Taming Graeme (Taming the Billionaire) (28 page)

 
“Yes, I’m sure he will,” said Olivia. She could tell Linda was becoming pensive, thinking of the end of her training, anticipating far less of Michael’s attention. “Come on, let’s go make a cup of tea.”

EIGHTEEN
 

 
They flew back to London very early Monday mornin
g
, and were parked on the top floor of the car park by just before eight. They were the only ones there, and Graeme took her elbow and led her to the stairwell. He kissed her softly before he opened the door to his floor, and she continued down to Currency Trading. She was at her desk, getting set for the day half an hour early. She decided to go up to the cafeteria and get a cup of tea. Amanda was there, intent on the same goal.

 
“Good morning, Olivia,” she said.

 
“Hello, Amanda. You’re in early today. Going to seem dull around here without Linda to liven our breaks, isn’t it?”

 
“Well, her replacement starts this morning. That’s why I’m early. Mr. Smith asked me to take her under my wing, as Rose is training with Mrs. Hall now. They’re going to hire another girl as well, so I’ll actually be the senior in the Secretarial Pool until I go back to Uni in a few weeks.”

 
“Well, you are a part of the family that owns the Bank, aren’t you? You know so much more about the ins and outs than the rest of us, don’t you?”

 
Olivia bit her lip
. She’d just been very, very sarcastic, but in a nice tone of voice, and Amanda hadn’t noticed. Oh dear...did she need to tell Graeme? Did this deserve a spanking?

 
“Thank you. I’m going to be working directly for Graeme next summer, I hope. He’d better decide I’m ready for the next step up the ladder. One of these days I’m going to be a Department Head.  That’s my five year goal.  Two more years of school, then full time here, six months in each department until I discover my forte, then look out, Executive Washroom, here I come! And if he doesn’t get married again and have a son, why, I could be Chairwoman of the Bank one day!”

 
Olivia giggled. “And a fine executive you’ll be, Amanda.”

 
“Want to go to lunch today?”

 
“I will be on the desk from twelve to one. Mr. Taylor says I’ll be going to lunch at one from now on...”

 
“Well, then the new girl and I will meet you in the lobby at one. She’s going to need a familiar face or two, and I’ll be gone in five weeks, so my first executive decision is that you can take her under your wing after I’ve gone!”

 
“You are so funny, Amanda,” laughed Olivia. “See you at tea at ten.”

 
The new girl in the secretarial pool was tanned and slee
k
, and beautifully dressed. Her name was Hailie.

 
Amanda introduced her to Olivia, and explained how Olivia had been promoted from the Secretarial Pool to Currency Trading as an assistant and was now training to be a trader.

 
“And Mr. Taylor, her Department Head, says she’ll be the next trader the Bank has. We’ve just acquired an Irish Bank, and he says their trading department reporting system is in shambles from what he can see, so he may send Olivia to Belfast to straighten out the paperwork just like she did here, and when she qualifies, he’s going to move Joe to Belfast to manage that desk, and Olivia will have Joe’s place here.”

 
“Amanda,” said a deep voice behind the girl, “that was confidential information you were privy to only because you typed up the report, and you were out of line to tell Olivia at tea.”

 
Amanda swung round to face her cousin. “Oh, Graeme, I’m so sorry, of course I should have let Mr. Taylor give her the good news. I was just so pleased for her. Please forgive me.  And have you met Hailie?  She’s our new secretary. Hailie, this is my cousin, Graeme Browning, our Vice-Chairman and really the Head of the Bank. Our uncle is still Chair but only until January 1
st
.”

 
Hailie’s eyes lit up as she shook hands with Graeme. “You’re very young to be heading a Bank, Mr. Browning,” she said flirtatiously. Olivia had to stop herself from grinding her teeth.

 
Graeme didn’t answer that remark.  He turned to Olivia. “Olivia, how long before you finish your course now?”

 
“I finished Lesson Six yesterday, Sir,” Olivia answered. “I should be able to be finished in less than three weeks.”

 
“Will you be able to work on your lessons if we send you to Belfast for a week or two? As Amanda just blurted out, apparently their records are even a worse mess than ours were when you took over that onerous task and the Irish bank is out of Compliance.  So I need you to go over and straighten it out.  I understand there’s a bright young man they think might be capable of doing the job once you train him. If he’s any good at all, you shouldn’t be away too long. I’d like you to go next Monday.”

 
“Would you like me to make arrangements for Olivia’s hotel and such?” asked Amanda, anxious to appease her cousin.

 
“Not necessary, Amanda. We’ve looked after her flights and accommodation already. Olivia will spend this week trying to give young Reece an understanding of the new reporting system in Currency Trading. He’ll fill in for you while you’re away, Olivia, under much stricter supervision from John Taylor’s P.A. than he had before. You’ll leave Monday morning for Belfast. I shudder to think of that scenario, but we really don’t have anybody else to fill in, and at least he thinks he knows the Department.”

 
“Yes, Sir.”

“So, come to my office at five fifteen on Friday, will you, and you and I will go over everything you need to know for Belfast. John Taylor will join us for the meeting.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

 
He strode off.

 
“Bit mean of him scheduling your meeting after five on Friday night, Olivia,” said Amanda. “What will your boyfriend say?”

 
“He’ll understand, Amanda. He’s all business himself.”

 
“I wouldn’t mind an after work meeting with Graeme Browning,” smiled Hailie. “He’s hot.”

 
Rose looked at her coolly. “
Mr.
Browning does not fraternize with the young female staff, Hailie.”

 
Hailie smiled. “Perhaps not, or perhaps not
yet
,” she replied. “We’ll see….”

 
Amanda, Rose and Hailie were waiting for Olivia in the lobby. They went to the Greek restaurant on the corner. 

