Glass Ceilings (45 page)

So now the roles were
reversed
, Royce realised grimly
. With Ella he’d been the one
who
’d
p
layed
dodge ball
, who
’d
hesitated when he should have acted,
and
who was left bereft when she was taken so violently from him. He’d blown his chance to show h
er how much he
loved her.

But Royce James
was a cl
ever man, and clever men learn
from their
mistakes
.

Chapter Nineteen

The next morning
,
Royce
checked out prompt
ly and
headed to the island’s airstrip
to board
the
first flight
to the mainland.
H
e’d overheard Verity saying she was ta
king the early
flight home, so h
e was surprised not to find her
among the group of delegates waiting to board. Perhaps she was still coming
.
He turned to gaze towards the units while the
other
passengers milled around
the apron area
, quietly chattin
g
,
or having a quick smoke before
being called to board
.

He remained standing there until a voice from above
said,
‘
Are
you coming
,
sir?’ The co-pilot stood at the top of the stairs, waiting to close the hatch.

Royce
was the only one left standing on the tarmac.
He t
hrew the co-pilot
a
n
irritated glanc
e
,
but i
t was no use delaying
the departure
,
V
erity
obviously
wasn’t going to show. And the longer he
waited, the more certain he was that
it was a deliberate
snub
. With a grim set to his face, h
e
strode over to climb
the
air stairs
two at a time, ducking
his
head to go through the service door
, and
making his way to
the second to last
remaining seat.

Verity
watched from her unit’s courtyard
as the
plane took off and
rose
into the blue
above the island. Sighing, she tu
rned and went inside
where her cases sat, packed and ready
to go
.
Flopp
ing on
to
the
bed, she wondered what she would do with herself while
waiting
for the next flight
.
She
’d
risen in plenty of time to dress and finish packing, with
every intention of
taking the first
flight out
, but on glimpsing
Royce’s dark head
among
those
waiting to board,
she’d
opted
for the later plane
.

Despite his repeated attempts to see her after their
abrupt
parting the night before, s
he’d managed to avoid hi
m
.

It had taken some doing
, she acknowledged with grudging respect,
he’s not a man who gives up easily
.

Keeping him at arm’s length
felt like a
hurtful
brush-off
,
especially after he’d let down his guard and opened up to her,
but
she had to do it
,
at least for a while
—l
ong enough for the effects to wear off
. B
ut the effects of what?
That kiss?

The island,
she decided.
It’
s made us act out of ch
aracter. Life
will return
to normal as soon as we’re home
again
.

Verity
felt a surge of
restlessness
. S
he needed company. Brenda and Guy were still on the island, they’d
mentioned
they were taking
the later flight.
Picking up her telephone, she dialled the
ir
extension
numbers. Then she called room service and
ordered a carafe of filtered coffee, a pot of English Breakfast tea, and a plate of crisp pistachio bread
, to be delivered
to her unit.

‘
Well now, this is a
pleasant
way to spend our last couple of hours on the island
.’ Brenda beamed at her
through the steam rising
in small whirls
from
h
er coffee mug. They
sat
in Verity’s courtyard,
around a wicker table wher
e she’d laid out the tray of food and drinks
.
The mor
ning sun bathed
their surroundings
in
new,
golden light, making all
seem right with the world.

‘Yes, I’ll be
sorry
to leave
,
’ Verity sighed,
‘but duty
calls.’ She smiled and sat forward to pour
herself a second cup of tea.

‘
And the calls ain’t all for you
, lil’ lady,’ Guy dra
wled, leaning back in his chair
and holding his
mug
in both hands
.
‘
My secretary’s already been on the blower to me twice this morning.’

Brenda snorted. ‘Secretaries! Can’t live
with ’
em
, can’t live
without ’
em
,’ and all three chuckled.
‘
And I guess you’re in the market for a new one
now,
Verity?’

A serious expression settled on Verity’s face and she gave a thoughtful nod.

