Gerhard stood up as she got to him, kissed her on both cheeks gravely.
'Thank you for joining me. All the men are going to envy me tonight, having you for a partner. That dress is very sexy and you look breathtaking in it'.
'Thank you, Gerhard', she said sitting down, brushing down her filmy skirts as they hissed silkily around her legs.
'Ehat would you have to drink?' he asked summoning the waiter.
Remembering what happened with Bryan the previous evening, Sharon ordered a mixture of orange juice and mineral water and stayed off wine all evening.
The meal was superb and Gerhard kept her continuously amused and it would have been a wonderful evening had she been unable to see Bryan's face from where she was sitting.
By some stroke of bad luck, however, he was seated facing her, on the next table. She had to avoid letting her eyes wander that way or she found herself all too often looking straight at him.
Everytime it happened, she felt a strange dizzying lurch, as though her sense of balance had just abandoned her and that at any moment, she might fall over.
It was very disconcerting and disturbing. She became more and more afraid of the sensation because she had expected it to lessen after a while but the more she kept seeing Bryan, the stronger the sensation and the linger it lasted.
She would catch a glimpse of him and feel the clutch of vertigo, her pulses hammering, her mouth dry, her head spinning.
Hurriedly, She would look away but that strange sensation went on and on, making it almost impossible to keep up a polite conversation with Gerhard or at least keep up a polite pretense of interest in what Gerhard was saying.
She kept feeling the need to hold something solid, anything, be a chair or a table to give her some firm of stability, stop this whirling if the senses.
She was relieved when the meal was over and they all drifted out to the bar again.
Gerhard found a table and they had some more drinks and then the delegates from the biggest bank in Germany joined them and they started discussing banking, forgetting that Sharon was even there. She did not mind because she just did not want to talk about that boring topic. Not that night anyways.
Most if the time, they spoke German and Sharon was glad to go to the background because though she knew a little German, she did not know enough to follow their rapid speech.
At half past eleven, Bryan appeared beside their table. Sharon stiffened when she saw him. The delegates looked round, breaking into smiles and began chattering away to him in German in a way that made it clear that they knew him.
Sharon picked up some phrase she interpreted as a question they posed to him asking him why he left the Swizz bank for London and whatever response he gave them in German, made them all laugh.
He glanced coolly across their heads at her. 'Our car's here, ready?'
Gerhard stirred, 'Darling, I can see you home in a taxi later, you don't want to leave yet, do you?'
Before she could say anything, Bryan answered, 'We all have to be up early, tomorrow is going to be a demanding day. Hurry up Sharon,we don't want to keep our driver waiting'.
She stumbled on her feet, very flushed, murmured something apologetic to Gerhard who made a face but bent to kiss her.
'Your spoilsport friend is right. We do have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow. I'll be seeing you at lunch, perhaps, if we are both free?'
She followed Bryan out of the hotel, into the waiting car, secretly relieved to be leaving because she had been bored with all the banking talk, especially in a language she found hard to follow and yet at the same time irritated because Bryan was ordering her a out, making decisions for her, answering for her.
As they drove through the warm Rome night, she muttered to him, 'Will you stop giving me orders as if I were your secretary? I'm David's personal assistant, not yours. He never pushes me around, he treats me with respect and I'd like you to do the same, please'.
'If I hadn't interrupted your little party, you would have been there all night and then you wouldn't have been in any fit shape to take part in the conference tomorrow', he said coldly. 'I am delivering David's speech at ten, remember? You ought to be there in case there are questions. I might have to consult you on what David's views might be on some issues. I am simply his mouth piece as far as the speech is concerned and I may not know all the answers to all the questions I am asked,whereas I imagine you will. You make it your business to know everything there is to know about David and his opinions'.
'Don't use that sarcastic tone tp me', Sharon said, her body tense and her face flushed.
'I am merely staying the facts', he drawled. 'If you don't like them, it's because you prefer not to face up to the truth'.
The car stopped in front of their hotel and she walked into the lifts.
Bryan caught up with her there but she ignored him, turning her head away.
The lift took them straight to their floor and they walked to their rooms, with Sharon walking ahead and Bryan following behind.
She got to her room and opened the door but before she could shut it, Bryan's foot jammed it open.
Tensing, Sharon swung round to face him. 'What....?
'We need to talk. I suggest we have breakfast together downstairs at a quarter to right'.
'I prefer to breakfast my room!'
His eyes glittered angrily. 'A quarter to eight, downstairs', he said. 'be there or I'll come and drag you down if I have to'.