Chapter Ten

The Rosabya coffee capsules sitting on the kitchen side stared up at Charles. Looking at them he thought of the buyer and was stumped as to what to do next. Yesterday, by the time he had gone in search of Molly he'd had everything planned in his mind; an apology for the deception over the restaurant and a plea to wipe the slate clean and start again in the spirit of openness. However, not being able to find her, followed by the discovery that she had been at the pub with Matt had thrown those plans into disarray.

If Charles was honest, when he had ventured around the corner into the snug of the Nant Glyn Arms and seen no one there, he'd been relieved. The last thing he'd wanted was an encounter of that kind with Matt and Ade looking on. Although, it didn't lessen the disquiet he felt about Molly going out with Matt again, the presence of Ade had at least allowed him to keep his feelings contained and Ade's easy acceptance of the situation had encouraged Charles to try see it innocently the same way that Ade did. For a few minutes at least, Charles had felt calm about the situation until Ade had spoiled it by saying, "Mind you, can't say I'd like that chap hanging around Giselle too much. There's something about him I can't quite put my finger on. It's good of you to be so cool about it all, Charles."

Charles accepted the compliment in silence. If Ade only knew the turmoil that Matt had caused him during the last week, he wouldn't be so quick to praise him. Matt's cocksure attitude had grated on him even when it had no direct bearing on anything Charles was doing. Charles had struggled but retained his professional façade at all times. He was determined never to lose his focus in that regard.

Charles picked up the mug of coffee and glanced out of the window. It was a fine, sunny day with clear blue skies, almost like late summer and he decided to stroll over to the House and go out onto the terrace. Today he felt particularly in need of the calming influence of the landscape and a quiet ten minutes reflection whilst he took in the views, feeling it was the best antidote to the stress that had been building during yesterday. At the back of his mind he hoped he might see Molly. He didn't know what he was going to say if he did see her but he was determined to say something. The silence had to end.

X-X-X-X

Molly quietly descended the stairs. It was early and she wanted to get out and about before anyone else and she hoped to see Charles. She knew his habits well enough by now and looking out of the window at the beautiful weather she felt sure he would take a stroll to his favourite viewpoint to consume his favourite coffee.

She pushed open the door of the lounge and caught sight of the water on the lake, blue and sparkling in the sunshine. She started to make her way towards the French doors that led out onto the terrace when she noticed Matt's laptop and some papers on a low table in the corner of the room. She was surprised to see them unaccompanied by the man himself. The laptop was open and she was curious. She remembered him saying that the Wi-Fi was unreliable in his room. He must have come downstairs before anyone was up in order to do some work. The temptation to wander over and take a peek was too great. She crossed the room to the table and at the same moment out of the corner of her eye saw Charles outside on the far side of the terrace.

She glanced down at the computer screen. The screensaver was on and she was about to clear it when she noticed some papers lying on the table to the side. Most were placed face down but one was up the right way although partially obscured by a blank sheet lying diagonally across. She realised that Matt must only have slipped out for a minute or two and might be back at any moment and was worried about touching anything. She glanced down at the paper. It looked like the front page of a report. She caught the words 'An Evaluation of C….' the paper obscured the rest but looking at the bottom of the page she could see the words 'Report prepared for CSF Limited by Parker Hamilton Inc.'.

At that moment she caught the movement of the lounge door and shot across to the window, pretending to look out.

"Molly!" Matt came into the room holding a cup of coffee. "You're up early."

Was it her imagination or did he sound just a little flustered? "Oh you know, "Molly smiled, trying to sound casual. "The early bird and all that."

Matt looked at her. Just the smallest crease of his brow betrayed a hint of concern. "I was just getting some coffee from the kitchen. The cook's very kind to me," he said by way of explanation for his absence although the steaming mug in his hand was evidence enough.

"I can't think why?" Molly muttered disguising her comment with a cough. "Are you working?" she asked indicating the laptop as if she had only just noticed it.

"Yeah," Matt confirmed. "I had some emails to send off early."

"What are you doing?" He asked

Molly saw Charles advancing across the terrace and, moving quickly towards the French doors and pointing at Charles, replied, "This!"

She opened the doors and stepped out, saying under her breath as she did so, "and maybe I'm catching the worm."

Charles saw her at once. He didn't smile but carried on walking towards her. "I was looking for you last night," he began without any preamble.

Molly looked him straight in the eye. "Ditto."

