and she hurriedly drank some more wine. ‘Now, shall we discuss this case? At least go over a few things? I’m sure you have a hectic schedule tomorrow and the less—’
‘Dear me. Surely you can do better than that.’ He shot her a surprised look. ‘Just when I thought that we were going to have a little chat about these...things other than work you enjoy talking about.’
‘Okay. Then let’s talk about why you ordered me over to see you only to drag me out here the minute I step foot through the door.’
‘Drag you out here? You have a way with words, don’t you?’
‘I’m sorry,’ Jessica said stiffly, ‘I didn’t mean to appear rude.’
‘Oh, feel free to speak your mind. I appreciate honesty in a person.’
‘In that case, I might as well tell you that I’m a great believer in discussion. I don’t like being commanded to do things. I realise that you’re my boss...’
‘And have the authority to tell you precisely what I want you to do...?’ His voice was soft and when he drank his wine he continued to look at her over the rim of his glass.
‘Theoretically.’ The conversation seemed to be getting out of hand and she wondered when they had veered away from the conventional boss-employee line of chit-chat. ‘You did say that you wanted me to be honest,’ she said a little defensively, in anticipation of criticism.
‘Oh, I know. And there’s no need to look so alarmed. I’m not about to invoke the wrath of Khan on you for your temerity. After all, we will be working together to some extent. We might as well make sure that we can co-operate. I’m a great believer in the open forum.’
‘Except for tonight.’
‘Except for tonight,’ he agreed, half smiling.
‘Because...?’ She looked at him, and tried to let that suggestion of great charm wash over her. ‘Because...’ Bruno Carr did things for a reason. ‘You wanted me at your office...at that precise moment...because...’ It suddenly clicked. ‘Because you wanted to get rid of your girlfriend and my appearance was the most convenient way of doing that... am I right?’
‘You have a suspicious mind,’ he answered, leaning back slightly as plates of food were put in front of them, and vegetables were distributed with flourish. ‘It must be the lawyer in you.’
‘I don’t like being used, Mr Carr.’
‘Why don’t you call me Bruno? I encourage first names among my employees. Good for company morale. Makes people feel more comfortable.’
‘But that’s an illusion, isn’t it?’ Jessica said in a steely voice. ‘As tonight proved. You wanted me over because it was an expedient way of getting your girlfriend to leave.’
She could see that he was getting uncomfortable with her persistence but the thought of such blatant manipulation of her stuck in her throat.
‘Oh, for God’s sake, you’re like a dog with a bone. If it makes you feel any better to hear me admit it, then, yes, you’re right. You telephoned, and the idea occurred to me that an unavoidable business meeting was just what I needed’
Jessica finished her glass of wine and it was immediately refilled.
‘That’s despicable.’ She thought it, yes, but she was still amazed when it popped out of her mouth, almost as though any connection between thought and action had been severed. She knew that she ought to apologise. Whatever he said about first names and appreciating honesty and trying to make his employees feel comfortable, he still owned the company she worked for.
But she found it difficult not to voice her objections. She had spent too many years witnessing the price of her mother’s silence.
‘Why didn’t you just tell the poor woman that you were tired of her?’
‘The poor woman?’ All trace of charm had disappeared from his face and he glowered at her. ‘You have no idea what you’re talking about when you refer to Rachel as the poor woman, and I have no idea why I’m bothering to elaborate on any of this with you.’
‘Guilt?’ she suggested. ‘Guilt that I saw through your little manoeuvre? A basic sense of decency in realising that I need some kind of explanation? Even if I am only an employee? I wouldn’t suggest this normally, but you did say that you enjoyed the open forum.’
He shook his head and raked his fingers through his hair, then he shot her a frustrated, perplexed look from under his lashes. ‘So, I gather, do you,’ he commented, eyebrows raised, and she smiled serenely at him.
‘I’m not in the habit of being quite so outspoken—’
‘Not in the habit! God, I should think you send men running in the opposite direction as fast as their legs can take them the minute you confront them with your brand of open forum chit-chat!’
Jessica went bright red and stabbed a few of the vegetables on her plate with misdirected aggression.
‘This is ridiculous,’ she muttered, eating a mouthful of food that now tasted like sawdust. ‘All of this is beside the point. Whatever your reasons for getting me to your office, and whether I approve of them or not, the point of my being here is in my briefcase on the ground.’
‘Oh, no, you don’t,’ he told her darkly. ‘You generated this topic of conversation, and we’ll finish it.’
‘Like you said, you don’t owe me an explanation...’
‘But we’ll be working together and I don’t intend to spend my time being treated like some kind of inhuman monster.’
‘Does it matter, just so long as we get the job done?’
‘Yes, I rather think it does.’
Jessica