her smug grin, annoyingly assured. She held it for
a moment before a puzzled expression crept over her face – her eyes
screwing up as they focused on Emily’s neck and the unusual
adornment of a scarf where normally there were pearls.
Emily winced, suddenly fearful that her secret had been
spotted. She quickly moved away to put distance between them,
retreating defeated to the door.
“Have a miserable afternoon,” Emily hissed in her fury as she
pulled the door open.
“I will... if I see you again!” chortled Tessa gleefully, the
words chasing Emily out the washroom as she stormed indignantly
away.
“But then again... maybe not!” was the follow up phrase that
Emily failed to hear in her blinding rage as she rushed back to the
relative sanctuary of her office.
Chapter 7
Emily was still shaking as she sat down at her desk. It had
been a very disturbing encounter – one that had caught her totally
off guard and underlined the danger of the game that she was
engaged in. The consequences of Tessa Clifford getting wind of what
was going on was unthinkably horrendous, yet for a moment Emily had
feared the wicked witch had cottoned on to the fact that under her
scarf she was wearing a dog collar! That fear had given Tessa an
advantage, Emily scampering off with her tail between her legs,
when she should have held her ground and laughed in Tessa’s
face.
‘Kiss my ass indeed!’ Emily mused, appalled at the very idea.
Kissing anyone’s ass was a revolting notion, but Tessa Clifford’s
oversized rump would be hideous beyond belief – the act in itself,
and the indignity, to prostrate herself and debase herself by
performing the deed on her most hated enemy. Nothing could ever
bring about such a shame – of that Emily Johnson was
certain.
Emily took a few deep breaths to calm herself down then cast
Tessa Clifford from her mind. She would think of some way to get
her revenge on the evil witch, but for now there were more
important matters to be dealt with. There was some work outstanding
for Donald that would have to be scheduled. But first things first
– she needed to confirm what was going on with regards to Her
Master and Willy Ross.
Emily picked up the phone and dialled a number. Fortunately
Willy’s P.A. was there to answer it, instead of at lunch as she
often was at this time of day, being wined and dined by some randy
salesman who wanted to get into her knickers.
“Avril! It’s Emily here,” she crooned, faking a friendliness
that had never existed.
“Emily! How can I help you?”
“Information, Avril. I need information. Word has reached my
ears that Willy is interviewing this afternoon. Is this
true?”
“Very!” enthused Avril down the phone, forgetting who she was
speaking to in her excitement. “He’s in there now with him. And
Lord! You wouldn’t believe what a gorgeous hunk... Oops – sorry
Emily!”
‘Trollop!’ thought Emily, furious at the woman. She wanted to
scream the word down the phone, but forced restraint and gathering
her wits.
“It doesn’t matter what he looks like,” Emily admonished. “You
should have alerted me, Avril. You know how Donald likes to meet
any potential new salesman. Just a courtesy of course – he would
never question Willy’s judgement, but he does like to look them in
the eye before an offer is made.”
“Oh, didn’t you know?” gloated Avril. “I’m surprised Donald
didn’t mention it.”
“Know what?” asked Emily, sure that another of life’s little
surprises was about to smack her hard in the face. It was turning
into one of those days.
“Donald has already met him. He’s an internal candidate, but
it wasn’t in the office funnily enough. They met at a reception a
few nights ago.”
“But... But that would have been...”
“The Italian Embassy! I know – Willy was very impressed when
he heard. Not about Donald being there - he’s always getting
invited to such swanky affairs... but it was rather odd for one of
our
Christa Faust, Gabriel Hunt