Charles noted this and said more reasonably, "Well, we must have missed each other, probably more than once, I expect." He looked closely at her waiting to see if his comment registered and then changed his mind about the approach he was taking and took a deep breath , "I'm going to say this straight, so I can't be accused later of spying on you." He saw her start. "I'm sorry. I meant to say I don't want you to feel that I'm not being honest with you. I know you were at The Nant Glyn Arms with Matt last night."

He could tell from her expression that she was absorbing this information before responding. She grimaced slightly. Did he have to find out everything she did? She adopted what she hoped was a relaxed stance and placed her hands on her hips. She wasn't going to apologise. She looked at him directly and said, "It wasn't a secret, if that's what you're implying."

Charles shook his head. "No, I'm just saying that I know about it. Make of it what you will."

Molly sighed. "I don't bleedin' well know, do I? The question is really what do you make of it, Charles? From where I'm standing it's nothing because I feel nothing for Matt apart from,"she lowered, her voice suddenly remembering he was the other side of the wall in the lounge, "he's a pain in the bum sometimes."

Charles couldn't help smiling and relaxed slightly. "It's not really you, Molly, it's him and how he makes me feel. I don't trust him."

"What? With me?" Molly cried.

He nodded. "There's something about him. He just seems intent on provoking me and I feel as if he's using you to do it."

Molly frowned. "No one's using me, Charles. You're imagining things."

"Am I?" He stared at her, his expression serious.

Molly took a step nearer to him. "You've nothing to worry about from me. Do you trust me?"

"You don't make it easy." Charles had tried to make the remark sound light but Molly hadn't smiled in response.

She took a deep breath. "Listen good, Charles. I don't feel anything for Matt because, "she paused, "I love you."

She looked into his eyes and knew she was taking a leap of faith, casting aside the doubts she'd experienced yesterday, hoping on hope that he would cast aside his jealousy and respond in kind.

"I found your note last night. It had fallen out of sight onto the floor." His voice was quiet and a little hesitant. It was not the response she had envisaged.

"I see." She didn't see at all but she had to say something.

Charles sensed her confusion and replied, "It's been a tough couple of days, Molly. I just wanted to clear the air with you, try to get back on track and start again."

She could see the earnest look on his face. It wasn't what she had wanted him to say but she was too proud to ask him aloud if he loved her. If he didn't want to say it, she wasn't going to drag it out of him.

"Let's just take things a bit steadily shall we and get to the end of the week without any arguments," he continued and reached out his hand to her. "I thought it would be easier this week but now all I need is to spend a couple of days with you away from all of this and anyone else." He grasped her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "What do you say? Are we good?"

She looked him in the eye. He hadn't told her he loved her or that he trusted her but she could tell he wanted to sort things out and get past these difficulties. It was what she wanted too and her heart told her that the rest would follow. She squeezed his hand in return and reaching up, kissed him.

"Yes," she whispered. "We're good."

X-X-X-X

Molly had been meaning to put pen to paper for the last two days but activities and events seemed to have got in the way of the task that Kevin had asked her do. He had asked her to email him during the week to let him know how things were going and to give him some feedback on a few people in particular. Immediately after breakfast when everyone had split into groups for the day Molly set about working on a report to send to Kevin. He had identified a handful of people in junior positions he was thinking of promoting as well as wanting some feedback on a couple of the older more experienced employees, one of whom was Thomas O'Connell. Sending Thomas on this course had been a bit of a gamble. His difficult reputation preceded him wherever he went and other delegates had been concerned about being in the same group as him. This week he had certainly had his moments and the only time Molly had seen him working well was with Charles' group during the raft building when Matt had handled him adeptly.

In contrast to Matt, Molly found that the Wi-Fi worked well in her room and so excusing herself from her observation duties, she settled down to gather her thoughts. Looking down the list of names she noted that Sasha was one of those on whom Kevin wanted feedback. She assumed he was keen to follow up her progress after promotion in the summer. She wondered for a moment if Kevin had asked her to do this report on other employees as a way of assessing how far she had progressed herself in the last few months. It was certainly different from anything else he had ever asked her to do and showed a flattering degree of trust in her opinion.

