Fight to the Top Read online

  “Amazing!” she said sarcastically. “I came in happy, made an attempt at flirting which resulted in me humiliating myself in front of the board. Shot one of my team down because of a mistake, which has taken me all afternoon to try and correct. Oh, and best of all, you’ll love this,” she smirked, leaning back in her chair, shaking her head. “I finally had a break because I was desperate for the bathroom. Noticed you walking down the office, couldn’t take my eyes off those legs, which FYI are far too revealing in that stupidly short dress, and walked into the glass window in reception,” she said pointedly.

  Georgia snorted her drink out of her nose, trying to stop the beer from coming out. “Please tell me you are kidding? That’s brilliant. Oh, I so wish I had seen it. I wonder if we have any cameras in the building?” she smirked. “Brilliant, brilliant. I love it.” She slapped her hands on the table.

  “Oh, very supportive, aren’t you?” Julia smirked, taking some crisps. “So, how about yours? Great board meeting by the way, sounds like it’s in the bag?” She smiled.

  “Well I don’t really want to get too excited you know? But I’ve smashed the objectives he set. I think I’ve done well, and I have the buy in of my staff. And yeah it sounded pretty positive, what he was throwing out today in the board meeting, but I don’t know. There’s just something niggling away at me,” she said distantly.

  “That’s just you being nervous and apprehensive. Of course that’s normal. Nobody would think any different, and when you get it you’ll worry over if you can do it. They’ll always be something to worry about. As you said, you smashed the targets, and the launch went incredibly. You’ve worked your backside off over the last 12 months and it’s paid off. So sit back, relax, look at taking a holiday, and then reap the benefits. Nobody deserves this more than you Georgia, and for the record I’m not just saying that.” She smiled.

  “Thanks, that’s sweet of you to say.” Georgia smiled sincerely. “Anyways, let’s leave that there, it makes me feel a bit sick. Did Glen say hi to you today?” she asked.

  “Oh, God, did he not speak to you?” she said, shaking her head. “You will love this. This guy is too much,” she smirked, reaching for another crisp. “First thing, like, literally first thing he is like, ‘oh thanks so much for making me get home. I only had to wash both cars as my punishment; that’s the best night I’ve had in around 6 years,’” she said smirking, taking a mouthful of drink. “So he’s like, ‘so then, Jules, you have your wicked way with our boss?’”

  “Did he move his head in that wobbly way you do when asking these questions?” Georgia laughed.

  “Piss off. Anyways, so then. Get this?” she said, pointing her finger to her boss. “He went on. ‘Ohhh I bet she’s filthy, actually I bet you’re filthy.’ Then he was all dreamy and distant. Obviously, sitting and thinking all sorts of shit about what we would do together.” She sat back.

  “Seriously, he said that? What a cheeky shit, as if I’m filthy? Oh, part of me wants to out us, just so I can wind him up,” she smirked. “I’d have a ball.”

  “You are not wrong there; I was ever so tempted to just be like ‘oh hell yeah, we were up all night long, doing things that would have turned most women gay, and gave every man the best, most explicit and descriptive tutorial ever,’” she laughed, raising her eyebrows. “He is so crude, and completely obsessed with me banging you.”

  “Banging? Really? Am I really that out of touch with things? And he’s the crude one?” Georgia laughed.

  “Oh yeah, this is the joys of being the head of marketing, they’re all so young and sociable and therefore, I’m completely in touch with anything hip. This ‘banging’ was one of the things I was taught last week. Albeit, I’m not so sure I needed this lesson,” she laughed.

  “No, I wouldn’t have thought so. I mean, I’m thrilled to learn that I was banged. Is that correct? Ohhh was I the bang’er’ or the bang’ee’?” Georgia laughed.

  “You’re an idiot. I’ll go grab a couple more beers, before my feet refuse to partake in any further activity from the pain of these shoes.” She smiled. Taking a ten pound note from her purse, she walked to the bar, turning as she was side by side with Georgia. Julia placed a hand on her shoulder and looked down to her. “For the record, you were both the bang’er’ and the bang’ee’ on Friday,” she smirked, leaving Georgia with the words hanging in the air.

