"Did you hear Boseman bragging about going with Fisher to a private gathering after the party?" Marissa asked Lucca and Diane in a low voice, as Maia and Amy laughed.
T.A. & Fisher had invited the partners, The Lockhart Girls to the event and seated them all at the same table. They were all chatting by the bar while watching their bosses from a distance. Carl, Adrian, Barbara and the other directors were all enjoying their dinner.
"Boseman said Fisher only invited his closest friends for a Poker & Brandy extravaganza on his private yacht. He thinks he is now Fisher's close friend," Maia rolled her eyes at the other women and Marissa agreed.
"Oh, is it the big one anchored by the lake?" Lucca pointed to the window and Maia nodded, "I hope he loses money and wins the billionaires' sympathy. We need more clients," she told the other girls and laughed herself.
Diane smiled before sipping her drink. At least the girls were having fun and even distracting her from what had happened on the previous week. It all started with that damn Republican event and the fact that Richard was proven to be her greatest temptation yet. She closed her eyes and shook her head.
She couldn't deny that she had enjoyed the flirting. Right when she was starting to accept it other than feeling guilty about it, her husband decided to send her his book as a reminder that she was still a married woman.
She drank deeply this time and placed the empty glass on the nearest tray. Diane sighed and looked around at the beautiful decoration in the room. She found it to be more elegant and not as ostentatious as the one at the Republican event. The ballroom itself was less grand, but had a spectacular view of the lake and the hotel's garden. She could even see the yacht Lucca mentioned only minutes ago.
The rounded tables were arranged nicely, in the center of the room. There was also a big stage in the front, with a gigantic picture of Richard, the same picture from the cover of Fortune magazine.
The organizers had chosen yellow roses for the decoration. Of course. She knew that was a personal request from Richard and not only a coincidence.
In fact, she had received a bouquet of yellow roses every single day, for seven consecutive days. She knew perfectly well what that meant: he was following his father's footsteps impeccably. After the fourth day, she had even sent him a rather angry text message.
Can you please stop sending flowers to the office? People are starting to talk!
Diane thought she had convinced him when on the following day she didn't receive anything, only to be proven wrong when she arrived home later that night. He continued playing his game, sending flowers to another address.
"So, did you like the roses?" Diane jumped a little when she heard Richard's voice. He was dressed in an impeccable tuxedo again, holding two glasses of champagne and grinning at her.
"Shhhhh! Keep it quiet!" Diane whispered, after opening her eyes widely and hitting his arm playfully.
"What? Don't they know it was from me?" He pretended to be surprised and offered one of his glasses.
"Of course they don't! And can you stop sending them once and for all?" Diane whispered back at him, feeling irritated.
"You didn't give me an answer yet. I won't stop until you say yes," he smiled wickedly at her, as he sipped his drink. His eyes wandered from her hair to her lips, while waiting for her answer.
She lowered her head and shook it, smiling. He was such a flirt. She had to admit to herself that she liked it.
"I can't say yes, Richard," she said laughing, "I can't go out with you. You're my client, it's unethical," Yeah, right, she thought to herself. That foolish excuse didn't stop her a few years ago.
"Ok then, fair enough," he nodded, "You are fired!" He pointed at her and Diane laughed out loud. Richard's smile faded slowly as he watched her. He tilted his head and told her, in a low voice, "You look stunning."
When Diane decided to wear the silver beads dress, she wondered what his reaction would be. She had enjoyed the way he had looked at her the other night, especially how desirable he made her feel.
"Thank you. And congratulations, by the way," she decided to change the subject.
"I thought you would never mention it," he said, looking into the nearest mirror, fixing his tie and pretending to be proud of himself. She chuckled before he continued, "Seriously though, I'm glad that I won a serious and respected award for a change, rather than those anyone can buy. Those shitty ones that were created just to make you look good with the media."
"You deserve it, Richard," she smiled back at him and took another sip, "What you have done to the company and industry is extraordinary. T.A. & Fisher is the most admirable construction company in the business."
"Mr. Fisher, excuse me," a woman in her twenties and dressed in black interrupted them, "It's time for your speech, sir."
"Ok, sure. Just give me one minute," he told the woman, who nodded and took a few steps back to give them privacy. Richard turned to Diane and smiled, "Promise me we will continue this conversation after I finish. Don't run away from me this time. I will be back in a few moments."
Diane looked at him and nodded, "I won't."
She watched him give the woman his glass and walk towards the stage. The chief Editor of Fortune gave a brief speech about the magazine itself, the importance of the award and announced this year's winner.
Richard shook his hand when he stepped onto the podium and accepted the warm applause. The entire room was giving him a standing ovation and she was rather surprised to see how happy his friends were for him. Apparently, everybody adored him.
"Thank you all, thank you," he said as the guests applauded him, "OK, cut that out guys, that's enough," he continued and the audience laughed. He smiled and made a gesture with his arms, silently asking the audience to sit down.