‘Good luck finding a good ’un, they’re a bit thin on the
ground,’ Guy
sai
d
dourly
.

‘Well
, Verity
,
as we’re
o
n the subject
,
can I talk work for a minute?’

‘Of course, Brenda.’

Guy gave an audible groan and turned
to contemplate the view.

Brenda threw him a look th
at said ‘don’t be tiresome’, and
carried on
undeterred.

‘
I wanted to tell you
about a conversation I had
late last night
,
with a few of the other board mem
bers. A
bout the attempted land grab
at RCL.’

Verity grew still.

‘
We’ve been told
the issue
i
s
all but
resolved,
that
some ... innovative ... strategies
have been successfully implemented
.’ She paused and gave Verity a significant glance. ‘
This little ploy of yours will save
the company from
the pain of a long term problem,
Verity,
not to mention
expensive
litigation
and very public
embarrassment.
Well done.
Although
,’ and she raised an eyebrow,
‘
it might’
ve been prudent to run your
plans
past me first
.
You can trust me, you know.
’

Verity gave a rueful grin
. ‘Thanks
Brenda
, I know that now
.
And
I’m
just relieved
that RCL’s interests
will be
preserved.’

‘Good.’
Brenda studied her briefly before addressing Guy. ‘Well, it seems we have ourselves a CEO prepared to use novel tactics to get the job done.’

‘So it does.’ Guy gave a lop
-
sided grin and both he
and Brenda nodded their appreciation
at
Verity.
‘Now I don’t know about you ladies, but I’ve about
had
it with
talking
shop
. G
olf, now
, that’s a whole
’n
other story.
This old thrasher can talk ’bout the game ’til the cows come home!
’ He fixed Verity with a level gaze.
‘
Did Brenda
tell ya
about our nine holes yesterday morning?
’

Verity just smiled and leaned back in her chair, as Guy launched into his tale.

‘
She
lived up to
her nickname, “
Belt-
em
Brenda
”
,
by beltin’
everything within reach on the course, even one of
my
golf balls! Trouble was, she sunk the damn thing in the nearest water hazard.
’

He went on
to entertain them with witty
golfing yarns
, and Verity
was
at fir
st thankful
the subject had moved on to something other than work, where there was a chance
Royce’s name
would be
mentioned
. But
when, after a cautionary glance from Brenda, Guy hastily glossed over the game he’d played with Royce in the US, Verity began to
suspect
they were intentionally
avoid
ing
the subject of
their colleague
.

Her stomach sank, and
a deep furrow
formed
in her brow
.

Are others aware of the
growing
tension between us?
It is that obvious
, or has Royce said something
?

She chewed
her
lower
lip.
She didn’t want silly
gossip to jeopardise the
budding respect of RCL’s
workforce
and her colleagues
for their new CEO.
But she couldn’t broach th
e subject, t
hat would only give it credence.
All she could do was hope
she was wrong
.

And
would
it
be
just silly gossip
, o
r is it founded on
something real
?

Verity
quietly
clicked her ton
gue in irritation
.

Br
e
nda was laughing loudly at a
story Guy was telling
, so Verity
made herself
concentrate on the
conversation
again
.
When both the carafe and tea pot were empty, and the last sliver of pistachio bread polished off, Guy and Brenda returned to their units to make final preparations for departure. Verity found herself sitting alone in the fragrant courtyard.

The morning sun was gaining strength and its warmth persuaded the jasmine
blooms
to release their perfume, but Verity only half noticed the sweet-smelling
aroma
.
Firmly
pushing thoughts o
f Royce aside
,
she
mused
on the question of
a replacement for Kerry
. She
wondered
again if
Claire
would consider taking
on
the job
.
She
hoped so, i
t would be great to have someone in the outer office working with her,
not
against her.
When a
droning sound caught her attention
,
she looked up to see a plane descending towards the island’s runway.