The Lethal Encounter (16 page)

“Yeah, great thanks. Children
happy at the new school, Sue's new business is doing really well. Yes, things
are fine thanks. And you? Well, not how's the family, but are you well?”

Peter smiled at the slip and
suddenly felt a pang of loneliness. It was only fleeting and was gone as soon
as it had arrived, but Peter acknowledged it for what it was.

“Very good. Well no, not
really. I'm getting grumpy in my old age and everything seems to annoy me. I'll
be on that TV programme soon - you know the one.”

Andrew smiled.

“Yes, don't watch it but know
it. And how is the famous Peter Jarvis love life.....anything bubbling there?
You need to get a move on, otherwise you'll be left on the shelf. Sue keeps
saying to me when is Peter going to find someone special, as opposed to all
these part timers you always hang around with.”

Peter looked sharply at his
colleague but did not detect any specific reference.

“Mmmn, well, you know me.
Nothing special at the moment. But let’s move on shall we? Where are those
figures?”

Andrew smiled and took the
hint. Ever since he had taken up the position as FD, the subject of Peter
Jarvis' love life had evoked a mixture of interest and a little bit of pity.
Whilst just about any man would like to have glamorous women hanging around
them, it seemed a pity that Peter never had a soul mate to actually share his
life with. To Andrew, who valued the relationship he had with his wife greatly,
this was sad.

Still, it was unlike Peter to
reflect like this and he mentioned his thoughts later to his assistant. She
immediately latched onto to this as affirmation that the CEO of the company was
getting broody, a point that would not go unnoticed at the water coolers and
local pubs.

CHAPTER 11

After a hugely disappointing
French trip that had started out like a dream come true and ended in a
nightmare, Katie returned to the UK disillusioned, unhappy and mad, all in
equal measures. On the one hand she felt totally used and abused in the worst
possible way (at least in her mind) but on the other she did not believe it
possible that a human being, albeit a man like Peter Jarvis, could possible
share the kind of emotional, and physical, coming together with someone else
without it affecting them.

Sure, she knew of Peter’s
reputation and she had come across a few men like him, but she still did not
believe that he did not feel something for her and what they had.

She recalled the anger and
hurt that had welled up inside her after she had finished her meeting with
Logistics France. It had gone well and Katie had been filled with longing to
see Peter again and share another evening with him. When the receptionist had
told her that he had already left for the airport (without even leaving a
personal message) she had been devastated and filled with misgivings in equal
measures. Had she totally misjudged him? Was he only trying to get her into bed
and, now he had, he was off - just another notch in his bedpost?

Katie could feel the distaste
rising up in her and she spent the rest of the evening wandering aimlessly
around Cannes, alternating between bittersweet memories and total contempt,
both for him and for herself for falling for his chat. She kept trying to come
up with plausible explanations as to why he had done a runner, and, as each one
became more and more outlandish, she realised that, whatever the emergency, he would
have left some sort of message if he had wanted to. God, he had only needed to
lift the phone to his ear and that would have been enough.

When she finally retired to
bed, sleep did not come easily and the hurt she felt combined with her growing
anger and an acute sense of loss resulted in a very restless night.

To make things worse, she
found herself at her desk back in the office the following day with the
distinct feeling that everyone knew about her tryst with the boss. True, that
would not have been possible unless someone had seen them (in which case it
would have been very obvious) but no, that was very unlikely, so she tried to
push her fears to one side.

Still, she felt awful and
started to fret about her job, refusing point blank to go for a coffee in the
afternoon with a close colleague in the office fearing it would lead to
questions and comments.

She need some emotional
support and so rang Josie.

“Josie, hi, it’s me, are you
around tonight? I need a chat. Great, thanks. No, I'll tell you when I see you.
Usual place? Fine.”

She knew that a good session
with her friend would make her feel better and, with that in mind, she settled
down to tackle the mound of papers on her desk, brought home from France.

At that moment her telephone
rang and she glanced over to see who it was on the screen. Unusually, the
number had been withheld so she picked it up and cradled it in the crook of her
shoulder as she continued to look through her papers.

“Hello, Katie McGovern.”

“Hi Katie, my name is Mary
Hansome. You don't know me but I would like to have a chat with you. Is now
convenient?”

“Well, it depends what you
want to chat about, Mary,” said Katie, her attention distracted by a flowchart
in front of her.

“Your work has recently come
to the attention of a client of mine and they would like to speak further with
you.....at a time that suits of course.”

Katie suddenly twigged the
purpose of the call and her mind cleared quickly. It was not the first time she
had been rung by a head hunter but it was a rare occurrence and, like most
people, she always paid attention to what they had to say.

“I'm really busy at the
moment but I could meet after work…..maybe 5.30?”

“That would be fine. Do you
know the Carshalton Hotel, near Berkeley Square. Shall we say in the lobby
then?”