Molly logged into the CSF site and accessed her email. There were quite a lot of new messages. Some were circulars to be read in more detail later, a number were from external contacts none of which were urgent, one was from Kate and turned out to be a cheeky enquiry as to how comfortable Charles' bed was and one was from Kevin asking her to provide information on an additional member of staff and expressing his hopes that she and Matt were managing to get some work done on the training and development plan. Talking about the training and development plan, made Molly think about the work they had been doing this week. Now she came to think about it, Matt had been working away whenever he got an opportunity but he hadn't asked for Molly's help very much. In fact, he had involved her far less than last week. She recalled the piece of paper she had seen this morning which appeared to be the front page of a report. Then she remembered the name at the bottom of the page Parker Hamilton Inc. Matt had never mentioned a company to her, certainly not one bearing his name. For someone so self-assured it was strange that he hadn't told her that. She had gained the impression from Kevin and Matt that he was here as a favour to Kevin. He had said that he didn't usually work in the United Kingdom. She thought he was some sort of independent consultant, an expert on training and development. She was curious now and googled the name Parker Hamilton Inc. adding Boston to try and narrow the search a little. Several references came up but none appeared to be a company website. She was surprised. No decent company today operated without a website and it seemed like a glaring omission for someone so on the money as Matt.

She found a few references on business link websites which gave an address in Boston and referred to the company having been founded four years ago. The nature of its business was simply described as Business Consultancy. Molly pulled a face. That was a fat lot of use to her. She searched for the name Matt Parker. It took a while to find some details on the right person as there were so many and when she did she discovered pretty much what she already knew. He had been educated at UCLA, majored in Business Studies and had specialised in training and development until four years ago when Parker Hamilton Inc. had been formed and then just the same bland description of what they did. She decided to look for Matt's business partner and eventually located some details on a Brad Hamilton. He had similarly been educated at UCLA but he had studied law and had practiced as a lawyer until forming a company with Matt four years ago.

She was dissatisfied with the results of her research. It told her nothing very illuminating and she would dearly have loved to ask Matt or Kevin about this but if she did she would have to admit to snooping and she wasn't going to do that. She thought it was strange but she would have no choice but to let it lie.

She closed down the websites and turned her attention to answering the emails. She attached a report for Kevin giving him a brief rundown on the employees he had listed and a summary of the high and low points so far this week. To Kate she merely replied, "I was asleep before the springs hit the floor – well almost!"

X-X-X-X

Matt was quiet; unnaturally quiet. Charles had noticed almost from the start of the session that he seemed disinterested in the High Ropes Course. They had done the Low Ropes course this morning and he had noticed no particular difference in Matt's attitude. He had taken part willingly and been vocal in his encouragement but the same couldn't be said for his attitude this afternoon. To make matters worse, Thomas O'Connell was leading the group and Charles had sensed reluctance in the other members. Thomas wasn't particularly liked and Charles had overheard one of the men describing him as 'shirty'. Thomas treated everything as a practical task to be achieved by him simply directing whoever he chose to perform whichever role he deemed necessary. He didn't seem to pay any attention to the strengths and weaknesses of his group. Things had not gone smoothly and Thomas was getting frustrated with a couple of the younger members and starting to lose his temper. At one point Charles had stepped in to calm things down and taken Thomas to one side suggesting that he take the consensus approach and find out what his team members were willing to do. He didn't use the term 'dictator' but he had been sorely tempted to describe his leadership style that way.

Thomas had attempted to take his advice and when it had come to the Leap of Faith challenge three of the group had volunteered, amongst them Sasha who was always keen and eager to impress. Thomas needed a fourth person and, if Charles was honest, he had expected Matt to step up for the task. It was unusual to see him quiet and hanging back.

Thomas, who was unable to take part because of a hip injury, addressed Matt directly. "What about you Matt? Would you be willing?"

Matt shrugged. "I don't want to deny anyone else their opportunity."

"Well, I think no one else minds," Thomas continued not picking up on the slight hesitancy in Matt's reply.

Sasha then added her voice to the suggestion. "Oh, come on Matt, I bet you can show us all how it's done."

Charles wasn't sure but he thought that he detected a hint of pallor in Matt's face which was noticeable even with his suntan and it struck Charles that Matt didn't want to do this.

Charles always made it clear to his group members that no one was obliged to take part in any activity. He believed that all course delegates should seek to challenge themselves but no one should be pushed beyond their capabilities. When he looked at Matt he got the distinct impression that he wasn't comfortable with the idea of this challenge. Charles was conflicted. His professional instincts told him to support Matt if he didn't want to take part whereas his personal instincts urged him not to intervene and let peer pressure do its work. He hesitated and it was long enough for Thomas O'Connell to utter in a moment of frustration, "Good God man, do you think I wouldn't be up there like a shot if my bloody hip wasn't up to it."

