CEO’s daughter?
How could he treat her with such flippant contempt? A stop-gap until his girlfriend returned from her European secondment. It wasn’t so much that she’s scraped the bottom of the barrel with her choice of boyfriend but that she’d chiselled through to woodworm below!
She fiddled with the pearl earring at her lobe as she forced herself to replay the distressing closet scene in her mind’s eye.
‘I suppose it wasn’t as if Freya was doing this to me on purpose…’ she said to reassure herself, rather than the spluttering, indignant Lauren.
‘No, Rosie,
stop
this. Listen to yourself. Marshalling your arguments like a criminal defence lawyer, making excuses for her again. She
knew
Giles was your date. And Giles knew she was your
sister
, about to get married! They deserve each other – both of them are cheating idiots!’
Before Lauren had met Brett, and long before Rosie had fallen into her relationship with Giles, they had spent many an alcohol-infused night holed up in her apartment concocting a list of criteria for their prospective Mr Rights. Faithfulness and loyalty were the top essential attributes on both girls’ lists, qualities that brooked no amendment. But it seemed those characteristics were in short supply and they’d had to settle for the indulgence of some girly TLC – that trio of oestrogen solace – tea, Louboutins and chocolate.
‘Giles is a loser! Not satisfied with cheating on his girlfriend, he pursues anything that moves.’ Lauren, in her outrage, was unaware of the hurtful insinuation her comment held. ‘What’s up with men like that?’
‘Well, Toby did have a number of theories…’
‘I’m so sorry, Rosie, but you deserve better than Giles’ leftovers.’ Lauren’s hostility towards their boss glided across miles down the phone line. ‘He’s a player and a cheat who squeezes us all until the pips squeak. Giles is a scumbag, Rosie.’
Rosie could muster no defensive arguments to this accusation – guilty as charged. But Lauren hadn’t finished with her character assassination.
‘He’s a devious, disloyal, sly… We work like Trojans whilst he’s swinging around town like an alley cat. We’ve no time to pee but he has all the time in the world to…’ She paused, her voice softening. ‘Sorry, Rosie. But you do realise you dating him was borne out of convenience. Giles blazes his own trail in the world, discarding others without a glance in his rear view mirror, trampling on their dreams for his own gain. He sweeps around and sleeps around – you knew that before you marched, stilettos first, into his web.’
Rosie was fully aware she had been consorting with the enemy. After the event she was now able, under Lauren’s counsel, to look back and question her sanity. Giles was the most self-obsessed person she’d ever had the misfortune to meet, and that was from a pool of sharks that included Freya! His strategy was to milk every dollar from every client and to hog all the credit for the successful mergers and acquisitions their team advised on, even the intuitive choices of Lauren. Despite his unpopularity, he was strangely admired by those inhabiting the lower ranks of Harlow Fenton and praised for his business acumen by those whose positions he coveted.
‘Giles is relationship history, Rosie. Good riddance. Now you’re free to concentrate all your efforts on meeting a decent guy who will make you happy – like Brett. New York is a lonely town, I know. But you can do it. What did Freya say when you confronted her?’
Rosie mumbled something.
‘What?’
‘Well, I didn’t actually confront her as such.’
‘But why not? You’ve got to, Rosie. For all his faults, and he has many, Giles was your boyfriend!’
‘But it wasn’t a
serious
relationship, was it?’ Rosie squirmed under Lauren’s insistent questioning technique. She would have made a superb Gestapo officer.
Lauren was not prepared to let Freya off the hook as lightly
How could he treat her with such flippant contempt? A stop-gap until his girlfriend returned from her European secondment. It wasn’t so much that she’s scraped the bottom of the barrel with her choice of boyfriend but that she’d chiselled through to woodworm below!
She fiddled with the pearl earring at her lobe as she forced herself to replay the distressing closet scene in her mind’s eye.
‘I suppose it wasn’t as if Freya was doing this to me on purpose…’ she said to reassure herself, rather than the spluttering, indignant Lauren.
‘No, Rosie,
stop
this. Listen to yourself. Marshalling your arguments like a criminal defence lawyer, making excuses for her again. She
knew
Giles was your date. And Giles knew she was your
sister
, about to get married! They deserve each other – both of them are cheating idiots!’
Before Lauren had met Brett, and long before Rosie had fallen into her relationship with Giles, they had spent many an alcohol-infused night holed up in her apartment concocting a list of criteria for their prospective Mr Rights. Faithfulness and loyalty were the top essential attributes on both girls’ lists, qualities that brooked no amendment. But it seemed those characteristics were in short supply and they’d had to settle for the indulgence of some girly TLC – that trio of oestrogen solace – tea, Louboutins and chocolate.
‘Giles is a loser! Not satisfied with cheating on his girlfriend, he pursues anything that moves.’ Lauren, in her outrage, was unaware of the hurtful insinuation her comment held. ‘What’s up with men like that?’
‘Well, Toby did have a number of theories…’
‘I’m so sorry, Rosie, but you deserve better than Giles’ leftovers.’ Lauren’s hostility towards their boss glided across miles down the phone line. ‘He’s a player and a cheat who squeezes us all until the pips squeak. Giles is a scumbag, Rosie.’
Rosie could muster no defensive arguments to this accusation – guilty as charged. But Lauren hadn’t finished with her character assassination.
‘He’s a devious, disloyal, sly… We work like Trojans whilst he’s swinging around town like an alley cat. We’ve no time to pee but he has all the time in the world to…’ She paused, her voice softening. ‘Sorry, Rosie. But you do realise you dating him was borne out of convenience. Giles blazes his own trail in the world, discarding others without a glance in his rear view mirror, trampling on their dreams for his own gain. He sweeps around and sleeps around – you knew that before you marched, stilettos first, into his web.’
Rosie was fully aware she had been consorting with the enemy. After the event she was now able, under Lauren’s counsel, to look back and question her sanity. Giles was the most self-obsessed person she’d ever had the misfortune to meet, and that was from a pool of sharks that included Freya! His strategy was to milk every dollar from every client and to hog all the credit for the successful mergers and acquisitions their team advised on, even the intuitive choices of Lauren. Despite his unpopularity, he was strangely admired by those inhabiting the lower ranks of Harlow Fenton and praised for his business acumen by those whose positions he coveted.
‘Giles is relationship history, Rosie. Good riddance. Now you’re free to concentrate all your efforts on meeting a decent guy who will make you happy – like Brett. New York is a lonely town, I know. But you can do it. What did Freya say when you confronted her?’
Rosie mumbled something.
‘What?’
‘Well, I didn’t actually confront her as such.’
‘But why not? You’ve got to, Rosie. For all his faults, and he has many, Giles was your boyfriend!’
‘But it wasn’t a
serious
relationship, was it?’ Rosie squirmed under Lauren’s insistent questioning technique. She would have made a superb Gestapo officer.
Lauren was not prepared to let Freya off the hook as lightly
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