Playing Passion's Game (22 page)

Monday morning found Juliet wishing the woman in front of her would just go back to her own office and leave her the hell alone. There was more bad news on the stock market as she’d walked in, and she’d found Carnie hovering around her desk like some damned buzzard circling, bringing with her rumors of planned layoffs. Juliet’s comment about there being too many chiefs and not enough Indians in their business as it was hadn’t helped Carnie calm down any. Juliet had never been more grateful for her phone ringing so she could shoo Carnie out of her office.

“I just wanted to wish you luck this morning.” Trent’s voice made Juliet’s world stop spinning so madly in its place, and she sank into her chair with a smile on her face.

“Oh, I needed to hear your voice right this second. Thank you, babe.”

“Tell me, are you wearing those high, high heels that will take no prisoners if anyone gives you guff today?”

Juliet lifted her foot and inspected her shoes. “They’re the highest heel I have, real serious butt kickers.”

“Excellent…sexy too.” Trent’s voice lowered and Juliet’s skin reacted to the tone. She took a swift breath as all thoughts of her presentation left her mind. “You’ll do great. What time do you plan to leave work tonight?”

“Five o’clock, as always. I don’t aim on hanging around today. There’s too much doom and gloom here with everyone terrified what company will fall next and if this will be the one to take us down with it.”

“Just know that I’m thinking about you, okay? I’m cheering you on from here.” Juliet heard an exasperated sound from her. “Sorry, I have to go. Some customers are giving me the eye. I think they want something, so I’d better go see to them. Good luck, Jule.”

“I’ll see you later?” Juliet asked quickly, not wanting Trent to hang up but recognizing she had to.

“Count on it.”

The cool, certain answer calmed Juliet’s nerves, and she disconnected the call, then set to gathering up her supplies for the presentation. As she slipped out the door her cell phone rang again. Answering it, Juliet was met with an excited stream of words that she could only decipher half of. “Monica?” She listened to her jubilant voice. “Okay, I need you to calm down and tell me again, slowly and in English this time, just what has you so excited. But first give me one second.” She signaled to one of her bosses as he passed her. “Gerrard, I just need to take this urgent call, can you please tell everyone I’ll be in as soon as possible?” At his nod, Juliet found herself a quiet niche in the corridor and put the cell phone back to her ear. “You have five minutes. Go!”

“Juliet, I have just been offered the deal of a lifetime. Remember I was in touch with Tweedy’s Building Contractors, Mrs. Tweedy’s son? Well, I got a call from the man himself not two minutes ago. He’s offering me the chance to head my own landscaping company, affiliated with his construction company. I’d get all the contracted work for every building project he takes on while still being able to do my own work on the upkeep of the yards I already manage.”

Juliet was awed. Monica deserved this chance. “That is fantastic news. Congratulations. Are you going to take him up on his offer?”

“Well, there’s more. I get to not only run the landscaping side, I get to pick my own people to work with me. He says he isn’t interested in that side of things. He just wants my expertise attached to his company. My expertise! Can you believe that?”

“Your work speaks for itself, Monica. You’re amazing with how you transform yards.”

“I want you with me,” Monica said. “I want you to come with me and be my bookkeeper, accountant, and chief flower counter!”

“Monica…” Juliet was flabbergasted by the offer.

“You’ve said yourself you’re not happy with what you’re doing now. You have never seemed more relaxed than the times you’ve spent with me working on Trent’s yard. You’ve done your bit for the banking fraternity, how about you devote that same energy to making things bloom now?” Monica paused. “I’m offering you equal partnership with me, Juliet. Our own business, like we should have had years ago before you drifted to the dark side and became a corporate suit.”

Juliet sagged against the wall, a little light-headed. “Did you have to spring this on me now
right
before I go do my presentation?”

“There was no better time. I have all the facts and figures before me. Tweedy was talking salary, vehicles, equipment, estimated earnings. After he and I spoke the last time, he went away and got everything planned so we could just walk right into the job. Juliet, this is what I’ve always dreamed of. Share it with me.”

