Page 33 of The Island in Bramble Bay
‘Have some time out, do some travelling maybe.’ He paused and looked Charlie right in the eye. ‘Time out looks good on you, that’s for sure.’
‘Maggie did that. I was working just as hard before she came along but with trees instead of software.’ He loved her even more for what she’d done tonight. Even though he knew she’d been curious about their meeting, she’d realised when she came to the bar to meet him that he was with Jared and had left them alone to talk. And she’d been right. Seeing Jared had helped. Over the past three years, mulling over what had happened had turned Jared into a monster that Charlie didn’t recognise but tonight had shown him that it had been his friend all along. What had happened had been a mistake and while it was too soon for Charlie to forgive him, he was open to it happening at some point.
Jared got to his feet. ‘Thanks for tonight. I wasn’t sure you’d want to meet, I appreciate it. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.’ He held his hand out, Charlie took it, then on impulse pulled Jared towards him and clapped him on the back.
‘It’s good to see you, man.’
29
CHARLIE AND MAGGIE were sat in a coffee shop near the High 5 offices in San Jose. It was an hour before Charlie had to be there and he was so nervous that Maggie had suggested leaving the hotel early so that the journey was out of the way and at least being late was one less thing for him to worry about.
He looked amazing; he had been up and ready before Maggie was even awake and was the most well-groomed she’d ever seen him. He smelt gorgeous and was wearing a slim fitting navy blue suit with a subtle floral shirt. If it wasn’t for the fact she’d have ruined all his hard work, she’d have dragged him back to bed. Also, it wasn’t the time for joviality. He’d not felt able to eat breakfast and had been pacing the hotel room while she got ready which was when she’d suggested leaving early.
Thank goodness he’d met with Jared the night before, it would be even worse if that was yet to happen too. From the brief version of the evening that Charlie had recounted, it sounded like it had gone well and that they were both glad about having met. She also gleaned that Jared was not with Jessica. Charlie hadn’t explicitly said as much but she didn’t think he would have gone so far as to say it had gone well if that was the case. He’d tell her once all of this signing business was over.
When there were just fifteen minutes left, Maggie gently suggested to Charlie that they should make a move. He had been staring into his coffee cup, stirring it endlessly for the past half an hour and she didn’t think she could take much more and wanted it to be over. He looked pale, like he might be sick.
‘It’ll be okay, the hard part was last night.’ She put her hand on his, gently taking the spoon and putting it to one side. ‘In an hour or so, that’ll be it.’
He took a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. ‘Come on then, let’s do it.’ He left a twenty-dollar bill on the table, took her by the hand and led the way outside.
It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. Maggie was wearing a dress, which didn’t happen very often at all but she felt it was a special occasion of sorts, so she’d made an effort. Besides, with Charlie so dressed up she needed to look like they were together. She wanted him to be proud to be with her, as she felt about him.
As they walked down the street, Maggie could see the building ahead of them. The sign on the front of the building was huge; you couldn’t miss it. Charlie must have been so proud that his business had reached this point where everyone knew about it, she wanted to say as much but it wasn’t the time. He was gripping her hand tightly and looking straight ahead with his jaw set. There were several reporters outside and as soon as the first one of them saw Charlie approaching, they surged towards them. Charlie gripped her hand even tighter and pulled her closer to him, bracing them against the onslaught of questions.
‘Charlie, are you back to stay?’
‘Comment on the rumour that Jared has forced you to sell!’
‘Did you have a breakdown?’
He led the way into the building, both of them breathing an audible sigh of relief at having run the gauntlet and emerged relatively unscathed. The reception area was full of Cumulus.com helium balloons weighted to the floor; there was no mistaking what was going on there today. The receptionist looked up and waited with one eyebrow raised for Charlie to announce himself.
‘Charlie Mackenzie to see Jared.’
She leapt out of her seat. ‘I’m sorry, sir, I should have recognised you.’ She fumbled for a card which she handed over to him before looking at Maggie.
‘And this is Maggie Cassidy. You should be expecting her too.’ He looked at Maggie and winked while the receptionist tapped on the computer. At least he seemed more at ease, thought Maggie with relief. ‘I know the way, are we okay to go through?’
‘Um… um, okay. You need this,’ she said, thrusting another card at Maggie.
Charlie tapped his card on a panel next to the door and they went through into a huge open-plan office that had so many desks, Maggie couldn’t begin to guess how many. They were arranged in small groups and in between were scattered numerous beanbags, a couple of football tables, a few retro arcade games, tree-sized plants; all manner of things which you wouldn’t associate with working in an office. Not in England, at least.
Charlie led the way through, still holding her hand, nodding and returning waves from some of the people who noticed them. She found it a huge turn-on to see this side of Charlie; it was obvious he was a big deal here, and she was relieved to see that he had begun to relax. Maggie wasn’t sure what he had thought was going to happen but so far, so easy and at least there were no press inside.
As they approached the conference room, which being a trendy company was made entirely of glass, they could see that there were quite a few people in there already.
‘Who are all those people?’ she whispered to Charlie.
‘Lawyers and more lawyers and some of the bigger minority shareholders. Jared and I need to sign the deal but it affects all the shareholders.’
‘So does it feel okay to be here?’
‘Yes.’ They paused at the door to the conference room and he turned to face her. ‘Thank you. I don’t think I could have made it here today without you.’ He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. She was so glad that he seemed to finally be taking it in his stride. This had been the right thing for him to do.
They walked into the room and Charlie stopped dead in his tracks. ‘Jessica,’ he whispered.
30
