Part 19: SUBTLE MOVES
Crealite
Sean came into the office at around 9:30am. When he stopped to get his messages from Charlotte, he noticed that Elana was in the office that had been set up for her. She was on the telephone and obviously ranting about something.
"She's been on that phone for about half an hour yelling at somebody. It seems to have her pretty upset." Charlotte volunteered. "I don't know why she didn't close the door, and I hope it's not long distance."
Sean decided to see if it had anything to do with Crealite, so he made his way to her office. He stood in the doorway and leaned up against it watching her as she paced back and forth in front of the window discussing an accounting matter with someone. It sounded like she was talking to Jon about one of their new accountants and a mistake that had been made on another account. He couldn't help but notice how the sun caught the brown highlights in her hair even though she had it all pinned up. She had on a charcoal gray skirt that stopped a few inches above her knees and a white silk blouse that complimented her figure. She wore charcoal gray heels to match her skirt and the silk shimmer on her legs from the hose made her seem irresistible to Sean. He thought about going over and taking the phone out of her hand then pulling her up close to him and kissing her anxiety away. He imagined himself unbuttoning her blouse and not getting any resistance from her this time as he always had before. Suddenly he noticed that she had stopped pacing and stood still, staring back at him. Her voice calmed down and finally she told Jon that she would call him back.
After hanging up the phone, Elana greeted Sean. "Good morning."
Sean moved into the office and sat his case down in the chair in front of her desk, then went behind the desk to where she stood. When he was no more than a few inches from her, he returned her greeting in a low methodic tone. "Good morning Ms. Powers."
He wouldn't take his eyes from hers and waited to see how she would react to him. Elana could feel that familiar weakness in her knees, but was determined that she would not let him do this to her. She didn't know why he was taking this approach to her. It was like he was waiting for her to say or do something and she was not sure what it was. He had a girlfriend who he was seeing for over two years now, so why would he be persistent in trying to break down her resolve. Surely he had not turned into an uncaring man who would make passes at women even though he was in a committed relationship. She decided she knew what would break his game whatever it was.
"I had a message on my desk this morning from your girlfriend." She said blankly and noticed that her statement did not have its intended effect as he continued his stare.
"Did you?" he asked.
"Yes, Sheridan asked if I would call her as soon as I had a chance. Would you happen to know what that's about." She said quickly, not knowing how long she could feign strength with him this close to her. Finally he broke his gaze and turned to look out the window and Elana quickly shut her eyes and reopened them from relief of his diverting his attention. She folded her arms hoping he couldn't hear the rapid beating of her heart.
"I guess you'll have to ask her if you return her call." He said.
Elana felt that he did know why Sheridan was calling, but for whatever reason elected not to tell her. She decided not to pursue it thinking that it would just prolong his stay in her office. "Well, on another note. I'll be working on my project schedule this week and I intend to have it for you by midweek. Friday I would like to submit the interviewing schedules to the individual departments so that they can all prepare to get their information together for the interviews that will begin next week."
Sean turned back around to face her, noticing that she had closed herself up by folding her arms in front of her. He remembered that whenever she use to do that it was because she was nervous or trying to hide something, so he gave her a knowing smile. "I'll look forward to seeing your schedules Elana." He now remembered her date with James and wondered what had happened. He knew that James would try to move in on the first date as he always bragged about with his other conquests. Suddenly Sean felt sick thinking about James making moves on Elana, but he still wanted to know what had happened. "So, how was your date with James last night?"
Elana couldn't stand it anymore and she wanted to move away from him, but she could not move too quickly because it would let him know that she was definitely affected, but then Sean moved over and sat on the edge of her desk waiting for her reply. She was relieved that he wasn't so close to her. So, unable to stand any longer from the weakness in her knees she gracefully sat in her chair and crossed her legs. Then she readily volunteered the information hoping this would make Sean go on about his business. As she spoke she sat back confidently in her chair and picked up a pencil then began tapping it on her desk. "We had a great time. Actually Mr. Payton is quite charming. He was very attentive and I really enjoyed his company." Elana now felt that she had regained some control because she was talking about her life apart from Sean and it was something they both would have to get used to especially if they would be working together for a while.
