Read Online The Aura by Carrie Bedford - Free Book Online Page B

own, clearly unsure that he needed to respond to me.
    “Didn’t anyone bother to find out why she’s not here today?” I stood up.
    “That’s enough, Kate. Please sit down.” Alan’s tone was of barely subdued fury.
    Peter Montgomery looked at me. “I don’t understand what business it is of yours,” he said, a deep frown forming over his blue eyes.
    “Rebecca’s my friend. I’m worried about her.”
    “Your friend? Well, I’m sure there’s nothing to be concerned about,” he said condescendingly. “People take time off work when they have a cold, or a hangover, or when there’s a good sale on at Selfridges. But in Ms. Williams’ case, she could very well be out of town at one of our other offices. We have many of them, which she visits regularly. I’ll check with my secretary when I get back to my office. Now can we please proceed?”
    I thought about it. Rebecca could be away on business, but wouldn’t she have answered my text from yesterday? Even if she were really busy?
    “I need to make a quick call,” I said walking towards the door.
    “Kate, please come and sit down,” said Alan quietly. I turned to look back. He looked like a python coiled and ready to strike. Josh had one hand over his eyes as though he couldn’t bear to watch. The Montgomery money men were reading files, oblivious to it all, or pretending to be, and Montgomery’s eyes were cold, his mouth pursed in disapproval.
    I walked out, closing the door carefully behind me. My fingers trembled as I pressed the buttons for Rebecca’s number. I knew a major confrontation with Alan would come later, but I couldn’t worry about that now. The call went to voicemail. I tried again and left a voicemail telling Rebecca to call me right back, then stood motionless, unsure of what to do. Finally I walked back to my office. I’d barely sat down when Alan arrived. He leaned both hands on the desk opposite me, his face flushed with anger.
    “What the fuck are you up to?” he demanded. “Peter Montgomery is our biggest client, and you just walked out on him. Now please get back in there and do your job.”
    “I just need to check in on Rebecca.”
    “You can do that later.”
    I hesitated. I felt like I was walking along the rim of a cliff and the ground was subsiding beneath me. If I didn’t do as Alan said, this could be the end of my employment at Bradley Cohen. But I was worried sick about Rebecca. I realized that I hadn’t heard from her all day Monday. It had been such a crazy day that I hadn’t noticed. Now, I felt crushed with guilt. I was supposed to be looking out for her and I didn’t even know where she was. But I couldn’t lose my job.
    I nodded at Alan. “I’m sorry.”
    “Whatever,” Alan said and headed back towards the conference room. I followed him and took my seat. Josh looked relieved to see me and, for his sake, I did my best to focus on the discussion and do my part. The meeting lasted for several hours and then Alan requested we stay for a review meeting after Montgomery and his crew had left. It was mid-afternoon by the time we wrapped up. The conference table was littered with paper plates and remnants of sandwiches, empty cans and cups and a mini-blizzard of rejected notes and drawings. While everyone packed up and left the room, I swept the debris into a wastepaper basket.
    “We have people who do that, you know,” came a voice from the door. I looked up to see Jack Cohen beaming at me.
    He was dressed in a suit and a green bow tie, a matching handkerchief poking out of his breast pocket. The bow tie was a fixture, with a daily change of color.
    “How are you, my dear?” he asked.
    “I’m fine, thanks, Jack, How are you? Looking very dapper in green today.”
    Jack smiled widely, sending a battalion of wrinkles marching over his cheeks and forehead. He was in his sixties but fit and wiry. He’d run the London Marathon for the first time the previous year and was in training for the one in New