Page 40 of Strictly Business

‘He’s what?’

‘He can’t have.’

This time the chorus of cries was closer to shrieks. A wave of nausea rose into Alice’s throat and she felt so suddenly awful she thought she might faint.

‘The boss can’t be married,’ said Mary-Ann, sending anxious looks to Alice.

‘I’m sorry but you’re wrong,’ said Dennis airily. ‘He’s turned up with a woman and her name is Mrs. Conway and he was paying her a great deal of attention when he lifted her out of the limo a moment ago.’

‘Lifted her?’ cried Shana, leaping from her seat and tearing across the room to peer through the slats of the venetian blind that screened their office from the front reception area. ‘Oh, myGod.’ Her eyes were as huge as Dennis’s as she turned back to Alice. ‘She’s in a wheelchair.’

Alice was glued to her seat.

‘Come and look,’ hissed Shana.

No, Alice didn’t want to. She couldn’t.

Dennis was at the window with Shana now and they were both riveted by the scene taking place in the foyer.

‘I wonder who the young fellow is,’ mused Dennis. ‘Their son?’

A son? Could this get any worse? Alice’s heart pounded like a battering ram; her stomach lurched. Liam couldn’t have a wife. He couldn’t; he couldn’t. He’d told her he wasn’t married. She believed him.

By now Mary-Ann was at the window too. ‘Gosh, she’s beautiful,’ she said in a low, rather awestruck voice.

Both women turned back to Alice.

‘Come and have a look,’ said Shana again.

Alice’s legs felt leaden as she struggled to her feet. For a horrible moment she thoughtshemight need a wheelchair just to get across the room, but somehow she made it. Shana had adjusted the blinds so it was possible to look out without being observed.

She saw Liam out in the foyer with a woman in a wheelchair and a young boy of about fifteen. Liam’s hands were resting on the back of the chair and he was smiling and talking to Sally at the front desk. The woman in the chair was laughing.

Shana was right; Mrs. Conway was beautiful. She had delicate features, high cheekbones and long autumn coloured, wavy hair. She was smartly dressed in a cream silk blouse with a chic scarf in mocha tones draped with casual elegance over her shoulders. A longish dark olive green skirt covered her legs.

There was something very appealing about her, a kind of inner light and friendly warmth. Under other circumstances Alice suspected that she might like the woman very much.

The young boy was tall, with the typically gangly build of a teenager and he had dark hair like Liam’s.

As she and her workmates hovered at the window, spying on them, the trio began to move away, down the corridor towards the accountant’s office. Alice swayed on her feet. Any minute now she was going to be sick. Or she was going to faint. She wasn’t sure which.

Dennis snatched up the nearest phone. ‘Sally,’ he hissed to the girl just a few feet away from them in reception. ‘What’s going on? What’s the boss up to?’

The three women watched in tense silence as he received the answers. His eyes flashed mysteriously as he hung up.

‘Come on then,’ cried Shana. ‘Put us out of our misery.’

‘Well,’ said Dennis slowly, enjoying the power of his secret. ‘Her name is Mrs. Julia Conway and she’s moved here from Sydney. She plans to live here and the boss is going in to talk to Merv, because he’s buying her a house.’

A house! Alice was swamped by a wave of shock. That could only mean... Surely that meant the woman must be...

With a hand clasped over her mouth, she bolted for the corridor, heading in the direction of the Ladies.

‘Liam, what’s the matter with you?’ asked Julia Conway. ‘You’ve been pacing about like a caged lion all evening.’

Liam paused midway down the length of the balcony that opened off his apartment’s living room. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I’ve been a little distracted.’

‘More than a little.’ Julia laughed gently. ‘I doubt you’ve heard a word I’ve said in the past fifteen minutes.’

---