Rules of Negotiation (15 page)

“Mom? I wish I…” Her throat squeezed closed. She cleared it and started again, “I wish I knew what to do. I wish I knew how not to be so damn lonely. I miss you, you know. I miss you a lot.”

She put her hand on the bedspread, close enough that she could feel the heat from her mother’s body. Jeanne didn’t always want to be touched, especially not lately, so Tori didn’t try to take her hand. But then she felt her mother’s head lean against hers, and Jeanne’s gnarled, wrinkled hand moved a few inches closer on the bedspread.

“Thanks, Mom,” Tori whispered.

They sat like that, barely touching, for a long time.

Chapter Fifteen

Four days later, Tori walked into Melissa’s apartment on the Upper East Side and reminded herself one last time that she was only here for Melissa. The apartment was surely large by New York standards, but tiny compared with Tori’s own comfortable bungalow back in Philadelphia; a single large room served as kitchen and living room, with a screen setting off the desk and work area. The blinking green lights of various devices shone through the bamboo, and Tori thought she saw the outlines of three computer monitors atop an L-shaped desk.

Like its owner, the setting was simple and efficient. Also like its owner, however, it had beauty in unexpected places, as Tori noticed when she slid her hand over the curve of an armrest, or sunlight would sparkle off the chrome leg of a chair. Even the building was disguised elegance—an old townhouse with steep steps and a crumbling walkway giving way to a glass-tiled entry with a row of antique mailboxes.

Melissa ushered Tori through a heavy wooden door and motioned for her to sit down in the small common area. Tori was relieved to see that she looked better than she had in the park. Melissa’s long hair had been styled in soft waves around her face, and a light coat of mascara emphasized the glittering blue of her eyes. She brought out a china teapot with a pink and blue pattern shot with accents of gold, and offered Tori a cup.

“Thanks for coming. I know this all seems kind of crazy.” Her voice was high and tight, and Tori had to lean forward to make out the words.

She was nervous.

“Not at all,” Tori said.

It had actually been an enormous problem, necessitating three nights with very little sleep to get enough of her other work done so she could take the Thursday afternoon train to New York. She had reviewed Melissa’s information on the way up and had been relieved to find that Melissa was right—no law would stop her from sharing her knowledge with Solen.

Melissa leaned forward to pour the tea. Her movements were quick, her hands visibly shaking. She tucked them in her lap and took a deep breath before looking up at Tori. “So…what do you think?”

“About Solen? Well, I gave Garth a call and he said he’d meet with you.”

Melissa’s breath spilled out in a rush.

“But he wants me there,” Tori cautioned. “Not that I know the robotics business, but he’s got some questions about the reason you want to work for him so badly, and I think we should probably decide how much of your story you want to tell.”

“I see.” Melissa carefully added a lump of lump of sugar to Tori’s tea. “You’re right, of course. I hadn’t thought about that. I hope you know how much I appreciate this. If it hadn’t been for meeting you the other day…well, I never would have even thought about doing something like this.”

Tori decided not to tell her that she preferred her tea black. “Honestly, I probably wouldn’t have gotten involved, but it sounds like in the long run, you’ll be doing Garth a favor. The last thing I want is for him to try something at the lab that you know is a waste of time.”

“I don’t know for sure that I can do it.” Melissa handed the cup to Tori, the delicate china rattling in the saucer. Staring down at the tea, she said, “Mark and I always worked together, before. This will be my first time on my own.”

Tori leaned forward, taking the tea and setting it down on a sturdy cherry end table, then patted Melissa’s hand. “You won’t be alone. Garth will be there, too. You’ve never met a guy like him before. He’s utterly brilliant, but completely without an ego. And I’ll be around, too. You can call me if you need anything.”

Melissa smiled for the first time. “I don’t deserve your help.”

“That’s what women do,” Tori said. “We help each other. Especially when it comes to moving on after lousy ex-boyfriends. But I’m not sure you really need my help anyway.” She indicated a picture of Brit and Melissa on the edge of a bookshelf. “You’ve got more powerful friends in your court than me.”

