Page 1 of Incitement

Chapter One

AMBER

Islowed to a jog, my lungs burning. I checked my Fitbit, record time. I took a moment to catch my breath closing my eyes and letting the gentle ocean breeze brush past me. I looked out to the ocean, it never ceased to calm me. The sun was just rising over the water, there were a few surfers already paddling out. The ocean rolled in its steady, repetitive beating against the sand. As my heart rate slowed, I turned back toward my favourite coffee shop and headed inside to order. “Amber, hey! The usual girlfriend?’’ I smiled at Dani, the barista who asked me on a date every morning and referred to me as girlfriend. ‘’Yes, please Dani’’, I handed over my card to pay. ‘’You know Amber, if we were dating you wouldn’t have to spend another dollar on coffee, that’s just a small perk in dating a hunk like me.’’ I laughed, ‘’I’ll keep that in mind’’ ‘’Think about it, baby’’. Dani winked and handed me my coffee; I waved as I left and made my way home to get ready for work.

I let myself back into my apartment to find Kaity staring sleepily at the kettle. ‘’Morning’’ I chimed. Kaity gave me a look that said piss off. ‘’Dunno why you do that shit’’ she sniffed. ‘’Because it keeps me healthy and fast and the beach is stunning this time of the morning, you should drag your butt out of bed and join me’’. ‘’Nope, we talked about this. Don’t drag me into your crazy schemes. I like sleep and I hate people this time of morning’’. I laughed, ‘’I’m going to get ready for work’’. I let myself into my room and chose a tight pinstripe pencil skirt and black blouse. I pulled on a pair of epic heels, applied my face, and pulled my hair into a sleek chignon. Time to move to get to work on time. ‘’Seeya tonight Kait’’ ‘’Whatever’’ Kait grumbled. I laughed and let myself out to head down to my car. I loved my car. She was sleek and shiny. My biggest and one of my only indulgences. Frankly, though it was also a demand of my fathers to have an incredibly safe and fast car. I let myself into my black Lexus, opened the panoramic glass roof, and settled into my comfy leather seats. Did I mention I love my car? I screeched out of the basement and out into the sunshine enjoying my twenty-minute commute to work.

‘’Hey Tanya!’’ ‘’Morning Amber, coffee is on your desk’’ I grinned, ‘’Worth your weight in gold!’’. I let myself into my office and set up my laptop. I loved my job. I felt strong and important. I knew that I was the glue that held this company together. I had watched like a proud mother as my hard work turned into results, and as the company flourished, so did I. I was queen of my little domain, well not so little. We employed over one hundred and eighty staff and had offices scattered across the country. I worked steadily through my emails for the first two hours before heading off on a site visit. I loved to do the rounds of our projects, touch base with all the sales staff and see the communities we had planned come together even more beautiful than the drawings and plans.

I was onsite with a group of developers who were touring our sites and considering engaging our services when my phone rang. Noting all the men were busy talking amongst themselves I stepped to the side to answer my phone. ''Tanya, what’s up?'' ''We have dramas with the LandCorp deal.'' ''What? That was all but signed. What’s the problem?'' ''Emmet put his son in charge of the deal. His son cancelled it because he doesn’t like our ties to some other business. He didn’t mention which business, but he said the only way he will reconsider is if you call him personally''. ''Really? He could have just called or emailed me. It’s not like I’m off limits or hard to reach for our clients.'' ''I dunno Amber, but the guy is weird.'' ''I'll sort it''. I ended the call and finished up with our developers keen to make a quick call to Landcorp before I could get home and put my feet up. I dialled Landcorp. “Thanks for calling Landcorp, this is Mia, how can I help you?’’ ‘’Hi, Mia, it's Amber here for Emmett.’’ ‘’Oh, hey Amber, Emmett’s out of the country, his son, Greyson is handling that deal now, he’s um busy. Can I ask him to call you in the morning?” “Sure thing, just let him know I tried to call.’’ ‘’Will do Amber, have a great night.’’ I killed the call and packed my things into my car. I shot Kait a message just before leaving the site.

What’s for dinner?

Lasagne, hurry up bitch I was ready to drag you out of there!

Be home in 10 x

Thank god I’m wasting away x

I loved Kait, she was my best friend, roommate, terrible influence, and a lot of fun. She had saved my sanity when I moved here. She didn’t know the details of my life, but she knew enough to know it was horrible. Kaity was tall and willowy. She had amazing tan skin, dark hair, and dark eyes. Her heritage was Mediterranean, and she was stunning. We lounged together on the sofa eating Lasagne, drinking wine, and watching Pretty Woman. Exactly what I needed after a long day. Especially given tomorrow was going to be mental trying to save the Landcorp deal and deliver the bad news to my boss.

