SWNOVELS Chapter 16
“You’re not coming?” Matthias asked, hovering around his door. Tobias looked up from his computer screen and saw the top of Candace’s hat behind him, rising like a furry ferret from her head. “Since when do I come to these events?” Tobias asked. It was Friday night and there seemed to be a relaxed mood around the office which he had noticed in his late afternoon Friday meeting.
Of course, he knew the reason for it.
“I’ve got things to finish up,” he said, giving his excuse, “then I’m flying to Martha’s Vineyard this weekend.”
“Nice for some.”
“There’s nothing stopping you from doing the same things,” Tobias reminded him. He’d made the man a millionaire many times over.
“We’ll have a drink on you,” Matthias replied, and raised his hand in a wave before he and Candace disappeared out of view.
Tobias drummed his fingers on the table and reconsidered his decision not to attend. He felt sure that Savannah would wonder why he hadn’t turned up. She would want him there, he was sure of it. He rested his clasped hands behind his head and examined the events of the past few days. She was so honest and transparent and he could see right through her. He knew she was confused about his aloofness.
It seemed to be working.
The truth was, he wanted to go but it would look odd, especially when he didn’t usually turn up at such events.
If they could somehow turn back time and return to that night when they had kissed, if he hadn’t ruined things with his accusations, perhaps he might have been in a position to fly her away for the weekend with him. Maybe he could have helped her to celebrate her 29th birthday in style. Instead, he had to sit back and pretend he wasn’t interested.
~~
Was this her second or third glass of champagne? Savannah took a sip. For sure it was the best she had ever tasted and if Matthias wanted to order another bottle, who was she to say no? She looked around at the familiar faces from work, at the people she was slowly coming to know. Most of them were here. Except for him.
“Having a good time?” Briony asked her.
“I am. People are much more relaxed outside of work.”
“See what you miss out on when you’re busy watching kiddie’s movies.”
“I celebrated my birthday with my son and I don’t regret a moment of it.”
“And why should you? Now, tell me, what else are you doing to celebrate?” Briony asked.
Savannah shifted her neck back. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, what else do you have planned?” Savannah shook her head. There was nothing else. There never was. Though she had thought about taking Jacob ice-skating tomorrow.
“Friends, family? Cousins?” Briony persisted.
“They’re far away,” she muttered, trying to figure out if Briony felt sorry for her, or was genuinely interested. “But my parents should be coming down hopefully over the Easter break. I’ll do something with them then.” She took a big sip from her champagne glass, almost emptying it and found Matthias was by her side in an instant, refilling her glass.
“Excuse me,” Briony said, looking up from her cell phone. “I think Max is outside trying to find us.” She rushed off and left her and Matthias standing alone. It wasn’t that she didn’t like him but his interest in her was too intense at times. It was as if he was trying to find out more about her, and she wasn’t prone to revealing too much about herself. There was only one man she seemed to have permanently on her mind these days but she’d pushed him too far away from her now, and she regretted it.
“Happy Birthday, once again, Savannah,” said Matthias. “I must say, you look absolutely gorgeous this evening.” He raised his glass to her, and she smiled, feeling embarrassed. She’d worn a new long-sleeved polka-dot dress she’d found at a sale. The shift dress, made of silky material, was a good few inches above her knees and shorter than the length she usually wore, especially with nude tights instead of her usual thick black ones. And while the silk fabric of her dress wasn’t the best for this type of weather, her thick new coat helped keep the chill out. Wearing high-heeled ankle boots, she was confident in her new clothes. It was amazing what a difference it made—she felt good because she looked good, or did she look good because she felt good?
“Thanks,” she muttered, feeling uncomfortable with the way he seemed to undress her with his eyes.
“And how are you finding your new role?” he asked as Candace breezed over to join them.
“It’s fairly interesting.”
“Fairly interesting?”
“You did well to land such a position.” Candace reminded her.
“We’re similar, in that respect only,” Savannah shot back. “You did well to land your position.” Candace stiffened visibly, unable to come back fast enough with a reply.
“And what sort of training have you had?” Matthias asked,
“Training?”