With that Matt moved forward and joined the group. He feigned a smile to the others but Charles could see him concentrating very hard. He knew that he ought to step in and say something and with anyone else it would probably make a difference but he suspected that the moment he said something about not doing the task, Matt would be determined to prove him wrong. He stayed where he was.

Sasha and Mike Hilton climbed first followed by Jules Piper, a senior consultant from the Finance Division. Sasha and Mike reached the platform and both performed the jump without a problem. Sasha returned to the group, bright eyed, flushed with success and laughing. Mike was pumped with adrenalin and Jules who'd admitted to feeling a little trepidation was pleased with his achievement. As Matt began his ascent, Charles saw an unsteadiness in the way he was climbing. Every moment was hesitant and forced and when he was half-way up he stopped altogether. Charles called up, "Everything OK?"

Matt nodded and called down something like, "Sure." He didn't sound sure when he said it. He moved a few feet further and stopped again. Something seemed to be wrong. He was tugging at the harness in a futile gesture.

"Are you OK?" Sasha called up to Matt but he didn't reply, didn't look down and didn't offer a cocky one-liner.

Charles knew it was time to act and clipping his harness onto the safety line he started to climb up to Matt. When he reached him he could tell immediately that the only thing wrong with Matt was fear. He clearly didn't like heights. He was quiet, withdrawn and unwilling to move any further. Charles had sensed this and the professional in him was annoyed with himself for allowing this to happen. He glanced down at Matt's harness and made a show of fiddling with the clip before declaring loudly for the others to hear,

"It's a faulty clip. We'll have to pull this attempt, Matt. Sorry to disappoint you. You'd better make you way down again."

Matt looked at him realising what he was doing and followed his instructions, returning to the ground. Sasha and Mike clapped Matt on the back and commiserated with him particularly when Charles declared there wasn't time for another attempt. Thomas O'Connell's only concern was whether the group had passed the challenge if only three team members had completed the leap of faith.

Charles, picking up the equipment and sorting it out declared, "Of course, you can't be held responsible for equipment failures. I'll make sure that's fixed. Bad luck, Matt." Matt glanced in his direction, his composure rapidly returning and made a pretence of looking disappointed in front of the team

The group began to make their way back to the House but Matt remained behind. Charles looked up from the equipment to see him standing there.

"We both know there was nothing wrong with that safety clip, don't we?" Matt said.

"Well, you wouldn't be the first person on this course who's suddenly developed a problem with equipment." Charles replied.

"Thanks for not saying anything."

Charles looked him in the eye. He wanted Matt to be under no illusion that he was doing him any favours. "I was just doing my job."

X-X-X-X

The bar was filling up. True to form Ade was setting up his weekly Karaoke night. Charles had been having a quiet pint in the corner of the bar and reading a paper whilst the CSF employees ate dinner. As they gradually made their way into the room, Ade loudly cajoled them into signing up for a singing slot. He had, in fact, been asking people all afternoon. Some stepped forward eagerly, others sidled away pretending they hadn't noticed and one or two, like Thomas O'Connell, turned tail and left immediately on seeing the nature of the entertainment on offer after dinner.

Charles was waiting for Molly, hoping they could have a drink together. He wasn't expecting anything more. It had been an emotional couple of days for them and he wasn't going to push his luck. He was very conscious of not telling Molly that he loved her when she had probably expected him to say so but it simply hadn't been the moment for him. His nerves were still raw and he was treading carefully. He saw Matt come in to the bar and tried to direct his gaze elsewhere, concentrating on the newspaper in front of him.

Ade was making his way around the room signing up volunteers. He reached Charles.

"And what about you, my friend? Will you be gracing us with your talents tonight?"

Charles gave a wry smile. "Have I ever taken part before?"

Ade shrugged. "No, but there's a first time for everything."

Charles smiled and pushed the paper away. "But it's not today."

Ade leaned towards him. "Not even if I told you that a certain Matt Parker has put himself down for a duet?"

Charles replied, "That's his business." He paused for a second and then sighing said, "Who's he singing with?"

Ade consulted the list. "He's put down 'To be advised'."

