'Oh-er-sorry,' she muttered as she hurried to catch up with Serena.
She had been enjoying the play, but she sat through the second half without hearing a word. Seeing Luke again after all these years had left her feeling edgy and unsettled. She tried to concentrate on the stage, but her mind was tugged back irresistibly to that hot afternoon and the woods and how it had felt when Luke had pulled her round into his arms.
Suddenly Kate became aware of a storm of applause around her, and, as Serena gave her an odd look, hastily began to clap. There was no point in dwelling on the past, she told herself, still thinking about Luke. It had been a remarkable coincidence, seeing him here tonight, but it was unlikely that she would ever see him again.
Even so, she couldn't help searching the crowds for a glimpse of him as they left the theatre, slowing her steps deliberately until Serena asked her what the matter was.
`Nothing,' said Kate, quashing a feeling of inexplicable disappointment. He must have gone already.
`You're awfully quiet,' Serena said suspiciously.
`My contact lenses are killing me,' Kate lied as they headed towards the Underground. `It was so smoky in that bar.'
They flipped their season tickets open at the gate and joined the crowd filing down the escalators. `How's the job hunting going?' Serena asked, turning round from the step below to look up at Kate. `Have you managed to find what you want yet?'
Kate forced her mind back to the present and her most pressing need to find a job. `Not yet, but I've got an interview for tomorrow that sounds promising.' She rummaged in her handbag as they stepped off the escalator. `I've got the ad here. What do you think?'
Serena took the newspaper cutting.
A bilingual PA is required for dynamic director of this successful company. Fluent French required, plus excellent secretarial skills, preferably with director-level experience. Must be confident, super-efficient and free to travel.
`Kate, it sounds perfect!' Her eye fell on the salary quoted at the bottom of the advertisement and she whistled. `I wouldn't mind pay like that!'
'I know.' Kate took the cutting back and they walked slowly down the platform. `It sounds a bit too good to be true, doesn't it? But I need to get something soon. If I'd realised how difficult it would be to get a good job here I don't think I'd have given up my job in Dijon quite so quickly!'
'You're not regretting coming back to England, are you?'
`No.' Kate shook her head. `I'd been in that job four years. It was time to move on. Solange coming to school in England gave me the impetus to make the break.'
`I do think it's a bit of cheek for Veronique and Alain to go swanning off to the Ivory Coast and expect you to look after their daughter for them,' Serena said, indignant on Kate's behalf.
`They'd have had to send Solange to boarding school anyway,' Kate said mildly. 'Veronique always had this thing about making sure Solange is bilingual by sending her to school in England for a year, just as she had to do. It just seems a convenient time when Alain's job takes him to Africa for a year.'
`Convenient for them that you're prepared to give up your job to be near her,' Serena commented tartly.
`Oh, Solange is just an excuse, really. I could hardly tell my mother that I can't stand her new husband, could I? It was all getting rather uncomfortable with Thierry and me being extra polite to each other, and poor Maman stuck in between. She'd be terribly upset if she thought I'd left home because of Thierry, so I said I was coming to keep Solange company. It's partly true, anyway. I feel rather sorry for Solange: I remember what it's like being at boarding-school with no one around to take you out at weekends and make a fuss of you. I remember what it's like being a foreigner too. I always felt French in England, and English in France, so I sympathise. After all, I am her aunt-and it's hardly a great sacrifice to come back to England.'
Kate stuck her hands in the pockets of her jacket and smiled at Serena. `My mother thinks I'm being wonderful, Veronique and Alain think I'm being wonderful, but really I'm just being selfish. I never really settled in Dijon; I only stayed because I didn't think Maman would be able to cope by herself-you know how impractical she is! -and once I had a good job it seemed so silly to give it up. But Maman's got Thierry to look after her now, and if the truth was known she'd probably much rather I wasn't around looking quite so grown up!' Kate gazed reflectively at the huge poster on the other side of the tracks urging her to throw caution to the winds and jump on the next plane to the Caribbean. `It's all worked out very well. I've missed England these last few years. I should have come back before.'
'Well, I hope you stay.' Serena squeezed her arm affectionately. `It's good to have you back. All you need now is that job!'
CHAPTER TWO
The lift was lined with mirrors. Kate checked her reflection, tugging her jacket down and smoothing an invisible strand of hair from her cheek.
She was reluctant to admit to herself how much she needed this job. Living in London was proving a lot more expensive than she had envisaged, and the rent was due on her flat soon. Besides, she was tired of trailing round agencies. Friends like Serena teased her, but she was an orderly person and missed the routine of work.
The girl in the mirror looked back at her critically. She was trim and neat in a grey suit and high-necked white blouse, and her thick brown hair was twisted up and held away from her face by a tortoiseshell clasp.
She looked crisp and efficient-and dull, Kate decided as clear eyes gazed back at her a little wistfully. No wonder Luke Hardman hadn't remembered her! It wasn't as if there was anything wrong with her, but there was nothing very special either. She was just Kate: cool, capable Kate. An ideal secretary, in fact, she reminded herself sensibly as the doors slid open on to a thickly carpeted corridor. Stepping out, Kate was met by a harassed-looking girl with wavy red hair.
`Miss Finch? I'm Paula Stephens. We spoke on the phone.' She seemed relieved by Kate's businesslike air. `I had hoped to explain a bit about this job before you met the managing director, but he's in a tearing hurry today, so would you mind if I introduced you to him first and then we had a word later?'
'Of course not,' Kate said politely, wondering if it was the managing director who had reduced her to such a jittery state.
Paula led her along the corridor and into an office. It was a large, bright room, equipped with all the latest technology. `This would be your room,' she said, and then lowered her voice. `That's
With a visible attempt to steel herself Paula went over and knocked. `Miss Finch is here to see you,' she said nervously.
Kate heard an impatient voice say, `Ail right, all right. Tell her to come in,' before Paula stood back and, with a look that was suspiciously sympathetic, gestured her inside and shut the door behind her.
She found herself in a vast, high-ceilinged room with a window that looked out over the elegant Knightsbridge street below. For a moment she hesitated, confused by the fact that she seemed to be alone in the room, and then the voice spoke again, deep and abrupt.
`Sit down, if you're staying. I've just got to finish this.'
It came from a high-backed revolving chair, which had been turned away from the desk to face the window. Kate raised one eyebrow at the man's rudeness and chose an upright chair set against the wall. Lifting it forward, she set it in front of the desk and sat down composedly, smoothing her skirt over her knees and folding her hands calmly in her lap. The squashy leather chairs looked inviting, but she would be at a distinct disadvantage if she sank into one of them, f and she had a strong feeling that she was going to need all the advantages she could get in dealing with this man.
Minutes passed. The only indication of another presence in the room was the sound of turning pages from behind the chair. Kate waited, but her lips tightened disapprovingly. She was tempted to get up and leave, but a stern, sensible voice inside her reminded her about the fat salary, and the rent due, and the imprudence of chucking
