Last Resort (16 page)

"Yes, maybe you can/ she said.

"Would you like to come over to my office?"

She waited until they were both settled either side of her desk, then, folding her arms in front of her she said,

"I was wondering, exactly how long have you been working for David?"

"Just over eight years/ he answered.

Penny's expressive blue eyes showed more interest than surprise.

"So you came with him from the States?"

"Yes/ Pierre confirmed.

"I see. And, if you don't mind me asking, what were you doing over there?"

"Generally fixing things for David."

She frowned.

"What sort of things?"

"Whatever David throws my way."

"For example?"

"It's hard to generalize/ Pierre answered;

"with David, it's always something new. And please excuse me if I sound rude when I say this, but if you wish to know about David's background I think you should ask him."

Tes, yes, of course/ Penny said, colouring.

"But just tell me this, am I right in thinking that this isn't the first time he's launched a magazine?"

To the best of my knowledge, it is the first time/ Pierre responded.

"Then how long exactly has he been setting this one upr

"Since the middle of last year."

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'Really?"

Penny said, the corners of her mouth tightening.

"But that was long before Sylvia acquired Fieldstone Publishing, of which this magazine is, or was, a part, since we're all now under Starke."

"But these things don't happen overnight/ Pierre explained,

"and Sylvia had her eye on Fieldstone for some time."

"And all these amazing contacts David has made have presumably come through Sylvia?"

"David knows a lot of people,"

Pierre said blandly.

"Evidently/ she murmured.

"And would one of those people, by any chance, be Monsieur Couval of the NiceMatin?"

"I'm afraid you'll have to ask David that question,"

Pierre replied.

Penny nodded and, finally conceding that she wasn't going to get any more out of Pierre, asked him if he would care to discuss the finding of a suitable printer with her.

"If you will excuse me for a moment/ Pierre said, getting up,

"I have been doing some homework on that very matter and have made a short list which is in my briefcase."

Dealing with Pierre, as she found out over the next hour or so, was like taking a lesson in robotic self-control. He allowed himself no particular expressions of emotion, neither was he in the least bit fazed by anything she threw at him, no matter how outlandish or convoluted. He had a cool, logical approach to every situation and, she was fast discovering, a quite exceptional brain that seemed never to consider anything a problem. She guessed that he knew she was testing him, but he didn't appear in the least put out by it; if anything, he seemed to welcome it. It took her a while, but eventually the penny dropped as she realized that he was showing her that she could totally depend on him in David's absence and that in fact it would probably be him she'd be dealing with far more frequently than it 115

would David.

How interesting, she was reflecting to herself as Pierre left her office. She couldn't say it had come as any particular surprise to discover that she was probably going to be deprived of David's presence on a fairly regular basis, but it certainly added a considerable amount of fuel to her speculation about what David's role really was here. However, pushing it to one side for the moment, she picked up the phone and dialled David's number. Whatever his plans might be, she had a magazine to get on the road here - and since there were certain things for which she needed Marielle's presence and she was in a position to demand it, that was precisely what she was going to do.

As she listened to the ringing tone at the other end and swivelled her chair round to gaze out at the holiday apartments across the road, which looked more dismal than they did inviting on this gloomy day, she was wondering if she really had the courage, or even the right, to do this. But hell, why shouldn't she? She was the editor

after all.

"OuiT David's sleepy voice came down the line.

"David, it's Penny,"

she said crisply.

"If Marielle is there with you, then I'd like you to send her back to the office now, please. We have a lot to get through."

"Sure thing,"

he responded, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to be at home availing himself of the delights of the deputy editor in the middle of the afternoon.

Replacing the receiver Penny turned to her computer, intending to feed in all the notes she had made that morning, but instead she found herself thinking about David. She was partly amused and partly annoyed by the way he had so casually admitted to Marielle being with him, though she couldn't help wondering if their relationship really was going to cause her problems. On the face of it she couldn't see why it should, but it was still early days 116

and she had to ask herself what was the real reason she had summoned Marielle to the office now, when what they needed to discuss could in truth have waited until the morning. However, Marielle herself provided the answer to that as, half an hour later, Penny watched her saunter breezily across the office towards her. Once again Penny needed to assert her authority and once again she was going to do it.

Silently holding her door open for Marielle to pass through and feeling horribly like a headmistress, Penny walked to the other side of her desk and waited for Marielle to sit down.

"What you do in your own time, Marielle/ she said pleasantly, mindful of David's swipe at her regarding man-management,

"is of course entirely your business. But I would appreciate it if it didn't happen on company time."

Marielle simply looked at her, her beautiful face as calm and serene as a midsummer sea with all the deadly perils secreted beneath the surface.

Penny turned to her computer.

"OK, the entertainment guide,"

she said.

"I notice there haven't been any'

"I shall be doing it,"

Marielle broke in.

Penny shook her head.

"You will have other things to do and with so many towns to cover along the coast it has to be assigned to at least half a dozen people. But, of course, if you wish to collate the information when it comes in..

/

"That's what I meant/ Marielle told her with a disdainful lift of her eyebrows.

"Then I'm sorry, I misunderstood/ Penny said.

"I thought you were intending to be out there scouting around yourself."

She took a breath.

"OK, well now that we've established who is going to present the guide, perhaps we can discuss finding the right people to feed us the information,'

"I'll have a list on your desk by the morning/ Marielle 117

said.

Penny sighed. Everything was lists with Marielle, there was never any kind of verbal exchange in which they could get excited about a project.

"OK, do it your way/ Penny told her.

Marielle got up and walked to the door, but before opening it she said,

"If David wishes me to work from home with him in the afternoons, then it is my duty to do so."

