Chapter 7

“Hi,” said Savannah, grinning widely as she stood in front of Bella’s desk. Unable to wait a moment longer, she had braved the lunch hour madness to make her way to Southwood Select. “I’ve come to sign the paperwork,” said Savannah brightly but the way Bella dipped her chin to her chest and avoided looking at her suddenly made her wary.

“Come with me,” Bella said, getting up and motioning her into a windowed cubicle away from the open-plan office.

“What’s wrong?” Even as she asked the question, Savannah knew she wasn’t going to like the answer. A sinking feeling dragged her spirits down like a lead balloon.

Bella looked at her with large, pitiful eyes. “I am so sorry to tell you this but the company retracted their offer.”

“They did what?” Fear stole into Savannah’s skin like a New York chill. “What do you mean retracted?”

“I mean they took it off the table.” The slim built, delicately framed young woman wiped her hand over her cheek and looked at Savannah full of remorse. “I’m sorry. I got a call this morning and I forgot that you were going to come by. I’ve been trying to find out what happened but I can’t get any more information out of them other than them saying that they’re reconsidering their options.”

“But why?” Shock froze Savannah to the spot, and she stared at Bella in confusion. As if she didn’t have enough shit to be dealing with right now. “What did they say exactly?”

Bella looked away, as if she was killing time or trying to find the right words, Savannah couldn’t tell which it was.

“They didn’t call me,” Bella whispered. “They told my boss, and my boss told me. That’s all I know. I don’t know if they filled the position from somewhere else or what. I’m sorry, Savannah. There is no job to offer you.”

She felt her body lurch backwards, as if someone had yanked the carpet out from under her feet.

No job? She had made plans based on this new position. She had even—oh good god—she had even told Tobias Stone that she would be leaving. She had been so high and mighty in her responses to him yesterday. “Do you think there’s a chance they might reconsider?” She prayed there would be, even as she asked the question, but Bella shook her head. “I’m really, really sorry. It’s happened before. Sometimes companies fill a vacancy internally and then they don’t have the balls to tell us the truth. I feel truly awful for you because you sounded so happy yesterday when I told you you’d got it.”

“Do you have any other positions at that level that I could go for?” She whispered, retreating back into herself. Somewhere in the dark islands of her soul, where her hopes often languished, she still held onto the belief that there was light at the end of all this, that even amid her setbacks, she was still moving forward to a better place. But with the years flying by fast, especially now that she had Jacob—a child whom she desired to raise into a decent young man—there were many bleak and lucid moments which revealed the starkness of her reality. That she was a single mom, very much on her own, without a stable job or income and no savings. In these moments it became harder to believe in the light.

“I desperately need a longer contract or a full-time job, Bella. I’m in a shit broke place right now and I’m going to have to think hard about going back to waitressing and working in the supermarket on weekends so that I can make ends meet. I need a job, a better paying job, now more than ever.”

Bella pulled at the collar of her blouse, her fidgety fingers betraying her poise. “Right now I don’t have any positions that are suitable for you. You’re too overqualified for most of them.”

“I don’t mind. I’ll take anything.” But she needed something that paid more and had a longer contract and with the chance of becoming permanent.

“Look, Savannah. I’ve heard that Stone Enterprises is a good place to work. They’re known for paying well. I wish they’d use our agency instead of the same one they’ve used for years.”

Savannah glanced down at her shoes. “I need to leave. I can’t stay there much longer. Please can you carry on looking for me?”

“Are you serious?” Bella gave her a stare that was so penetrating, that she flexed her knuckles tightly. “You’re already working at a great company. Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a job there? If I were you, I would try to stay there as long as I could.”

“I am serious and I am desperate to leave,” Savannah insisted. And I don’t intend to explain why.

Bella rolled her shoulders, indicating her incomprehension. “I’ll keep an eye out for you, but don’t expect a miracle. You won’t find the kind of job you already have.” But she wasn’t prepared to listen to Bella for a moment longer and after excusing herself she walked out looking defeated. Her shoulders were hunched together and her movements were slow, nothing like the eager young woman who had swept in less than fifteen minutes ago. It had seemed to become a regular thing for her now, one setback after another. Whenever things seemed to be turning around in her life, something bad lurked around the corner.