“For your new role.”
She wasn’t sure what he was asking. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, have you studied risk theory, financial theory, the markets, quantitative analysis?” He waited expectantly for an answer while she floundered. He seemed to be questioning her right to the job and it surprised her, this, coming from him. Candace yes, but Matthias? She hadn’t expected it.
“I don’t need any of that. I’m still doing admin tasks, with some analysis thrown in.”
“What did you do before?” he asked.
“I was an office manager in my last job and I handled payroll and helped out with that from time to time.” This close examination of her suitability for the job made her uneasy.
“Payroll?” asked Candace.
“It’s slightly different to Word processing,” Savannah replied, drily.
“Well, by all accounts you’re doing a fantastic job. Briony was telling me how she showed you what to do once and you’d taken it all on board. Excel has a million different uses, so I applaud your efforts. I still can’t get my head around pivot tables, but you seem to be getting along fine. Besides,” he said, giving her the type of smile that would have charmed the panties off a less resilient woman. “Who am I to question you?”
“Pivot tables?” Candace’s perfectly shaped and arched brows shifted north.
“They don’t come with chairs,” Savannah replied, smugly. Her remark sent Matthias roaring into laughter.
“What have I missed?” asked Briony, entering the fray. “Max is here!” She announced as a tall and slender woman appeared in view. Savannah almost spit out her drink. She was smartly dressed with patent black high heels and a killer business suit to match. “This is Max?” She’d never expected to see a woman.
Max exchanged greetings with Matthias and Candace whom she had obviously met before. Then, turning to Savannah, “You must be Savannah. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
“I bet you have,” murmured Candace.
“Nice to finally meet you,” Savannah replied, still not used to Max being a woman. She tried to think back to all the conversations she’d had with Briony where she might have noticed, but no. There was nothing.
“Thank you, darling.” Max took a glass of champagne from Matthias. “It’s been a while since you came out to play, Max,” he replied, giving her his usual charismatic smile, even though it wouldn’t win him any favors.
“This woman works me too hard,” Max complained, turning her face to Briony before raising her glass to them all. “Happy Birthday, Savannah.” They all raised their glasses to her, while she shrank into herself, managing to murmur her thanks. As the chatter started up again, Max and Matthias struck up a conversation while Candace hung around like an extra accessory. Briony whispered. “I did want to tell you before, but I wanted to see your reaction.”
Savannah blushed accordingly. “Thanks,” she replied, “But what were you afraid of? That I wouldn’t talk to you if I knew?”
“No, I couldn’t care less what you thought. You either like me or don’t, and if you don’t because of this, that’s your problem. The reason I didn’t tell you was that I didn’t think it mattered.”
“It doesn’t.” Savannah replied, and stared towards the door when a suited man walked in. Her eagle eyes and ratcheted up senses had been on alert for any signs of his arrival. But the man wasn’t Tobias.
“It doesn’t look as if Tobias is coming,” she said, clutching her champagne glass for comfort.
“He doesn’t turn up to these things. I wouldn’t take it personally.” Briony comforted her.
“Tobias?” asked Matthias, looking ruddy-cheeked, as he caught the tail end of the conversation. “He’s off to Martha’s Vineyard for the weekend. I’m not sure who with. You can never tell with him.” Savannah didn’t like the tone of his voice, or the implication he made. Or the idea that Tobias was going away with someone for the weekend. Matthias eyed her carefully but she kept her mouth closed, sensing that it wouldn’t do to stand up for Tobias, not now, not in front of everyone, not with the way she felt about him.
“I don’t think he’s with Naomi anymore,” Candace offered, sliding her fingers around the base of her glass.
“You’d know about that,” Matthias agreed. “You keep close watch on him, don’t you, sweetheart?”
She cut her eyes at him. “And you don’t?” she snarled back.
“He was working late tonight. Looking over some financials again. That man loves numbers the way most men love lingerie.”
“You love lingerie?” quizzed Briony.