Sean was not pleased. He had hoped that she would use her genius to see straight through his Vice President. He had hoped that age had not made Elana lose some of the gusto she had, when he had tried anything out of line with her, but looking at her, he realized that she WAS a woman and as far as he knew not many women, if any, had been able to resist James. As he watched her taking some pride in her date with James he couldn't help but notice that her blouse had opened up even more because of the way she was sitting, and he couldn't help but see the black lace camisole she wore underneath. "Did you let him kiss you?" He asked
Elana was surprised that Sean would ask her this and it bothered her, so she stood up folding her arms and standing in a defensive manner. In an angry tone she answered him. "I don't think that's any of your business what I do while I'm not on company time!"
Sean stood up a little thrown off by her reaction. "I'm sorry. You're right. I just wanted to tell you to be careful. James is not the person you think he is. He comes off as wonderful, but he's only after one thing and once he gets it you can never be too sure how much longer he'll stay around. I just don't want to see you get hurt."
"Well, I'm a grown woman Sean and I can handle it. And besides, how do you know what I may be after? My intentions may not be totally honorable either."
Sean was surprised, but then realized that she was just trying to shock him. So he moved in closer to her, and gently touched the side of her arm and spoke softly. "I guess I don't know what you're after Elana, but I do know you, and I'm certain that your intentions would be nothing but honorable for any man fortunate enough to have you pursuing him..."
As Sean continued to speak, Charlotte appeared in the door and they both were caught off guard as she spoke. "Um. Excuse me, but um Mr. Logan one of your managers is in your office, he said he needs to see you and uh, Ms. Powers, you have a call on line 2."
Sean returned his gaze to Elana as he responded to Charlotte. "Thank you Ms. Braumly. Tell him I'll be right there."
Elana was uncomfortable with the whole situation and was angry at herself for being caught like this with Sean, so she moved away from him and toward her desk as she spoke to Charlotte. "Who is on the line Charlotte?"
"It's Ms. Winthrop." She said as she moved backward out of the office looking back and forth from Sean to Elana wondering what was going on before she came into the office.
Elana picked up the phone and Sean retrieved his case from the chair and went to his office. Meanwhile Elana spoke to Sheridan and found that she wanted to talk about a business proposition she had for her. At first Elana indicated that she would not be interested, but Sheridan convinced her to at least hear the idea out over lunch, so Elana agreed to the lunch and they scheduled to meet Wednesday of the following week.
Making his way into his office he greeted the manager who was waiting for him and they briefly discussed a pending problem then the man left. Sean could see that Elana was still on line 2, so he decided that after the line was clear, he would call Sheridan back and set something up a time for them to meet. He was not going to live this lie with Sheridan any more. There was nothing between them and there never had been even when he had tried to make it so. He knew this now for sure because of the feeling that resurfaced the first time he saw Elana, after so many years. Just the mere sight of her made his heart beat faster and his stomach knotted up. He didn't know exactly what he would say to Sheridan, but he knew he did not love her and it was not fair to him or her to continue. Now the only thing he had to figure out was what he would do about Elana. He had to get to the bottom of what had happened nine years ago. He also had to know if they could find it in their hearts to forgive each other for whatever may have been the cause of their separation. He hoped that she may want to consider trying again. The past half hour in her office that morning had convinced him that he wanted her back. He couldn't stand the thought of James getting his filthy hands on her, but he couldn't let Elana know that. He couldn't let her know that he had stayed up all night wondering every minute what they were doing and hoping that Elana was just as staunch about promiscuity as she had been years ago. He knew that she had no doubt shared her love with someone in the past, but he wouldn't think about that because he was no virgin himself. Even though he had never loved anyone since Elana, but now that they had been thrown together, he felt it was some sign that they should be together. He made it his resolve to make sure that this time he was not going to let anyone get in his way, not himself, his family, Elana and especially not James Payton. What ever had happened nine years ago he almost did not care, but he knew it had to be resolved before they could move on. Then he noticed that Elana was no longer on the phone so he called Sheridan.