''I think I’m going to hit Tyler up tomorrow, I’m sick of not knowing where I stand''. ''God he’s a wanker Kait, no offence but he’s not good enough for you. He’s too in love with himself to care about anyone else''. ''You don’t know him like I do Amber, he’s so sweet. But he needs to get over his commitment issues. We are either together or not. I’m not going to just keep showing up for a booty call''. ''What are you going to do?'' ''I’m thinking after work of heading over to his house and waiting for him to get home. I was thinking of taking him to dinner or something''. ''Where does he live anyway?'' ''Over near Main Beach, he’s got a massive place not far from the beach. I’ve only ever seen it from the outside though''. ''Huh, well good luck for tomorrow babe.'' I squeezed Kait, kissed her cheek, and headed to bed.

I’ve worked out from experience that if you know you are going to have a bad day the best thing you can do is to look good while it’s happening. Whenever I had business meetings or had something important to do, I wore really high heels. Intimidation tactics and all that. I went for my usual morning run and pulled on my favourite black corporate dress. It was professional with a tiny hint of sexy hugging all the right places. I wrapped a gold belt around my waist, pulled on a pair of super high black heels to match, popped some gold studs in my ears and put on a gold link bracelet on my wrist. I felt ready to tackle the world and I knew I looked great. I braided my hair and headed down to my car. I had butterflies in my stomach, and I couldn’t pinpoint the reason. It was frustrating for me; I didn’t feel this way often.

Tanya met me as usual with a morning coffee. ''Doug's in a terrible mood today''. ''Awesome, that is exactly what I need. I’ll be in my office I want to speak with Emmet's son before my meeting with Doug. What’s Emmet's son's name again? I just remember him being the really creepy guy.'' ''Greyson and you are right there.'' I let myself into my office and buzzed Tanya. ''Can you get Greyson on the line please?'' ''Sure thing''. I sat waiting, wondering the reasons behind Greyson’s odd behaviour. A few moments later Tanya buzzed me, ''Greyson on the line for you''. ''Perfect, put him through,'' I answered the phone. ''Greyson, pleasure to speak with you again.''

''Amber, how are you, sweetheart.'' ''Very well, although I hear that you aren’t at all happy with my team.'' ''You mess with some dodgy companies Amber; I’m just protecting our reputation.'' ''I’m not sure what companies you mean Greyson, we have never had any ill dealings.'' ''Maybe you’re just innocent in it all and you have no idea who is meddling with Doug’s affairs. You should have dinner with me. I’ll let you know what I know, and you can convince me to do business with you, Amber. I’ve always enjoyed working with you immensely''. God this guy was slimy. He was clearly trying to flirt with me. ''That sounds great Greyson, when are you free?'' ''Thursday night do for you sweetheart?'' ''Sounds wonderful, Greyson. Pleasure speaking with you. I’ve got another call so should run but I’ll have Tanya book a table for four at Stingray.'' I ended the call before he could object. There wasn’t a chance in hell I would let myself be alone with Greyson.

I opened my purse and pulled out the horrid bottle containing anti-anxiety mediation. I hated them, but they were a necessary evil. While most days I could get through the day without them, I knew better than to string it out and have myself wired. That bought on the panic attacks, and I wouldn’t allow that weakness to show. I swallowed them down with a glass of water and prepared myself for my meeting with Doug. About twenty minutes later Tanya let Doug into the office. ‘’Morning Amber.’’ ‘’ Hi Doug, come in. I was just working on that tender for the town house project.’’ ‘’You’re onto it early.’’ Doug came into my office and setup his laptop at the conference table. I brought over my notes and coffee. ‘’Should I get Tanya to fetch you a coffee?’ ‘’ That would be lovely dear, not my usual self today, could help me perk up.’’ ‘’No worries, give me a sec.’’

I left Doug setting up while I went to arrange Doug’s coffee with Tanya. While we were waiting for the coffee we got to work. ‘’I’ll update you while we wait’’. I pulled my reports from the binders. ‘’So, we have 18 current projects. One is due to wrap up soon. I’m planning on relocating those staff to the new town house project if that comes through. The new sales agent is smashing it, I’m really happy with her. We are above KPIs and below budget on all projects at the moment. ‘’And where are we with sealing the deal on our new project with Emmet?’’ I huffed; I wasn’t looking forward to passing on this news. ‘’Emmet assigned his son to the deal. As soon as that happened Greyson pulled the deal straight away. He says that we are dealing with dodgy companies and wants me to have dinner with him Thursday night. I’ve asked Tanya to make a booking for four at stingray'’. ''Who the hell are these dodgy companies?'' ''He didn’t say, he said he would tell me everything over dinner.''

