Glass Ceilings (52 page)

Claire
put down her glass and wiped her hands before opening
t
he box. She
gave a long whistle. ‘Oh, wow, this is gorgeous!’

‘Yes, I have to give the man that, he has good taste.’ Verity
smiled sombrely
.

‘But ... marriage? Colour me
gob-smacked
!’

‘That makes two of us
.’

‘
H
e proposed
...
at your meeting
,
yesterday?’

Verity nodded, and it occurred to Claire that Royce’s
choice of venue
, though
a tad
unromantic
for a marriage proposal
, was a clever one. Verity
would have felt more vulnerable,
and
may have been
less receptive, if he’d
tried a lovey-dovey ap
proach away from the office
.

‘
So
,
’ she
said, sounding awe-struck
,
‘
he does
n’t just have
feelings
for you ... h
e’s
in
love
with you
!
’

‘
So he says.
’

‘Way to go to hit you with the big M right out of the blue!’

‘Well, h
e
said he wanted to make his intentions clear from the start.’ Verity
reach
ed out a tentative fingertip to touch the ring, which glittered lovingly under the
down lights
. ‘He
told me to
think it over, and
said
we could have as long an engagement as I want.’

‘Wow!’ Claire breathed again
.
‘That sounds like a
good
option to me
, and very fair-minded, if not overly romantic
.
But
then,
you’re not the flowers-n-chocolate
s
type
, and I don’t think he is either
.
’
She handed the box
back
to Verity, who
looked at it
and chuckled.

‘Yes, well
t
his
proposal is
actually
more my style, and i
n stark contrast to David
’s
go-the-whole-hog
approach
,
remember
that
? He dropped
to his knees
in the street in front of the whole
neighbourhood
, while
a
sky-writer wrote
“Marry Me” above us
.
I was embarrassed by all the fuss, and
felt pressured to give him my answer
. A
nd what was I going to say, standing there
surrounded by
his family,
friends
and neighbours
,
“T
hanks, but no thanks”? How small would that have made him feel?’

Verity
still held the
open
box in her hand. She
watched the stones in the ring glistening with
every movement.

‘So, what are you going to do
this
time
?’

Verity ran a hand over her eyes and said fretfully, ‘I have no idea.
But at least there’s n
ot the public pressure with this one
.
’

‘
Yeah, that does make it easier.
But
it still comes down to this, d
o you know h
ow you feel about Royce
?’

‘Well ...
I ...
sort of. B
ut
you’re right
,
Claire
,
this proposal
was
unexpected
,
to say the least
,
and I’m
totally
out of my depth
.’

Claire could see her friend needed help. ‘OK, well, let’s pretend this is a business deal.’

Verity raised h
er head
. ‘A business deal?’

‘Yeah, you’re great with them, and the principles are the same.’

Verity frowned uncertainly, ‘But—’

‘But nothing. You’re more comfortable talking business than personal, right?’

‘Yes...
.’

‘OK, then,
here’s the scenario. L
et’s say another company has submitted a merger proposal.’

‘
Um ... a
lright.’ Verity was still cautious, but coul
d feel herself calming down as the conversation settled i
n
to
familiar territory.

‘And let’s say
under
t
he terms of the merger
you can take it or leave it, there’s no pressure brought to bear either way, and that even when you agree to it verbally, you can withdraw
your
agreement at any time prior to the merger coming into effect.’

‘OK
,
you
’re making
it sound good, but how do I know this
merger
will benefit my company?
’

‘I
t’s like any business proposal. Y
ou
have some
time to envisage
its
long term advantages
, and to
decide how to proceed
,
but you won’t truly realise its benefits
until it’s a done deal
.’

‘Well t
hen, without any gu
arantees, I probably wouldn’t go for
it.’

‘So explain to me why you backed Royce’s expansion proposal?’