"Hello, this is Sheridan Winthrop"
"Hi, Sheridan, it's Sean."
"Oh hi love. Guess what?"
"Sheridan, we need to talk about some things."
"Ok sure, but first I want to tell you about..."
"When can we get together?"
"Um, well I'm going away this weekend, maybe we can go to lunch together." Sheridan was not catching on to the seriousness of Sean's tone in fact he seemed to speak to her in the same manner he always had, so she didn't notice the difference.
"That would be good. I can take the afternoon off and we can go somewhere, have a bite to eat and then talk. What's a good day for you."
"I'll be in New York on Wednesday, so can we do it then."
"Sure. Wednesday it will be."
"Great. I'll have a surprise for you, and I look forward to spending the afternoon together. Maybe we can browse the jewelers for rings. You know I'll want something grand when you propose, so I want to give you an idea of what I like. I know we haven't discussed it lately, but I think it's time we went ahead and got married. There's really no need for us to do this dating thing anymore."
"We'll talk about all of that Sheridan. I'll see you Wednesday."
"Ok"
Sean hung up the phone and couldn't believe that she would ask him about getting her a ring. Things had been only cordial between them after the dinner incident in Connecticut and he couldn't imagine why she wanted to get a ring now, but it did not matter. They would talk on Wednesday and it would all be over. He wouldn't have to wonder why she did the things she did any more and they both could go their separate ways and find someone more suitable for them both. Sean went about his work, now anxious for Wednesday to get here and after that, if Elana had not come to him soon after that to talk about what had happened, he would confront her.
Crealite
Sean came into the office at around 9:30am. When he stopped to get his messages from Charlotte, he noticed that Elana was in the office that had been set up for her. She was on the telephone and obviously ranting about something.
"She's been on that phone for about half an hour yelling at somebody. It seems to have her pretty upset." Charlotte volunteered. "I don't know why she didn't close the door, and I hope it's not long distance."
Sean decided to see if it had anything to do with Crealite, so he made his way to her office. He stood in the doorway and leaned up against it watching her as she paced back and forth in front of the window discussing an accounting matter with someone. It sounded like she was talking to Jon about one of their new accountants and a mistake that had been made on another account. He couldn't help but notice how the sun caught the brown highlights in her hair even though she had it all pinned up. She had on a charcoal gray skirt that stopped a few inches above her knees and a white silk blouse that complimented her figure. She wore charcoal gray heels to match her skirt and the silk shimmer on her legs from the hose made her seem irresistible to Sean. He thought about going over and taking the phone out of her hand then pulling her up close to him and kissing her anxiety away. He imagined himself unbuttoning her blouse and not getting any resistance from her this time as he always had before. Suddenly he noticed that she had stopped pacing and stood still, staring back at him. Her voice calmed down and finally she told Jon that she would call him back.
After hanging up the phone, Elana greeted Sean. "Good morning."
Sean moved into the office and sat his case down in the chair in front of her desk, then went behind the desk to where she stood. When he was no more than a few inches from her, he returned her greeting in a low methodic tone. "Good morning Ms. Powers."
He wouldn't take his eyes from hers and waited to see how she would react to him. Elana could feel that familiar weakness in her knees, but was determined that she would not let him do this to her. She didn't know why he was taking this approach to her. It was like he was waiting for her to say or do something and she was not sure what it was. He had a girlfriend who he was seeing for over two years now, so why would he be persistent in trying to break down her resolve. Surely he had not turned into an uncaring man who would make passes at women even though he was in a committed relationship. She decided she knew what would break his game whatever it was.
