The Lethal Encounter (6 page)

The other girl laughed.
“And what would you do to be that conquest, eh,
Nic?”

The girl turned to Katie who
had already picked up on the theme of the conversation.

“Hey Katie, did you happen to
bump into Mr. Jarvis whilst you were down there? I'm surprised he wasn't
sitting in your meetings.”

Katie felt herself redden,
although she could not for the life of her reason why.

“No I didn't actually,” she
replied. “I heard he was there but didn't see him.”

But it was now Hugo's turn to
eavesdrop into the conversation.

“But Katie, you said you had
dinner with him. At that restaurant on the Croissette,” he said.

“Ah ha,” squealed Nicola. “You
did see him, you lied to us!”

“No I did not! Well yes I
did, but I did not have dinner with him. He was just in the same restaurant
with a load of his people. We didn't speak at all. Anyway he has no idea of who
I am so he would not have known to speak to me, so there.” Katie knew she was
gabbling, but could not help it.

“Well, I think young Katie is
protesting too much....!” said Marge who had also joined in this new and
interesting line of questioning.

“No, I'm not. I saw him but
did not speak to him. What's the big deal anyway?”

“Well only that he's one of
the most eligible bachelors in London…..and that's according to Vista Magazine
which, as we all know, is never wrong,” said Nicola.

“And he's extremely sexy,”
said the girl next to her. “I wouldn't kick him out of bed.”

Katie shuddered inwardly. If
only they knew what had happened! She was sure they would not take such a light
hearted view if they were aware she was within a phone call of having the most
amazing sex with him. The very thought made her shudder involuntarily, both
from the potential embarrassment and the reminder of how her body had reacted
to the event.

She turned to Hugo with what
she hoped was a dismissive smile.

“Have you had a good day,
Hu?” she said.

“Fine actually. So why did
you say you hadn't seen him when you had?” said Hugo.

“Oh, for god’s sake! It
doesn't matter. Can we just drop the subject?” Katie responded slightly
annoyed.

“Sure, whatever,” replied
Hugo.

Katie groaned. The last thing
she wanted or needed was a jealous boyfriend, that's for sure.

“Anyway, I've got to go. I'm
meeting Josie at 7.30 for a drink,” she said glancing at her watch to emphasize
her point.

“Oh, I thought we were going
to have a meal. Shall I come along with you then?”

“If you don't mind, let’s
take a rain check. Josie has some problems and she needs to chat. You know,
girly things. I'll ring you tomorrow. OK?”

Hugo shrugged and smiled.

“OK, fine.” He picked up his
drink and drained it. Katie could tell he was annoyed but was not going to
pander to him. She just was not up to it. She gathered her belongings and got
up to go.

“See you all on Monday, Have
a great weekend.”

Goodbyes echoed around the table
and Katie was pleased to notice that the conversation had moved on from
eligible bachelors. As she turned and made her way out of the bar however, she
heard someone say “I bet she's off for a secret love-in with Mr. Jarvis”
followed by giggles all around. Katie smarted and realised that this was one of
the reasons she had, thank goodness, curtailed last night's activities.

Relieved to be out in the
fresh air, Katie made her way to the nearest tube station and slapped her
oyster card down on the ticket pad next to the barrier. She was annoyed. She
was annoyed with everything. The incident last night (from something that did
happen to something that didn't), the attitude of her co-workers and with
herself for reacting to it at all. She walked briskly down to the platform and
looked up at the arrivals indicator to see that the next train west was due in
a couple of minutes.

The single glass of wine she
had drunk in the pub had already made her feel a bit light headed and she was
already looking forward to her next glass in the company of her friends. She
had decided to reveal all and hopefully get some advice on what to do, if
anything. She knew she would get an unbiased and supportive response and, as
the train rumbled in, she was already feeling more relaxed.

Coming up the steps at Oxford
Circus tube and moving into the melee of Friday night revellers, Katie's mind
could not help wondering what Peter Jarvis would be doing tonight. She was
dismayed to find that she felt a pang of jealousy when she thought about not
only what he might be doing but with whom. Whatever the turn of events the
previous night, she knew she had been tremendously attracted to the man - certainly
more attracted than she had been to anyone, ever, and that thought was still
uppermost in her mind when she descended down the steps of the Cats Cradle wine
bar and into the murky interior. She looked around for Josie and, spotting her
at their usual corner table, made her way over.

“My God, am I glad to see
you,” exclaimed Katie, as she hugged her friend affectionately. “Have I got a
tale to tell!” Katie looked around. “Where's Sue?”

“Wait, wait,” replied Josie.
“Get your coat off, pour yourself a glass of wine and relax first, then tell
Auntie Josie all about it! Sue had to cry off…..something about boy problems
but I'm all ears.”

Katie gratefully dropped her
coat onto the seat next to them and plopped herself down. She reached for an
empty glass, which she proffered to Josie who reached for the bottle of cold
Sauvignon Blanc nestling in an ice bucket on the edge of the table.

She took a grateful sip.

“How are you Josie?” she said
in between mouthfuls of wine.

