SWNOVELS Chapter 10
“We should have done this a long time ago,” said Briony wiping the last crumbs of her hot turkey sandwich from her mouth.
“Ummmmm,” mumbled Savannah, biting into her buffalo chicken sandwich and chewing. It was moist and tangy and the chicken melted in her mouth. Divine.
“Maybe next time we can have a proper hot meal. Come to think of it, why didn’t we do that today, while the bosses are away?”
“As if it mattered to you where they were,” retorted Savannah, wishing that she’d bought the large sandwich instead of the smaller size. “It doesn’t,” Briony replied, sitting back and letting her hands rest over her stomach. She let out a contented sigh. “But it always feels nicer to know you can go out without a heavy meeting to deal with on your return. How’s it been, your first two weeks as a full-time employee?”
“The same, and not the same.” Things didn’t seem so different for Savannah. She still worked in room 218 and all of her interaction was with Briony. Even the new job, the two days when she researched a list of companies that Tobias had taken an interest in, wasn’t all that different or taxing. Briony had shown her the types of information she had to collate and the graphs and charts that were needed for the final report which Tobias would get. It wasn’t too difficult once she had done it a few times. But she barely saw Tobias. “But I’m enjoying it,” she told Briony. “Are you growing it out?” She noticed that Briony’s hair wasn’t as spiky as before.
“Max likes it short, but I feel I need a change. What do you think? Long or short?” Savannah shrugged. “I’m used to spiky, but a change can do wonders.”
“I love your highlights,” Briony commented appreciatively.
“I needed a change,” said Savannah, touching her hair. And what a result that change had produced. It was not long afterwards that she and Tobias had shared that kiss.
Settling into her new role easily, she sometimes found herself wondering what might have happened if she had never asked Tobias for an advance. If they had never had exchanged harsh words, would anything have developed between them?
As the days passed, her anger had slowly melted and with her immediate stress and worries over the paying of the hospital bill now gone, she felt better about herself, and happier. It meant that she found herself thinking of Tobias Stone more instead of fretting over how to find some money.
She had thought that she might see him in meetings at least, or that he might send her an email requesting something, or that he might phone her for something. He had plenty of opportunity now—where he hadn’t before. But there had been only silence and this week he and Matthias had been away from the office.
She regretted telling him that she never wanted to see him again and that his kiss had meant nothing.
“Isn’t this all nice and cozy?” asked Candace, suddenly appearing in front of them from nowhere. She and Briony turned and stared at her in unison, an invisible bond binding them against her. Candace stood before them holding a take-out bag in her fur-lined leather gloved hands. “Congratulations”, she said, fixing her gaze on Savannah.
“For what?”
“Your promotion.”
“That’s old news, Candace. It’s so last week.” Briony muttered in a put-on bored voice.
“It wasn’t really announced, more like swept under the table.” Candace returned. “One minute we have a temp, and the next, the temp’s managed to land a dream job summer interns would fight over.”
“Are you bored, Candace? Or is it your time of the month? Or is this another one of your drive-by snipings you’re subjecting us to?” Briony asked as Savannah shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Candace’s words, though laced with a hint of jealousy, weren’t any different to what she sometimes thought.
“None of those things. But people are wondering how come you got the job?”
“Briony was always looking to expand her team,” replied Savannah, unable to sit in silence any longer. “You’ve had more work than can be expected of one person, haven’t you?” Savannah asked her friend but Briony gave her an I-can-handle-this-look.
“Not that it’s any business of yours but Tobias discussed this work with me last year. However, if it’s getting your panties tied up in knots thinking about it, why don’t you bring it up with Tobias?”
“I’m sure Matthias will have by now,” Candace replied smugly.
“I’m sure they have far weightier things to discuss,” said Briony, “than what Savannah’s working on.”
“You’d think so. Enjoy your lunch,” Candace said, “Are you planning to return to the office in the afternoon or…?”
“We’re undecided yet,” Briony told her and they watched Candace leave in a puff of overdramatic disgust.
“What’s with her?” Savannah asked, as they watched her slink out of the door. “She’s jealous,” Briony muttered. “You helped Tobias with some stuff, didn’t you? I think she’s feeling threatened. It doesn’t help that she’s got the hots for him.”
“For Tobias?” Savannah asked, trying to keep her voice level.
“Blatantly. Haven’t you noticed the way she preens herself whenever she’s around him? She’s been able to hide it because she’s his PA and needs to be around him most of the time but I’m sure he thinks of her more like a cheap deodorant smell that he can’t seem to get rid of.”
