Twelve Days - The Beginning (15 page)

Cole hadn’t finished though. “It’s been five years, babe. That’s five years too long for you to be putting up with his shit. You know I would step into the breach for you at any time but Jesus, that beating he gave me was savage. I am struggling to deal with the fact that he lets loose on you like that too.”

Frustrated, Elise laid a pacifying hand on Cole’s arm. “Please, baby,” she pleaded, “please just let it go for now. I’ve got this, I promise you. I know what I’m doing.”

Vaughn chose that exact moment to return to the table and glared at the contact she and Cole shared across the table. Well, tough shit, Vaughn Granger – he’s my best friend and I need him so you can just back right off.

As much as she would have loved to, she didn’t actually say that. Instead she removed her hand and excused herself to go and fill her own plate – leaving the charged macho atmosphere behind. Bloody men!

After her tense conversations with both men the mood lightened considerably and Elise found herself able to eat more than she ever thought possible. Now and again, Elise noticed Cole glancing wistfully at Vaughn but she made no comment and brushed the thought away. That was something for Cole to sort out another day; she only hoped that he managed to come to terms with whatever life held for him so that he could go on to be happy and fulfilled.

When they had finished their meal, Vaughn went off to pay the bill. Both Cole and Elise stood, waiting for him to return. Left alone, she tried again to talk to him again - she really needed him to know that she was there for him one hundred percent, whenever, wherever.

“Baby,” she said and sighed at his beauty as he turned his full attention to her “Please let me help you sort through things. I want to help you like you always help me. Let’s try and spend some quality time together over the next few weeks. I’ll think of something to get out for a while. Please – it’s really important to me.”

Cole sighed and hugged her close to him, “Oh, Elise, you are the most precious person in the world to me but you have no room in your life for my issues. Sort yourself out first. Then we can talk about me. I’m not going anywhere and I’m not about to do anything stupid – I promise you. I love you, babe.”

“I love you too, baby.” she said and buried her head into his neck, seeking warmth and comfort in his familiar fragrance.

A loud coughing sound came from behind her and she knew who she would see as soon as she turned.

“Sorry to break up the love-fest but I’ve paid the bill and we need to get back to the office.” Vaughn said abruptly and began marching out of the door.

Cole and Elise followed, Cole wearing a slightly bemused expression as if he couldn’t understand the sudden change in Vaughn’s demeanour. Elise kept her head down and concentrated on getting back to the office in time for Stephen to go to lunch – she had completely forgotten that he was waiting for her to get back and a quick look at her watch told her that she was already ten minutes late; No doubt he was spitting nails right now!

As they entered Reception, Elise turned to go back through the ground floor door to her desk but was stopped by Vaughn who put a light hand on her arm.

“Andrews,” he said addressing Cole “would you mind if we re-convened in ten? I just need to go through something with Elise regarding the Swindon conference on Friday.”

What Swindon conference on Friday?

“Yeah, no worries,” said Cole, “I need to check my e-mails anyway.” He headed off to his office leaving her and Vaughn alone in Reception with only the eagle eyes of Annabel for company.

“Miss Grayson,” he addressed her formally again, no doubt in deference to Annabel’s presence, “Could you spare me a couple of minutes in my office, please?”

Caught between a rock and hard place, Elise had no option but to accept and followed him out of reception and up the staircase to the first floor. This was now the third time she had climbed these stairs in as many days; if she carried on like this, she was fairly sure she would be able to do it with her eyes closed.

As they entered Vaughn’s office, he immediately closed the door and ensured that the blinds were still drawn. He then locked his gaze onto hers, anger simmering in the depths of his beautiful eyes.

“What precisely is the nature of your relationship with Andrews?” he demanded. “I need you to tell me now.”

“Who are you? My keeper?” she asked sarcastically. “What the hell business is it of yours
what
my relationship with Cole is?”

“It is my business because I am your boss.” He spat out, “Now just answer the goddamn question!”

He was getting angry but so was she. She and Cole had been friends for years, long before this man had even heard of Andrews & Andrews, and she was damn sure she wasn’t going to be dictated to by him. She had that at home; she didn’t need it here as well.

“No!” she said angrily, “I will not answer the question – it is none of your goddamned business!”

“Be careful, Elise” he warned, “I am a patient man, but you are pushing me to the limit. I need to know the nature of your relationship – either you tell me now or I will haul Cole’s ass up here and serve him with a disciplinary for conducting an inappropriate workplace relationship!”

“You bastard...” she hissed, “an ‘inappropriate workplace relationship’? What the hell was that between us on Saturday night then? Or did you get that sanctioned beforehand? Your twisted morals are way off base and not appreciated around here. I will not be dictated to at work, by you or anybody. And for your information, I do not respond to threats. I think you’ll find five years of domestic abuse has taken care of that!”

And after pouring all of her pent up anger and frustration into that parting shot, she stormed out of his office and slammed the door – hard.

Chapter Eighteen

As predicted, Stephen was waiting for her to get back from lunch but he actually didn’t seem particularly angry – great that
someone
in her life wasn’t for a change.

