Breaking Point (Drew Ashley 1) (20 page)

I noticed the looks Harvey received from other women. It seemed not many were immune to his charm.

"I need to speak to Patrick," Harvey told me, after he finished talking to a newspaper owner and his wife. He pointed at a grey-haired man that had his back to us.

"I'll wait by the bar," I told him. "I need a break from all this polite smiling."

"I'm not the kind of guy to leave a woman alone in a room full of intoxicated men that have been staring at her like she's a chunk of prize steak."

"No one's been staring at me. I'll be fine."

Harvey lowered his voice. "You're coming with me, Drew. By the way, you're doing a great job."

I followed him, feeling like a little girl. I was doing a great job? Of what? Being seen and not heard? That's what men wanted from women, wasn't it. Well, my days of being a shadow for a man were over. They ended when I broke up with Travis, and Harvey wasn't going to bring them back.

"Relax, you look angry," Harvey whispered to me. He tapped Patrick Whoever on the shoulder and the two men started talking about Rwibya, where two American journalists had just been killed. I didn't know that. I'd have to start watching the news.

I excused myself after a while and went to get a drink from the bar. "Coke with a twist of lemon," I told the bartender, thinking of Jazz. I went online on my phone and read about Rwibya as I waited for my drink. From what I read, Rwibya was pretty messed up. Women had absolutely no rights there. In fact, the UK had seen an influx of asylum seekers from Rwibya. Most Rwibyan women disappeared under the radar once they got here in a bid to escape their husbands, as many marriages were forced.

I was still reading when Harvey's hand slipped around my waist. "You got away from me."

"I needed a drink."

He removed his hand from my waist suddenly, looking around quickly.

"Did anyone see?" I asked sarcastically.

"I don't think so."

The bartender brought my drink and Harvey and I moved away.

"So, who's texting you while you're out with me?" Harvey asked.

I put my phone away. "No one. I was reading about a Rwibyan woman."

"What about her?"

"She was trying to escape a forced marriage, but she was caught and the guy's family beat her up and then conducted the marriage ceremony while she was still unconscious."

Harvey's dark brows lifted slightly. "The Rwibyan women need you to go campaign for their liberation."

"Stop teasing me."

"I'm not. You'd be great."

We were ushered to another room for the dinner. Harvey and I were at a table with heads from a newspaper who all knew each other and started talking amongst themselves. I was glad. I really couldn't engage in any more small talk tonight.

"You know what throws me about you?" Harvey asked as drinks were served. His eyes shone with mischief. To the rest of the room, he probably looked like he was talking about the stock market, or the economic climate. Only I was close enough to see that the professional mask had slipped and his bad boy smile was back.

"I'm not sure I want to know," I replied.

He was about to touch my hair, but his hand dropped. "You've got that potent mixture of beauty and brains," he said. "Your mum reminded me that you're going to be Dr Drew soon."

I grinned. It put a smile on my face any time I thought about it.

"And you're a good balance of good girl and naughty girl, class and trash."

I was shocked. "Trash?"

"Yeah, I like trashy so long as that side is reserved only for me. You know? Lady in the streets, but a freak between the sheets."

"Shut up, Harvey," I said through gritted teeth, although I maintained a pleasant smile for the benefit of any onlookers.

"I like your fire, Drew."

I picked up the pack that was in front of me on the table. It had a schedule of what was going to happen tonight. I saw that we weren't going to get out until midnight. Just great! Why on earth had I come in the first place? Jazz and Destiny were going to kill me when I told them.

The event host took the microphone and made a few introductory comments, then announced the first item on the programme: A video about the achievements of the different media empires that were present.

I stole a look at Harvey. He'd gone quiet since I started going through my pack. For a moment, I just stared as a myriad of colours from the video on the big screen danced over the masculine planes of his face. I looked away as I felt something start fluttering inside. No need to let those kinds of feelings take root.

After the video, a woman with her hair piled atop her head stylishly came over and asked Harvey for his business card. He removed one from his inner jacket pocket. She promised him an email before glancing at me and moving away.

"Can I see your business card?" I asked Harvey. He removed another one and handed it to me. "So you're Dr Harvey Lawrence?" I asked.

"Thought you already knew that."

"Oh yeah, I did." Since the debate night when I saw all those letters after his name. I read Harvey's job title: Executive Director of News and Sport.

"Harvey!" I exclaimed. "You told me you're a manager!"

"I am."

"Well, I took it to mean a normal manager who just manages a team. I didn't know you meant you manage one whole section of the company!" What was I doing fooling around with him?

Harvey just shrugged nonchalantly.

It bugged me all night. News24 had sent me the Brooker and Cole Company Structure with the interview pack so I knew that there were only four Executive Directors and that they reported directly to the CEO.

At the end of the dinner, it was announced that the bar would stay open until two a.m. "Are you planning to stay?" I asked Harvey.

"No."

We made our way out of the hotel and walked to the car park in silence.

"Have I done something?" Harvey asked when we got into the car.

"No."

"So what's up? I was just joking before. You're not really trashy. Quite the contrary, actually."

"I'm fine," I said, starting the car. I put the car into first gear then shifted it back into neutral. "Will you drive?"

"Why? Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just…tired."

We swapped places, and Harvey had to move the driver's seat all the way back to accommodate his long legs.

"How old are you?" I asked as he drove.

Harvey glanced at me. "How old do you think I am?"

I'd never really thought about it. "I think I thought you would be about two or three years older than me." But now that I'd discovered how high up he was at News24 there was no way he could be that young.

