‘Calendar. The other two by tax year end.’
It’s no good; orange won’t stop me from choking this time. I can feel Neil’s eyes burning into me as I cough into my napkin. There’s no way we can commit to that, at least not without more detail.
‘We can do it,’ Neil blurts. ‘It’ll take a lot of resource but that’s the benefit of a firm of our size and stature; we have resource in abundance.’
No we don’t! We’re already snowed!
‘Yes. I understand that my needs will not be cheap but I think we can come to an arrangement.’
‘What did you have in mind?’ Neil asks.
‘I would like to have someone in control from Dubai… on the ground, I think is how you say. I would like a link between someone in my company and your team in London.’
Neil draws back from his breakfast. He places his knife and fork down and leans back into his chair thoughtfully. ‘You want a secondee?’
‘Yes.’
‘Full-time, in Dubai?’
‘Yes.’
I’m holding a forkful of egg midway between my plate and my mouth when I feel two sets of eyes blazing into me.
‘Me?’ I ask.
‘You’d be a perfect fit,’ Neil says, his eyes asking me whether I’ll do it.
‘It would be a good opportunity,’ Abdulla adds. ‘And in Dubai, the sun always shines.’
I can’t deny, it would be a fantastic opportunity. The wealthiest construction company in the UAE. Three more deals likely to follow. It’s a huge opportunity.
‘How long?’ I ask.
Abdulla purses his lips and wobbles his head from side to side. ‘We need to discuss money but I think six months. I would like someone in Dubai for deal one in December, then to stay on for the others. They complete in February and March then tidy up. Yes, six months, or bigger, more.’
Six months. Dubai. A massive CV builder. I could be giddy if I let myself.But what about Gregory?Leave him for six months, maybe longer. A court case for something I did. My dad’s house to sell. Making sure Sandy is okay.
‘Why don’t you send me some details of the companies, Abdulla, then I can make a better assessment of fees and ways of helping you to meet your time frames? We can have a call to discuss or I can come out to Dubai for another meeting.’
‘Yes. I agree. I would like to have a plan in place by month end. If not, I go elsewhere.’
‘I understand completely.’
I’m grateful for Neil taking control as my head feels like it might explode. I really can’t take any more issues, messes, questions, things to think about. A dull ache builds at the base of myskull.Can I really pass up an opportunity like this for a man I’ve known a matter of weeks?A man who I’m completely and utterly besotted with but who I really don’t know is committed to me. A man who right now could be with me through a sense of obligation alone. But the way he looks at me, the way he touches me. He calls me his light.How can I doubt that he wants to be with me?Then again, why would he want to be with plain, ordinary Scarlett Heath?
‘Madam? Are you finished?’
I straighten my knife and fork to six o’clock on my half-eaten plate of food. ‘Yes, thank you.’
‘We’ll take the bill, please,’ Neil says, nodding to the waiter hovering by our table. ‘This is on us, Abdulla.’
‘Thank you, sir. It sounds like we have a way to move forward,’ he says, rising from his seat, holding out a hand, first to Neil and then to me. ‘Three weeks. No more.’
I have no idea how much of the conversation I missed, lost in thought. ‘It was a pleasure to meet you, Abdulla.’
‘And you, Scarlett. I will hopefully see you in Dubai soon.’
‘You may well,’ I say, feigning confidence in my words.
