Friends Or Lovers Part 11

He asked the waitress for coffee then continued.

"Where are we going to find you a good man, then?"

I wanted to say Id found one, but I knew that it was not the right thing to say.

"Are there any left?" I asked.

"Oh, yes. So long as you know where to look."

I was about to say that I thought he must be joking, but on this occasion I let it pa.s.s. I was not about to start another debate.

"Where?" I queried.

"Have you looked at work?" he asked.

"I dont think people react well to women in positions of authority having s.e.xual relations.h.i.+ps at work."

"Why on earth not?" he reacted. "Isnt that why people go to work?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Why is work any different from anywhere else?"

"Its a place of work, surely?"

"Employerspeak!" he laughed. "If not at work, where will you find Mr Right?"

His question was rhetorical. I could not think of any good prospects at work that were not already in relations.h.i.+ps and said so.

"And you know that they are happy and committed?"

"Well no, I dont," I answered.

"Find out. Perhaps youve already met him?" he suggested.

"I can hardly ask them," I said.

"You dont need to ask. All you need to do is get the person you are interested in talking about their life. Take an interest."

We drank the last of our coffee and I paid the bill. Then, he drove me back to my house and walked me to the door. In the movies we might have kissed, but I just knew that we would not. At the door, he hugged me, pecked me on the cheek, then returned to the car and gave me a salute as he drove off.

I wanted him to come in, but I knew he needed to get back home to his family. Hed given up a whole Sat.u.r.day for me and it was important that I should not intrude further on his time. I find it difficult to describe how I feel now. Ive been more distraught today than I can ever remember, but inside I now feel like Im walking on water. This is not like the b.u.t.terflies of teenage love, but a tingling feeling burrowing into the darkest caverns of my soul, a warmth so spiritual that I can feel my humanity light up. He makes me want to be a better person, to live more, risk more, and share the best of myself. Is this, I wonder, how people feel when they first experience the deepest kind of love?

Chapter 18.

Due to a lot of demands on my time, when I got to work the weekend was purged from my mind. Phil was first to update me. He had been diligently taking lunch with Elonas team and learned that a number of the men enjoyed teasing her and flirting with her. According to them, Elona was pretty off-hand with all of them except one. Nathan was a lad in his mid-twenties and the general consensus was that she had a crush on him. Nathan himself was not that interested although he did join in some of the flirting. Phil thought this was more to bond with his mates than to pursue Elona.

"They are surprised that she accused Mike. Most of his team said that he was very gentlemanly. He was careful how he behaved and spoke around everyone, particularly Elona.

I was perplexed by this. It did not seem to fit. Even Mike had admitted to me that hed flirted with her. I nodded for Phil to continue.

"Then theres this Nathan!" Phil said.

"What about him?"

"He was quite cagey when the others were talking. He did not volunteer anything and I got the feeling that the whole conversation made him uncomfortable."

"Dyou think I should talk to him?" I asked.

"Well. If you ask me, the relations.h.i.+p between Elona and Nathan is connected to all of this somehow. I dont understand how Mike fits in maybe he got jealous or something but I feel there must be a connection somewhere."

"Okay. What about Mike and Sally?" I enquired.

"Yeah. I was right about that. He did live with her for a while. Shes one of the people who transferred with him to the new team. n.o.body is completely sure why they are so close, but they did live together for a few months. But they dont live together now, hes back with his wife. It all sounds kind of bizarre. If theyd had an affair and split up, why would she want to keep working with him? It doesnt make sense."

I was puzzled too, but there was nothing to be gained by discussing it now.

"Okay. Well done. Ill have a word with Dave. We seem to be getting closer. Perhaps it is time for another chat with Elona. Then Ill speak to Nathan."

I had to set this to one side for the moment. The marketing manager, Jo, had enlisted Mikes support to get his team some training in consumer behaviour. As I was up to my eye-b.a.l.l.s helping Dave bring on board some new inventors, I was keen to off-load this. She said that she had worked with a consultant several times and wanted to bring him in again. I could not see any reason to object, so I signed off a purchase order for 30 days consultancy and left her to get on with it.

I thought back to my weekend conversation. John had suggested I look for a partner at work for two reasons. Firstly, most people meet their marriage partner in a workplace setting. Secondly, he claimed that nearly half of all married women chose their job in order to find a partner. I told him the second one must be rubbish, but he provided me with a source. I promptly went to WH Smith and bought the book. Sure enough he was right. I found the statistics both staggering and appalling. In this modern age, after 40 years of gender equality, who would have thought this? To think that h.o.a.rds of women at work were actively looking for husbands. The thought actually annoyed me. Who, I wondered, was searching for a husband in our workplace?

"Come in Penny," said Dave.

"Hi. So what needs doing today?" I asked.

