‘That was for the hospital tombola. Jings! Did you think it was aw for me?'
‘Well, yes … sorry.' Stevie smoothed her hair back from her face in a gesture of embarrassment. The ‘B' file in her head was full of so much conflicting evidence about the man that it blew up there and then in shame. ‘I got you so wrong on all fronts, didn't I?'
‘Wasnae your fault,' he said, wisely not mentioning that he had believed Jo's stories that Stevie was a complete harpy, a car-crash of a mother and a mega-slattern-fiancée.
She carried the pie in to him, smiled bashfully and then doubled back quickly into the study, although she wanted to sit with him, wanted to be near him. But she couldn't. She wasn't slim or tall or pretty enough for him to cast that sort of glance in her direction.
Adam sighed deeply as the study door closed behind her because he really wanted just to sit with her, wanted her to be near him. He shifted his attention to the thick-crusted pie she had set in front of him. She'd even made a pastry thistle on the top of it for him. He hadn't really eaten properly since Jo had come to see him. Strangely enough though, his thoughts had not been for her tonight whilst he stood at the window and looked across at the house opposite. They had all been for Finch, who hadn't a clue yet that the awesome hurricane which had swung into his life, would rip out his innards when it left – and that would be soon. He almost felt sorry for him. His stomach suddenly gave a big growl as the smell of the thick onion gravy drifted up his nostrils, but his heart gave a louder, hungrier growl for what that fool Finch had thrown away. Sadly, the thing that would have satisfied it was not on the menu.
Chapter 49
Matthew went into work alone again the next day, leaving Jo behind to pack for a two-day conference she had suddenly announced she was going on. A very short time ago, he couldn't bear to be out of her sight for even a few minutes, but now he was glad she was going. He would appreciate the space from her and her white-knuckle-ride moods. They were barely talking at home, they hardly spoke at work, and he knew she was avoiding contact with him there. The only place they interchanged was in bed, and even that was becoming tiresome. Her sexual demands were becoming stranger and rougher, the sulks greater when he denied her. He had come to hate the sight of that mouth gathered into a spoilt-child moue that he once considered so sexy.
He tried not to let himself believe that he had made a fatal error exchanging what he had with Stevie for this, but the evidence was piling up by the binful and he could no longer ignore the stink it made. He had been an idiot. Take away the sex and the temporary joy of spending money from his relationship with Jo and there was nothing left. Theirs was a simple arrangement: he gave out and she took. He realized he was exhausted emotionally and physically as well as financially.
He had a lunch meeting at noon in the boardroom, which was, at least, something to look forward to. There would be a few big execs present and as such, the in-house catering would be top-notch. They always rolled out the posh sandwich fillings when people like Bill Phillips and Jim Leighton made an appearance. It promised to be quite a jolly affair, with a few other faces present that he hadn't seen much of recently. Matthew badly needed the lift of spirits such good company would give him. He passed the morning quietly, with his head down, biding his time until then.
At twelve, he walked into the boardroom and instantly felt the air temperature drop, as if someone had switched on a fan. There was nothing he could actually put his finger on. People spoke to him and greeted him, but with a hint of coolness, an awkward reservation of which he was all too aware. Maybe he was just worn down with all this business at home; maybe he needed to get some anti-paranoia pills. Or Maybe he needed to be bitten by a werewolf and become one, because that's what Jo seemed to want in bed. He felt worse than ever when he came out of the meeting, which had only served to depress him more than he was already. Then, if that wasn't enough, he got a call from Personnel at two-thirty to ask if he could bob down to see Colin Seed for a few minutes.
Colin Seed was slightly different from his usual dull, brown self when he let Matthew into his office. He was sporting a trendy tie with fish on it and his hair looked slightly darker, as if he had been experimenting with some ‘Just for Men' but had got it ever so slightly wrong.
‘Please sit down,' he said politely enough. Matthew sat and waited for Colin to begin, not able to imagine what this was about. He didn't have to wait long to find out.
‘It's come to my attention that you are making quite a lot of personal phone calls.'
Oh, that old chestnut! Matthew breathed out two lungfuls of relief. God, Seedy really was desperate for his backside!
‘Colin, I've made a couple, and they were local and important.'
‘ … And you've been lying about your whereabouts.'
‘My what? My where-'
‘Even though you are a Departmental Manager, Matthew, this company has always prided itself on equal rights for all. If you had discovered that one of your staff was at a personal meeting at the bank after filling in a request form for time off for a dental appointment, would you or would you not take action?'
‘Well … ' Matthew couldn't think of anything, except that the only person who knew about that was Jo.
‘Quite frankly, Matthew, your work attitude stinks. I can't count the number of times you've been late in recently.'
This wasn't happening.
‘The worst, I'm afraid, is yet to come,' Colin said, his voice tightening like a tourniquet. ‘Your blatant harassment of Miss MacLean will not be tolerated by this company.'
‘My what?' He rose.
‘Sit down!' barked Colin. ‘I myself have been witness to your phone calls to her, obsessively keeping tabs on her, deluging her with unwanted gifts, seen first-hand the disgusting violence you've subjected her to … '
‘Hang on, what's this got to do with work? We live together, Colin, we're lovers! You've got no right to interfere … '
‘Miss MacLean asked me for help.'
‘Whaaat?'
‘I think your inability to realize that your relationship has ended has greatly affected your function in this company and made your position untenable. We are a big family here, we protect our people, we don't want men like you working here and threatening the safety of our females. So it is with great regret, especially after such an unblemished career, I have to announce that we shall have to let you go.'
Matthew laughed derisively. He was in a bad dream, brought about by the stress of performing sexual gymnastics fourteen times a night.
‘What do you mean, I can't accept my relationship's ended? This is nuts! It hasn't ended – it's still going strong! We are still going strong! We're planning our bloody wedding, for God's sake!'
Colin shook his head as if Matthew had just proved how delusional he was and so there was no point continuing this conversation.
‘You'll be paid until the end of the month and obviously your holiday entitlement will be converted into salary.'
‘You have to be kidding.' Matthew felt sick, light-headed. This was surreal. ‘I'm being sacked? For living with my girlfriend?'
‘No, Matthew, for gross misconduct,' said Colin Seed with loud disgust. ‘At Miss MacLean's request, though frankly I think it's a hideously overgenerous one, I will not record on your personnel record what a disgusting, violent little bully you are if you go quietly and discreetly. The poor girl is a wreck. She can't breathe without your permission. You're lucky she isn't pressing police charges. Now get out, and if you aren't out of this building in ten minutes, I'll get Security to throw you out.'
Security threat or no, the first thing Matthew did when he got back to his office was ring Jo's mobile. It clicked straight onto voicemail. He grabbed his coat and blindly stuffed things into his briefcase because a Countdown-type clock was ticking in his ears. So he hadn't been imagining things; people really had been looking at him strangely. Worse than that, even, with sex-beast specs on. He felt like crying from the injustice of it. He didn't look up; he didn't want to see the stares of people who had it all wrong. But then, not meeting their eyes made him look guilty. He didn't know what to do for the best and he couldn't bear it. It was like being trapped in a nightmare. There was no oxygen in the building. He left quickly and quietly, and almost fainted when the fresh outside air rushed into his lungs. He would sort this; he would clear his name. He needed to see Jo – she would back him up against that twisted, sex-starved old woman Colin Seed. She would make everything all right.