Juliet caught sight of a head poking out of the doorway searching for her. She held up two fingers and mouthed
two minutes
at him. “I have to go.”

“Think about it, please.”

“Like I’m going to be able to think of anything else now,” Juliet grumbled. “You did that on purpose.”

“I need all the help I can get to win you away from that coveted chair in the corner office.”

“I’ll want to see all the paperwork. It’s a big decision.”

“It’s here waiting for you,” Monica promised. “Now go wow them with all that hard work you’ve put into your presentation. You might as well leave on a high note!”

Juliet snapped her phone shut and hurried into the meeting room to greet all the occupants gathered there to witness her presentation. She hoped she could remember why she was there now.

“Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for taking the time out of your hectic schedules to come here for this meeting. Let’s see if what I propose can keep us moving in today’s market when so many banks are falling by the wayside.” Juliet plugged her laptop into the projector and booted it up. With satisfaction she opened up her file, and the first pie chart was displayed on the big screen.

“Let me tell you what I believe this company needs to do to stay in business.”

*

Trent was grateful to Elton for letting her leave just that little bit earlier to make her bus in time. She waited at the bus depot with a large bouquet of red roses clutched nervously in her hand. Checking her watch, Trent roughly calculated how long the journey should take for her to reach Juliet’s workplace situated outside the main town center.
I’ll be in plenty of time to meet her outside
. She checked her cell phone again, rereading the last text Juliet had sent her. Trent wondered how, after the presentation, the impromptu meeting of all senior staff had gone down
. Like Juliet wasn’t nervous enough
. Her bus pulled in and she boarded it, flashing her bus pass at the driver before snagging a seat at the front.
God, I feel like a kid going on their first date
, she thought, amused at how nervous she was. She looked out the window but didn’t see anything, her mind full of all she intended to do and say when she met up with Juliet.

She’d spent some time again in the spare room that morning, looking at the yard, amazed by how much work Juliet and Monica had done to transform it. Trent had been captivated by the splashes of color woven into the design that Monica had implemented. It was like seeing a canvas painted not with oils, but with soil and flowers. A living work of art. A change had taken root in her backyard and that same change was working its way through the whole of the house, starting with Trent herself. Now, sitting on the bus heading out to the business complex where Juliet’s bank had office space, Trent couldn’t help but be a little terrified at what she intended to do.

Time to take a chance.
She fidgeted with the fancy paper wrapped around the roses.
Time to see if Juliet will be willing to take a chance on me too. A chance on
us
.

*

At five on the dot, Juliet was out of her office and heading down the flight of stairs to get out the building. She held her key card up to the guard on the door and he buzzed her out. The warm evening air touched her skin as she headed toward the car park. She couldn’t believe her eyes when she spotted Trent waiting beside her car, a large bouquet in her hands. Juliet had to bite her lip to stop herself from crying.
She is such a sight for sore eyes. Oh God, I’m so glad she’s here
. Juliet hurried her pace but was halted mid-stride by a deliberately honeyed voice calling her determinedly. Juliet swore under her breath as she looked over her shoulder at who had called out.

“Stacy.” Juliet looked back toward Trent and mouthed
one minute
.

Stacy hurried toward Juliet, her indecently tight skirt hampering her in her haste. “I understand congratulations are in order,” she said. Juliet just waited for her to continue.

“Rumor has it you’re to take the senior manager’s job at Chicago’s head office. All paths have been cleared to fast-track you there, the way I heard it. That must have been one hell of a presentation you performed this morning.” Juliet wondered if anyone but Stacy could put such a negative spin on the word perform and make it sound salacious. “Guess our office wasn’t big enough to hold your obvious talents.”

Juliet was amazed that someone could be so complimentary yet so derogatory in the same breath. She was about to just dismiss Stacy, but others who had been walking past had overheard Stacy’s comments and started to excitedly congratulate Juliet. She tried to speak, but she was soon surrounded by so many well-wishers that Stacy stalked off in a huff.