Doug slammed his fist on the table. ''I don’t have time for this Amber. We need that deal done and we need to be working on it immediately.’’ ‘’I’m on it, Doug, ill sort out whatever their issue is.’’ Doug put his head in his hands. ‘’Emmet’s son is a dickhead. I don’t have the patience to deal with him and this crap.’’ ‘’That’s why you have me, Doug, I said ill sort it and I will.’’ ‘’You said you would sort it before; I left it in your hands and now look what’s happened.’’ ‘’Doug, that’s not fair!’’ ‘’Your right Amber, but none the less I need you to sort this. I can’t be dragged through this too. I’ve got things to do, I’ll see you in the morning''. The coffee table was kicked to the side as Doug shoved past slamming the door on the way out. Wow. I had not expected that from Doug. He got annoyed and frustrated, but he never slammed things around.

I shuffled all the stray paperwork on my desk into a neat pile. I worked for a property development company. I was assistant to the CEO, it kept me busy, and it was low profile. My boss, Doug was a kind man (most of the time) in his 60’s. He was fit and healthy and had a bright personality making people feel at ease with him immediately. His wife, Margery was a beautiful woman who came into the office now and then with slices or cakes, she had baked herself when she wasn't writing romance novels. Something had obviously upset Doug today. This was not usual behaviour for him, it worried me that something else was going on to get him so riled up.

I shot off emails to a few more staff giving them directions and tasks. After giving Doug a few hours to cool down I picked up my phone and called. He answered the first ring. ‘’Doug, I’m just letting you know that Tanya has made the reservation and sent you a calendar invite.'' '' I'm sorry for my behaviour dear, I've just got a lot on my plate.'' ''It's Ok, Doug, already forgotten.'' ‘’Oh, Amber?’’ ‘’Yeah?’’ ‘’I need to make you aware that I’ll have a consultant working in the business over the coming weeks. I know I give you free rein on the business, God knows you know what you’re doing more than me but this is non-negotiable, and I need you to be sure that he has access to anything he might need or want.’’ I didn’t want anyone else sniffing around and making changes in the business when I had poured blood, sweat and tears into it to turn things around and get it making money again, but Doug was the owner and I had to accept he called the shots. ‘’Let’s chat about it later Doug?’’ ‘’We will dear, I’ve finished a little early today ill catch you tomorrow’’ I ended the call and buried myself in completing the tender for the new townhouse project.

I let myself into the apartment and smelled the most amazing aroma. Kaity was in childcare, but she desperately needed to become a chef. Her food was amazing. She was so inventive. Luckily, because I was hopeless in the kitchen. My skills didn’t extend beyond anything more complicated than toast. I dropped my bag to the floor and tucked myself into one of the bar stools. ‘’Doug lost his shit today, upended a coffee table and huffed off.’’ ‘’Wow, Doug is so sweet. What happened?’’ ‘’I don’t know. I mean we might have lost a pretty big deal but it’s not the end of the world kind of deal. I feel like there must be something else going on with him. It’s so weird.’’

Kait dished out fried rice and filled some glasses with coke. ‘’I went to see Tyler today.’’ I waggled my eyebrows at her. ‘’Oooh, did you get laid?’’ Tyler was some big buff dude Kait had met at the gym. He seemed like a bit of a dick, Kait had to constantly chase him around, but she seemed happy enough. ‘’Nope, I met his wife though.’’ I chocked on fried rice. ‘’What!” I looked up to see Kait fighting back tears. ‘’Kait I’m so sorry.’’ I stood and came around to the other side of the island bench to pull her into a hug. ‘’You deserve so much better Hun, fuck him.’’ Kait cried into my shoulder, and I hugged her tight for a while. ‘’I feel so bad Kait, I should have seen the signs. His wife was fucking pregnant, like super pregnant. I showed up in nothing but lingerie and a coat to surprise him and his poor wife saw it all. She was so heartbroken. She just cried for ages. I haven’t even called Tyler or yelled at him.’’ ‘’He’s a wanker babe, don’t waste another second on him.’’

