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“It’ll be fine… wait and see”.
In a large office Craig Kent lifted the phone. On the other end a security guard informed him that the male guest in the room he was interested in had now left, and they were patching the video through. Looking at his watch Craig’s mouth tightened. The thought of a man spending more than an hour alone with her in her room causing him to feel a white hot anger which ate at his insides. As he watched the video of the unknown older man kissing her and holding her in his arms the anger coursed even hotter through his body
He couldn’t understand why this bothered him so much. He had put Kira Black behind him three years ago, or at least he thought he had, but when he had seen her standing in the foyer of his newly acquired hotel the emotions had washed over him like a tidal wave. He could feel the cold hatred he still held for her once more rising within him, his feelings proving that he would never be able to fully put this episode of his life behind him until he had dealt with Kira Black. Well fate had dealt him an opportunity to do just that and with determination and a sudden purpose he lifted the receiver and began to make calls.
CHAPTER TWO
The next day saw a still pale, but brighter Kira. She had taken Bills advice, and after a long bath had slipped between the cool sheets of the large king-size bed. As she lay there she had played with the locket at her throat, remembering the day Craig had first put it around her neck.
He had taken her shopping trying to buy her a diamond bracelet but gasping at the price of them she had refused, not really liking the flashy jewellery anyway. Craig however, had been determined that she should get something to celebrate their first month together and at that point she had noticed the small gold locket. The plainness of it had caught her eye and despite his pleas to get something more expensive, she had been determined that it was the only thing in the shop that she wanted and so he had bought it for her kissing her neck as he placed it around her throat.
Kira remembered how later on that night she had taken photos of them both, and using his specialist printer had carefully reduced the images before cutting them out and placing them together on either side of the locket, before snapping it shut and kissing him with the words
“So that you are always close to my heart” He had liked that kissing her gently
Turning onto her side she had brushed away another tear. Tonight she had seen a side of him she had never thought him capable of. Tonight he had been cold and cruel, and with a soft sigh she wished that he had just stayed out of her life. She had thought that the way he had treated her 3 years ago was bad, but now she knew that there really was worse. Closing her eyes it had taken a while for sleep to finally take her but thankfully when it did, seeing her fall into undisturbed oblivion, and the next morning seeing her rise with renewed hope.
During the night she had analysed the situation and come up with less threatening scenarios of why he was there. His business would require him to meet up with other hotel owners on a regular basis she had rationalized, and obviously he had recognised her and followed her to her room. She had frowned not sure why he would bother, considering the last time they had been together it had been he who had made it clear that it was over between them. Frowning slightly she felt comforted that her research into the hotel had not shown any link with him, so it made sense that he was only there himself on business.
On seeing her enter the restaurant, Bill had smiled warmly.
“That’s better” he said as she smiled up at him letting him pull out a chair for her to sit, his expression kindly.
Their presentation was in one hour, which gave them time to eat a quick breakfast and go over the order of the delivery. Kira had spent a great deal of time preparing the details and was pleased with the results of the multimedia elements which she had created herself, feeling that they brought a slick element to the delivery, which Bill had completely agreed with.
Sitting in the waiting room, Kira had pulled out a notebook from her briefcase and began sketching some details from the ceiling. She had done this all her life, her way of dealing with stress as she found it relaxed her and kept her focussed. In his office, watching the security footage, Craig Kent smiled remembering how that little book went everywhere with her. He also remembered how good an artist she was. The older man who he now knew to be Bill Thomson sat quietly reading the presentation material, every now and then prodding her to make some comment which would make her smile. Frowning he had thought how they didn’t act like a boss and employee, thinking that they were closer, much closer, his mouth once more tightening.
When they were finally called into the conference room Bill and Kira were introduced to the panel members, who were friendly and at pains to put them at their ease. This brought renewed hope to Kira, as knowing him she had been sure that Craig would have had them out of the building that same morning had he had anything to do with the Superior.
Going first, Bill introduced the company and provided details of their background along with a comprehensive breakdown of how they could deliver the planned development. He was a charismatic and engaging speaker and the panel members had seemed impressed with him. Kira had then stood to present the overall plan and vision for the development. As she started talking, the door had opened and Kira could feel her voice falter, the blood draining from her face as Craig Kent walked in. With only a casual look in their direction he had quietly and calmly walked to the back of the room and taken a seat.
The panel members had all looked at each other in surprise at the appearance of the new owner, the deal having only been completed the day before, and looked uncomfortable and a little shaken at his presence. Bill was looking with concern at Kira, who while feeling that her legs might turn to jelly at any second suddenly began to get angry. So he wanted to see them fail did he, was he getting some perverse pleasure in putting them through the wringer. Gritting her teeth Kira ignored Craig, who watched her solemnly, and gave the presentation she had worked so hard to prepare. If she was going to lose then she was going to do it proudly and with style.
Craig looked at the young woman at the front of the room. Today she had put her hair neatly in a bun, which while making her more professional, did not suit her, except, he admitted to show off her long graceful neck. The demure black suit and stiff white shirt which she wore still couldn’t hide her perfect figure and he could feel a stirring within him. He was surprised to see how slick and professional a presentation she gave, and couldn’t help but be impressed with their plans. He had to admit that many of their ideas were fresh and innovative and knew that they had won the contract very much on their own merits, as he saw the way the still rattled members of the interview panel reacted.
There had followed a ten minute period of questions from the interview members which Bill had mainly answered. Craig did not participate in this but had watched Kira, who was doing her best to ignore him. He had smiled, catching her every now and then peeking over at him, her eyes quickly darting forward when she saw him openly watching her. She was fighting hard to hide her nervousness, moving a little closer to Bill he noticed with little satisfaction. Well Bill Thompson wasn’t going to save her this time he thought to himself.
After they had finished he moved over to shake hands and talk to the panel members, smiling and laughing with them for a few seconds, before leaving without a second look at the pair who were so closely watching his every move. The panel had been very complimentary and smiling happily, had informed them that they would hear by the following afternoon. Kira had smiled professionally back, knowing that the project was dead in the water the moment Craig had entered the room.
On leaving Kira looked over apologetically at Bill
“Oh Bill, I’m so sorry” she cried
“You know he will kill our involvement don’t you”
Bill had smiled weakly back at her
“Not to worry Kira” he said trying to hide the concern in his voice
“I’m sure there will be other hotels, and wasn’t our plan to go round them anyway to see if we could get some more business”
She had bit her lip. Damn Craig Kent. She knew how much Bill had sunk into this project and in a small voice offered
“Maybe if I pull out, you might still get the job”
Bill had smiled warmly at her
“No Kira...but thanks, if it wasn’t for you we wouldn’t even be here”
Together they had sat down, dejected and quiet, drinking coffee. At any other time they would have been ecstatic at how well the presentation had gone, but now the whole trip seemed a pointless pipedream. Sighing they had moved off in their own directions planning to meet up again that night for dinner, both agreeing to spend the rest of the day doing their own thing. Bill had wanted to explore some of the casinos to look at the different architecture, something that had made her laugh
“Bill, of course I don’t think it’s geeky” she had said her eyes twinkling with mischief causing him to chuckle back at her
“Of course you don’t” he smiled “I’ve seen your notebook”