~~

She’d been back half an hour but work was the last thing on her mind. Staring at her screen, Savannah hadn’t even noticed Briony slip into the room until her friend spoke. “I’m beginning to get worried about you,” said Briony, instantly bringing her back to the present.

“Sorry. I was miles away.”

“On another planet, by the looks of it.”

Savannah looked perplexed.

“Turns out that things happened a lot quicker than I expected.”

“What things?” Savannah asked, curious now that Briony had shaken her out of her recent melancholy. Closing the door behind her, Briony made herself comfortable once more in the empty chair. “It won’t take long,” Briony assured her. “It’s good news actually. Very good news, for you.” Her last words caught her attention. “Good news?” Savannah asked, dubiously. “For me?” She doubted that such a thing existed and was certain that whatever it was, Briony’s mention of good news would do nothing to lift her spirits. Yet Briony looked like she was about to explode with the news she seemed unable to contain. For a moment Savannah was reminded of Jacob when he had something he couldn’t keep to himself. “Tobias has—,” Briony started, then paused, “We have secured your position and would like to make you an offer.”

“We?”

“Stone Enterprises,” replied Briony, looking more than pleased with herself.

“What offer?”

“The offer of a permanent position.”

Savannah sat up, her eyes widening dangerously, as if she was about to scream. “I thought you were still working on the paperwork for that.”

“Tobias wants things rushed through quickly. He said he didn’t want lack of resources or money to get in the way of our results this year.”

“But why didn’t you say anything to me this morning?”

“He didn’t confirm it until our meeting later, that’s why.”

“What’s the position for?” Savannah asked, curious.

“A researcher, two days a week but the position is with me. Same as what you did before, pretty much.” Briony handed her a thick envelope. “Here’s your offer letter. It’s a generous offer and to be honest, I’m surprised at it myself, but I think it’s on par with what we’re paying new trainees in the research department. You’re not in the research department, but you come under my remit, and I report to Tobias so… I guess it has its advantages.”

“What do you mean?” Savannah ripped open the envelope and skimmed over the contract quickly, flicking through the pages until her eyes found and settled on the salary.

And she nearly stopped breathing. This was more money than the job that she’d almost had. “Is this for real?” She stared at Briony, not wanting to be sucked into more false hopes. Her bio-rhythms wouldn’t be able to take it.

“Like I said, it’s on par with what the trainees get.” Briony repeated. “What’s wrong, Savannah?”

“Healthcare and perks, gym membership…” murmured Savannah. Hadn’t Tobias mentioned these very things to her last night? This new position made the job she’d lost at Southwood Select, pale in comparison and this position was way out of her league. Something about it seemed highly suspect and she was already wary about the man who could do whatever he wanted and control whatever he needed. She read through the contract quickly and imagined that it would be the type of job that college graduates pinned their hopes on, or summer interns.

And she was getting a chance at this?

“Didn’t you want someone to do admin stuff? I thought it wouldn’t be much different from what I did before?” She looked up from the offer letter and challenged Briony.

“I’m sensing hesitation on your part, Savannah. I thought you would be thrilled?” Briony gave her a pointed stare. She was thrilled, but an offer such as this, too good to be true, seemed shady to her. “Is this something Tobias put together?”

“It’s a project he mentioned to me a long time ago. We’d spoken about it briefly but out of necessity, he’s had to bring it forward. You know things aren’t working out with deals abroad. He wants to concentrate more on companies closer to home. He and Matthias have been looking at this new direction for the past year. Matthias is of the opinion that global markets and the Far East will be fine whereas Tobias takes a more cautious approach.”

“It seems too quick.”

“Excuse me?” Briony’s mouth fell open. “What do you mean?”

“I thought you were stuck in red tape? That it was taking you a while to get everything together?”

