CORAL - Fallen (A Romance Trilogy, Book 2) (53 page)

Listening to my gut instinct, I take
another breath and continue reading. I now have her husband’
s name, her children, their address and most importantly, Olivia
’
s mobile number. I'm shocked at how easy it
is to find this
kind of information about someone. I'm
about to continue reading, when a loud bang pulls my attention away.
Shit!
Joyce is at her door!

Flying up from the sofa, I unlock it and
pull it open.

“
Coral!
”
Joyce says in
shock,
rubbing her forehead.

“
I...I
’
m sorry
,” I squeak.

“
What are you
doing?
”
she asks as she walks
through the door. Feeling stumped with what to say, I pick up my package, my bag
and head for the door.

“
Coral!
”
Joyce booms.
I
turn and stare back at her but I don't know what to say. “
I asked you a
question,”
she says firmly.

“
Um...I was...I
just wanted some privacy. I...
”
I rack my brains for an excuse. “I had some mortgage
papers to look through,”
I say hoping she
’
ll believe me.

“
Oh, well you can
stay in here if you like
,”
she
tells me.

I shake my head at her. “
No thanks
Joyce. I can carry on reading it
later, it’
s not urgent
,”
I say hoping my voice doesn
’
t sound as shaky as it feels.

Joyce frowns and stares back at me, her
hands on her hips, scrutinizing me over the rim of her glasses – I’
m squi
rming inside!

“
Very well then
,”
she says staring disbelievingly at me.
Without another word, I scuttle out of her office, closing the door
behind me and sit down at my desk.
Whoa!

That was close, maybe I should wait until
lunchtime to carry on, but my fingers are itching to turn the next page and
read about Susannah. I have the information I want for Olivia, I just need to
make the call. I really hope she will speak to me.

Just as I'm about to carry on reading,
Tristan comes wandering up to me. I keep my eyes locked on his and casually
flip the pages over, so he can't see what’
s on them.

“
Tristan!
”
I swallow hard and fake a smile.

“
For you
,”
he says passing me a small bag with
Starbucks printed on it, and I'm presuming a Cappuccino to go with it.

“
Thanks
,”
I squeak in
reply.

“
Open it
,”
he says sipping his drink.
Opening the bag, my heart melts when I see there’
s a chocolate swirl inside. Last night, I told him about my survival
on these whilst he was away, he really does listen.

“
Thank you baby
,”
I whisper
in
appreciation.
They really are delicious.

“
You
’
re welcome
,”
he smiles
. “
You ok?
”
he asks scrutinizing me like Joyce did.

“
Uh-huh
,”
I keep my eyes fixed on his.

“
You look a little
nervous
,”
he
assesses.

“
Do I?
”
I squeak, laughing as I do.

Just at that mo
ment,
Joyce comes out of her office saving me from continuing. “
Ah Tristan, just the man I wanted to see
.”

I swallow hard and stare at my blank
computer screen.

“
Good to hear
!”
Tristan swoons, and smiles enigmatically
at her
.

Joyce blushes and titters at his reply. “
Hold all calls Coral, be about an hour
,”
she says.

“
Ok
,”
I squeak again.
God damn it, I wish my voice wouldn’
t
do that!

Tristan follows Joyce into her office,
looking back at me once before he closes the door, I can see he’
s still assessing my behav
iour. He can read
you like a book Coral, hide what you’
re feeling for god
’
s sake woman!

I smile up at him, then wink. Tristan
chuckles at me then slowly shuts the door. Tentatively, I pick up the
information on Olivia, fold it over several times and stuff it inside an
envelope.

I decide it’
s too
risky to read through Susannah
’
s
information at my desk, so I place it in the same envelope and stuff it inside
my handbag. I switch on my computer and sip my Cappuccino while I wait for it
to fire up, when it does, I open my inbox, and get started
on the letters Joyce sent across to me...

I AM ITCHING TO READ
Susannah’
s information. I'm about to sneak off to the
ladies when Joyce
’
s door is
flung open –
Uh-oh!
–
Tristan looks mad.

“
Can I see you in
here please
?”
he asks firmly.
He does not look happy.

Frowning at him, I stand from my desk and
walk into the
office. Joyce is sat at the big mahogany
desk she uses for meetings. I walk over and sit down next to her. Tristan takes
a seat opposite us both, with a face like thunder. I
’
ve never seen him look like this before.