“Really, nothing has been settled yet.” Juliet tried to back away, but more of her own team had begun to leave the building and quickly hurried toward her, inviting her out for a drink to celebrate. Juliet looked over at Trent, whose face had turned ashen. Placing the roses on the roof of Juliet’s car, Trent mouthed
congratulations
, gave her a smile that almost broke Juliet’s heart, and began to walk away.

“Trent!” Juliet called after her, but Trent’s long legs ate up the pavement and Juliet could do nothing more than watch as Trent held up a hand to call a coming bus to halt for her to get on. Looking back at her colleagues, people she’d only known for a few months, seeing how delighted they were for her, so genuine in their excitement, unlike Stacy, made Juliet raise her hands and hush them all. “I have to go,” she said, ignoring their groans of disappointment. “I promise, tomorrow I’ll let you know what’s happening, but for now I need to leave.” She grabbed her car keys out of her bag and rushed to her car, lifting the beautiful bouquet off the car’s roof and cradling it to her chest as she opened the door to get in. The scent immediately filled the interior. She fingered the soft petals, then put the key in the ignition and started the engine.

“I hope you know the true meaning behind red roses, Trent Williams,” she said as she drove out of the parking lot a little faster than usual.

*

The ride back on the bus was torture for Trent. She looked blindly out of the window, her hands knotted together, her jaw clenched tight as she willed herself not to let out the bellow of pain that clawed at her chest. She blinked away furiously at the tears that threatened to spill.
She’s going back to Chicago, leaving here, moving on to bigger and better things. I lose everything again. I let down my walls finally and they crash right down on top of me.
Almost drunkenly, she lurched to her feet at her stop and exited the bus with no conscious thought.
Going through the motions
,
just like I have been for years
. Trent walked up her street dejectedly and had never been so grateful to see her front door. Her hands were shaking so much she dropped her keys on the step and was bending to pick them up when a car screeched to a halt. Juliet slammed out of her Honda, her arms filled with her handbag, laptop, and flowers. Trent managed to get the door open, all but falling inside, so startled to see Juliet marching up her driveway.

“Jesus Christ, Juliet. Did you break every speed limit getting here so fast?”

“Probably.” Juliet walked right up to her and held up her roses. “These need to go in some water.” She pushed past Trent and into the house. “You’ve never come to pick me up at work before.”

“I wanted to surprise you.” Trent took the flowers from Juliet and ran a little water into the kitchen sink and placed the stems in. She took comfort in the normal task while all the time her desolation was crippling her.

“Instead, you got the surprise,” Juliet said.

Trent’s chest ached so bad she unconsciously rubbed at it, hoping to ease the pain constricting her. “Congratulations. I take it your presentation went well?” Trent tried to make normal conversation as her despair ripped her soul to shreds.

Juliet laid all her bags down and hung her jacket over the back of a chair, settling in. “It went great. My proposal is going to be implemented, and it should be in place by the next quarter.”

“I’m proud of you. You worked hard on it. And you’re obviously brilliant at your job. Chicago will be very fortunate to have you.” The break in her voice betrayed her misery and she hoped that Juliet hadn’t caught it. She couldn’t look away as Juliet stepped closer and rested her hands over Trent’s balled fists.

“Trent, I’m not going to Chicago,” she said softly.

“That bitchy redhead said you’d been offered the top spot.”

Juliet nodded. “I have, probably the best position I could ever have been offered, but I’m still not taking it.”

“Why not?”

“First answer me one question. What do you want, Trent?”

“Me? What I want doesn’t ever matter.”

Juliet shook her head. “That’s where you are wrong. What you want means everything to me. So tell me, what do you want more than anything?”

Juliet’s eyes bored directly into Trent’s soul and she opened her heart at last. “You. I want you.” Juliet’s soft smile blossomed. Trent was looking so intently at her that she read the word
finally
that Juliet mouthed. That simple word emboldened Trent. “I want you to stay here, with me. I need you.” Trent gathered all her courage, pushing back all the years of believing she was never worthy of love and stood tall. “I love you, Juliet.”