Authors: Alicia Hope
Verity sat back and considered him
shrewdly
, thinking,
y
ou're
being
evasive
... I wonder
why?
What are you hiding, Royce?
That was an obvious deflection, but I’ll
play your game
and
let the subject drop
...
for now
.
She sat forward again.
‘And I look forward to reading the report, particularly as a project
that affects production
will require careful consideration
,
before
I
approach
the board of directors for
implementation
approval.’
While doubting the sincerity of
Royce’s ‘concern’
about her
‘full plate’
, Verity had to admit
his estimation
was
right, her workload was continually ex
panding. A
nyone
coming into her office could tell that at first glance,
by
the
volume
of
correspondence,
spreadsheets, diagrams and draft reports
spilling
from her
tray and spread
ing
across
her desk.
She was an ordered person, used to
leaving her workspace
at the end of the day if not empty, then at least tidy. Chaos didn’t help her productivity, but she had to maintain momentum
,
otherwise she’d go under.
Royce
had
noticed
what
looked like
new lines of strain on Verity’s
face
,
and
his ears
had
caught
a
thread of ten
sion in her voice. W
hen he spoke
again, he kept his tone light
. ‘I’m flying to
Arkansas tomorrow. We have some
important
rese
arch to
finalise
on
the
project
’s
viability
.’
He didn’t add that while in the US he
was
also
visit
ing
the home office of their controlling joint venturer, Orix Corp
.
He’d be a fool to mention that
to her
,
considering his intentions
.
If she knew what they were, she’d curtail his trip, nothing surer,
just
as he would in her position.
B
ut Royce wasn't a fool.
H
e
smirk
ed inwardly
, but that
damn
face
—no, that
beloved
face—
appeared before him again
.
And this time there was no doubting
the
disappointment
in
Ella’s
eyes
.
He shook his head to clear it, asking himself
why her image was harrying him
now.
Surely he’d put all
the
grief and pain behind him?
T
he cruel,
recurring s
pectre of the
accident
had finally stopped
haunting him
; the
crushing guilt and the
devastation of having his world collapse around hi
m
had receded, though not far enough
;
the regret
that
Ella ha
d died
not knowing.
...
N
o,
that
ache
would be with him forever
.
Royce swallowed
and quickly lowered his head
to
glare
at his hands, absently rubbing
his ring finger
.
He’d hesitated, and lost. And the tragedy of that loss
skulked in
every
corner
of his life.
His mouth became a thin, hard
line. Why
were
these memories surfacing now? They were
n’t helping
.
H
e needed to
maintain the
unflinching—some would say ruthless—
focus
on his work
. It
had helped him survive
th
at terrible time in his life
.
Therein lay his salvation.
Unaware of her visitor’s
inner turbulence, Verity was staring at the
latest production report
in front of her
. ‘Everything seems
to be
in ord
er
, though w
e’re
still not
meeting our monthly targets
. But I’m aware of the reasons for that. At least the figures are
within current expected ranges, and their
slight upward movement
is encouraging
. And we’re still managing to meet our
supply arrangements.
...’
Royce took a deep, fortifying breath and looked
at her
again.
‘Yes, I’m fairly satisfied
with how things are going.’
Verity
glanced
at him briefly
just
a
s Kerry
came into the office to hand
each of them a
bound document
. Verity nodded her thanks and
her PA left again,
once more
pulling the door closed behind her.
‘I’ve received some updates you need to be aware of
, Royce
, which I’ve summarised here
.’
Royc
e flipped open his copy
and
perused
it, grateful of a
distract
ion for
his wayward thoughts.
After going over the adjusted budget figures
, recent executive approvals,
and commodities reports,
and discussing their implications,
Verity looked
enquiringly
at Royce
. ‘Any questions?’
H
e shook his head slowly, still
considering
the document
in his hand. It
was
occurring
to him that this heads-up on pending ma
tters gave him time to pre-empt any
related
issues
in his
department’s
work a
rea
s
. This was lead
time
he hadn’t always had in the past. He’d come to rely on
his instincts
to help
him
overcome
last minute problems or changes.
But t
his
CEO
was obviously cut from a different cloth
to
that of
her predecessors
.
Royce met
her
gaze
.
‘
No, it’s all pretty clear.’ He couldn’t
bring himself
to thank her for pro
-
actively
keeping him in the loop.
She nodded un
smiling
ly
.
‘So
,
I can assume you’ll
take the necessary steps in light of this new information?’
‘Of course,’ he was stung to retort.
Her eyes narrowed a little at his sharp tone
and her expression remained serious
.
‘Good. I’ll leave it with you then.’
She
closed her
report with a snap and regarded
him
levelly
. It was the s
ignal for him to ta
ke his leave, but he stayed put
, as though in defiance, staring
nonchalantly
at her.
‘
Is the
re any assistance I can provide
before I leave
for the S
tates
?’
Verity eyed him
dubious
ly
.
The
old adage,
keep your friends close and your enemies closer
,
sprang to mind, and along with it,
the
memory of
how
close she
and Royce
had been
for that brief
instant
the other evening. She resolutely pushed those thoughts aside with a
flash of annoy
an
ce.
I love you, Claire, but sometimes I could throttle you.
She
decided
to test Royce’s
sincerity.
Watching
for
his reaction
,
she said
thoughtfully
, ‘Well, I do have the executive committee meeting to prepare for, and although Clyde was a big help
with the preliminaries
, your expertise
could be useful in finalising
the all-important
presentation
to the
joint venturers
.’
His face remain
ed inscrutable. ‘Of course.
I
have time now if that suits
? No
other
meetings this afterno
on
.’
He sat forward and ran
his eye
s
over the piles of paperwork
on her desk.
‘Well
,
’ she said a little hesitantly,
‘
I
did clear
my
schedule
for the rest of the day
,
to give me a chance to get through some of this
.
..
.’
Royce pulled his chair closer,
and
while Verity cleared some
desk
space
,
he
glanced around at
the of
fice’s new décor.
T
he room had been
overdue for redecoration
even in Clyde’s time
, and
Royce had
included its makeover as
an item on his
now
defunct
‘to do when I’m CEO’ list.
But
no
w someone else had done it, and
although he hated
admit
ting
it, she’d
accomplished
it well
, and
without breaking the budget
.
A
modern, sleek look replaced what had been an
overly
masculine
and outdated
colour scheme.
The
newly
latte-coloured walls were adorned with framed prints of native Western Australian wildflowers
,
and
aerial photo
graph
s of the refinery and
mine site
, alongside
inspirational p
osters bearing platitudes like
,
‘
You’ll never reach
the
island
if you’re
too
afraid
to leave the shore’
.
The worn
, old-fashioned
carpet had
made way for
one in a
subdued
shade
of nutmeg
, and
light-coloured
fabric settees had
replaced
the formal,
slightly
battered-looking
leather arm chairs. The addition of
one or two
potted plants and
a vase
of fresh flowers gave
the room
a soft, light touch
. Although t
he
tasteful m
akeover
salute
d
the
room’s new female occupant, it managed to do so
without any suggestion of
cuteness.
Royce noticed
the all-important reference books, manuals, and policy folders standing proudly to attention in
the
bookcases lining the walls
.
He
found himself wondering if
this
was
a demonstration of
the
‘soft power’
concept
he’d heard about
.