“
Joyce has given me
some
…well, disturbing news,”
he
says, his voice flat.
“
Can you
confirm that Susannah upset Joe?
”
he asks.

“
Yes
,”
I whisper, swallowing hard
, my eyes wide with fear.

“
Why didn
’
t you tell me Coral?
”
he asks, finally meeting my gaze.

“
It wasn
’
t my place to say Tristan, and
Joyce told me not to, she said that she would talk to you about it,”
I answer honestly.

He clenches his jaw and looks once at
Joyce, then stares down at the paperwork in front of him. This feels really
weird, he’
s acting like…like a boss.

“
I'm going to
ask you a question, it is pivotal, so please be honest. Is there
anything else Joyce and I should know about?”
I look
down at my hands.

“
Coral!
”
he admonishes.

I wonder if I should tell him everything,
but the fear of losing him takes over. Besides, I want to read that report
first then I’
ll tell him what I know.

“
No
,”
I state firmly locking eyes with him.

“
There
’
s been no problem working with Susannah,
nothing to report?
”

“
Tristan, you know
I don
’
t
”–
I shake my head – “It’
s not like we
’
re going to become
best
buddies,”
I laugh nervously.

Tristan narrows his eyes at me –
Shit!

I sigh heavily. “
No.
Nothing to report, well apart from what I told you on Saturday,
” I say.

Tristan looks deep in thought as he stares
at the paperwork.

Joyce clasps my hand under the table.
What’
s that all about?

“
Are you sure?
”
he questions, his head cocked to the side,
his eyes narrowed, trying to read me.

“
Yes
,”
I say narrowing my eyes back at him.
Something’
s going on!
“
What
’
s going on Tristan, why am I in here?
”
I question.

He sighs heavily, looks up at Joyce then
his gaze rests on me. “
Susannah has put in an official
complaint about you. She said that you threatened her when she found out we
were seeing each other, that you have repeatedly been un-co-operative with her,
and that y
ou threatened to get her sacked.”
My mouth pops open,
I silently stare wide
eyed at Tristan.
Is he joking?

Tristan continues. “
I have no choice but to involve H.R, they will continue this
complaint
.”
Tristan
looks mortified. I blink three times trying to get my brain to fire.
I look several times from him to Joyce, while the enormity of what Tristan’s
just told me sinks in.
An investigation? I threatened her?

I shake my head feeling totally bewildered.
“
That
’
s
ludicrous,
”
I snort
sarcastically
.

His head snaps up, our eyes meet. “
Were you diffic
ult with her?”
he asks.
See, this is one of the reasons I
didn’
t want to get involved with my boss.

“
N
o.”
I bark, feeling angry that Tristan would
even ask that question.
“
Tristan,
I haven
’
t threatened her
,”
I tell him firmly.
I try to get my head around why she would say that?

I stand up and start pacing the room,
there’
s no way I can say that it
’
s her that threatened me now. that
’
s just going to make me sound like I
’
m trying to save my own bacon
; that I’
m trying to turn the tables on her.

“
Coral, please sit
down.
”
I turn
and look at Tristan, it’
s written all over
his face.

“
You believe her
,”
I
say, my voice
barely audible.

“
Coral, I can
’
t be seen to be taking sides. I have to
pass it on to H.R
.”

My head whips round to Joyce.
“
Do you believe me?
”
Joyce nods once.

I start pacing again. I can’
t believe Tristan is choosing her over me. Then it hits me, she can
get me sacked for this,
and she wants to move here.
Holy
crap!
– This is her way of getting rid of me!

“
Is she moving
here?
”
I ask sharply.

Tristan frowns. “
She
’
s a
sked for a
transfer,”
he states.

I can’
t help
laughing sarcastically at that answer.

“
What?
”
he questions.

“
You
’
re not going to need two P.A
’
s here are you?
”

“
No but
’ – “
So what is
she
going to do Tristan?”
I narrow my eyes at
him.

He glances across at Joyce, takes a deep b
reath then looks up at me. “
Coral, Susannah
’
s been with the company a long time
’ – “
Six years
,”
I interrupt
. “
I
’
ve done fifteen
,”
I add.

I know where this is going, she’
s going to get my job, well screw her!