Melissa leaned back in the couch and rubbed her eyes. When she opened them, tears had pooled in the corners. She brushed them aside and took a deep breath before she said, “You have no idea how hard it is to be the most inadequate member of the Bencher family. I’ve had three brothers hovering over me as long as I can remember, all of them more confident, more put together, and more successful than I am. Brit’s the worst. He’s only seven years older than I am, but you’d think it was twenty.”

“Is that right?” Tori cleared her throat. The last thing in the world she wanted to do was talk about Brit. “Well, we should go over some of the specifics for tomorrow. We’re meeting at the hotel—”

“He got it in his head at some point that our parents weren’t very good at their jobs,” Melissa continued, “so he decided to take up the slack. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is. The moment I got to New York, he started hovering over me like I was a broken doll. I kept telling him I needed some space, but he never listened. And then he got you involved. Well, I felt horrible about that. But I suppose I can’t blame him completely. It did give me the idea for doing this.”

“Okay, so about tomorrow—”

“He’s really very gentle, you know, under all that bossy-CEO crap,” Melissa sailed on, as if Tori had not spoken. “And he loves kids. You saw him with Delia. He’ll make an excellent father someday. I have no idea why he’s so scared of dating someone with a brain.”

It seemed rather obvious to Tori, but she figured it would be better not to point that out. “The conference room is on the second floor of the hotel. It’s not pretty, but I thought it would be best to find a neutral setting.”

Melissa nodded. “Great. Brit’s been grumpier than a bear these past two weeks, you know. Snaps my head off if I even mention your name. I’ve never seen him that way about a woman. I thought he was going to blow a gasket the other night at dinner when Ross teased him about you. That was when I knew something interesting was going on. I know you said you weren’t dating, but, er, I don’t suppose…I mean, is there any chance?”

There it was. The question Tori had suspected was coming.

“No,” she said flatly.

“Hmm. You’re sure about that, are you? Because I know it seems like he went out with you because of me, but it looks to me like there’s a lot more going on.”

“I’m sure. Now, can we please talk about the reason I’m here? We only have tonight, and I want to make sure we get our story straight.”

Melissa sighed, but did not mention Brit again.

…

It was well past ten o’clock before Tori stood up and rubbed her eyes. Once she got Melissa past her nerves they struck up a comfortable rapport, and their conversation had quickly gone far beyond preparing for a job interview.

Tori’s schedule didn’t leave her much time for friends, and she realized it had been months—years?—since she’d had an evening with another woman to sit around and talk. They’d had dinner, and managed to put away two bottles of wine. Melissa told her all about her ex-boyfriend Mark, and Tori found herself confiding things about her mother that she’d never told another soul.

Finally, she couldn’t deny her body’s demand for sleep. “Look, I hate to say it but I’m tipsy and my eyes are starting to close. I need to get some rest before tomorrow or I’ll embarrass both of us.”

Melissa flushed. “I’m sorry. I get to talking about things and it’s hard to stop. I’ll call you a cab right away.”

“Don’t apologize.” Tori grinned, feeling a pleasant buzz in her head. “It was the best night I’ve had in a long time.”

A buzzer sounded. Tori jumped at the unexpected noise.

Melissa crossed to a white intercom by the door and pushed a button. “Hello?”

“Melissa, let me up.”

The rush of adrenaline began the moment Tori heard the voice. Deep, rich, he might as well have been saying, “Lean back. Let me take care of you,” as he had in Sam Huo’s office.

“Brit, what are you doing here? I’m on my way out,” Melissa said.

“Where are you going? I’ll give you a ride.”

Melissa let go of the button and gave Tori a questioning look.

Tori shook her head. “Please,” she said, hating the desperation in her voice. “It would be easier if we didn’t have to talk.”

“Why don’t we have dinner tomorrow?” Melissa said into the white box.

“Because Ross told me you have something going on tomorrow morning that you didn’t want to tell me about, and I’ve been worried sick that you called that bastard ex-boyfriend of yours. I’ve been calling for the past two hours but you refuse to pick up your cell. Either you let me up now or I’m waiting here until you come down.”