“Not bad considering half our
department were made redundant today, including my direct boss,” was the
response from Josie.

“Oh my god, poor you. Wow, I
didn't know things were that bad at your place.” Katie responded, reaching out
to lay her hand on her friend's arm. Josie worked for one of the big
advertising agencies, and the industry had been hit hard by the current recession.

“Oh it’s quite good really.
I've been promoted and handed a couple of big clients, so actually I've done
rather well out of it. So now tell me what's been going on with you.”

Katie spent the next fifteen
minutes describing the previous night and, when she came to the bit in the
hotel room, Josie was more than agog.

“But that's amazing Katie.
It’s about time you got yourself some good sex. It’s been too long.....and this
Peter bloke sounds like a real catch.”

“But that's the point, there
is a catch. Oh, and I didn't have sex…..the phone went before we could.”

“And why did a phone stop you
from mind blowing bed action?” said Josie rather scornfully.

“Because Mr. Peter Jarvis
just happens to be CEO of my company.”

“So? A great catch, a great
lay and he's your boss as well. Always good for job security in this day and
age.”

Katie sighed at her friend.
Throughout their friendship, Josie had always been the more headstrong of the
two and that probably reflected in the chaos of both her life and
relationships.

“Funny, ha ha. I already had
loads of whispering and giggling by some people at work and I do not like it.”

“How on earth did they know?”

“Well, they don’t know the
gory details of course but Hugo happened to ring me twice last night. The first
time was in the restaurant and I told him about seeing Peter there.....”

“And the second?”

“And the second was when I
was about to drop my knickers for him,” giggled Katie.

Josie burst into fits of
laughter and replenished Katie's glass from the bottle of wine.

“So where do you go from
here?” Josie said. “There's unfinished business if you ask me.”

“Absolutely no way.” Katie
almost shouted and then, realising from the bemused look on her friend's face
that she had answered too vehemently, she carried on, “I mean, he was really
nice and all that and I did fancy him terribly, but he's my boss, Josie. It
would be terrible if something happened and everyone found out. I'd have to
leave and I'd be blackballed and I wouldn't get a job in the same business and
I'd have to go and live back at home…..and it'd be awful.” Katie realised she
was blathering and her voice tailed down to a whisper.

“Wow!” said Josie. “How did
we get from a highly charged shag to penniless and living at home? Me thinks
you liked him much more than you're letting on.”

“Oh, it’s not that. God, I
only spoke to him for a few hours but in that time he had an amazing effect on
me…..nothing like I have ever felt before. I mean, it was only a sexual
reaction of course. I just fancied him terribly and you know how that makes you
feel.”

Josie looked at her
thoughtfully.

“Hey, whatever. It just seems
a shame doesn't it? You really liked him but you feel you can't take it
further? Just because of what a few gossipers in the office may say? Not much
of an excuse in my book. Anyway, how's that other nice man in your life? What's
his name? Hugo wasn't it? Oh, it was him who phoned you in the restaurant, was
it? Well, have you done the deed with him yet?”

Despite having dumped her
thoughts with her friend, Katie was actually relieved that the subject had been
changed and took another sip of her wine, determined to put the events of the
last two days out of her mind.

“He's fine. Actually he
wanted to go out tonight but I could not face it really…..not after what
happened last night.” Katie stopped when she saw Josie lick her finger and
strike one up on the imaginary scoreboard. Despite being caught out, she
laughed and bowed her head in mock surrender.

Later that evening, after
much too much alcohol and a quick pasta in the small Italian restaurant next
door to the wine bar, Katie let herself into her flat and dumped her bag and
coat on the arm of the settee that graced her small but perfectly formed living
room. She went into the kitchen and poured herself a large glass of water
before sitting down at the dining table and sorting through her post.

She gazed around her
apartment and couldn't help thinking that, although she loved her own space and
time, she sometimes wished that there was someone slightly more permanent to
share it with. Despite this thought, her mind was now totally confused about
the whole relationship thing. Not two days ago, she seemed ready to commit to
Hugo, and now she was all over the place again. What had happened really last
night? Was it just a physical reaction or could it have been something more?

She sighed and finished the
water before moving into the bathroom and then to bed.

CHAPTER 4

Peter Jarvis toyed with the
food on his plate and wondered what the matter was.

Here he was in one of his
favourite restaurants in London, with one of his prettiest girlfriends and he
felt grumpy.

On Friday, after leaving
Nice, his meeting in Frankfurt had gone well. He had arrived back in the office
in good time and was able to tie up all the week's loose ends before leaving
the office around 8pm to enjoy a quiet dinner with some friends. Yesterday he
had escaped out of London, driving up the relatively quiet M40 motorway, to
enjoy a great day shooting with one of his friends in the Cotswolds, followed
by an equally good and sociable dinner party with a few local associates. He
had slept well and returned to his London flat that morning to finish up some
paperwork and clear his e mails. Lunch with the IT expert who was developing a
new application for him had gone well and he had relaxed that afternoon
(unusually, it had to be said) in front of the big game on Sky.