‘I’m afraid no one is available right now.’
‘Well I want answers!’ I say, appalled by what is going on. Logically, I know my reaction is more about how I’ve just been utterly humiliated by Terry and the fear I will never see Dan again, the only man that’s ever made me feel this way, after I leave.
‘Right, so.’ The voice is still on the line.
I hang up. Tears continue to fall fast. I dial my mom.
‘Good afternoon, honey!’ Dorothy shouts and just hearing her friendly voice makes me feel better.
‘Hi M-Mom.’ My voice comes in sharp breaths. I’ve never realised just how much I rely on her to be there for me .?.?. and she always is. Always.
‘Are you alright? Are you crying?’ Mom’s voice is raised and shrill.
‘No, no. Just a bit of a head cold. I j-just wanted to check in.’ I sniff and sniff.
‘Take some Vitamin C, a few oranges, none of that drugstore stuff. All is good, George is here. He’s painting the back wall. I’m going shopping now for our Christmas dinner. I’m doing two starters now, a prawn cocktail for us and a smoked salmon roulade for him .?.?. we are, well, dating, I guess you can call it.’ She rushes on. ‘I miss you, can’t wait to see you. How is the article coming along?’
It feels wonderful to hear a friendly voice and I tell her how happy I am she’s found love with George. I feel calmer as I chat to her for a while, even happy to be getting Alice’s latest varicose vein update. I just listen as I gaze out the window in a daze thenI jolt when I see Dan’s jeep speed up the driveway. My breath quickens. Dan and Red hop out and Terry drives around the back, gravel spraying. Quickly, I hide behind the white drapes. The meeting didn’t last long. I say goodbye to Mom and tell her I love her.
This is nuts, I think, shutting my eyes tightly. All of this work has been towards me getting my promotion so I can finally do what I want to do: write about love and be able to afford a new place. I must not lose sight of that. I have to forget any romantic illusions I have about Dan. It’s obvious that Terry has heard something and doesn’t want me here, and he’s Dan’s right-hand man. Thoughts fly through my head as I pace up and down the room. I simply have to get back to my real life, to my actual commitments. Now, I have the MacBook back, I will concentrate on submitting the best article I can tonight. My career depends on this! My breathing calms as I stop pacing, giving myself an excellent pep talk in my head. My phone rings in my hand.
‘Eliza?’ I answer. Though we’re really good work friends we rarely contact each other outside working hours.
‘Hey Magpie,’ Eliza says, but her tone is unusually low and serious.
‘Is everything okay?’ I sit back down on the four-poster bed, cross my legs under me, pressing the phone closer to my ear.
‘I’m fine, but I’m here with Ben. Is it okay if I put you on loudspeaker?’
‘Of course.’ I feel an immediate sense of dread and I’ve no idea why but I have a tightness in my chest.
‘Hi Maggie,’ Ben says.
‘Hey Ben, what’s going on guys?’ Outside, the white flakes spin by horizontally.
‘So we’re here in Ben’s apartment. We were at the Acquired Finance Christmas Ball last night. We heard a few .?.?. unusual things,’ Eliza tells me.
‘Oh? Like what?’ Now my nerves are starting to feel as though they are being fed through a shredder.
‘Ben,’ Eliza says, ‘you go.’
‘Yeah so, Maggie, you know Frederick and the team are trying to buy this hotel, Castlemoon, in Ireland. Where you are?’ Ben asks me.
‘Yes,’ I answer, ‘I know.’
‘And he’s trying to get a report from you? On the place? An inside one?’
‘Yes,’ I say slowly.
‘Just get to the point, Ben!’ Eliza says quickly in her no-nonsense way.
‘Well, okay, there’s no real way to sugar-coat this, but Amanda has promised you a false article in the magazine.’
I feel a wave of despair, my head feels light. ‘But-but I’m doing the article,’ I try to take the information in, ‘and maybe even the cover for June.’ Maybe Ben doesn’t understand.
‘The facts are Frederick wants to buy Castlemoon but his plan is to gut it inside and develop it into eight luxury apartments. He’s not keeping Castlemoon as a hotel, Maggie.’ Ben sounds as anxious as I feel, his voice breathy.
‘No! Amanda said that nothing would change!’ My head is really starting to spin. ‘I’m .?.?. I’m writing this article, Ben.’