“Hey,” he said as she approached her desk, “Celeste is looking for you.”

Oh shit. She’d totally forgotten that she’d not spoken to Celeste since disappearing from the club on Saturday night. Some friend she was.

“Thanks Stephen, I’ll catch her later. I’m back from lunch now so you can go if you want to.” she said and watched as he sauntered out of the office with a jaunty wave. He always seemed so carefree and she wondered what that must feel like.

Firing up her computer, she wasn’t surprised to find an e-mail from Vaughn although she was surprised at the content of it.

Mon Dec 17
^th
. 1.20pm

Elise,

Please find attached details for the conference in Swindon on Friday. As this is the last one before we close over the Christmas period, I would appreciate it if you could be on top of your game. I really want to secure one more client before the year is out.

Due to the location of this conference, I am offering all staff attending the chance to arrive on Thursday evening and stay in a hotel overnight – at company expense of course.

You and I however, will be travelling to Swindon together on Thursday morning, returning late Friday evening.

Whilst I may not have any say in your personal life, I think you will find that I do rule your professional life and if I consider it necessary for you to accompany me, then I think you will find this well and truly covered by the terms of your contract.

Yours, as always, Vaughn.

Clicking open the attachment, she noted the details of the conference and saw that it was a large one; probably the largest that she had attended and, although a little scary, it was also tremendously exciting. It seemed that they would have a booth outside the entrance so would be able to chat to executives coming and going making it a prime spot. Vaughn had detailed the advertising information that they would be taking and had also indicated who would be attending. Usually there were four of them for each conference but due to the size of this one there would be six. Vaughn and herself plus Celeste; Tilly and Sam from one of the other teams who she had worked conferences with before and surprisingly, Vaughn had included Roger – the new trainee she had spoken to earlier. It was unusual for a trainee to have such an opportunity and she could only assume that Cole had recommended him. She knew from first-hand experience that Cole was an excellent trainer and if he felt that someone deserved a chance then he would always push them forwards.

Despite the tone of Vaughn’s e-mail, Elise found herself suddenly excited at the prospect of such a big challenge. The only problem she could foresee was persuading Dale to let her go – previously the conferences had been local and had only taken up the usual working day; she wondered if now that Vaughn was on board, the company would be doing more of these larger venues which would make sense if they wanted to continue to grow.

Still considering how to broach the subject with Dale, she dialled Celeste’s internal line and waited for her friend to answer.

“Celeste Brown.”

“’Leste, it’s me,” said Elise, “How are you?”

“Elise!” she squealed, “Where the hell have you been? I was worried sick about you after Saturday. Olivia reckoned that she saw you leaving with Vaughn but I know that was just sour grapes. Are you feeling better now?”

“Yes, much,” Elise replied, hating the fact that she was lying to her friend yet again. Maybe as they would have a couple of days together at the conference, she could perhaps give her a potted version of the situation. She felt that she owed her friend that much at least.

“Great! Listen, have you heard about the conference on Friday? Isn’t it exciting?!”

Elise smiled at the sheer enthusiasm in her friend’s voice.

“Yes, I’ve just picked up the e-mail now. It should be really good. What are your travelling arrangements? I have to go down early on Thursday with Vaughn – I think he wants me to help set up” she ad-libbed. She suspected it was nothing to do with setting up but now was not the time to go into that.

“Really?” her friend sounded disappointed, “That’s a shame, I was hoping we could travel together – you know, a real girly road trip!”

“Sorry,” replied Elise “no can do – my e-mail explicitly says that I have to travel first thing Thursday with Vaughn. Maybe we’ll be able to do the return trip together?” she added hopefully, knowing full well that if Vaughn had anything to do with it she wouldn’t be doing the return trip with anyone other than him.

“Yeah, maybe...” her friend sounded doubtful. “I’m not allowed to leave ‘til after work on Thursday although they are letting us go at 4pm to allow a bit of extra time for travelling. Roger reckons it’ll take about 3 hours to get there so should arrive in time for dinner.”

Roger, eh? Interesting.

“Well that’s great, then” replied Elise, “we’ll be able to have a catch up in the bar after dinner – should be a real laugh. Can’t wait!”

“Me either! – Listen I’ve got to go, the other phone’s ringing and I’m on my own over here – catch you later, hon!”

Celeste hung up and Elise found herself listening to the internal dialling tone. She replaced the receiver and sat pondering for a few moments; how on earth was she going to square this with Dale, particularly this close to Christmas?

Elise made sure she got home well before Dale and began to prepare some tea – she also put the coffee pot on. Dale loved coffee but hated the stuff that came out of the machines in most offices.

Unlike her, Dale was at the top of his profession and it was rumoured that he would soon make partner in his firm. For his sake, Elise really hoped that he would and God knew the extra money would come in handy. Nothing had actually happened yet though so she just continued to cross her fingers and hope that one-day it would.

