CHAPTER TWO
"Right" Kai sat down, brillant crimson eyes sweeping over the grubby table with such unconcealed distaste that Amethyst was forced to remind him that a hospital canteen wasn't going to be along the lines of a five star restaurant.
"i did try to clear most of the crumbs" she finished apologetically, which earned her a frown. "why are you apologising for the state of this place?" Kai demanded impatiently "nobody, least of all me, expects a hospital cafe to be run like a five star restaurant, but this table looks as through its ambition is to collect several months of grime before someone gets around to wiping it with a damp cloth"
Amethyst wondered how his employees coped with his obviously impossible high standards. did he pour that undiluted, freezing scorn over anyone who just happened to make the smallest slip up? she shuddered and gulped down a mouthful of coffee
"you were going to tell me what... what you've decided to do? about work?" Amethyst prompted
"well i won't be returning to new york, at least not until Voltaire is back on his feet. The obvious solution is for me to set up an office at the house and work from there "
"house? what house?" Amethyst wondered if she was listening alright.
"what house do you think?" Kai's voice was exaggeratedly patient, the tone of someone who has to slow down the natural pace of his mind to accommodate the sluggishness of someone else's.
"you're going to work from Voltaire's house?" Amethyst sqeaked. Her stomach seemed to be doing a frantic tap dance inside her. Thank god she was sitting down or she might over keeled over at the horrifying prospect now unfolding before her eyes. "correct, now drink up. We can't spend all day in here discussing this"
Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she looked at him and she had already decided if that was the case, then she could quite easily avoid him. It was a big house. With a bit of forward planning she need never run into him, and on the few occasions when avoidance was out of the question she would just take a deep breath and cope with the temporary discomfort.
But an indefinite stay?
"furthermore-" Kai flicked his wrist so he could glance at his watch "-you'll be working for me. It's not ideal. I would of preferred someone with a bit more experience in dealing with the business world but you're available and you'll have to do. I can't very well ask my own secretary to uproot herself and move up here to accommodate me. Not when she has a husband and two children to consider" the implication being that, were it not for those emotional anchors, he would have had no hesitation at all in uprooting her.
"theres really no need to look so stricken, Amethyst. I don't bite" he stood up and she realised as far as he was concerned, the conversation was over. He had informed her of what he intended to do and her duty was to keep quiet and oblige.
And as she tripped along behind him, watching blankly as he charmed the nurses on duty and headed down the corridor for Voltaire's room, all she could think of what the nightmare prospect of what he had just proposed.
She would have to have it out with him, she thought feverishly. In a ideal world, she would not have to communicate with him at all, but she would just have to bite the bullet and confront him with the impossibility of his suggestion. Not that it was being coached as such.
It hardly helped that after a few minutes during which she held Voltaire's hand while Kai toyed with something approaching a bedside manner, the subject of her new role was foisted onto her clearly still weak employer. "i really don't think that this is the time..." Amethyst initiated a hesitant protest and Kai quelled her with a glare.
"i am simply reassuring my grandfather that he can count on my being around for the foreseeable future"
"you mustn't interrupt your work schedule" Voltaire predictably objected, then, to her dismay he continued wanly, "though, of course Amethyst could do with someone around..." Amethyst tried not to splutter at this "i do not need looking after, Voltaire" She managed to say with a lot of self control and keeping her eyes very pointedly averted from Kai's intense, unsettling gaze. "i'm nearly twenty-four! i think it's fair to say i'm perfectly capable of looking after myself, and of making sure the house doesn't fall down around my ears! besides" she said encouragingly, giving his hand a little squeeze "you'll be home sooner than you think"
"is that what the doctors say?"
"well no, not exactly, but then we haven't actually spoken to any doctors as yet-"
"typically, there's never a doctor around when you need one" Kai interrupted scowling darkly. "apparently he won't be surfacing for another hour and i've given the nurse strict instructions that he's to see me before he begins his rounds" Voltaire met Amethyst's eyes in a moment of mutual understanding. She wondered whether it had even occured to Kai that a busy doctor might not appreciate being summoned by a relative of one of his patients, and then decided it probably hadn't. "are you with us?" Kai cut in to her thoughts and Amethyst sat up a little straighter "i was just thinking..."