Penny's eyebrows shot up.

"Euphemisms like "work" and "duty" are lost on me, Marielle/ she said tartly.

"If you want to get your ass screwed off in the middle of the day, then I suggest you get yourself a job cruising the Croisette. In the meantime, as long as you're on this payroll you'll limit the callings of your libido to outside company hours. That's my final word, I don't want to discuss it any further, but should you wish to take it up with David please go right ahead and do so."

"Be assured that I will/ Marielle retorted.

As the door closed behind her Penny immediately picked up the phone to call David.

"I think you and I should have dinner this evening/ she said, looking at her watch.

"Sure/ he said.

"I'll clear the decks. Where do you want to go?"

Penny thought for a moment; then, deciding that there was every chance they wouldn't get through the evening without some kind of scene, she said,

"I'd like you to come to my place."

"Sounds good to me/ he said, a smile in his voice.

"Just give me the address and time and I'll be there."

After giving him both, Penny said,

"Before you ring off, there's just one other thing. I imagine Marielle will be on the phone to you as soon as we've finished and I'd like you to back me up on what I've just told her."

"Which was?"

"That screwing on company time is not acceptable and 118

that as the deputy editor she is answerable to me not to you."

"OK, you got it on both counts/ he said with a laugh and rang off.

Penny sat staring at the phone, a puzzled frown creasing her brow. It was uncanny, she was thinking to herself, that no matter what it was she wanted she always seemed to get it.

119

Chapter 6

As Penny pulled up in front of the villa later, the outside lights were all on and Sammy was coming out to greet her.

"Look what I've found,"

she cried, nursing a fat, fluffy black puppy.

"He was here when I got back earlier, just sitting there on the front steps like he owned the place. Isn't he adorable?"

Smiling, Penny ruffled his cute little head and received an affectionate bite in return.

"He must have come from next door,"

she said.

"I saw a whole litter of them when I went over there to ask old What's-his-name about the light the other day."

Then, giving in to the urge to hold the puppy, she dropped her briefcase on the gravel and turned him upside down in her arms.

"Aren't you just gorgeous,"

she laughed, tickling his belly.

"Do you think we could keep him - I mean, if they're prepared to let him go?"

"Oh, Sam,"

Penny groaned,

"you know that's not a good idea. I haven't got a clue how long we'll be staying and neither of us knows the first thing about dogs. But I have to confess, it's tempting,"

she added as the puppy nestled his face in the crook of her arm and gazed rapturously up at her.

"No,"

she said reluctantly,

"you'd better take him home. Then you can come and help me prepare dinner for David."

Sammy grinned.

"Dinner for David, eh?"

she said.

120

'Don't get smart/ Penny told her.

"I just thought it would be safer here than in a restaurant, given how skilfully he manages to get under my skin. Are you doing anything this evening, or would you like to join us?"

"Far be it from me to get in the way/ Sammy said mischievously, earning herself a quick clout on the arm.

Though Penny was laughing, she quite suddenly felt the need to clear this up.

"He's honestly not my type, Sam/ she said truthfully.

"And neither am I his. Besides which, as you know, he and Marielle have got something going. However, that's not to say that I don't think I could come to like him, because I think, given time, that I could. More important, though, is the fact that we appear to be batting on the same team - meaning that it's only Marielle who's out on a limb. But that'll settle down when she realizes that she isn't going to get the better of me through David. And as far as anything else goes where David and I are concerned, you're totally wrong."

"I was just teasing/ Sammy said, her eyes bright with laughter at the unnecessarily lengthy justification.

"Anyway, I'd better get this little chappie back to his mother - and the answer to your question is that I'm going out tonight. Celine, the restaurant critic, is taking me to where all the happening people hang out in Antibes."

By the time Sammy came back Penny had poured herself a large glass of wine, put on some soothing music and was staring dejectedly into the fridge.

"Colonel Blimp just collared me/ Sammy said, referring to Wally Delaney.

"He wants to know if we're free for drinks tomorrow evening."

"I hope you told him no/ Penny said distractedly.

"We haven't got any food, Sammy,"

she complained.

"Didn't you do any shopping today?"

"Sorry, I forgot/ Sammy winced.

"Why don't you send out for a couple of pizzas? I found a card in the mail box this morning - they deliver to the door."

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'Good idea/ Penny said.

"But that doesn't let you off the hook on the shopping. Get some tomorrow, will you? And have you done anything about finding me a car yet?"

"Give me a chance!"

Sammy cried. Tou haven't even told me how much you want to spend yet or what kind of car you want."

"Not much. An old convertible something. Where's that number for the pizzas?"

"On the desk in the sitting room, along with my first efforts for the agony column. I think you'll like them."

An hour later, with Sammy gone and the pizzas keeping warm in the oven, Penny, having changed into a pair of leggings and a baggy sweater, was curled up on one of the sofas, laughing out loud at Sammy's responses to the problems Penny herself had set. They were so hysterically funny and in some cases so grotesquely outrageous that it was almost a pity they'd never be able to print them.

Hearing the buzzer announcing David's arrival, she popped a couple more peanuts in her mouth and, having checked on the intercom it was him, she pushed the release button for the gates and opened the front door.

As he entered, the security lights came on along the drive and by the time he got to the house Penny was leaning against the door frame with her arms folded and an irrepressible light of laughter in her eyes.

"What happened to the Saab?"

she asked, grinning as he finished weaving a precarious path on a Honda mobilette and brought it to a halt in front of her.

"Problem with the fuel injection,"

he told her, removing his helmet and hooking it over the handlebars.