Sharon swallowed her uneasiness and looked at the screen in front of her.
'Have you seen the lastest Japanese figures?'
'More or less as I predicted', he shrugged.
'Yes, right again, as usual', Sharon said with saccharine sweetness.
He laughed. She couldn't even make him angry. It was infuriating. She wished he would go away. He was ruining her morning.
'I am rather busy', She said, 'So unless you want to tell me something important....'
'David just rang me from home', he said, 'About the Rome Conference ....'
'Yes?' She was supposed to fly a road with David to Rome for an international banking conference and she was looking forward to it. It had been so long that she had been anywhere interesting and she wanted to get away from the office now dominated by Ryan Ferdinand for a little while.
'His doctor has advised him to stay in bed for a week, so he won't be able to go', Bryan said coolly.
'What's wrong? Is he I'll?' Sharon asked but Bryan shook his head.
'Just tired, I gather. A touch of flu, too maybe. Nothing serious He asked me to explain it to you and say how sorry he is to miss the Rome trip'.
'Of course, I understand', Sharon said, deeply disappointed, her face falling, 'Though I can't say that I am surprised.He has been looking out of sorts and really I'll for the past few days. He really needs a long vacation but a week in bed is a start. Well, I'd better cancel everything, but I don't think we shall be able to reclaim the price of the air tickets. The hotel can be cancelled without problem, of course'.
Sharon put out her hand to the phone but Bryan gently caught hold of her wrist.
' No don't cancel anything. The trip is still on. It's just that I'll be taking David's place'.
'You?' Sharon said stifling.
His mouth curled. 'Sorry, I am no match to David in your eyes, I am aware of that but he wants the bank to be represented and he is supposed to give a talk at the conference, so I shall have to be the one giving the talk'.
Sharon knew all about the talk. Why David felt the need to ask Bryan to give the talk when he knew that she could do that well best her.
'You know of David's old fashioned view of the role of women in banking', Bryan said.
'Which you share obviously!' she said bitterly.
'As a matter of f t, I don't but David was really I'll and it didn't seem the right time to argue with him, so I just went along with his directives. I believe you have got all his documentations, by the way? Tickets etc?'
She nodded and stood up and Bryan made way for her to pass and she picked up the scent of his aftershave and decided that she didn't like it.
She found the folder containing all the travel documents and handed them over to him.
'The name will have to be changed, I can do that'.
'Don't worry, my secretary will deal with it', he said as he turned to walk out, 'See you tomorrow on the plane'.
She looked after him, half inclined not to turn up. Only her loyalty to David made her decide to go. Someone had to keep an eye on Bryan Ferdinand.
They met at the Heathrow and bought piles of magazines and newspapers and tried to ignore the noise and discomfort of the seats they sat on.
At last, the plane began to take off and in the end, they were two hours late in leaving for Rome.
Rome did not look as exciting as Sharon had envisaged and she looked up depressed.
By the time they got to their hotel, she was barely able to stand and was very fed up.
She collected the key and went straight to her room, which turned out to be charming, beautifully furnished and a magnificent view of the rocks and cliffs and the town as a whole.
It was still raining. She leaned on the window for a while, gazing out. Even in the rain, Rome was still noisy, bustling, over full of people and vehicles.
Sitting there with the window open made her shiver after a while. She stood up,closed the window and went into her modern bathroom to take a long warm fragrant bath, pouring deliciously scented bath oils into the water before she climbed gratefully into it.
Bryan had suggested that they meet for dinner at eight o'clock in the bar. The first gathering of the conference was at nine o'clock the following morning and was scheduled to take place at another hotel which was a popular conference. entre with efficient modern facilities.
Most of the delegates were also staying at the hotel but David had wanted a peaceful place to retire to when banking policies be ame too hectic. It often helped to be able to escape for a while.
After her bath, Sharon went to her bed to sleep and her dreams were as chaotic as the city itself.
She woke with a start when someone knocked on the door.
She was disoriented, not knowing at first where she was.While she had slept,night had fallen and the room was dark.
She lay there starring blankly until that knock again. She walked to the door to open it after stumbling out of bed. The light from the corridor was blinding and caused her to blink.
It was z Ryan in an evening dress looking ultra- civilized a d menacingly primitive, a very disturbing and lethal mix.
Added to that, just the sight of his smooth- skinned, closely shaven face and sleek black hair, his gleaming black eyes, his powerful body, sent a shiver of weakness through her.
Ever since she met him, she had been both alarmed by and hostile to him, working on instinct buried deep inside her, too deep for her to be quite sure what it was about the man that set all her alarm bells jangling.