Richard sighed. They’d had this conversation so many times, but every time he tried to explain to Caroline she cut him off, telling him she didn’t want to hear it.
“I’m planning to have moved out to San Francisco by then.”
The tightness of her lips as she glanced over at him made him want to roll his eyes.
“Leon really wants you to join him at Maxwell Enterprises. You’ve a guaranteed job there, and maybe one day you could take the helm.” Her voice was clipped, her tone disapproving.
“Maxwell Enterprises is all Daniel’s. You know I have no interest in working there.” Richard fought the urge to shake some sense into her. “John and I have set everything up. We’re moving out west in September.”
Five
May 24th 2001
It had been a hideous week. Instead of sitting out in the beautiful spring weather, Hanna had been buried in the library beneath books trying to cram for her end-of-term exams. The previous day, she’d had a phone call from Ruby—who had been asked to her school disco by a boy, only to discover that he had done it for a bet. Hanna had been unable to soothe her young friend, eventually resorting to calling Richard to ask him for advice.
To top it all off, Josh-bloody-Chambers had cut her article to shreds, and put it at the back of the magazine. She wanted to rip his throat out and feed it to the ducks swimming in the university pond.
She ignored the curious stares from her fellow students, pushing past them, as she made her way to the magazine office. She was a girl on a mission. A Josh-bloody-Chambers gutting mission.
Ignoring the greetings of her friends, she stalked straight across the floor to the closed door of the editor’s office. Curling her hand around the stainless steel handle, she twisted it sharply, pulling the door toward her in a jerking movement. It banged against the wall, making everyone turn to look at her.
Josh was sitting on the corner of his desk, talking to the pictures editor, while going through her portfolio of photographs.
“Hanna, I wasn’t expecting you. Can this wait?” It wasn’t really a question, more a command. She chose to ignore it.
“It can’t wait. Would you excuse us, Ciara?” It was all she could do to keep her tone civil, even with th
e pictures editor, who had never done anything to inflame Hanna’s ire. “I need to talk to you now, Josh.” Her copy of the magazine was rolled up in her hands. She shook it at him.
“Can you give us a minute please, Ciara?”
“Sure, no problem.” Ciara gathered all her photographs up at top speed. She looked eager to get out of the room, away from the toxic atmosphere.
Josh remained silent as Ciara left, closing the door behind her. He was staring at Hanna through narrowed eyes.
“Perhaps you’d like to tell me why the hell I should listen to anything you have to say after that performance?”
Anger curled in her belly. “I don’t expect anything from you. You don’t even have the guts to tell me you’ve edited my articles to shreds. I thought you had more class than that.” She threw the magazine on his desk, narrowly missing his thigh.
“Your article was crap. There were typos, grammatical errors, and—worst of all—it bored me.”
It was like a punch to the stomach. Her reaction was to fight back.
“It was a good article. You just don’t know how to edit.”
“Don’t push me.” He leaned toward Hanna, his height dominating hers. She fought off the temptation to cower away.
“Then don’t cut my words.” Her heart was beating fast, fuelled by adrenaline and indignation. “And I’ll push you if I want to.” As if to demonstrate it, she poked her index finger into the middle of his chest.
Josh grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward him. “You’re sailing close to the line. Stop acting like a child.”
“Stop treating me like one.”
His lips came crashing down on hers, his hand pulling at the hair on the back of her head, his whole body shaking violently. He was standing right in front of her, pulling her closer until her legs were wrapped around his waist. She could feel he was hard already. She wondered whether he had been like that for a while—if he had been turned on by her extreme anger. Then he opened his mouth and slid his tongue against hers. Hanna curled her hand around the back of his head, trying to pull him closer. She wanted to lose herself in him.
“Am I treating you like a child now?” Josh moaned into her mouth, causing her legs to tremble as she tried to grind herself even harder. Inappropriate wasn’t strong enough to describe the levels they had stooped to.
Breathless, Hanna moved her head back, gasping for air as Josh stared down at her.