The Lethal Encounter (17 page)

As she emerged from the
hotel, she felt elated. The self confidence that had taken a hammering over the
last few days, was definitely restored, if only partially, and she turned
towards Oxford Street with renewed vigour.

So what if Peter had been
putting her name about (she did not even want to think about the reason why he
might be doing that) - if that led to a better job and out of his clutches,
then that was his, and his company's loss. Stuff them.

And with that thought
comfortably lodged in her mind she went to meet Josie.    

The next morning, with a
slightly sore head from over indulging on the wine (she hadn't meant to but the
emotional rollercoaster she had been on had encouraged it), Katie retraced her
steps across the lobby of The Carshalton but, instead of going to the bar as
she had done the previous evening, she made a beeline for the restaurant in
which, judging from the sound of clinking cutlery and the gentle murmur of
voices, breakfast was being served.

She stopped at the entrance
and gave her name to the waiter who was hovering there. He consulted his list
and, with a nod, picked up a menu from the pile at his side and beckoned her to
follow him.

Katie felt a flutter of
butterflies in her stomach as she walked between the tables. She looked ahead
and spotted their destination – a table set for three slightly set apart from
the others.

Already sitting there was a
man and a woman, who looked up as she approached.

“Katie, good morning my name
is Sheila Callaghan and this is my colleague John Barrington. Thank you so much
for coming to see us on such short notice.”

Katie shook Sheila's hand and
then turned to her colleague.

“It’s no problem at all,
thanks for asking me,” she replied, taking his hand and shaking it formally.

“Please sit down.” John said.
“Coffee or tea?”

“Oh, coffee please,” said
Katie. Her head was mercifully fairly clear now, but she could do with the
caffeine kick. “And some water please.”

Before she could really
settle in her seat, Sheila smiled and said.

“So, you met with Mary last
night and she chatted generally about the job that we are here to discuss. Do
you know anything about our company?”

“No, I don't, in fact Mary
did not tell me the name. I can make an educated guess but why don't you fill
me in?”

Sheila glanced over to John
and then back to Katie.

“Our company is Automated
Solutions.....I can see you recognise the name. It’s the number two behind your
company. In fact, I believe it was set up at about the same time as Peter
Jarvis started Shire. Do you have much contact with him....Peter Jarvis I
mean?”

Katie sighed. It was looking
increasingly likely that her initial fears about Peter ringing around his
cronies to get her a job was proving correct.

“I've met him a few times.....at
meetings and things. Of course, I'm much too lowly to have any actual dealings
with him.” Katie realised as she said this that, if her assumption was correct,
then Sheila would know she was lying. But what the heck…..she couldn't really
say “yes I do know him, but only intimately” could she?

“Well, anyway. The thing is
Katie, we have an opening for someone like you in our sales department and Mary
speaks very highly of you from her meeting yesterday.”

The next forty-five minutes
passed quickly as Mary and John outlined the position and got her feedback.
Afterwards, Katie looked back and thought she had handled things well –
answering questions thoughtfully and, she hoped, knowledgably.

At exactly 9am, Sheila looked
at her watch.

“We must not keep you any
more. Do you have any final questions for us?”

Katie had been bombarding
them with some pre-arranged questions for the last ten minutes, so she thought
she had said enough and said so, thanking them very much for their time and
asking what the next steps might be.

“Well, we will have a chat
and then you'll be hearing from Mary in due course.....is that OK?”

Katie thanked them again and,
shaking hands goodbye, she made her way out of the dining room and back out
into the airy lobby.

All in all, she felt pretty
smug. She knew the meeting had gone well and was already thinking carefully
about what she would say if they did offer her the job. Her kneejerk reaction
was to say yes and to hell with her present company and all the frustrations
that the last week had thrown up.

She made her way quickly to
work and, once there, sat down at her desk. No sooner as she sat down and
switched on her e mail then her phone rang. It was Sue, asking her to come and
see her as soon as possible.

Katie sighed, picked up her
notebook and made her way along the corridor of desks. She got a few nods and
smiles but was it her imagination that people were avoiding her eye?

Sue smiled as Katie sat down
on the settee.

“Thanks for coming. I'm
afraid I need you to go to Prague this afternoon. David is ill and there is a
big scheduling meeting tomorrow on the project we have there. I don't want to
postpone it and I think it will look bad if we are not represented. Do you know
anything about the project?”

“A bit,” replied Katie. “But
it’s not a problem. Give me the file and I will swot up this evening. It’s only
a routine progress meeting isn't it.....nothing major?”

“No, just routine. Here are
the files. All the contact names are here and I will let them know you will be
taking Dave's place. Thanks Katie.”

Katie made her way back to
her desk and fired off an e mail to the travel department. She knew there was a
flight to Prague later in the afternoon and she wanted to make sure she got on
it. She would have to nip home to pack a bag and pick up her passport, but that
was OK.

