The Game (17 page)

Jane looked around the room and it was full of familiar faces.  It seemed the whole company was there, not just the people directly on the project.  She scanned the room and spotted Damon on the other side with a group of people, including some Board members.  He spotted her too and he frowned when he saw her.  He was obviously not pleased.  Jane guessed they were back to him scowling whenever she was near. 

“Don’t worry,” she said quietly to the empty space beside her.  “I won’t be staying long.  I will be out of your hair again in a couple of hours.”  He looked good as always.  He certainly didn’t look like he had been worrying about the outcome.  He looked like he’d known it all along and the world had just caught up with him.  She didn’t know him well enough to tell if that was how he actually thought.  More likely, she was just being mean and assigning him with extreme arrogance.  Then again, who knew
what bounds his arrogance had? One thing was for certain, he would be the golden boy at the moment.  The company celebrity, the one the Board patted on the back and bragged about to their competitors.

She sought out Carmichael, who was standing with another group.  He was the reason she was here.  She needed to thank him for bringing her and thinking of her, even though he completely bullied her into
it.

“Jane,” he said.  “There you are.  This is Jack
Smith; he is our friend at Vester.  Have you been introduced?  This is Jane, a very clever young woman.  She put together the financing for this deal.”  Jack seemed impressed.  She was also surprised that Edmund was complementing her, especially as she fixed the financing for the partner that Edmund didn’t want.  Edmund didn’t seem to hold grudges which was good for her, she guessed.  As peculiar as Edmund was, she didn’t want to be ungrateful for what he had done for her.  He was what he was, and he wasn’t going to change because she didn’t like some of his methods.  She didn’t have to be involved with it, which was her decision.  Saying that, here she was again.  “You could certainly do with someone like Jane on your team.”  Jane blushed at the blatant endorsement.

“Maybe we should talk,” Jack said.

“She’s under contract at the moment, but that will be over soon.  How long do you have left Jane?”

“A couple of months.”
  She was still uncomfortable being discussed like this.

“Take my card.  Give me a call when you are free from your current contract.  We can always use clever people.  If Edmund is dumb enough to set you free…”  Edmund tapped his nose suggesting he had plans for her.  This was news to Jane, but it could just be Edmund putting it on in front of his friend.  Saying that, his endorsement did mean a lot and there was a good chance that there could be an opportunity for her because of it.  Not that she had remotely considered what she was going to do after her contract had finished.  Four months seemed like a long time, but a chunk of it had already passed in a flash.

“How are you enjoying Sydney?” Edmund turned to her as Jack started talking to one of the other Board members.

“It’s different. 
Exciting project.”

“They are good people over there.”

“Yes, thank you for recommending me for the project.”

“You are welcome.  Have you spoken to Damon?”

“No, I just arrived.”  She had no idea why Edmund would expect that she’d be speaking to Damon.  Then again, she supposed that she would have to say hello at the very least, although it was tempting just to ignore his presence.

Edmund moved on to greet a new arrival, someone she didn’t know.

“Jane,” Stephen said to her right.  “I didn’t expect to see you here.  I guess you’ve heard.”

“Yes, it’s fantastic.  Congratulations.”

“Pretty exciting.  I will be heading back to Singapore next week.  I am a part of the project team.”

“The others too?”

“Yeah, all hands on deck, at least for the start.  Shame you won’t be with us.” 

Jane felt a twinge of regret that she wouldn’t be a part of it.  Then again, having to spend time in Singapore with the current company might not be the best idea.  Her judgement had proved seriously lacking the
last time.  She cast a glance at the cause of her misjudgement and the predicament that had caused her to essentially leave the country.  He looked relaxed as he stood with his back to her, talking with some of the Board members.

“He must be a bit of a celebrity at the moment,” she said.

“A bit.  It means a lot to the company and he pulled it off.  He is the cause celebre with the Board right now.”

“Bet that won’t go to his head,” she said under her breath.  She felt a bit petty saying it, but she couldn’t help it.  She still had trouble reconciling what had happened.  She hadn’t expected being back here staring at his back,
not something she planned when she woke up that morning.

She spoke to Steven for a while,
then spoke to some of the others.  She had a room booked at a hotel a couple of blocks away.  She was thinking about sneaking away before long.  She had spoken to Edmund, seen and been seen, she wasn’t going to stay for the end of the night when the most enthusiastic celebrants hit the town.  She wasn’t enjoying this enough to want to drag it out more than she had to.

Damon hid his surprise when Jane walked through the door.  He knew instantly that Carmichael was responsible for bringing her.  He’d heard through the grapevine that she was in Sydney.  For some reason he had expected to never see her again.  Carmichael obviously had different ideas.  It was disturbing how easy she could just sneak back into existence when he’d dismissed her from his thoughts.  He’d worked hard at doing it, while at the same time not entirely understanding why she was featured so prominently in the first place.  There was quite a bit about Jane he didn’t understand, least of all his own reaction to her.  She was so far removed from his usual type, yet somehow he seemed to have lost some of his control around her.  It was inexcusable and unforgivable.  Over time, he had convinced himself that her departure was the best thing that could have happened.  He’d started to regain his equilibrium and now Carmichael just brought her back.  He was convinced the old man did it just to mess with him.  Not that he begrudged her a place in the deal because she had fixed the financing, but it was personally awkward for him.  The old man had certainly discovered a way to mess with him and it was effective.