“Yes, that's fine. I'll see
you there. Thanks for ringing. Goodbye.”

Katie put the phone down -
her heart beating a little bit faster. True, this call would probably not lead
anywhere but she just could not believe how her life seemed to be changing at
an incredible rate.  

A mere week ago she was but a
minor sales executive of a large company with a relative mundane love life and
now she’d had a fling with the boss, almost lost her job as a result and maybe,
just maybe, was about to be offered another one. She smiled to herself and, for
a moment, the dark gloom that had been resting on her momentarily lifted.

After a quick glance at her
watch, she returned to her work. She wanted to get as much finished as possible
in order to leave bang on time.

At 5.32pm exactly, she strode
purposefully through the swing doors of the plush Carshalton Hotel and walked
into the lobby. She had spent a few minutes in the rest rooms at work to touch
up her make up and brush her hair and, although Katie did not realise it, she
received several admiring stares from the scattering of businessmen who always
seemed to be loitering around in the lobbies of large London hotels.

At that moment her phone
rang.

“Katie, Hi. It’s Mary. Would
you care to join me in the bar? I'm sitting in the first booth on the right,
wearing a black jacket and nursing a gin and tonic.”

“Fine, see you in a sec.”
Katie replied as she turned her head to look for the bar. Seeing it on the far
side, she made her way across the carpeted floor and walked through the
entrance.

Seconds later she was shaking
the hand of a woman in her mid-forties, well groomed and immaculately dressed.

“Katie, Mary Hansome. So good
to meet you. Please sit down. What can I get you to drink?” She signalled to a
waiter as Katie sat down.

“A glass of white wine,
please. House would be fine…..a Sauvignon or something like that would be
great.”

The waiter nodded and
retreated back to the bar and Katie looked at Mary expectantly.

“Sorry about all the cloak
and dagger stuff. It’s just that we head hunter people have to be very careful
about how and when we approach potential candidates. I'm sure you understand.”

Katie nodded as she took the
proffered business card and examined it. It did not yield much information,
merely stating that Mary Hansome was a partner at Briggs and Hudson, whoever
they were.

“Let me start by introducing
my company. We are a head hunter specialising in IT and Logistics and one of
our clients has been looking for a young and energetic sales person who is
ready to move up a rung in their career to take charge of a small team. The
company in question is a competitor to Shire, so I have to speak in complete
confidence and, at this stage, won't be revealing the name of the client. I'm
sure you understand.”

Katie smiled and then looked
up as her drink arrived. She took a small sip and savoured its taste as it slid
down her throat. Irrespective of what the job actually entailed, just sitting
here talking about it filled her with confidence and excitement.

“Of course. May I ask how you
got my name?”

“Well, that's confidential as
well, but let me just say it was from someone who respects both you and your
work.” Mary smiled and Katie suddenly had the thought that Peter had been
ringing these people up and suggesting her name. As soon as the thought struck,
she was filled with anger again and the dark cloud that seemed to be constantly
hovering above her descended once again. Inwardly she cursed.

“Well, that's nice. I wonder
who that was…..”

Sensing a change of tone,
Mary looked at Katie carefully before continuing.

“As I said, my client is
looking for a team leader and, judging from your career to date, you seem to
fit the bill. The reason for this meeting is, of course, both to sound you out
on a possible job move and to hear from you about your time at your present
company and your aspirations for the future.”

“Well, I'm very flattered to
be asked Mary and, of course, if the job was right, I would look and think very
carefully about it. To be honest, I was not actively looking to leave but who
knows?”

Mary smiled.

“Why don't you start at the
beginning…..tell me about school.”

Katie launched into a history
of herself and career to date and, by the time she finished, she felt she had
built up a good rapport with Mary.

The latter nodded.

“That's all very interesting.
You have achieved a lot in a relatively short time. Now let me tell you about
this job. You are OK for time?”

Katie nodded, her attention
fully focused now, listening closely, and then almost fell off her chair when a
salary at least double hers was mentioned. She managed not to look too
surprised lest they reduce the offer.

“From what you have said, I
feel I would be very well suited to the role…..and the salary is in line with
my expectations.” She added, somewhat cheekily.

Mary smiled again and Katie
realised she knew exactly how much was earning. She shrugged and returned the
smile.

“What would be the next
step?” she said.

“My client is very anxious to
fill this vacancy and they would like to meet you tomorrow morning, here again
if possible, for breakfast. Say 8am?”

Katie gave it a quick
thought. She could say she had a doctor's appointment or something.

“No problem. Who am I
meeting?”

“You'll be seeing John
Barrington who is head of sales at this company. I'll give him your number so
you'll have no problem seeing him. Thanks ever so for coming Katie. I'll speak
to you again after your meeting.”

With that Mary stood and
Katie realised that the interview was over. She shook the proffered hand and,
thanking Mary for the drink, she collected her bag from the seat and walked
out.