“Tobias wants someone to devote two days per week on this. You’re the ideal resource and I don’t have a full week’s work for you, not yet. That will change a month or two down the line. With you working two days a week on the new research tasks and doing stuff for me on the remaining days means we can take you on now. We can offer you a permanent job and for more money than I could have given you if you only worked for me. I think you get paid more because the research element requires extra skills.”

“Which I don’t have.”

“But which you can be taught. What Tobias prizes, for those working with him, is trust and I’ve told him you’re reliable and trustworthy.”

“Will I be working with him?”

“No. You report to me. You’ll have no dealings with him. What’s wrong?” Briony asked. “This isn’t the reaction I was expecting from you.”

“It’s kind of sudden, that’s all,” replied Savannah slowly, not wanting to come across as ungrateful just because she was being wary. But it was sudden. She’d gone from being a temp, to almost getting a job elsewhere and to now being offered this too-good-to-be-true-position. Something didn’t feel right. “How come you managed to move it along so fast, within a couple of hours?”

“That’s typical of Tobias, he’s sharp. He won’t sit around waiting for red tape to slow things down. If he wants something done, he makes sure it happens.”

That was what she was afraid of. Savannah lowered her head, thinking about it. That man could make anything happen and for a moment she’d been afraid that this was his way of making it up to her. But if he’d discussed this with Briony a long time ago, and she’d heard rumblings about the Far East deals from the others then maybe it was nothing to do with him trying to make it up to her? She was worrying for no reason.

And even if it was—she was now no longer in a position to turn her nose up at an opportunity like this. “It’s great. I—I’m grateful to you for making this happen.” She had to stop sabotaging herself and stop thinking that everything that happened to her, every good thing, was Tobias Stone’s doing. Accepting this offer could mean a lot of things for her. She still had to figure out how to get the other half of the money for the hospital bill, assuming that Kay could help. Things no longer looked as bleak as they had a day ago.

“So are you going to take the offer or not? Because, looking at you, I can’t tell if you’re pleased or not.” Briony said.

“I’m sorry, it’s a lot to get used to, especially after all the stuff that happened yesterday and I’m scared to get excited in case it disappears.”

“That’s an odd way of looking at it,” commented Briony. “You need to loosen up, hon. Hopefully, accepting this offer might be the start of good things for you.”

“That would be a welcome change,” said Savannah, feeling sheepish about her muted reaction. “I guess I’m surprised that it’s happened so fast when I’d resigned myself to thinking it might take weeks or months.”

Briony grinned at her. “Like I said, Tobias can push things through super-fast.”

“Would you mind if I took the paperwork home tonight and read through it properly? Of course I’m going to accept but I’m just cautious and I need to read all the fine print carefully.”

“I understand. I don’t have everything mapped out just yet for the new project. I’m meeting with Tobias in a few days’ time to discuss project milestones. This is all new to me too but I have enough so that we can at least start, maybe towards the end of this week or early next week. It depends on when I can meet with Tobias.”

“He’s running this?”

“No. I am,” Briony told her, firmly. “Do you have enough to be getting on with for the next few days?”

Savannah nodded.

“I’d better get back and rejig my project schedule to accommodate for this,” said Briony getting up. “By the way, what was it that you wanted to see me about?”

When Savannah looked at her puzzled, Briony added, “This morning you said you wanted to see me about something.”

There was no point in telling her about the job that hadn’t materialized. Instead she changed tack. “I was thinking of taking you up on that offer, you know, going out one evening with you and Max for drinks or something.”

“Great!” The corners of Briony’s red matte lips lifted upwards. “We should put a date on it.”

“Let me figure out my childcare plans.”

Briony flashed a dazzling smile and left, leaving Savannah in a blanket of happiness.

She would put the news from Southwood Select behind her and focus on the future, a future that was suddenly bright again. She couldn’t wait to tell Jacob. So caught up was she in her thoughts that it suddenly came to her like an electric shock out of nowhere. She wasn’t going to leave Stone Enterprises, nor see the last of Tobias Stone. In fact, with her working on a project for Tobias, even if it was through Briony and just for two days a week, it was still two days too much of running the risk of seeing him again.