“I love admiring it when it is worn well,” he replied. “Max looks hotter and hotter each time I see her,” he said, as soon as Briony’s girlfriend left their group and walked over to join the other women from Briony’s office. It surprised Savannah that he seemed to have forgotten his seniority, the way his tongue had loosened.
“I’ll be sure to pass on your compliment,” said Briony, playfully nudging him with her elbow. “Though she certainly wouldn’t give you a second glance.”
“Pity,” he murmured, looking longingly at her. Savannah wrinkled her nose in disgust.
“Maybe you could ask Tobias for Naomi’s number?” Candace suggested, “You wouldn’t mind having his cast-offs, would you?”
“Now, now, Candace. Remember we have new people on the team.” Matthias reminded her gently. Savannah didn’t like the way the two of them were talking, as if there were a hidden meaning to his words. Did Tobias know they talked about him like this? “Come with me,” he said, slipping his hand into Candace’s and pulling her away. “Let’s go and mingle.”
“Do they always talk about him behind his back?” Savannah asked Briony.
“Who? About Tobias, you mean?”
Savannah nodded. “I thought they were friends.”
“They rib each other. I wouldn’t take it to mean anything else. He and Tobias go back a long way. And you haven’t heard Tobias. He can be sharp when he wants to be.” Savannah already knew that, but she couldn’t help thinking that Tobias would tell people to their face, instead of talking about them behind their backs the way Matthias and Candace had done.
Maybe she was being overly protective of him because she cared.
She suddenly felt no real desire to be here. The champagne made her feel happy but she’d have been even happier if he’d walked in. She looked around her and the truth hit; the one person she would have liked the most to be here was nowhere to be seen. If only he’d shown up, it would have given her an opportunity to tend to unresolved business.
The emails which they had sent one another a few days ago had stopped suddenly, without explanation. She wanted to know why. Not only was he not here, he was going away. Tonight? Tomorrow? For Valentine’s Day weekend? Who with?
Pain mixed with fury and knotted deep in her belly. It hadn’t taken long at all for him to find someone else. She checked her cell phone to see if Rosalee might have called and instead found an email from Tobias.
Her insides trembled.
I have checked the report and I have one final request. Apologies. Please change the colors for the chart on page 6, they are hard to tell apart.
Tobias
Was he kidding? She was already pissed that he wasn’t here, already worked up that he’d left her hanging by not replying to her email from days ago, and he expected her to believe that he was looking at her report now? On Friday night? Without thinking she emailed back:
I will do that tomorrow. How sad that you’re nit-picking over my report so late on a Friday night, of all nights.
Outraged, she didn’t even bother to sign her name. Putting down her champagne glass she moved to a corner waiting for his reply to light up her mail icon.
“What are you doing hiding over here?” Chloe asked, stopping for a moment, presumably on her way towards the ladies’ room. “I’m checking in with my babysitter.” Savannah lied easily and waited for the other woman to disappear. When she looked at her cell phone again, Tobias had replied.
Tomorrow is Saturday but you are more than welcome to come into work if you so wish.
She noted that he also had omitted to sign his name.
Shouldn’t you be on your way to Martha’s Vineyard for the weekend? I’d hate to think my report was holding you back.
Quick as a flash, his reply came through.
News travels fast.
She jabbed at her keypad:
People talk. You’d be amazed.
He replied:
I don’t think so.
She wondered what he would make of it if he’d heard Candace and Matthias talking. She doubted that he had any idea of what others said behind his back and worried that it would come as a shock to him, especially because he was so paranoid and trusted no-one anyway.
I would love to continue this conversation, but we are all here at my birthday drinks, to which you were invited, but I notice you didn’t turn up. You must be getting ready to leave for your weekend away and I am sure you have better things to do than to text me all night long.
She hesitated, noting the innuendo, unsure whether to leave it or not. She bit her lip as she reconsidered. Then let bravado take over and sent it.
I have better things to do than to text you all night long. But if you want to continue this conversation, you are more than welcome to pass by my office when you leave. I’ll be here until way past your bedtime.
Savannah smiled to herself, his words making the heat rise to her cheeks. She licked her lips slowly.
Now that was an invitation and a half.