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‘Well, I’m not sure if this is the right time to tell you this, but you already know Edward has a reputation for dating a long string of women yet eschewing commitment like it’s the bubonic plague. I’m so sorry, Rosie, but I just found out after your conference call that Edward is in a relationship with CEO’s daughter! Has been for the last six months, but she’s been out of the country on an internship at a bank in Paris for the last three. She’s due back next week and, as you can imagine, George Harlow is apoplectic.’
Rosie’s gasped, her chest heaving with each ragged breath she drew, and her eyes smarted from the shock. She took a sip of her tea and waited until the waves of pain that were rippling through her chest subsided.The CEO’s daughter?How could he treat her with such flippant contempt? A mere stop-gap until his girlfriend returned from her European secondment. It wasn’t so much that she’s scraped the bottom of the barrel with her choice of boyfriend, but it turned out that she’d chiselled through to woodworm below!
She fiddled with the pearl earring at her lobe as she forced herself to replay the distressing closet scene in her mind’s eye.
‘I suppose it wasn’t as if Hannah was doing this to me on purpose…’ she said to reassure herself, rather than the spluttering, indignant Lauren.
‘No, Rosie,stopthis. Listen to yourself. Marshalling your arguments like a criminal defence lawyer, making excuses for her again. SheknewEdward was your date. And Edward knew she was yoursister, and about to get married! They deserve each other – both of them are cheating idiots!’
Before Lauren had met Brett, and long before Rosie had fallen into her relationship with Edward, they had spent many an alcohol-infused night holed up in her apartment concocting a list of criteria for their prospective Mr Rights. Faithfulness and loyalty were the top essential attributes on both girls’ lists, qualities that brooked no amendment. But at the time it seemed those characteristics were in short supply, and they’d had to settle for that trio of oestrogen solace – gossip, cocktails, and chocolate.
‘Edward is a loser! Not satisfied with cheating on his girlfriend, he pursues anything that moves.’ Lauren, in her outrage, was clearly unaware of the hurtful insinuation her comment held, but Rosie understood. ‘What’s up with men like that?’
‘Well, Toby did have a number of theories…’
‘You deserve better than Edward’s leftovers, Rosie.’ Lauren’s hostility towards their boss glided across the miles and down the phone line. ‘He’s a player and a cheat who squeezes us all until the pips squeak. Edward is a scumbag, Rosie.’
Rosie could muster no defensive arguments to this accusation – guilty as charged. But Lauren hadn’t finished with her character assassination of their boss yet.
‘He’s a devious, disloyal, duplicitous, sly… We work like Trojans whilst he’s swinging around town like an alley cat. We’ve no time to pee, but he has all the time in the world to…’ She paused, her voice softening. ‘Edward has always blazed his own trail in the world, discarding others without a glance in his rear-view mirror, trampling on their dreams for his own gain. He sweeps around and sleeps around – you knew that before you marched, stilettos first, into his web.’
‘I know, I know. I plead temporary insanity.’
Rosie was fully aware she had been consorting with the enemy. With the benefit of hindsight, she could see that Edward was the most self-obsessed person she’d ever had the misfortune to meet, and that was from a pool of sharks that included Hannah! His strategy had always been to milk every dollar from every client and to hog all the credit for the successful mergers and acquisitions their team advised on, even the intuitive choices of Lauren. Despite his unpopularity, he was strangely admired by those inhabiting the lower ranks of Harlow Fenton and praised for his business acumen by those whose positions he coveted.
‘Edward is history, Rosie. Good riddance. Now you’re free to concentrate all your efforts on meeting a decent guy who will make you happy – like Brett. New York is a lonely town, I know that. But you can do it. What did Hannah say when you confronted her?’
Rosie mumbled something.
‘What?’
‘Well, I didn’t actually confront her as such.’
‘Why not? You’ve got to do it, Rosie. For all his faults, and he has many, Edward was still your boyfriend!’
Rosie squirmed under Lauren’s insistent questioning technique, but she still couldn’t stop herself from making excuses for her sister. ‘It wasn’t aseriousrelationship, though, was it?’
However, Lauren was not prepared to let Hannah off the hook as lightly as Rosie. ‘She was just about to get married to a great guy. She has a fabulous life stretching out before her. Jacob is her escape route, but he’s also yours, Rosie. At long last you can hand over the baton, relinquish your assumed responsibility for your adult sister, and get on with your own life. You’ve got to talk to her about this. Are you going to tell your father?’
Rosie knew that her response to this question would affect her whole future; her relationship not only with Hannah but with her father. Jack idolised his youngest daughter, doted on her in an effort to make up for the loss of her mother at such a tender age. After all, Rosie had been about to turn eighteen when Rose had succumbed to the march of breast cancer, whilst Hannah had been only eight.
‘No, I’m not. It would destroy his sepia-tinted image of Hannah and I couldn’t do that to either of them.’
Her heart flipped over for loading such pain on her friend’s shoulders when she had enough to think about with her IVF appointment only a few days away. Why should Lauren have to suffer for Edward’ despicable behaviour? She, on the other hand, deserved it. After all, she’d succumbed to a relationship with her boss. Heartache was the inevitable result.
And why should Lauren have been bullied into the role of bridesmaid for a girl she barely knew and had no respect for? Rosie’s fault again. Her inability to stand up for herself,especially in any matter pertaining to her sister, had led to another undeserved trauma. The realisation swayed Rosie’s balance and she was grateful she was sat down.
‘Rosie, what happened between you and Edward is dreadful, but you don’t have to resign over it. In fact, that was the second thing I rang to tell you.’
‘Oh God, Lauren, I don’t think I can take any more shocks.’
‘It’s about the Baker-Colt deal you’ve just closed. At the finance meeting with George Harlow that took place immediately after you tendered your resignation, Edward tried to take the credit for your research and the purchase of those shares in the Wyoming Explorative Mining Company on their behalf.’
‘But how could he? He was always on his soapbox in the office about the ethics of investing in companies that engage in “ecologically questionable activities”. The company is currently engaged in a hydraulic fracking operation in Colorado in the hope of finding shale gas deposits.’
‘Well, it seems his environmental conscience doesn’t extend to situations where his monthly bonus is at stake. Edward only meets his monthly targets when he applies our figures to his own ledger, you know that.’
‘When he can get away with it,’ Rosie murmured.