"well, we'd better be heading off. Voltaire needs his rest" they both looked at the old man who eyes had drooped. "he looks so frail" Amethyst whispered in sudden anguish. She turned implusively to Kai only to collide with cold crimson eyes. "what did you expect?" was her only answer.
Amethyst didn't reply and left the room going up to one of the nurses at the desk and politely asked whether they could be notified of the consultants arrival when he appeared so they could have a quick word "his grandson is very worried" she murmured in a low voice while Kai breathed down her neck in a very off-putting way.
"his grandson is understandably anxious to have a few answers" Kai interjected with a show of perfect politeness, and Amethyst wondered how he managed to sound so threatening when he was delivering, for him, quite an inoffensive remark. She had no need to look at him. She could quite easily imagine the unsmiling expression on his face all too clearly. The nurse must of picked up on these signals as well because the bland, bordering expression he'd worn had been replaced by a nervous nodding of the head.
"if i kept people waiting all day long" He muttered as soon as they sat down on the functional chairs further along the corridor "i would no longer be in business" Amethyst discreetly held her tongue as there was no point in antagonising him. "and let me do the talking" He grated "tiptoeing aroung the man isn't going to get the answers i need!"
Amethyst sneeked a sidelong glance at him and knew with blinding certainty, that Kai was worried, desperatley worried, and the only way to deal with it was to become even more aggressive and forceful than he normally was. Her heart went out to him and on impluse she placed her small hand on his wrist only to find him stare at it with such concentrated distaste that she immediately removed it.
"oh, spare me the compassion, Amethyst" "do you ever let your guard down Kai?" She heard herself asking and immediately realised she had overstepped the boundary. Personal questions like that were not encouraged by a man like him. Even Voltaire shied away from indulging his curiosity about his grandson's life, only letting slip now and again to her questions that clearly nagged away at him. "sorry" She apologised at once "none of my business. we're both worried."
She waited for him to fill the brief pause, which he didn't and Amethyst released a little sigh. She thought that he had relegated her remark to oblivion and was surprised when he said in a low, musing voice "Voltaire has never been ill. Not with anything serious anyway. It's odd but you never imagine that the people you care about are ever vulnerable; You foolishly imagine that they're going to somehow live for ever"
Amethyst discovered she was sitting on the edge of her chair and holding her breath. She felt a flood of sympathy at his unexpected admission but knew better than to express it. His moment of weakness would pass and then he would look back and resent her for having witnessed in the first place.
"i wondered" She volunteered hesitantly "if we could discuss this work thing Kai..." Kai inclined his body slightly so he was looking at her, eyes narrowed. It took all the will power at her disposal not to look away and thereby earn his irritation. Hadn't he already snapped at her that he found it impossible to conduct a conversation with someone who couldn't meet his eyes? How was he supposed to know that one glance in her direction was sufficient to reduce her into a state of panic?
"what's there to talk about?" He asked in a reasonable voice "i...i really haven't got the right qualifications to work for you" Amethyst stuttered "i mean i've never worked for as a professional secretary or anything..." "but then, what would you do all day long?" Kai looked at her narrowly "you are being paid after all, and with Voltaire in the hospital there would be nothing for you to do, would there? instead of jumping to the conclusion you would never be able to work for me, you should think of it as a challenge to fill in the long hours in an empty house"
A challenge? shouldn't a challenge be something that someone looked forward to? who ever looked at something they were horrified at doing and saw it as a challenge? did this man inhabit the same planet as the rest of the human race?
Before she could contemplate what he had said and return with something adequate, however, the consultant arried and the next half hour was spent with her listening while Kai took over the reins of the conversation. He asked questions that she would never of dreamed of with a bluntness that she was personally mortified by but the doctor seemed to appreciate, judging from the hearty, imformative depths of his replies.
The upshot was that there was no reason why Voltaire shouldn't make a full recovery. He should even be encouraged to do a bit of light exercise and would go home within a couple of weeks or so. As a mark of how much Kai had impressed him, he even scribbled his home number on a piece of paper and told them both that they could reach him any time of they had any more questions or were worried about anything.
