Glass Ceilings (8 page)

‘Hello!
’ she called.
‘
Y
ou must be Miss Parker?’

‘
Yes, I’m Verity Parker
.’

‘Nice to meet you.
’ The agent extended her hand.
‘
I’m Rosie McGovern,
resident
property manager
for Ocean Mews.
We spoke on the phone?
’

‘Yes. Good
to meet you
,
Rosie, and
please
call me Verity.’

Rosie
gave a smiling nod
as they shook hands
.
‘
Well, i
f you’ve already had a bit of a look at the complex, I guess
you’ll be anxious to see inside number seven?
I can show you the parking and other facilities afterwards if you like.’

‘Great.’
Verity smiled
and followed Rosie
through the gate
. They walked
along
a
pebble pathway bordered by shrubs
and shaded by overhanging branches
, to the front door, where
Rosie produced a set of keys.

‘If the garden’
s a bit dense or overgrown for your taste, we can ask
our groundsman
to give it a trim.
’ Rosie
ran
a critical eye
over it
. ‘The original owner apparently loved th
e idea
of living in a jungle
,’ s
he sniffed
,
‘and attempted to create a mini-rainfor
est when she designed this garden
.’

‘Thank you, but
it’s lovely
exactly
as it is. I like the concept
of
natural
air-conditioning
and leafy privacy screen
s
, a
nd I love having birds around.’

But I’ll have to make sure T
BJ
stays inside
most of the time
, otherwise th
e poor little birds won’t stand a chance against
‘
Sir Huntalot
’
.

Verity loved her cat,
Three Bells Jack,
but wished he wasn’t s
uch a rampant hunter of all
that moved, squeaked, chirped, scuttled, slithered, or twinkled.
Even her Christmas decorations weren’t safe from
his
'stalking with intent'.
Many h
ad sustained serious bodily injury
from his teeth and claws, and she’d had to p
ronounce them Do
T, dead on tree
.

Whil
e Rosie was busy unlocking the villa
, Verity glanc
ed around
and noticed
a delightful little
paved
terrace off to o
ne side, furnished with a
wrought iron table and two chairs. She pictured herself sitting there in the morni
ngs
,
with
a steaming cup of tea
at her elbow
and Jack on the chair beside her, busily cleaning breakfast remnants from his whiskers
.
Her ears caught
the throb and rush of
waves
on the beach
,
and
more
bird calls from the
surrounding greenery
which
she
imagine
d
glistening
with morning dew.

She sighed in anticipation as Rosie called from the open doorway, ‘Please come in
,
Verity.’

As she stepped into the bright entrance foyer, Verity took in the gleaming polished floor boards and the floor-to-ceiling windows.
The foyer opened into a generous
lounge area
,
which had high ceilings and large wind
ows offering
a
spectacular
panorama
.

‘Oh, I thought it would have o
cean views, but I never imagined
the beach would be so close! Wow
,
’
she breathed.

‘I know, everyone says that the first time they see it. You don’t realise how close the complex is to the beach until you come into one of these ocean-front villas.’

They both stood for a moment as though spellbound by the
sight of
gentle waves
,
kissed gold by
the setting sun, and sparkling blue
water
merging
seamlessly into an
equally blue
sky
, until
Rosie seemed to recall what she was there to
do. She became
business-like again.

‘Now, would you like to see
the kitchen, and
upstairs?’

Verity tore her eyes away from the view
,
and
followed Rosie
through the
lounge
into
the gleaming white ki
tchen. I
ts granite bench top and impress
ive array of moder
n appliances
had her
picturing herself
, apron-clad,
b
usily creating culinary history a-la-Julia Child
.

She smiled, thinking,
I’ve always wanted a white kitchen, one
that
inspires
the inner cordon bleu
.
The house David chose for us had a
gloomy
brown kitchen, which he loved and I hated, hence my reluctance to spend much time in it. And alt
hough my townhouse’s
kitchen
is perfectly functional
, its window looks into a stairwell.
Not the most inspiring of creative spaces....

T
hey climbed
the spiral staircase to the first floor.

‘This is the main bedroom.
’ Rosie pushed the door
open
with a flourish.