"We need to draw up three contracts. Ive got Clive Preston coming over from London, Brian Thwaite from Birmingham, and Claire Nunn from Glasgow."

"A woman?" I remarked. "Rare that?"

"Yes. But a good find. Shes a remarkable designer and has a.s.sembled a small team of engineers to make customised kitchenware. They manufacture through companies in Sheffield. Shes ready for exposure and now has a large portfolio. Im sure youd be impressed."

Id never pictured Dave as someone with either the inclination or ability to appreciate cutlery and kitchenware.

"Careful," I commented, "your wife will be asking for freebies."

He gave me an odd look. I did my best to ignore it and returned to the issue at hand.

"Okay. Standard Terms?" I asked.

"For Claire and Clive yes, but Brian will be getting 25%"

"Is he worth it?" I asked.

"Well see in due course. We are poaching him away from his current distributor so I had to offer a bit extra. He also wants help recruiting marketing support staff and I said wed be able to help. Sorry I didnt ask you beforehand. Is that okay?"

He gave me one of his hopeful looks, opened his palms and shrugged his shoulders. He really could look quite cute at times. I made his request sound like an imposition, but I did not mind.

"Ill see what I can do....."

As I made to go, he touched my arm to stop me.

"By the way," he added, "my wife doesnt buy stuff for the house any more."

"Whys that?" I asked.

He looked hesitant.

"Shes.....not well."

"Im sorry to hear that. I hope she gets better soon."

It was not often that Dave ever talked about anything outside work and it took me a bit by surprise. I confirmed the contract details with him one last time and then remembered that I wanted to ask him about Mike and Sally.

"There is something else," I said. "Ive been putting together a picture of our sales manager friend and it seems that he has a mystery relations.h.i.+p with Sally, one of the local sales reps. Do you know anything about that?"

Dave pondered and raised his eyebrows.

"I heard they shared a flat for a while. Lots of rumours flying about, just t.i.ttle tattle, I imagine."

"Come on, Dave. Spill it," I insisted.

"Well, most people just think they had a fling that they moved into a flat together and that it didnt work out so he left."

Something in his tone suggested that he had something else to add.

"And?" I asked with an expectant look.

".....and I dont believe that. I used to get on well with one of Sallys colleagues and it seems that she moved in with him and his wife. Thats not the sort of thing that she would do if she was having an affair him. Unless the affair came later, of course."

Dave paused for a smirk, and then carried on.

"No. I think Sally had some domestic crisis and Mike offered her a way out. Anyway, it caused no end of problems in his marriage and Sally had to move out. Then Mike joined her, I think. Not sure what happened after that all I know is that his personal life got into a real mess for a while. Im not a rumourmonger. What he does in his own time is really not our business."

"Hes back with his wife now." I said.

"Really?" he said with surprise. "Interesting. Bet Sally was p.i.s.sed when he went back," he remarked.

"Apparently not," I said, "They still get on well. She asked to carry on working with him recently when he moved jobs."

"Feathering two nests, you think?"

I sensed that there was no love lost between Dave and Mike.

"Maybe. Not sure. What is it with you and him?" I enquired.

"Oh. Ive no strong feelings. I just think that whenever people let their personal and professional lives get confused things can become very messy."

My sentiment entirely, I thought.

"He shouldve left well alone, I think." He paused for a moment as pieces of the jigsaw were rea.s.sembled in his head. "How does this link to Elona?" he finally asked.

"Not sure. Should find out soon. Im meeting Elona in a few minutes, then Nathan. I think well get to the bottom of this soon."

"Okay. Keep me posted. When you have a complete picture we can discuss how to bust up this secret network."

I had not realised before how similar Dave and I were in our outlook but it pleased me that we shared this point of view. I thanked him and returned to my department to meet Elona. With Daves support, I felt ready to get to the bottom of things and achieve closure.

Chapter 19.

"Come in, come in," I said as I welcomed Elona into my office.

"Do you mind if Phil sits in on this one?"

Elona looked around the room and rubbed her ear. She looked unsure but answered positively.

"If you want him to stay, I guess thats okay with me."

"Thanks. He knows more about this situation than I do, so Id like him here."

Elona shuffled in her seat and looked uncomfortable.

"Can I offer you a cup of tea?" I asked.

She lifted her hand to decline the offer, but I decided to ask Phil to make one for me anyway. It would give me a moment to put Elona at her ease. As Phil left the room, I got up from my chair and sat beside her.

"Elona. There!" I said, as I put my hand on her shoulder. "Dont worry. This is just a quiet chat to establish what has been going on. Phils been following up on some of your concerns and we want to discuss a few things with you. Theres no need to worry."

Despite my calm and sympathetic words I detected an increase in her nervousness. She would not look at me and her hands were clasped together on her knees.