"exercise" Kai murmured half to himself as they headed out of the hospital towards the car. "Voltaire's form of exercise is light walks in the garden am i right?" "He's no spring chicken Kai" Amethyst said and then, unable to resist a little dig, she added straight faced "what would you expect him to do? cartwheels around the flower beds?"
She was startled and irrationally pleased by the sudden burst of laughter that greeted this piece of tart sarcasm and it was only when they were back in the car proceeding carefully out of the city that Amethyst remembered the unfinished conversation about work. Or rather unfinished from her point of view.
Kai had obviously decided that the subject matter was now closed and was now thoughtfully ruminating on the challenges posed by the doctor in connection with the light exercise from which his grandfather might benefit.
Amethyst took a deep breath and then burst out "but how can you run- is it a empire that you run?- from a house? i mean, don't you need to be there, on standby, just in case..." her voice trailed off as she tried to word it "...just in case something happens?" "something like what?" Kai asked curiously "i don't know exactly.."Amethyst said vaguely "some catastrophe or something"
"you mean like the building falling down?"
Amethyst read the amusement in his voice as a subversive attack on her obvious ignorance of corporate finance and the money-making business in which she had never had much interest. "i mean" she stressed bravely "don't you need to actually be there so if people have problems they can have... well access to you? face to face?"
"oh no" Kai drawled smoothly "technology these days is actually quite sophisticated..." "it's not my fault i've never been computer literate" Amethyst muttered in defense "of course, we did have it lessons at school but i was never really interested. I've always thought computers were so impersonal" she peered thoughtfully out of the window straight ahead as she edged the car through the city traffic at snails pace.
"impersonal they may be, but they're also invaluable"
"huh?"
she sensed him take a deep breath of pure impatience.
"computers" Kai reminded her heavily "we were talking about computers. Or rather you were. You were telling me that you were never interested in them at school?"
"oh yes. sorry"
"you have an unfortunate habit of apologising for everything" Kai remarked in the same heavy voice that made Amethyst think of teachers losing their patience in the face of some dim student."you'll have to lose that when you start working for me. It's annoying"
"but what about when i make mistakes?" Amethyst asked worriedly.
"there you go again. Assuming a worst-case scenario before we've begun. What am i doing? branching out on a completely irrelevant tangent!"
"but don't you find that happens?" Amethyst couldn't help saying.
"computers? they allow me to work from pretty much anywhere. I can have my secretary email me my correspondence and i can access all the files i need at the press of a button. How do you imagine i continue running my london branch when i'm in new york? and vice versa?"
"i can't!" Amethyst told him truthfully. They had finally managed to clear the bulk of the traffic and she relaxed as the roads became a little clearer. "in fact i can't imagine what you do at all. it must be very stressful"
"i thrive under pressure"
"oh" Amethyst murmured dubiously.
"at any rate, what i'm saying is that Voltaire's office will do just fine in the short term. I'll probably spend a day or so in town-" he paused "just in case i need to ward off any of those mysterious catastrophes you mentioned, but the rest of the week i'll spend here. i already have my laptop with me, as a matter of fact so i should have no problem transferring files to Voltaires computer, and whatever clothes i have here will do for the time being"
With the last of her limp objections throughly demolished, Amethyst slumped behind the driving wheel and dejectedly contemplated life for the next fortnight. He had already started his list of personality traits she would have to change so he could put up with her and she was in no doubt that the list would grow until something resembling his specifications had been achieved.
She surfaced to hear him talking and realised he was once on the topic of light exercise and, at the mention of swimming, she glanced briefly in his direction. Just the sight of his frowning, averted profile sent a shiver of awareness rippling through her. One more thing to contend with she acknowleged dismally. He couldn't help the way he looked but that unique gorgeous face with unusual vivid blue triangles still managed to elicit a throughly uncharacteristically feminine response in her, even though she disliked him. She hoped againest hope that a bout of close encounters would eliminate the unwanted reaction.
