Emma took the file. ‘Sure thing.’ The glow of love was bright in her eyes. ‘Did you hear? It’s time. Your day.’
Tahlia shook herself. ‘Em?’
‘Haven’t you logged on yet?’ Emma shot her a quizzical look. ‘Raquel just sent out a mass email to everyone for a meeting in the conference room at half past. Sounds like it could be it.’
Tahlia shook her head, kicking herself for not going through her normal routine—checking her voicemail, SMS and inboxes, both cyber and deskbound.
‘And?’
‘And the whispers suggest it’s about the Marketing Exec position.’
Tahlia’s belly fluttered. ‘She’s made a decision? Finally?’
‘Yep, it sounds like the Rottweiler has come through. So you’d better get spruced up.’ Emma tossed her blonde bob, her smile widening. ‘Now you don’t have any excuses not to get out there.’
‘Out there,’ Tahlia echoed, the words ricocheting down her spine, making her skin gooseflesh and the image of that cute-suit bounce around her brain.
‘Out there dating. Sheesh, Tahlia, anyone would think from the look on your face that you’re not keen to find Mr Right.’ Emma clapped her hands. ‘I’ve asked Harry and he has a couple of single mates and Keely says Lachlan is thinking about the possibilities for you too. It would be just perfect if you had someone special to come to my wedding with.’
Tahlia opened her mouth and closed it. What could she say? She had wonderful, interfering, matchmaking-maniac friends who were dying for her to find happiness like they had.
‘May I?’ she asked slowly, gesturing to the keyboard. Could the promotion really be hers today? Could she dare to believe it finally had come?
Emma rolled her chair away from her desk. ‘You have to see it to believe it, right?’
Tahlia stepped forward, clutching the mouse and logging on, clicking her way to her inbox. ‘The wording, the tone, the undertones could all mean so much…’
‘You’re still worried about the rumours that the company isn’t going so well?’
Tahlia glanced at her friend. ‘You know as well as I do that the whispers suggest jobs are to be axed and no one can deny the fears spreading are of a major shake-up or shake-down.’
‘And the latest gossip is that the owners have drawn too much of the cash flow out of the company to fund their overseas romps and WWW Designs is going down, down, down,’ Emma said dramatically.
‘That’s over-exaggeration if ever I heard it.’
Emma nodded, her eyes wide. ‘I know.’
FROM: [email protected]
SUBJECT: Meeting
All staff,
Be advised that the meeting at 9am in the conference room is mandatory for all staff to be advised of the latest developments.
Don’t be late.
Raquel Wilson
General Manager
Tahlia sighed. ‘It doesn’t say anything regarding my promotion.’
‘What else could it be?’
‘The possibilities are endless, Em. It could be a new client coming on board, it could be about the rumours, it could be anything.’
‘But it could be your promotion. The Rottie always holds an all-staff meeting for changes in personnel.’
Tahlia straightened Em’s files on her desk. Was there a reason to get her hopes up? Was it about the position for Marketing Executive?
If it was, there was no one else suitable for the job so it had to be her. A bubble of excitement rose up in her chest.
Emma stood up, slapping her on the shoulder. ‘Come on. It is so about your promotion. It has to be.’ She grinned. ‘And now you have no excuse to get serious about that part of your life you’ve put on hold while you got your career all solid and stable.’
A chill raced down Tahlia’s back.
She smoothed down her suit jacket, shaking off the feeling. It would be fine. ‘Yes, not a problem,’ she stated casually to her friend. A relationship didn’t have to mean disaster, as long as it didn’t involve rash decisions, irrational emotions or incredibly embarrassing interactions with too-cute guys.
‘You don’t sound so sure.’
Tahlia raised her eyebrows, forcing a smile to her mouth. ‘I’ll handle it like I’ve handled everything—with criteria, a plan of action and safeguards.’
You could never have too many safeguards, as her mother had shown her. Her mother hadn’t considered any were necessary, that love was enough…and it was so not enough.
‘O-kay,’ Em offered, shooting her an odd look, moving out of her cubicle. She glanced at her watch. ‘So are you ready for the meeting?’
‘Absolutely.’ She was ready for her dream to come true and Em was right—what else could it possibly be about?
Nothing she couldn’t handle.
Tahlia pushed open one of the conference room doors and slipped inside with Emma behind her, weaving through the throng of people, keeping to the wall side of the large room.
She concentrated on the acceptance speech that she’d been practising for months and not on the expanse of glass and views of Melbourne on the far side.
She looked behind her but couldn’t see Emma.
Her stomach churned with butterflies. This was going to be the highlight of her year and she damned well deserved it. Why Raquel had waited until now was beyond her.
This was it.
She smiled and her mind filled with all the congratulations that everyone would offer, the sweet proof that Raquel acknowledged her skills and her potential, the incredible thrill of telling her mother she’d finally made it another rung up the ladder.
Raquel cleared her throat, dropping a large folder on the table.
The room fell silent.
‘Okay. Thanks for coming, staff,’ she said in her trademark nasal bellow. ‘Of course you all know that the position of Marketing Executive has been open for some time and is long overdue being filled. I am pleased to announce that a decision has been reached—’
Tahlia held her breath, searching the crowd for her best friends, finding friendly faces with smiles as wide as her own must be.
Emma had been right. This was it—her dream realised, her goal achieved, vindication for endless overtime and a landmark achievement that would ensure that she’d never have to do it hard like her mother.
So what if Emma was getting married and moving to New York to a new job with the love of her life and Keely was taking maternity leave—she would have her promotion.
She swung her attention back towards Raquel.
Sapphire-blue eyes caught hers.
Her heart missed a beat.
It was him.
The cute-suit looked taller, dwarfing the staff around him at the head of the table near Raquel the Rottie, standing out all the more in that tailored black suit, the strong lines of his face resembling more a Greek god than…was he an employee of WWW Designs?
What