Secretly, she thought that if he really was completely at the top he might start believing in himself as a man again, and maybe all the rubbish would stop. A leap too far perhaps but, on the basis that this had all started when he had realised he would never father children, she had always put it down to him feeling less masculine than other men. Becoming a partner in a prestigious accountancy practice and being at the top of his game...Well, that was a pretty masculine statement and she really hoped that it would start the healing process.

When they had first received the devastating news about Dale’s condition, they had been offered counselling and Elise had been keen to go. They were both raw from all the tests and the final diagnosis however she had felt that it could only be beneficial to get some perspective and expert advice. Dale - in true Dale fashion - had decreed that he would deal with it in his own way and so the decision was taken out of her hands and they never went to counselling. Considering how things had turned out in the ensuing months and years, she really regretted now that she hadn’t pushed the issue with him more.

Releasing a sigh, Elise put the vegetables in the oven to roast. No good would come of going over old ground - she had to find a way to move forwards, whether that was with Dale or not.

Hearing his key in the door, Elise automatically tensed, wondering what kind of mood he would be in. Whilst she was fairly certain he wouldn’t have had a drink - it was far too early - he could be moody enough without it and sometimes that was enough to send him over the edge. Not that he generally got physical with her without the alcohol though.

He entered the kitchen “Well... if it isn’t my beautiful wife...” he drawled “Tied to the kitchen like she should be.”

Great. He was in a sarky mood.

“Hey, babe.” She turned to kiss him, trying hard not to be repulsed as she immediately smelled the alcohol on his breath. A myriad of thoughts ran through her head - he’d not managed to keep away from it for long. How come he had driven home? When had he had a drink? Was this a good thing or a bad thing in terms of asking him about the conference? She mentioned none of these things however, and instead opted for “Did you have a good day?”

“No, it was crap.” he said and automatically took the cup of coffee that she held out to him without so much as a thanks.

“I got roasted for being off sick again on Friday – apparently, my sick record this year is ‘below average’ and I’ve been warned that if I don’t make up the time, then there’s no way I’ll make partner this side of fifty! They can be such assholes sometimes.”

Elise remained silent. Privately, she felt that Dale’s bosses had every right to chew him out – he had been off a lot over the last few months, all self inflicted, and she wasn’t surprised that it was starting to interfere with his work.

“Took myself off for a drink with Keith at lunchtime – man, can that guy drink.” he said referring to his friend. Elise hated Keith with a passion and she knew the feeling was mutual. In the early days he had tried to come onto her and when he finally realised she wasn’t interested, he had spent the rest of his time trying to corrupt Dale and wind her up. Unwittingly it would seem that he was finally succeeding.

“Anyway – gave the whole career thing some thought and decided that I’d talk to the old man and see what I could work out. We’ve agreed for me to put in some extra hours over the next few days and then we’ll review the situation. Means I’ll be working long days for the rest of the week...probably won’t have time for anything other than sleep.” He yawned.

“Sorry, precious,” he added with a leer, “seems you won’t be able to take advantage of
this
for a while.” and in a deliberately lewd gesture, he grabbed at his crotch – his party trick these days, it would seem.

Elise tried not to register any emotion on her face and ignored the innuendo. For a minute there, he had been really lucid and she had been impressed that he had decided to sort things out at work. The problem with Dale was that he didn’t stray far from his natural path for long and with one quick comment and gesture, they were right back at square one.

“Why don’t you go and sit down?” she said, “Dinner won’t be long and there’s something that I need to talk to you about.”

“Oh yeah? My little wifey has something to say?
That
should be interesting.” Christ, Dale really was a complete bastard when he drank. God knows how he had managed to hold a conversation with his boss, let alone drive home – unless he had topped up later which wouldn’t be unheard of. Who knew what went on in his sad and corrupted world?

She was however concerned about one thing though.

“Dale, did you drive home?” she asked. At this point in time, she was less worried about the damage he could do to himself and more about any hurt he could inflict on innocent parties.

“Eh?” he asked, already heading into the lounge. “Nah, left my car at work – caught a taxi. You can drop me off in the morning.”

Simple. In Dale’s world, everything was very simple.

At least he’d had the sense to take a taxi home which was something for which she was very grateful – she was just really annoyed that she would now have to leave extra early to go out of her way to drop him at work. He wouldn’t have even considered any possible inconvenience to her and unbidden a picture of Vaughn flashed into her head. He may have his dominance issues too, but from what she knew of him, she was pretty certain he would never assume that she would do anything without asking her first.

The timer on the oven beeped and she dished up the dinner, no longer having the appetite she had had when she had prepared the meal. At least it was a fairly light dinner so she hoped she’d be able to eat enough without Dale getting suspicious. It didn’t help that she had filled up with pizza at lunchtime – god, that seemed like an age ago now. Funny how a few minutes with Dale could erase pretty much any other experience.

Dale was sat at the table and, having abandoned his coffee, was nursing a beer. Where had that come from? She’d got rid of all the booze over the weekend – he must have brought it home with him. His length of abstinence was really impressive.