He did feel her presence in the room, like some kind of radiation that hit him in the chest making it feel tight.  He also noted that she looked good, her hair was a bit darker and the Australian sun had tanned her skin
somewhat.  She wasn’t gorgeous like the girls he usually saw, yet somehow she had managed to seduce him, and the worst was that she had done it effortlessly and without being aware of it.  It wasn’t something he planned or even wanted, he had just been compelled into it.  He felt whatever the temptation she posed even now.  If she was trying to manipulate him, he’d know exactly what to do, but she wasn’t.  Or else she was a much more consummate player than he’d given her credit for.  He wasn’t even sure she realized that Carmichael was using her as a pawn in this game of politics.

He knew she believed that he had used her to further his own objectives.  It bothered him that she thought that way about him, but
in all honesty, he wasn’t entirely sure that he wouldn’t have in the end.  The temptation of manipulating Carmichael would probably have been too strong to resist.  He wasn’t the type to hurt girls deliberately, but he was what he was and she put herself in the game as a player. 

He knew she was a smart girl.  If she wasn’t aware who she had been offering herself to, she should have known better.  Although he wasn’t quite sure why he was justifying things in his own mind, he hadn’t done anything wrong.  He didn’t sleep with her to use
her; he hadn’t had any intentions at all.  It was something he’d done against his own good judgement.  He guessed he was paying for not taking his own advice.

He watched as she talked to Stephen.  Stephen made her laugh.  Whatever he was saying to her, it was amusing her.  He hated that she could take his presence so lightly when he felt hers so keenly.  He felt irrational annoyance at Stephen for being there with her and for being so damned friendly.

She excused herself and walked toward the restrooms.   He couldn’t stop himself from following her with his eyes.  He knew he shouldn’t, that he should pay attention to the people speaking around him, but that didn’t stop him.  He excused himself.

Jane came out of the restroom and he was waiting for her.

“I wasn’t using you,” he said.  It was true, it hadn’t been something that had been on his mind at the time.  In truth, there was nothing logical going on in his brain back then.  She stopped in her tracks, looking a bit startled and like she wanted to escape.  He wasn’t used to girls ignoring him or trying to avoid him.  He was used to being the one who effortlessly slipped out of reach.  It irked him that she was the one who had taken that role in this relationship.  They didn’t have a relationship, he corrected himself.  “You accused me of it, and I wasn’t.”

“I appreciate you saying that,” she said.  She looked him in the eyes for the first time.  He knew what he said was true, but
she didn’t entirely believe him.  At the same time he would have reproached her if she had.  She smiled tightly with a nod like she would give to someone she dismissed.  She was about to step away and he felt an urge to stop her, but he didn’t have anything to say and he knew he shouldn’t drag this out.  Nice clean cut, was what was needed.

“Where are you now?” he asked against his own will.  He already knew the answer, but he’d asked anyway.

“In Sydney.”

“Right,” he said.  “I hope you are enjoying it.  I better return.”  At least he got the last word.  He felt ridiculous for even caring.  It was juvenile, but he wanted to be the one that walked away.

Jane felt adrenalin running through her system.  She had gotten out of the bathroom and he’d been there.
  He’d said he hadn’t been using her and there was that ridiculous part of her, the romantic that wanted to believe him.  Then the reasonable part of her that still knew the big question was there if she wanted to explore it - What was a guy like him doing with a girl like her when he ran with a league that she wouldn’t even get a spectator spot for?  It would never do her any good delving into that question, because the answer was probably never going to correspond to any fairy tale she knew.  If he wasn’t using her for political leverage, a declaration she didn’t entirely buy, then he was just using her for a quick lay.  He had made it abundantly clear that there was nothing between them going forward.

She urged herself to dismiss that little scene and to refuse to think about it.  A couple of more people to greet and she could escape this place.  It really was ridiculous flying over here jus
t to show her face at a party, even with the bonus of getting to spend some time with her mom.

When it came time to leave, her feet felt heavy.  It felt like she was giving away an opportunity, that the night had potential if she stayed.  That same part of her that wished he was sincere about telling her that he wasn’t using her.  It was the same part that hoped that he had completely fallen in love with her and thought she was the most interesting and fabulous female he had ever met. 
Granted, she was neither gorgeous nor particularly fascinating, but she was to him.  She was the one he’d been waiting for all his life.  Stupid notions that made her feel nothing but silly.  She had to get a grip, and a smart girl would walk out the door and get on with her life, not hang around waiting for some unattainable guy to decide she was the one for them.

She forced herself to leave.  The wind had picked up outside and it bit into her skin through the light dress.  She ran down the street
toward the hotel and she felt better the further away she got from the restaurant and the absurd hope that the little fling she had with Damon D’Arth had actually been meaningful, despite the seemingly bad outcome.

Edmund seemed to know the exact day her contract was running out.  She was flattered that he kept tabs on her and that he wanted to make sure she didn’t disappear off the radar.  She wasn’t entirely sure what he wanted.  There was nothing special about her; she wasn’t some star performer with mad skills that were irreplaceable.  Maybe he was just loyal to his own people and she had become one of those when he took her on as his personal assistant.  She’d certainly been around long enough to know that most people didn’t care for longer than the point where they got exactly what they were after to complete their project.

For some reason, she couldn’t seem to think beyond her current contract and she had been so busy, she hadn’t had time to actually do anything about securing a new one.  Perhaps she was due a break anyway while she found something new.  She hadn’t even made any decisions about whether she wanted to return to New Zealand or stay in Australia.

“Now Jane, you remember Jack Vester, you met him at the party a couple of months back.”

“I remember.”

“He is getting a consortium together to bid on a combined cycle power plant down south.  He needs some help co-ordinating the bid.  The project’s just starting and I think you should put your hat in the ring for it.”