We sat on the lounge together and finished our dinner. Kaity still sniffed occasionally. ‘’Do you want to go down to the bar and have a drink? Burn the memory from your brain with alcohol?’’ ‘’That’s so tempting but I have work tomorrow, and I just want to be alone for a bit. I keep chasing the wrong guys all the time. I should take a page out of your book and reject them all. Stay single and rely on nobody but myself.’’ ‘’Kait you will find someone who is worth it all in the end.’’ ‘’I don’t know Amber, I’m ready for marriage and kids and family life, you know? I cuddle babies all day long and I want that for myself, don’t you? Don’t you want to find a man?’’ ‘’I don’t know, I guess. I’m not actively looking; I’m just doing my thing. I guess if the right guy was there right in front of me maybe. Maybe I’ll feel different later but for now, I’m just looking after myself.’’ ‘’I wish I had your confidence.’’ ‘’I don’t know that it's confidence, more like fake it til you make it.’’ We both laughed together. ‘’I’m going to crash, I’m exhausted, I’ll see you in the morning.’’ ‘’Love you babe’’ ‘’Love you long time.’’ I watched Kait pad off to bed and went to pack the dishwasher. Did I really want a man in my life? No, I was pretty sure I didn’t after everything I had already been through. But what then? Live a single life? It was fine for now in my 20s but in my 30s and 40s and beyond those years when my friends and colleagues were all married off with kids, when Kait was married with a family and kids, the thought made me lonely and depressed.

Chapter Two

AMBER

Iwoke on Wednesday to a gloomy day which matched my mood. I skipped my run and dragged myself around the apartment to get ready. I pulled on black business pants, and a white silk blouse and brushed my hair out. No matter what I did with my hair or how much I burned it into submission, if there was moisture in the air it was going to curl, so I settled on brushing my hair out and applying some mousse to the curls which were already appearing. I added a pearl necklace and a jacket and left the apartment to get the day over with.

Today was no better than yesterday. Doug was in a terrible mood again. I had spent hours putting plans together to try to make an offer to LandCorp that was appealing but I had a cracking headache, and I was struggling to concentrate. I was sitting at my desk putting the final touches on my proposal when my phone rang. It was an international number. I hurried over to lock the door on my office and raced back over to sit on the floor behind my desk, I sank to the floor. ‘’Daddy’’ I whispered. ‘’Baby how are you?” his warm voice flowed over me, making me feel both stronger and sadder at the same time. I missed my dad terribly. ‘’I’m good Dad, I’m always good when I hear from you. How about you? Are you ok? Is everyone ok?’’ Dad choked up a little bit and Goosebumps raced over my skin. “Dad?’’ ‘’It’s your mum, hon’’ I was shocked to hear him mention her. I hated her. ‘’What did she do now?’’ ‘’She died, darling’’ I didn’t know how to feel.

My mother was an amazing mother, she had been loving and doted on me my whole childhood. But as I got older, she started grooming me to be the perfect wife. She was so obsessed with money. My mum had cheated on and left my dad for some rich attorney, and she was obsessed with helping me to make a ‘good match’. Even if that match was not good at all for me. She had made countless introductions for me, introducing me to anyone and everyone important. Ensuring I knew my place and role. She had pushed me right intohisarms. And even thoughhisarms were incredibly dangerous she hadn’t lifted a finger to save me. She had condemned me to death for not being the perfect housewife. I hated her. I realised that I didn’t feel anything for her. I had already mourned the mother who had loved and nurtured me. She hadn’t been around for years. The bitch who gave me back to him, I was glad she was dead. I was relieved.

‘’Are you ok, hon?’’ ‘’I’m fine Dad, I’m relieved.’’ Dad sucked in a breath. I knew he still cared for her, a point that still hurt me and made me feel betrayed, but my dad had been the one to save me. He had moved heaven and earth to care for me. I owed him everything. ‘’I’m sorry Dad, I’m sure you’re upset but I’ve never forgiven her, and I never will’’ ‘’I understand baby. It wasn’t nice though. As horrible as she was for doing that to you, nobody deserves that.’’ Chills raced over my body, I felt sick. ‘’How did she die?’’ ‘’House fire, she was trapped in a house fire.’’ My dad’s voice cracked. ‘’Was it him?’’ ‘’I can’t tell baby, she never defied him, so I couldn’t see any reason. My men are still looking into it. Listen baby I’ve got to go. I just wanted to be the one to tell you. Stay safe, ok?’’ ‘’Sure Dad, I love you, and I’m sorry dad I know you must be hurting.” ‘’I’m a tough old fart hon, I’ll be ok. Love you, be safe’’. He ended the call, and I sat staring at my phone wondering if I was a horrible person for having such a profound sense of relief.

I dragged myself through a few more hours of work setting up marketing meetings to prepare for the launch of a new project and booking times to see all the onsite sales staff. I wouldn’t get any more work done today, my head was buzzing, and I couldn’t get my mind off my call with my dad. As much as I hated my mother for what she did to me I hoped she had not died horrifically. My mind had been wondering all day as to whether Tom had been involved and if so what could she have possibly done to piss him off. She had chosen him over her only child, why would she do anything to annoy him? I was getting ahead of myself. I shot off a few more directions to the staff to have everything ready for tomorrow and started getting ready to leave for the day. I bundled up my paperwork, laptop and phone and locked up my office.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com