  Georgia gulped hard, this woman knew how to work it. She shouldn’t be doing this, she knew it. She wasn’t this person. She didn’t date, but it was kind of nice for a change. And actually, it was Monday night at seven, she was forty and she was drinking beers in a bar. This was so not her, but bloody hell it felt good to let loose for a change.

  Chapter Twelve

  Julia turned around to face Georgia. “So, I guess we’re equals now?” she said, pulling the cover over her.

  “How do you mean?” she turned to face her.

  “Well, I jumped on you on Friday. You brought me back here tonight, in what I can only detail by your actions, that it was your intention all evening to jump on me. So, were even?” she smirked.

  “You know we can’t continue this, don’t you?” Georgia said.

  “You know, the more you tell me I can’t, the more it makes me want to?” She raised an eyebrow.

  “I’m beginning to wonder why exactly I employed you,” she laughed.

  “Because you loved my wit, my humour, my innovation and most likely the fact that I flirted my arse off with you the whole time,” Julia laughed.

  “You did not!”

  “Ohhh, I so did.” She raised her eyebrow. “Anyways it’s late. I should probably head home, I don’t want to miss the last train, again. Least not on a Monday,” she feigned a look of shock.

  “Ouch, love em and leave em, ehy?” Georgia winked.

  “Erm, most definitely not ‘love em’, it was once again… another good, couple of hours, but yeah, I need to go.”

  “Look, I don’t want you to feel weird. Especially, given I keep saying we can’t do this, but you are welcome to stay here. It’s late and that.”

  “Ohhh, boss you sound like you’re crossing the line.” She winked. “Thanks for the offer, but the walk of shame is bad enough. Going to work in yesterday’s clothes and undies, not so hot.” She smiled, shaking her head and squishing her nose up.

  “Firstly, you need to stop calling me ‘boss’ in that way. You have no idea what it does to me. Secondly, do you have any meetings in the morning?”

  “I’ll keep that info for when required. No, why’s that?” she said, putting her bra back on.

  “Good, well I’m imposing my seniority and instructing you to take that bra off, get that sexy arse back in this bed, and crash here tonight. You can take some gym gear of mine, go home in the morning and work from home, come back in later if you want? So, shut up and get back in bed now,” Georgia demanded.

  Houston, USA

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Knock knock?”

  Erika looked up to see Vanessa in the doorway with some flowers. “Hey you, what’s this?”

  “Well I hear congratulations are in order, which is only right given the work we’ve put in these last couple of years,” Vanessa said, kissing Erika on the cheek and handing her the flowers.

  “You know you are tempting fate?” She smiled at her finance director, who was also one of her very good friends.

  “Ahh, not at all, it’s a sure thing,” she winked. “So, Mike said he was calling a meeting later in the week to discuss it? You fancy going to grab a bite to eat?” she said, looking at her watch.

  “Hmm, don’t really have time,” she said uncertainly. “Hell, I can squeeze in a very quick sandwich run ,” she confirmed. “But I need to go now. We can walk and talk. You fancy the deli down the street?” she said, picking up her Coach purse. Summer was close by, which meant she would be fine in her sleeveless blouse and pencil skirt since it was warm enough, especially at
this time of the day. “Yes, so Mike said he wanted to see me Friday afternoon, apparently couldn’t be before that due to something to do with the meeting. It was all very strange actually; so, we’ll see what happens,” she said, pressing G on the skyscraper building. They currently resided on the 39th floor of a three and a half thousand-square foot floor.

  “What do you mean weird? It’s as good as done, lady. You have achieved all that the business set out. So, you got it, amore,” Vanessa said. “We need to have a catch up outside of this place soon too. We haven’t been out in forever. Or, how about you, Dan, and Dulcie come to our house for a barbecue? Next weekend maybe? The kids haven’t all seen each other for a long time, and Ben is off shift that weekend,” Vanessa said.

  “Hmm, yeah sure,” she said vacantly. “Dulcie will love that. And you’re right, they haven’t seen each other for a while. I will mention it to Dan,” she said sombrely.