"I'm thirty-two," he said. "I'm guessing you're probably about twenty-five?"

"I'll be twenty-five in November."

The rest of the ride home was silent.

"Thanks for coming tonight," Harvey said, when he pulled up outside my house.

"No problem."

I got out and watched him drive away. I should have known Harvey was a top boss. Come on, his car gave him away!

***

Jazz and Destiny came for lunch on Sunday afternoon. After lunch my mum started telling them about our double date on Thursday. My mum didn't look well. Friday must have been some night out if she was still recovering from Friday on Sunday!

I went to make her a coffee as she gave Jazz and Destiny a blow by blow account, in a hoarse voice, of how Harvey turned up as I was about to go out with Kale.

"I like how Harvey's so open-handed," she was saying when I got back to the living. "Thanks," she said when I placed the mug of coffee on the centre table.

She removed a Ferrero Rocher from her pocket and unwrapped it, popping it whole into her mouth. "With that Kale, every penny's a prisoner!"

"Mum you can't compare Kale to Harvey. Harvey's an executive at his job."

"Really?" Jazz asked.

I nodded.

"Well, I prefer a man who can take me to Le Frasca to a man who gives me Ferrero Rocher and Nandos," my mum said.

My phone rang. It was Kale. He'd called me twice today and I'd missed them both. On purpose. "Hey," I said, leaving the living room and entering the kitchen.

"Hi, Drew." Kale exhaled down the phone. "I'm really sorry for how I acted the other night."

I didn't say anything.

"I was jealous." Kale paused. "You still there?"

"Yes."

"Honestly, I don't know what got into me. I think that American guy just really annoys me. Maybe I wouldn't have reacted so badly if it was another guy, but it had to be him."

I understood. Kale was still smarting from the humiliation at the debate. "It's fine."

Chapter 12

It was quarter to eight on Monday morning. Time to leave for work! My mum wanted me to drop her off on my way, and then pick her up on my way home after work. It was a good thing her office was only ten minutes from mine.

I dropped her off and still managed to get into work for half eight. The receptionist rang my department, and told me that my manager, Rosie, wasn't in yet, so I had to wait in reception until she arrived. At twenty-five to nine, Harvey walked in with Candace Siannas, Alix's girlfriend.

I couldn't help the way my heart pounded at the sight of Harvey. He gave me a polite nod and walked straight past, while Candace stopped and beamed at me. "Hey."

"Hey, Candy," I said, still watching Harvey. He swiped his way through the glass doors and entered a lift. I felt a little twinge of annoyance, then I brushed it aside. If that was how he wanted it at work, that was fine. I stood up. "I didn't know you work here, Candy."

"Well, I'm just a contractor," Candy said, batting silky dark hair back from her face. "I usually come in once a month to do some updates and systems configuration. But they've asked me to come in daily for the next few months while they introduce some new systems."

"Are you still self-employed?"

"Yeah. It's hard work." She glanced at her watch. "Alix told me you got a job here. What do you do?"

"I'm a media researcher. It's just my first day, though."

Candy removed a pass from her bag, nodding. "We should do lunch sometime."

"We should." I liked Candy. She seemed like a driven sort of person. I was so impressed with her for having her own IT Consultancy business.

"I better get upstairs." She started walking away. "I hope you have a great first day."

"Thanks."

Rosie arrived a few minutes later and took me to our office. It was open plan, and about seven other departments shared the space with us. She introduced me to my teammates: two guys, Jon and Derrick, and a woman named Eva. Then she asked Eva to show me around.

Eva gave me a tour of the building. It took almost forty-five minutes. We peered through the window of the TV studios. Presenters were in there, reading the news and recording weather segments. We also looked into the Sports studios. Brea Weller was in there with two other girls presenting the weekend's sports highlights. I hoped I wouldn't be seeing much of Brea.

Lastly, Eva took me to the director's suite. "We won't go in there because Rosie will introduce you to the directors later."

"Okay."

When we got back to our office, Rosie was lamenting to someone on the phone about two people in another department who were off sick. "I can't believe it," she was saying. "They were supposed to fly out to Rwibya next week. I don't know what we're going to do." Rosie covered the phone receiver for a moment. "Eva, let Drew sit with you this morning. Show her what you do."

Eva pointed at an empty chair at an empty desk. "Pull a chair up, Drew. You're a Media Researcher, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"So am I, so we'll be doing the same stuff. At the moment, I'm sourcing information about living conditions in Rwibya. One of our journalists just got back from there two weeks ago and he brought a lot of information that I need to use in planning a thirty-minute news segment."

Eva started showing me the ropes and I really enjoyed the morning. I couldn't wait to get started properly.

At one o' clock, I had my lunch at my desk, although Eva told me that I should go out and get some fresh air. I'd had all the fresh air I needed in the past few weeks. I checked out the staff intranet and saw my picture on it. I read the tag line: 'Drew Ashley is a new starter within the international news team. If you see her around say hi and make her feel welcome.' I scrolled down and saw that the same had been done for Harvey two weeks ago.

Rosie returned from her lunch break at two o clock. "Right, Drew," she said, removing sunglasses from her head and tossing them into her handbag. I need to take you to see our leadership team upstairs. They like to meet new-starters and shake their hands." She sat down at her computer and waved me over. She signed in and pulled up the intranet. "We have a staff directory on the intranet where you can just type in anyone's name, and their picture, job title, phone number, department, and office location will come up."