"First of all, I would like to thank Fortune for honouring me tonight with this incredibly important award. I still don't know the real reason why I'm being honoured, but since I'm an old man, I'm accepting all kinds of recognition I can get lately."
The audience laughed and he continued, "I would also like to thank all of you for being here tonight. I'm honoured that I'm this year's award winner, but this would mean nothing if my family and friends weren't here to share this moment with me. My son Josh, his wife Sarah, who gave me one of the greatest gifts of my life, my granddaughter Grace. My old dear friends Adam, Larry, Reese and Max; Even my partners and confidants Dan and Jason, who helped turning my old father's construction company into the second biggest in the country and had finally agreed to move to Chicago last year... All of you. This award is to all of you," he said while the audience cheered loudly.
Diane noticed Richard looking in her direction before speaking again, "It's indeed a very special night and very special people. Old friends and new friends, who are very close to my heart."
She looked down at her glass and shook her head. God. She knew she was playing with fire. But it was her fault, wasn't it? She was definitely encouraging him, grinning at his jokes and enjoying his flirtation. She was even dressing up for him.
She drank deeply and felt her phone vibrate inside her clutch. She took it out and for a moment just stared at the name on the screen. It was 9pm, on a Thursday night - what in the world would he be calling her about?
She decided to answer, since it could have been an emergency.
"Hello?"
"Hey," he said and she immediately closed her eyes. He obviously had to answer that way, the same way he had always answered her when he called, "I eh, am I interrupting something important?" He asked. Diane thought he might had heard the cheering in the background, "It's no big deal really, I just wanted to ask you something," he said and waited for her reply.
"Yes, I can talk, but briefly. I'm actually at an event right now," she mentioned and looked back at the stage. Richard was still giving his speech and entertaining his friends
"It won't take much time," he said and waited a few moments, "I was wondering if you have received the book last week, since you haven't been in touch."
She could tell he was nervous. Why in the world would he be nervous? Maybe because he hoped she would mention the picture or better yet, the dedication.
"Yes, I did and it looks great. The publisher did an excellent job," she said the words as cold as possible, trying to hide any emotion she might have been feeling.
She saw Richard finishing his speech while the guests applauded enthusiastically. He walked down the stage, greeting friends with pats on the back and long handshakes. He spoke to a couple briefly, hugging and kissing them. The young man's resemblance with Richard was uncanny, even though his hair was much darker.
"Well, good," he said and hesitated again before continuing, "I just wanted to invite you to the book launch cocktail. I'm not sure when it will be exactly, but probably in the upcoming months."
She quickly searched for the nearest waiter, urgently needing another drink, "Send the invitation to the office when you decide on the date and I will check my schedule. I've been incredibly busy lately, so I can't promise you anything. But I will definitely do my best to go."
Diane saw Richard smiling at RD, as he patted his back and looked in her direction again. She noticed how much closer he was to her.
"Yes, sure. I can only imagine," she heard him saying, "It would mean a lot to me if you could come though," he said and she closed her eyes tightly. Every time they talked, at some point, she felt emotional.
"I've..." he said and stopped. She could hear him sighing deeply. If it was difficult for her, she could only imagine that it was painful for him as well.
Before he continued, she heard a distant voice on the other side of the line. A woman's voice, "Kurt, are you ready? They are waiting!"
Diane opened her eyes and her thoughts began to run wild.
"Diane, sorry, I have to go," he said calmly, "I will talk to you soon."
She took the phone from hear ear, turned off the call and stared at the display. Her whole body was shaking and her eyes filled with tears again. She couldn't believe what had just happened.
Diane felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around without thinking. She saw Richard's smile fade away when he notice her eyes filled with tears.
"Are you ok?" He asked softly, sounding concerned.
She shook her head simply because she didn't trust her voice to answer him. She knew she was going to cry openly and didn't want to embarrass herself even more. She immediately turned away from him and started walking towards the exit as fast as she could.
"Diane," she heard him call her name, but didn't bother to answer. She needed to get away from that place and from everybody. She wanted to be alone. She was done with public humiliations a long time ago.
When she reached the main door, she felt a hand on hers, forcing her to turn, "Diane, wait. What happened?" Richard asked, breathing heavily.
"Please, let me go," Diane whispered, keeping her head lowered. She could hear her heart beating loudly the minute she heard that voice on the other side of the line.
"You promised me you wouldn't leave, remember?" Richard said, trying to make eye contact with her, "What happened to upset you so much? Was it the phone call? Is everything alright?"
She laughed ironically, as she dried a tear with the back of her hand, "Yes, I guess it is. Everything is fine. With everybody else but me."
"Was it him on the phone?" Richard asked her and she finally made eye contact. He saw the truth and nodded.
"Richard, please go back. It's your night, you need to go back," Diane asked him, trying not to let her voice break again.
"This is where I want to be," he told her, offering his hand, "Come, let's go somewhere quieter and talk."
She looked at his extended hand first and then at his eyes again, kindly asking her to accept his offer. She hesitated.
"Do you trust me?" He asked her.
There was no doubt that she could trust him. She was not sure though if she could trust herself.