  “Great, don’t forget her bathing suit, they will end up in the pool.” Vanessa smiled.

  “Thanks, Ness. Look, I don’t want to go into it right now, but Dan’s been working a whole heap lately. So, it may just be the two of us, if that’s okay? I’ll ask though,” she said seriously.

  “You sure you don’t wanna speak about it? Everything okay?” Vanessa said concerned.

  “It’s fine, and I’d really rather not, just got a whole heap of stuff going on with work, so I don’t want more stress. I’ll try and get Dan to come too though, okay?”

  Erika had suddenly lost her appetite. But she didn’t need more lectures about not eating. She would order her favourite deli sandwich. Turkey, avocado and brie. As soon as they walked through the door the smell woke her senses, and her stomach was now telling her a different story.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Erika put Dulcie to bed and was still waiting for Dan to come home. The food was still warming in the oven and there had been no communication at all today. She opened a beer and walked out to the back porch. It was still warm out, even though the sun was falling. I love this view, she thought, sighing lightly. The palm trees at the back of the yard. The pool glistening as the sky was changing. She lit the citronella candles and sat in the rocking chair, slowly rocking, allowing the tears to fall. As hard as it was, the realisation of recent absence imploded her. And the reasons why Dan had recently become so absent swam through her mind.

  ***

  It was after 10 and there was still no sign. She locked up and threw the dinner in the trash. Checking on Dulcie, Erika listened to the slight snores of the girl she loved with every fibre. “What are we gonna do Dulcie?” she whispered to her sleeping daughter.

  Erika got into bed and opened her phone to the messages and texted Dan. Dinner in the garbage, can only you assume you don’t require it!! Your daughter asked yet again for you. Maybe you can slot me in for an hour this coming week? We NEED to talk!!!

  She turned her phone off and tucked herself in. She didn’t know when they had grown apart? Or when she had suddenly become a single parent. Was Vanessa, right? Was she just being paranoid and nervous over all the stuff with work? They both had such demanding jobs, but this wasn’t right. Maybe she should have been a stay at home mom and not had a career after all. But Dulcie had never gone without anything. She was used to being kept up all night due to the stress of her job, but she had control over that. She had control over her company and her staff, but this seemed too far away. This seemed out of reach and she felt like everything was spiralling out of control. She felt like she had no clue what was wrong or how to fix it. Erika allowed the tears to fall once more, because she wasn’t even in control of keeping the tears at bay. She couldn’t even stop that? Damn it, she condemned herself, and that was the last thing she remembered as she cried herself to sleep.

  ***

  Erika woke up and saw that their bed hadn’t been slept in, again. The sinking feeling came once more. Sighing she picked up her phone, which revealed not a single message. Opening her messages to Taylor, Erika texted her asking if she could come over that night for dinner and a chat? It was Wednesday, which meant that Dan would be out anyhow, and she could really do with a friend right now. More importantly, she seriously needed some advice. And didn’t really know who else to speak to.

  Erika got up to wake Dulcie and get her ready for school, and noticed the spare room door opened. She peeked over to the bed and saw Dan sleeping. She sighed heavily and went straight back to her bedroom. She entered the en suite and got ready for work, as she could do with an early start for a change.

  She grabbed her purse and walked into the spare room, shutting the door hard and disturbing Dan.

  “Any reason for this?” she said pointedly.

  “Well I figured I wouldn’t be so welcome in our bed, following the steely message you texted.”

  “Is it any wonder, Dan? I just about figured as much. Well, your daughter can barely remember what you look like, so you can do the school run for a change,” she said, turning and opening the door.

  Dan started. “Wait, Erika I have an import…”

  “Screw you, I can manage to put our daughter first over my job, you need to start doing the same,” she said, slamming the door behind her and leaving their home.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “I’m home,” Erika called out to the silent house. She had left earlier desperately trying to get home before Dulcie went to bed, after missing her that morning. She’d felt terrible. Her daughter had suffered as a consequence of her wanting to punish Dan. She couldn’t do that. That wasn’t her. Nor their family.

