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With an uttered curse, he turned from Laura and stalked off to his office. At the door he stopped and looked back.
“Our meeting is over. I don't want to see you back in this office until you have faced reality and want to discuss some sound business practices.” Then he slammed the door to any retort Laura may have had.
She turned away seething with annoyance, when she came face to face with Adell Cameron's congenial smile. Immediately, she felt utterly ashamed. No matter how much the man was despicable, he was after all, the woman's son.
As she opened her mouth to apologize, the insufferable pig's sweet mother interrupted. “No need to apologize. I'm fully aware of my son's ill-mannerism. So is Cara.”
The woman's presence was once again acknowledged as she gave a small snort. “That's putting it mildly Mrs. C. I should know, I spend a lot of time with him, being his personal secretary, almost as much as a wife would. I pity the poor girl he eventually does marry.”
Laura found herself searching out the secretary's left hand and upon discovering a glittering set of wedding bands, smiled. For some reason, it appeased her knowing the man in the pictures cluttered across the woman's desk, was her husband.
“What I wouldn't give to say half the things you said to him.”
Laura felt horrified. “I shouldn't have said—”
“Nonsense.” Adell touched her arm. “You were just being yourself. It won't hurt Dexter to receive a bit of his own medicine. Now, do you have more of those flyers?”
“Yes.” She proceeded to retrieve some from her envelope.
“Good. Cara, be a dear and post these somewhere visible throughout the building.”
“Oh no! Dexter said—” Laura began, but was interrupted once again by Adell.
“If you want a good turnout, you'll need to advertise as much as possible.”
“But—”
“The clientele you'll receive from Britten alone will certainly help enrich your pocket book.”
“I don't know.” Even as she said it, she watched her flyer being exchanged between the man's mother and his secretary.
“You can count on me and Jake coming.” Mrs. Henderson informed her as she gestured to one of the pictures. “That's my husband.”
“I appreciate it. But if you really don't think it's appropriate to post the flyer, I certainly won't be offended.”
The girl simply brushed her off and got to her feet to carry out the task. Laura thanked her before turning to Adell and offering her gratitude as well.
“No need to thank me. Come now, Laura, I'll walk you out.”
They talked on the mundane topic of the weather until they reached the privacy of the elevator. It was while they were confined securely inside when Adell Cameron turned to her. “I know my son appears to be a bit-er-primitive but I hope you don't take it personally. Unfortunately, he behaves this way with most everyone. When you fought him back, well, it surprised me. It is something someone should have done years before. Being his mother, I just didn't have the heart. I feared I would lose my son, and I couldn't bear for that to happen twice.”
Laura frowned. Twice? How was it she lost him in the first place? She wasn't sure, but observing the woman's face she recognized anguish and automatically reached out to touch her shoulder. Adell reached up and patted her comforting hand, giving her a grateful smile. At that moment the elevator doors opened and the tender moment was gone.
Two men, nodding a greeting to the women and an acknowledging nod toward Adell, joined them for the remainder of the ride to the ground floor and occupied most of the conversation, which returned to the weather.
At the front foyer, as Laura began to open the heavy glass door and bid her farewell, Adell stopped her. “Just promise me one thing, Laura.”
“What's that?”
“Don't give up on him.” Then with that she smiled goodbye and retraced her steps back down the marble diamond floor, her florid perfume drifting after her.
Laura waited, momentarily perplexed, across the threshold, until she realized she was allowing the late August’s sticky climate to filter through the air-conditioned foyer of Britten Investments. Turning, she walked towards the parking lot where she left her van and drowned out the sound of the midday traffic hurrying past her.
What exactly had Adell meant? Was she in fact humoring Laura with the Bingo Night? Did she believe Dexter was right, she would fail and be back begging for his help? Laura vowed fervently she would sell her soul before she would ever ask for his help again.
She hadn't much time to contemplate the idea further, for the next couple of days before the Bingo Night left her busy with planning and organizing. When the actual night arrived, Laura found herself relaxed and looking forward to the evening. As promised, Cara Henderson along with her husband made an appearance as w
ell as Adell and Norton Cameron. As a pleasant surprise, she brought along Harris and Lydia O'Reilly. It was delightful to see the entire O'Reilly family once more. An irksome feeling of sorrow tugged on her conscious, forcing her awareness of a certain bullheaded and missing O'Reilly.