 
Rose smiled at Olivia. “You’re moving up the ladder faster than you thought possible,” she said. “Mr. Browning is very pleased with you. Oh, he asked me to give you this. He said you’ll need it while you’re away.” She handed Olivia an envelope.

 
Olivia wondered what it was, but didn’t want to open it in front of Amanda’s nosy eyes.

 
“It’s a credit card, I think,” went on Rose, “to cover all your expenses while you’re away. I’m not sure where Mr. Browning’s booked you, he just muttered something about he’d attend to it. That was just before he left to catch the plane for Toronto.”

 
“Very thoughtful of him,” said Amanda. “I’ll have to hit him up for one of those next summer when I’m in Administration. I’ll probably get to take some clients for lunch.

 
“Why did he go to Toronto, Rose?” she continued. “Pretty spur of the moment, wasn’t it?”

 
Rose looked at Amanda. “Obviously something arose that needed his personal attention, Amanda, something confidential.”

 
“And that was?” Amanda asked, oblivious to Rose’s frown.

 
“Something confidential, Amanda,” repeated Rose. “I’m not at liberty to say. Certainly nothing that concerns the Secretarial Pool.”

 
“I am a member of the Browning family, Rose,” snorted Amanda.

 
“You are also just a secretary this summer, Amanda,” said Rose. “If you think you have the right to be made aware of confidential matters, please take it up with Sir David and Mr. Browning on his return. I won’t be pressured into discussing confidential information with you. My job demands discretion now.”

 
The waiter’s arrival broke the tension growing at the table.

They ordered.  “Is Graeme Browning married?” asked Hailie.

  “Widowed,” said Amanda. “It was so tragic. His wife was killed by a runaway van about seven years ago. A stolen runaway van. The driver got a heavy prison sentence. She had two daughters from her first marriage, and my cousin adopted them when he married Carrie. She was a few years older than Graeme, so now he has two daughters aged twenty three and twenty four, and he’s only thirty eight...”

 
“Hmmm...Only ten years older than me. Does he have a girlfriend?” Hailie was very interested in Graeme.

 
“Yes,” said Amanda. “A new girlfriend. Took her to Ireland for the weekend and told me I couldn’t tag along and spoil his romantic getaway. But he won’t tell me who she is, says I’m too nosy.” Amanda turned to Rose.

 
“Rose, now that you’re going to be his P.A., I’m sure you’ll find out, I mean he’s sure to send her flowers and things, and you can tell us who she is.”

 
Rose smiled sardonically. Amanda wasn’t getting the message. “If he doesn’t tell me not to, Amanda.”

 
Olivia spoke mildly. “Perhaps he likes to make his own arrangements, Amanda, and Rose won’t find out before you go back to school.”

 
Hailie smiled. “Well, if she’s a new girlfriend, perhaps it isn’t serious yet, and who knows, he may see something else he likes.”

 
Olivia knew Hailie meant herself.

 
Hailie would have ample opportunity to impress Graeme while Olivia was in Belfast. She was glossy and sleek, her raven hair cut in long layers around her face, her eyes made up to emphasize their almond shape, and her figure was perfect. She obviously spent a lot of time in the gym. However, Hailie seemed very self confident, and didn’t seem very submissive to Olivia, so hopefully Graeme wouldn’t be tempted, even if he found her attractive.             

 
John Taylor sat Olivia down that afternoon, and as they had a cup of tea together he told her why they wanted her to go to sort out the mess at Merchant’s Bank of Northern Ireland.

 
“We think it’s just a matter of bad design and lazy clerks, Olivia. I had a look at their forms, and they are very sketchy indeed.

 
“You did such a great job of revamping our forms and setting up the failsafe system you thought up on the computer here, I want you to do the same over there. The clerk they had was very old, too vain to wear her glasses, and she’d been at the Bank for forty years before she retired a few weeks ago. The young girl they got to replace her was more interested in flirting with Tim O’Rourke, the Head Trader.

 
“He is apparently a good looking bachelor who could give a damn about paperwork. The Bank got a Ten Thousand Pound Fine last week for being out of Compliance, but the recording is so bad, we honestly don’t know if they are or if it was just a matter of  bad reporting, in which case I can apply to get that ten grand back.

 
“You know it falls back to me as Head of Trading for the entire Browning Banking Group to correct this, and I have every confidence in you to sort the paperwork out. So does Graeme. We’ve transferred the sweet young thing to Reception and lined up a young man to take over, in an expanded position, doing all the administration for the department, not just filling in archaic forms. I think you should find him easy to train, from the personnel files.”

 
The week dragged for Olivia. She didn’t hear from Graeme at all while he was on his quick trip to Toronto. He’d returned from Canada yesterday afternoon, but Olivia hadn’t heard from him last night.  She’d tried to concentrate on her course, but it was difficult, knowing he was back, and not bothering to call her.

 
But it was his pattern, wasn’t it?

 
Wonderful intimacy and then
cold shoulder
. And usually the cold shoulder came after a trip he’d been on. For some reason, he always seemed so annoyed with her when he came back from a trip.

 
Perhaps he misses you while he’s away, ‘Liv and he’s mad at you because he doesn’t want to miss you?

 
No, no….no, Graeme doesn’t have that much attachment to his pet. Not this pet, anyway.

 
At five fifteen on Friday, John Taylor and Olivia went up to the nearly deserted top floor and Graeme’s corner office. For the next hour they went over the problems in Belfast and sorted out a plan of action for Olivia to follow.

 
“You don’t have to worry about anything but the damned paperwork, Olivia, and you certainly understand that as well as any of us. It will be less disruptive to the operation of this Bank if I send you rather than someone senior from Central Records,” Graeme muttered.