  Erika could hear the shrills from the back yard, and she smiled as her daughter’s laughter flowed through the house and lifted her spirits immensely. “Hey, you guys, pool party without me?”

  “Mommy, Mommy,” Dulcie squealed, trying desperately to get out of her donut and rush to her mom.

  “S’okay, s’okay, sweetie. No, need to get out,” she said, in the hope of avoiding getting wet.

  “How about mommy goes and gets in her suit and joins us, Dulcie?” Taylor said.

  “Yayyyyyy,” her daughter screamed. “Come on Mommy, you haven’t swum with me in forever,” she said eagerly.

  “Yeeeessss, Mommy?” Taylor winked. “Go get changed.”

  “Okay already,” Erika said excitably. She rarely used the pool, but when Taylor was looking after Dulcie they used it a great deal, and she was glad that Dulcie wasn’t one of these kids that was obsessed with electronics. She loved the pool and was happy to be in there whenever the weather allowed her to be.

  Erika put a black one piece on. Her sauna suit, she thought. But it would suffice tonight. It was already getting late, so they wouldn’t be able to spend too long before sundown and Dulcie’s bedtime. She grabbed a spare towel and headed back downstairs. Stopping in the kitchen, she smiled to herself. Erika rarely let Dulcie eat junk at night, especially not through the week. But she felt guilty after this morning. Grabbing some aluminium foil, Erika split it into three individual pieces. She got three bananas and sliced them through the centres. Sprinkling choc chips and mini marshmallows she sealed the aluminium foil around the banana boats and made her way outside.

  “Where have you been? We were waiting for you,” Dulcie whined.

  “You were? Well, I’m sorry, I guess I could leave the grilled banana boats I was making for us to eat?” she smirked.

  “Really, oh they’re my favourites. How come I get junk for dinner on a school night?” Dulcie asked quizzically.

  “It’s a one-off lady,” she warned, elegantly stepping into her pool. She swam over to her daughter and twirled her in her donut. “So, what have you guys been up to today? How was kindergarten?” Erika questioned.

  Dulcie entertained Erika for around 10 minutes of what had happened at school, consisting of a further pop quiz she’d had. Another borrowed tale from Taylor. Grape jello on the menu which was her ‘favouritist’ in the whole wide world; she was pretty sure i
t had been black cherry yesterday though. And a rather confusing tale about a boy called Morgan. Who allegedly got stuck under the washbasin, whilst hiding from Miss Addison, who was trying to take his pacifier from him. To which Dulcie concluded that Morgan was far too old to have a pacifier and Miss Addison knew that. Erika couldn’t help but laugh at her beautiful daughter, her big brown eyes became so animated when she was telling stories, she really could watch and listen to her for hours.

  “For real? Wow, what a hectic day you had.” She smiled. “Come on. Andiamo bambina,” Erika said to her daughter, exiting the pool.

  “Nooooo, per favore? No altri cinque minuti?” Dulcie pleaded.

  “You guys, not everyone speaks Italian around here,” Taylor quizzed, raising an eyebrow.

  “It’s time to get out,” Erika smirked. And this little lady, wants 5 more minutes, puhleeeaaaasssseee?”

  “I just about managed the five and please. Figured that on my own,” she smirked, grabbing Dulcie from her donut.

  “Come on, you, let’s go get some grilled banana boats. I know I sure am hungry for them,” Taylor said, holding her hand out for Dulcie to take.

  ***

  Erika returned from putting Dulcie to bed and Taylor had opened a bottle of wine, “I figured you needed this? I hope you don’t mind?” she said when Erika came back out in her robe.

  “God no, you are right I needed this, thanks,” she said, taking a large gulp and bringing her leg up on the chair she was sat on. “This is good. Thanks for coming over tonight, I’m sorry I wrecked your plans,” she sighed.

  “Hey, we’re friends, you could never wreck my plans. Plus, I kinda don’t got any plans at the moment, I am officially giving up on men and committing to a life of singledom.” She smiled. “Cheers?”