"I had a message on my desk this morning from your girlfriend." She said blankly and noticed that her statement did not have its intended effect as he continued his stare.
"Did you?" he asked.
"Yes, Sheridan asked if I would call her as soon as I had a chance. Would you happen to know what that's about." She said quickly, not knowing how long she could feign strength with him this close to her. Finally he broke his gaze and turned to look out the window and Elana quickly shut her eyes and reopened them from relief of his diverting his attention. She folded her arms hoping he couldn't hear the rapid beating of her heart.
"I guess you'll have to ask her if you return her call." He said.
Elana felt that he did know why Sheridan was calling, but for whatever reason elected not to tell her. She decided not to pursue it thinking that it would just prolong his stay in her office. "Well, on another note. I'll be working on my project schedule this week and I intend to have it for you by midweek. Friday I would like to submit the interviewing schedules to the individual departments so that they can all prepare to get their information together for the interviews that will begin next week."
Sean turned back around to face her, noticing that she had closed herself up by folding her arms in front of her. He remembered that whenever she use to do that it was because she was nervous or trying to hide something, so he gave her a knowing smile. "I'll look forward to seeing your schedules Elana." He now remembered her date with James and wondered what had happened. He knew that James would try to move in on the first date as he always bragged about with his other conquests. Suddenly Sean felt sick thinking about James making moves on Elana, but he still wanted to know what had happened. "So, how was your date with James last night?"
Elana couldn't stand it anymore and she wanted to move away from him, but she could not move too quickly because it would let him know that she was definitely affected, but then Sean moved over and sat on the edge of her desk waiting for her reply. She was relieved that he wasn't so close to her. So, unable to stand any longer from the weakness in her knees she gracefully sat in her chair and crossed her legs. Then she readily volunteered the information hoping this would make Sean go on about his business. As she spoke she sat back confidently in her chair and picked up a pencil then began tapping it on her desk. "We had a great time. Actually Mr. Payton is quite charming. He was very attentive and I really enjoyed his company." Elana now felt that she had regained some control because she was talking about her life apart from Sean and it was something they both would have to get used to especially if they would be working together for a while.
Sean was not pleased. He had hoped that she would use her genius to see straight through his Vice President. He had hoped that age had not made Elana lose some of the gusto she had, when he had tried anything out of line with her, but looking at her, he realized that she WAS a woman and as far as he knew not many women, if any, had been able to resist James. As he watched her taking some pride in her date with James he couldn't help but notice that her blouse had opened up even more because of the way she was sitting, and he couldn't help but see the black lace camisole she wore underneath. "Did you let him kiss you?" He asked
Elana was surprised that Sean would ask her this and it bothered her, so she stood up folding her arms and standing in a defensive manner. In an angry tone she answered him. "I don't think that's any of your business what I do while I'm not on company time!"
Sean stood up a little thrown off by her reaction. "I'm sorry. You're right. I just wanted to tell you to be careful. James is not the person you think he is. He comes off as wonderful, but he's only after one thing and once he gets it you can never be too sure how much longer he'll stay around. I just don't want to see you get hurt."
"Well, I'm a grown woman Sean and I can handle it. And besides, how do you know what I may be after? My intentions may not be totally honorable either."
Sean was surprised, but then realized that she was just trying to shock him. So he moved in closer to her, and gently touched the side of her arm and spoke softly. "I guess I don't know what you're after Elana, but I do know you, and I'm certain that your intentions would be nothing but honorable for any man fortunate enough to have you pursuing him..."
As Sean continued to speak, Charlotte appeared in the door and they both were caught off guard as she spoke. "Um. Excuse me, but um Mr. Logan one of your managers is in your office, he said he needs to see you and uh, Ms. Powers, you have a call on line 2."