Charles shook his head and waved Ade on continuing to read his paper. He wasn't going to be persuaded into something outside his comfort zone by Ade. Nevertheless, the mention of Matt's duet had unsettled him. He glanced sideways at Matt. It was as if this afternoon had never happened. The irrepressible Matt was back on show and he was entertaining a small group of ladies, of whom, naturally, Sasha was one. He watched her smiling up at him, casting the odd flirting glance in his direction, touching his arm more than necessary and laughing just that bit louder and longer than anyone else when he said something humorous. Matt, by contrast, paid her no more attention than anyone else. A touch of guilt returned. Charles had encouraged Sasha and she was really turning on the charm. However, it seemed as if Molly was right; Matt just wasn't interested.

The music started and the first act was naturally Ade who felt in incumbent upon him to show a good example and start things off. Halfway through the second performance Molly appeared. She spotted Charles in the corner of the room and he got up and moved towards her. Reaching her he kissed her on the cheek.

"What would you like to drink?"

She asked for a glass of wine and he went to the bar to fetch it. The latest act finished to a round of enthusiastic applause and as Charles walked back towards Molly, glass in hand, Ade announced, "Next up, please give a big hand for Mr Matt Parker and ..." he looked at Matt, "who's your lovely partner tonight?"

Charles caught sight of Sasha's hopeful expression cast in Matt's direction.

Matt turned to Molly. "How about it Molly?"

Charles saw the wide-eyed look of surprise on Molly's face. He could tell she knew nothing about it. "I don't know, Matt." She had an eye on Charles looking alarmed at being caught between them. Matt was trying to turn up the charm,

"Come on, you'd be good Molly."

She was hesitating, unsure what to say and Charles was suddenly struck with a thought. He put the glass of wine down on a table and moved towards them.

"Are you ready, Matt?" Ade called out over the microphone.

Charles addressed Matt, "Have you heard of a Gentleman's Excuse Me?"

Matt frowned. "Yeah, but were not dancing, Charles."

"No, "Charles conceded. "But I'm claiming one anyway." He turned to Molly. "Would you care to do me the honour of singing with me?"

Molly was genuinely too shocked by his question to think of refusing, however, unequal to the task she believed her talents to be. She allowed Charles to lead her by the hand to the stage. As they passed Sasha, Charles heard her say, "I'll sing with you Matt."

Ade watched Charles and Molly approaching him and called out, "Well, it looks like there's a change. Please welcome Mr Charles James and Miss Molly Dawes."

The audience in the bar clapped and a few whistled. Molly felt her face starting to burn with embarrassment. Charles leaned towards Ade. "What are we singing?"

Ade grinned. "Oh, don't worry. I expect you'll know it."

He passed them a microphone each and then the opening bars of the song began. Charles realised with relief that he knew the song and waited for his opening line.

"Don't go breaking my heart…" he smiled across at Molly who still looked worried but was also shocked to hear a fine, strong, tenor voice project across the room.

She couldn't help herself and started to laugh as she replied, "I couldn't if I tried…"

They sang on, the audience loved it and joined in enthusiastically with the chorus. Charles continued to sing really well and Molly, although less vocally talented, grew in confidence, beginning to enjoy the experience and the infectious enthusiasm of her colleagues. A smile overspread Charles face as he watched Molly blossoming before his eyes and he realised in that moment just how much she meant to him. He winked at her and she giggled. Glancing out into the audience he caught sight of Matt watching them. There was a look of bemusement on his face but he wasn't going anywhere.

The music finished and everyone applauded. Charles could see Ade to his left, his face incredulous but it was the look on Molly's face that he liked best. Despite her enjoyment of those few minutes he could tell that she was still stunned by what had just happened; stunned and impressed. He'd surprised her almost as much as he'd surprised himself. It had been a long time since he'd played the role of Tony in West Side Story, way back in his Sixth Form days at his boarding school, when Maria had been played by a dark-haired beauty called Emily, from the local girls grammar school who had been chosen more for her similarity in looks to Natalie Wood than her singing ability.

Charles caught sight of Matt again, still watching him. He caught his eye and Matt had the good grace at least to nod in Charles direction and clap politely. Charles almost had the impression that Matt was amused but trying to hide it. He didn't know why but he was determined to have the last word. The introduction to the next piece of music was starting and another performer had taken to the stage.

Charles walked over to Matt, the music increased in volume and he had no choice other than to lean forward and place his mouth close to Matt's ear.

"You said I'd be a hard act to follow." He slapped the microphone into Matt's hand. "Well, just you try!"