Melissa released the button and winced at Tori. “I’m sorry. I told Ross you were coming into town. He really took a liking to you. But I told him not to tell Brit what was going on.” She leaned back on the button. “Look, Brit, I didn’t call Mark, okay? You can go home now.”

“Melissa. I need to talk to you. Let me up.” Brit’s voice took on that deadly quiet tone that was inexplicably terrifying.

Tori screwed together what was left of her courage. There was no reason to leave Melissa to fight her battles. She motioned Melissa aside and pushed the intercom. “Brit, it’s Tori. Melissa and I are meeting with Solen tomorrow. Are you happy?”

There was a long pause. Then, “Tori?”

“Yes, Tori,” Melissa barked into the wall, throwing back her head defiantly as if he were right beside her. “So you can see I’ll be fine.”

“Tori’s there now?”

Melissa turned to Tori and threw her hands up in the air. “He isn’t usually this dense.”

With a feeling of certain doom, Tori grabbed her purse and small suitcase and gave Melissa an artificial smile. “We might as well face him now, right? No sense putting it off.”

Though they had only known each other for a short time, Melissa’s quick squeeze of Tori’s arm felt like that of an old friend. “He’s like a middle school boy,” Melissa said. “He’s meanest to the girls he really likes.”

“Why doesn’t that make me feel better?” Tori asked.

They headed down the stairs, Tori’s heart beating faster with every step. Her fingers began to tingle and her face got hot, even though the air in the unheated stairway was cool. The last time she had seen Brit, he had come close to stealing every bit of pride and self-respect she had. But tonight would be different. She would be cool and composed. She would not let him rattle that composure.

She would not.

You were nothing more than a warm body, Brit Bencher…

They passed the mailboxes. On the stoop outside, Tori could see Brit glowering at the front door. He looked menacing in the single yellow light, his face a series of moving shadows.

“I’ll go first,” Melissa said.

Grateful for her presence, Tori willingly dropped back.

Melissa opened the door and held it behind her for Tori. “Why don’t you save the scene for the next Big Brothers Anonymous,” she said, when all three of them were crowded together on the small, cracked concrete front step.

He did not remove his hands from the pockets of his dark pants. He must have come from work because he still wore a dark blue suit, though he lacked a tie and the top button of his crisp white shirt was undone. Her breath caught at the sight of him, harder and more masculine than she could have imagined.

Nothing but a warm body…

With a curl of his lips that drew Tori’s gaze to that obscenely sensual mouth, he ignored Melissa completely. “You came back,” he said, focusing his icy-hot stare on Tori.

“I’m not here for you,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t hear the quiver in her voice. “I’m here for Melissa.”

Brit turned to his sister. “You can go back up. I’ll take Tori home.”

Melissa looked between them. “She’s tired. I was about to call her a cab.”

“Tori and I need to talk,” he said.

“I’m not leaving.” Melissa assumed a stubborn stance, legs spread several feet apart, arms akimbo.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” His voice took on that smooth, persuasive tone that Tori remembered so well. “I’ve got my driver here. We can drop Tori off at her hotel. There’s no reason to pay for a cab.”

Tori wanted to scream no, but pride kept her voice at a reasonable volume. “I would prefer the taxi.”

“Now that’s just plain silly,” Brit said. “Unless you’re too nervous to ride in the same car with me.”

“You’re a bully, you know that?” Melissa said.

“Give up, sis,” Brit said. “I know you don’t want me camping out on your stoop.” He relaxed against the iron railing on the side of the steps, his posture one of supreme confidence.

Tori hitched her purse higher on her shoulder and surrendered to the inevitable. With an attempt at a comforting smile, she patted Melissa lightly on the shoulder. “This is ridiculous. There’s no reason for the two of you to fight over a simple cab ride. It won’t kill me to go to the hotel with him. You need to get some sleep.”

“If you’re sure,” Melissa said, glaring at Brit.

“I’m sure. I’ll see you tomorrow at eight.”

After a worried sigh, Melissa gave Tori a quick hug, glared at her brother, and went back inside. Tori squared her shoulders and thought about her one-way conversation with her mother a few days before.