Verity sighed.
‘I had a gut feeling
it’d
be a good move
for RCL
,
so I did some
research
and
analyse
s
,
and they
indicated
the
advantages
would u
l
t
imate
ly outweigh the disadvantages. But
that’s just part of the feasibility study for any new project. What does i
t
have to do with this
merger scenario
of yours
?’

‘I guess
in this instance
there’s only limited research you can do, so
there’s
a
leap of faith
element ... b
ut you have to admit
the long term
benefits
could easily make the risk
worthwhile?’ When Ve
rity
didn’t say
anything
, Claire delivered her trump card. ‘And
although
analyses may not work in this situation
with Royce
,
your gut feeling
—or your heart—
certainly will. It has probably the most
important
part to play in this decision.
’

She eyed Verity intently.
‘
So w
hat is it telling you? Is it saying “yes”
, or “no”
to his
“merger” proposal
?’

Verity’s brow creased, but she
finally
gave a
hesitant
nod of her head.

Claire swallowed an
astonished gasp
. That response was a bit unexpected. She’d assumed Verity would continue refusing to acknowledge her feelings.

Royce must have really gotten to her.

She
hastily went on
,
‘Then
why not give it a shot? Have a long engagem
ent. G
et to know
him properly
. T
ake your time deciding if y
ou want to give marriage another try
.
’ Sh
e
took the velvet
box
from Verity
again
.
‘
But p
lease
,
Verity, d
o yourself a favour
. S
top looking for excuses and just
put this on,’ and she
took
t
he ring out
and slipped
it on
to
Verity’s ring finger.

It fit perfectly.

Verity stared at the diamonds dancing in the light as she moved her finger
s
. She felt trance
-like
and couldn’t speak for a while. When she finally forced
herself to look up
,
she said defiantly, ‘Well, that’s all very well, Claire, but what’s the point in becoming engaged
to Royce when he’s going to head
overseas
soon,
to take up the chairman’s position?’

‘Does he have to go over there to do the job?’

‘
I believe so, i
t’s an international posting.
Certainly all the other chairmen have been based there.’

‘Did you ask him about that?’

‘Yes, and he said he had it all worked out.’

‘There, you see.’

‘But I don’t think
you
see
, Claire.
’ Verity gave an impatient shake of her head.
‘
He won’t risk such a prestigious appointment, he’ll expect me to give up
my
job so I
can go over there with him.’
Her
lips drew together into
a mutinous line. ‘And that’s not gonna happen.
I’m not sacrificing my hard-won career again, not for anyone.
’

Claire
could see
from the stubb
orn set of Verity’s face
that
further argument would be
point
less. She
’d done all she could to help,
it was up to Royce now. S
he
finished her wine and reached over to
g
i
ve her frien
d a hug.

‘Well, whatever you de
cide, I’ll always be here
, no matter what.
And probably on my own, the way my love life’s going!
Although I do have a date tonight. Well,
not really
a date. I’ve convinced
Jim Stowe
to
come to the movies with me.
He’s been moping around the office lately, so I thought a dose of “Toy Story” might
cheer him up
.
It’s getting rave reviews, and is meant to be really funny.
It’s either that, or “Dead Man Walking”, which might not be such a great choice.
’

At Verity’s raised brows
,
Claire giggled and said, ‘Now
I’d better head off
so you’ve got time to get ready before Royce arrives.
’

After Claire left, t
he villa was quiet
,
as though
it
too
was brooding
. But brooding was
getting her nowhere
, Verity decided
.

He’ll be here any minute and I’m
not ready. Not dressed,
not composed
,
and
no closer to knowing what my answer will be.

She
jumped
to her feet and
rock
ed
her chair
back from the table
,
coming close to
knocking over a vase of flowers
on
the dresser behind
. When she hastily grabbed the vase
and settled it
again
, the combination of rose
and jasmine
blooms wafted their perfume at her, transporting
her
to Loquacious Island. M
emories
flooded her mind,
of her encounter with Royce on their last night
there
.