"Voltaire doesn't like swimming" she told him now "he once told me that if humans were made to flap about in water, they would of been born with gills. He doesn't find it a very soothing form of exercise"
"i'm not suggesting that he swims across the channel" Kai said "but swimming is a gentle exercise and you heard what the doctor said"
"yes but...the pool is in a state of total disrepair"
"because it's never used"
"i'm surprised you don't use it when you come to visit" Amethyst reflected, thinking that, with his surperb build, he would of wanted to fling himself into any kind of exercise available whenever he could. thinking, too how good he would look in swimming trunks... she dragged her mind away from the rapidly growing image with a twinge of guilt.
"it's too uncomfortable in there. It's also in dire need of renovation. It was pretty decrepit when Voltaire moved in all those years ago and it's just got worse" he paused "it would certainly benefit from a face-lift. I mean, thinking about it, it has all the essential requirements. It's indoors, even if you do have to exit the house to get there, and with a bit a work it would be okay. I could get some form of heating installed, have a couple of changing rooms put in, bring someone in to repair the cracks everywhere..."
"it needs more than a facelift" Amethyst pointed out "Kai, there are weeds growing out of the cracks at the bottom! in fact the last time Voltaire looked at it he suggested that with the addition of a bit of soil we could convert the whole thing into a greenhouse!"
"did he really say that?"
Amethyst nodded, glanced at him and in the diminishing light saw him grin with genuine amusement. For a second or two her heart seemed to literally stop beating before she quickly focused back on the road again. Of course he wasn't responding to her she told herself sternly. She evoked that icy crimson-eyed impatience, but still... it was like seeing through a bank of thunderclouds to a ray of sun.
Then he was back to his usual self, the one she was accustomed to. Back to the man giving orders without bothering to tack a please at the end or even display the slightest sign of appreciation.
"well, we'll have to do something about changing his opinion, and that can be your first job in the morning. i'll head down to the city to get whatever i need so you'll have the day completely frr to contact people you need to get that concrete hole up and running"
"up and running? how long do you imagine it's going to take to do that?"
"throw enough money at them and they'll take as long as i want to take" Kai assured her.
"i've never had someone working for me before" Amethyst said doubtfully
"so now you are provided with another challenge! and on the subject of the pool, i think we also need to buy some furniture for around it"
"what sort of furniture?"
"chairs. Comfortable ones. Chairs that Voltaire can relax on when he's had a little bit of light exercise. I'll leave the choice up to you. And don't breathe a word of this to him. It'll be a surprise"
"do you think his heart can stand it?"
"are you being serious?"
"no" Amethyst admitted "but once he's seen it, it might be an idea if we let him grow gradually into the concept of actually getting into it"
They were finally approaching the house, which stood a way backfrom the road up a long winding drive lined with trees. In a couple of months the budding leaves would be thick and green and would almost obscure the red-brick house sprawling at the end of the drive. For the moment though, there was just the merest hint of summer floating in the evening air, and as always Amethyst's heart revived at the sight of the old house shimmering into view. It also revived on the blessed thought that she managed to drive into the city centre and out again with Kai as a passenger, without making a fool of herself. The least he could of done was thank her for taking him but naturally that would of been asking too much. He had launched into a succinct and off-putting summary of her forthcoming duties, next to which cajoling a workfore to accomplish the near impossible in his absence seemed like a bed of roses.
He strode into the house, switching on lights and briefing her on his expectations. He would be working from the house fron the day after tommorrow, he announced, and she should be ready to kick off no later that eight-thirty. He himself would be up and running by seven but, naturally he would not expect her to conform so ridgidly to his timetable. Breakfast he would see to himself and she could do her own thing for lunch, although he would expect her to eat on the run if it was a particulary heavy workload. He assumed she would see to their dinner requirements. Her working day would be expected to end by five-thirty.
Amethyst almost laughed out loud when he concluded his speech and politely asked if she had any questions. She shook her head numbly and he gave her a nod.
"good. In that case, i shall be in the office setting things up. Don't bother to wait for me for dinner, I'll grab something later"
Amethyst nodded again, deprived of speech, and felt tremendous sympathy for his poor secretary.
Thank goodness Voltaire would be back soon and things could get back to normal.
i will update soon i will not ask you to review because if you want to you can. tc carrielouise xoxoxox