She called over to Beth, a
colleague who sat next to her.

“Beth, I've been told to get
on a plane to Prague, so could you tell anyone who asks for me? I'll be back
day after tomorrow.”

“Sure, Katie. Have fun.” Beth
said, hardly looking up from her work.

Katie packed up her desk,
turned off her computer and picked up the bag containing the papers. With that
she made her way out of the office towards the nearest tube and home.

As it happens, she only just
managed to get a seat on the afternoon flight and, as she sat looking through
the bundle of work papers, she stopped to contemplate the turn her life had
taken over the last few days.

How did she really feel about
the possibility of a new job? And how were those feelings determined by what
had happened between her and Peter Jarvis? In truth, she did not know. She had
not spoken to anyone about the potential work move and had only discussed the
Peter thing with Josie, so she was struggling to come to terms with events.

Still, this trip was not too
bad and, if all went well, she would get an offer from Mary and then she could
seriously consider her options.

With that thought in mind,
she retuned her attention to the project for tomorrow's meeting.

CHAPTER 12

Katie walked down the stairs
to have breakfast at her hotel in Prague early the next morning feeling
refreshed. She had enjoyed a light but good dinner the previous night and had
turned in early. After a good read of her latest book (bought hurriedly at the
airport before the flight), she turned out the light and fell into a deep and,
thankfully, dreamless sleep. She had woken at about 6am and had decided to go
down the gym for a quick workout. This, and the aftermath of a good shower, had
left her feeling positive and glowing.

She sat down at a spare table
and ordered a coffee from a wandering waiter. It was while she was sipping this
that her heart sunk down to her toes. Incredibly, amazingly, Peter Jarvis was
sitting not thirty feet away from her on the other side of the room. She could
not believe what she was seeing and, worse still, his companion was a stunning
brunette who was looking like she was hanging on every word that he was saying
in that sort of “he's mine now” sort of way.

The emotions that flooded
through Katie were almost impossible to explain, let alone overcome. Her first
reaction was to run out of the room and disappear to her bedroom, to bury her
head in the big, fluffy pillows and cry her heart out. Her second reaction was
to rush over to him, call him the worst thing she could possibly think of and
then pour whatever liquid she could lay her hands on over his head.

Luckily, the third reaction
won the day and she sat totally still, slowly chewing on a croissant that had
appeared on her table. Whilst she battled with her emotions, she studied the
body language between the couple.

The woman was undoubtedly
gorgeous and, so Katie thought, in a different league to herself. She had that
smouldering eastern European look, with long dark brown hair that fell casually
about her shoulders. She wore a fashionable two piece suit and it was obvious
her body was toned and hard beneath it. Katie felt like despairing. How could
she possibly compete with that?

Her attention turned to Peter
and her heart jumped as she studied his face, the same one that had stared so
intently at her but days ago as they made love. He was talking earnestly about
something and his companion was hanging on every word. Occasionally, her hand
would come out and casually touch his, as if to emphasise a point he, or she,
was making.

If Katie had ever had doubts
about Peter's intentions, or distinct lack of them since their meeting in Cannes, they were now dispelled. It was more than clear that she had become yet another one
of Peter Jarvis' long list of conquests and she hated herself and him in equal
measures. How could she have fallen for that boyish charm, the same charm that
seemed to be now working its magic with the beauty from Prague?

Unsteadily, she rose to her
feet and, as if driven by another power, she threaded her way through the
tables to where they were sitting. Once there, she raised herself to her full
height and said.

“Peter, how lovely to see
you. I didn't know you were in Prague”

Peter tuned to her with a
look of genuine astonishment.

“Katie, Hi. What are you
doing here?”

“I'm filling in for a
colleague who's ill.....just a routine progress meeting.”

“With The IT House I
suppose?”

“That's right. I'm only here
for the day.....and back to London tomorrow.” Katie turned to Peter's companion
and smiled expectantly before looking back at Peter.

“Oh sorry, this is Lenka,
Lenka Petrova. Lenka, this is Katie who works for my company.”

Lenka looked at Katie and
held out her hand.

“Nice to meet you Katie,” she
said as Katie grasped her slim fingers in a vice like grip.

“And nice to meet you. It’s
good to see that Peter has a Prague girl. You see…..I'm his Cannes girl.”

As soon as the words were
out, Katie realised she had made a huge mistake. She bit her tongue and,
smiling at Lenka again and nodding curtly at Peter, she turned on her heels and
stormed out of the restaurant.

You stupid, immature,
pathetic, girl. She said to herself. If you weren't in trouble then, you are
now, she thought as she returned to her room to pick up her bag.

She had, in one quick stroke,
ended all hope, however distant or impossible, that there was a future between
herself and Peter. If he had been harbouring any doubts at all, then that
little outburst would have made up his mind. How could she have been so stupid?