“I don’t think Tobias would wear cheap deodorant,” replied Savannah. “And I don’t think Candace is cheap.”
“Dripping in designer,” said Briony. “Shall we pay up at the counter?” They got up and slipped on their coats before paying their server. “She’s high maintenance,” confirmed Briony. “Paid $200 for an oxygen facial during her lunch hour last week.”
“I didn’t know,” said Savannah, feeling a little put back. $200 on a facial? Briony slid on her thin red gloves as they sauntered out of the warm, oven-baked atmosphere of the sandwich shop. The chilled air, sharp like a knife’s blade, cut into their faces, turning the warmth that they had been basking in, to instant ice. “That woman probably doesn’t need to work, not like the rest of us, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she’s hoping to get her claws into Tobias while she’s here.”
“How long since his wife passed away?”
“Four or five years.”
“Did you ever meet her?” Savannah asked, lowering her voice. Asking these questions made her feel like a spy, as if she was uncovering intelligence or some deeply hidden secret.
“She passed away before I joined. Candace didn’t meet her either, only Matthias. He said she was beautiful, and not only in the way she looked, but in her heart. She grounded Tobias.” Briony’s words crushed Savannah’s heart. It hurt to hear about Tobias and someone else—even if it was about someone he’d been with before her time.
Before her time. As if the brief moments she’d shared with Tobias were of any significance.
“Why?”
“No reason. I just wondered what she was like,” said Savannah.
“Candace started a year after me but I’m telling you, she’s got her eye on one of them.”
“Who?”
“One of the Stone brothers.”
“And you?”
“Me?” Briony chuckled to herself. “I’ve got Max.” She hooked her arm through Savannah’s as the two of them shivered together. “I don’t need a Stone.”
I didn’t want a Stone, thought Savannah. But now…now she wasn’t so sure. She had no idea how things were between them or if there would ever be a chance for anything to evolve. Conflicted, and unsure, she’d been looking to Tobias for a sign, for a glimmer of remembrance but she’d barely seen him.
She was no longer sure if she dreaded running into Tobias again or looked forward to it. Such was his changeability that it was difficult to ascertain how things would be. It was impossible to see how a conversation with Tobias Stone would turn out, let alone anything else.
She was in trouble—not the financial kind of trouble any more—but something as unsettling. Not only was she still working for his company, and indirectly working for him, she couldn’t erase the memories of intimacy with him. The more she thought about it, the more she wondered what it would take to get it back.
“Savannah?” They’d stopped at the light and Briony looked at her searchingly. “What’re you thinking of now? I was saying, how about that drink?”
“Drink?”
“One evening after work—you can finally meet Max and you can bring along your significant other.”
“I don’t have a significant other,” she mumbled, staring ahead and waiting for the light to change.
“I thought as much,” Briony said. “But I wasn’t sure. You never know. The perfect partner might be waiting for you out there, though you’re not going to meet him sitting inside.” Savannah rolled her eyes. Briony and Kay seemed too uncannily similar in their romantic outlook. “With a child?” She shook her head, dismissing the idea instantly. “Who do you think is going to be interested in me?”
Yet Tobias Stone had been. Not only that, he’d showed genuine affection for Jacob to the point that her son now adored the man. “But a night out might not be such a bad idea,” she agreed. “How about sometime next week?”
“Tobias is back next week and it might be slightly hectic. We could do it a week or two after that? Valentine’s Day is coming.”
They crossed the road, chattering away among the sound of people and traffic stacked up with engines roaring. Savannah didn’t mind when; Valentine’s Day had lost its allure for her years ago. “It’s my birthday a few days before,” she let slip by accident.
“What date?”
“On the ninth,” replied Savannah, as they approached the Stone building.
“Is this the big 3-0?” Briony asked her as they both stepped through the same revolving door segment.
“That’s next year.”
“Twenty-nine is still worth celebrating,” Briony replied, sounding a little too excited for Savannah’s liking. “We’ll celebrate your birthday then.”
“I don’t want to make a big deal about it.” Visions of a grand affair masterminded by Briony suddenly scared her. If anything, she wanted a few drinks and that was about it. “We’ll keep it small,” Briony promised.
Savannah wondered if it would seem out of place if she invited Tobias along. Whether he came or not would be a different matter. At the very least she wanted to thank him for suggesting the advance from HR.
Maybe she ought to send him an email first, to test the waters.