Sean returned his gaze to Elana as he responded to Charlotte. "Thank you Ms. Braumly. Tell him I'll be right there."
Elana was uncomfortable with the whole situation and was angry at herself for being caught like this with Sean, so she moved away from him and toward her desk as she spoke to Charlotte. "Who is on the line Charlotte?"
"It's Ms. Winthrop." She said as she moved backward out of the office looking back and forth from Sean to Elana wondering what was going on before she came into the office.
Elana picked up the phone and Sean retrieved his case from the chair and went to his office. Meanwhile Elana spoke to Sheridan and found that she wanted to talk about a business proposition she had for her. At first Elana indicated that she would not be interested, but Sheridan convinced her to at least hear the idea out over lunch, so Elana agreed to the lunch and they scheduled to meet Wednesday of the following week.
Making his way into his office he greeted the manager who was waiting for him and they briefly discussed a pending problem then the man left. Sean could see that Elana was still on line 2, so he decided that after the line was clear, he would call Sheridan back and set something up a time for them to meet. He was not going to live this lie with Sheridan any more. There was nothing between them and there never had been even when he had tried to make it so. He knew this now for sure because of the feeling that resurfaced the first time he saw Elana, after so many years. Just the mere sight of her made his heart beat faster and his stomach knotted up. He didn't know exactly what he would say to Sheridan, but he knew he did not love her and it was not fair to him or her to continue. Now the only thing he had to figure out was what he would do about Elana. He had to get to the bottom of what had happened nine years ago. He also had to know if they could find it in their hearts to forgive each other for whatever may have been the cause of their separation. He hoped that she may want to consider trying again. The past half hour in her office that morning had convinced him that he wanted her back. He couldn't stand the thought of James getting his filthy hands on her, but he couldn't let Elana know that. He couldn't let her know that he had stayed up all night wondering every minute what they were doing and hoping that Elana was just as staunch about promiscuity as she had been years ago. He knew that she had no doubt shared her love with someone in the past, but he wouldn't think about that because he was no virgin himself. Even though he had never loved anyone since Elana, but now that they had been thrown together, he felt it was some sign that they should be together. He made it his resolve to make sure that this time he was not going to let anyone get in his way, not himself, his family, Elana and especially not James Payton. What ever had happened nine years ago he almost did not care, but he knew it had to be resolved before they could move on. Then he noticed that Elana was no longer on the phone so he called Sheridan.
"Hello, this is Sheridan Winthrop"
"Hi, Sheridan, it's Sean."
"Oh hi love. Guess what?"
"Sheridan, we need to talk about some things."
"Ok sure, but first I want to tell you about..."
"When can we get together?"
"Um, well I'm going away this weekend, maybe we can go to lunch together." Sheridan was not catching on to the seriousness of Sean's tone in fact he seemed to speak to her in the same manner he always had, so she didn't notice the difference.
"That would be good. I can take the afternoon off and we can go somewhere, have a bite to eat and then talk. What's a good day for you."
"I'll be in New York on Wednesday, so can we do it then."
"Sure. Wednesday it will be."
"Great. I'll have a surprise for you, and I look forward to spending the afternoon together. Maybe we can browse the jewelers for rings. You know I'll want something grand when you propose, so I want to give you an idea of what I like. I know we haven't discussed it lately, but I think it's time we went ahead and got married. There's really no need for us to do this dating thing anymore."
"We'll talk about all of that Sheridan. I'll see you Wednesday."
"Ok"
Sean hung up the phone and couldn't believe that she would ask him about getting her a ring. Things had been only cordial between them after the dinner incident in Connecticut and he couldn't imagine why she wanted to get a ring now, but it did not matter. They would talk on Wednesday and it would all be over. He wouldn't have to wonder why she did the things she did any more and they both could go their separate ways and find someone more suitable for them both. Sean went about his work, now anxious for Wednesday to get here and after that, if Elana had not come to him soon after that to talk about what had happened, he would confront her.