Verity entered the enormous
room and stopped. The wall facing the ocean was glass from floor to ceiling, with doors
opening
onto a balcony. Fil
my white curtains
were
tied
back, but
twitched softly in the breeze. This room shared the same fabulous v
iew
as the lounge room below. Out on the balcony
,
an elegant water feature
bubbled from within
a
n assortment of terracotta pots
filled with
bougainvilleas
dripping purple blooms
onto the tiled floor
.

‘It’s lovely,’ Verity
breath
ed.

Rosie
grinned smugly.
‘The second bedroom is along the corridor her
e, and has its own bathroom
.
...’

But Verity was barely listening,
she was
overawed by the place
.
She followed the agent
politely through the remaining
rooms,
and
out to the front porch. When
Rosie turned to
look
questioningly
at
her, she
didn’t hesitate.

‘I’ll take it.’

‘Good,’ Rosie murm
ured
,
sounding
as though
she hadn’t
doubted
for a second
what the response would be
, ‘I’ll make the necessary arrangements and send the paperwork to your HR de
partment.’

The keys
jangled in her hands and
she
turned to lock the villa again, as a
deep voice
called
from the pathway, ‘Is that you
,
Rosie?’

Verity
shivered.
That voice was awfully familiar....

‘Yes?’
Rosie replied
,
hurrying towards the gate.

A
h
and lift
ed
the latch as the voice commanded, ‘Sit. Stay. Good dog,’ and then the man behind the voice walked in.

Rosie
greeted him
warmly.
‘Hello
,
Royce
.’ She leaned her head out of the gateway and saw a dog sitting obediently on the path
. Spotting her, the dog
gave a quick, happy thump of its tail. Rosie straightened again and smiled up at Royce.
‘
Been doing a
nother
spot of late afternoon fishing
with your old pal,
I see.
’

Royce’s
smile in reply seemed to freeze when his eyes fell on Verity, and it took a moment for them both to regain their composure.

Verity found his casual dress a little off-putting, as though
s
he
couldn’t
place
him. Un
der his partially unbuttoned long-sl
eeved
shirt,
she caught a glimpse of a smooth, tanned chest. He’d rolled up his sleeves revealing mus
cular brown arms. I
n one hand
he held a fishing rod
and tackle box
,
and in the other,
a
white bucket
half-
full of
sea
water
.
The
legs of his jeans were
rolled up as well
,
but
still damp at the bottom. He wore rubber thongs on his feet
.
The setting sun
had him crinkling his eyes against the glare, and its rays revealed some greys among the dark, tousled hair brushing his temples.

That’s not fair
,
Verit
y found
herself thinking
,
grey hairs only add to his
sex
appeal
.
She
flushed when she met his eyes
, realising that he’d been taking her in as well
.
Her face still glowed with
pleasure
from
seeing the impressive villa
, and
the
white of her soft
cotton
sun dres
s made
a delightful contrast
with the golden tan of her bare
legs.
Her
carefully styled hair had loosened, and some strands had broken free
. They
dance
d
around her face in the sea breeze. Standi
ng barefoot among the greenery,
strappy sandals in her hand, she made quite the pretty picture.

Royce’s
eyes hardened but he managed a tight
smile
as he turned to address Rosie. ‘I’m sorry to interrupt, but I wanted to catch you before you go.’

‘Of course
,
Royce, but may I first introduce you to Miss Verity Parker. Miss Parker will be taking up residence in Villa Seven
,
so you’ll be seeing her around the complex.’

‘Yes. We know each other.’
His c
lipped words
were
spoken through
tense lips.

‘Oh, of course you do! H
ow silly of me. You’re both with RCL. Well
,
Verity, you won’t have any excuse to feel lonely here with work mates so close by.
You haven’t mentioned anyone else
moving in with you, so I assume.
..
?
’
Rosie raised her eyebrows.

Verity felt a
n uncomfortable
inner
radiance
creep
ing
upwards, towards her face
.
She nodded
,
‘T
hat’s right
, it’s just me
.’

Rosie’s
well-meaning interrogation
and Royce’s scrutiny
made Verity twitchy, and she had to steel herself not to let it show. She was
starting to wish
she hadn’t committed to taking the villa.