STRONGER TOGETHER. a short story by Aileen Cleave

STRONGER TOGETHER

They walked into the hotel foyer together, he reaching Reception first and handing over his ID card. “Mr and Mrs ……Sawyer?” the receptionist looked at them both inquiringly. “Oh no,” she said hastily, conscious of the colour rising in her cheeks. “No, we’re not married, I’m just his partner - business partner “. She could feel his eyes on her, mocking her, enjoying her discomfort. 

 A flash of fury shot through her. She had had enough of his condescending attitude. “But,” she turned determinedly towards the receptionist, smiling her sweetest smile “for this weekend we are indeed Mr and Mrs Sawyer and we will share a suite.” She had the heady satisfaction of seeing his annoying self confidence take a massive hit. 

“Well, Mrs…err… Madame, that’s fortunate. There is a exhibition in town this week and we have only one suite still available and that’s the Penthouse Suite, will that be fine for you?” “That will be perfect” , Becky responded, picking up the access key. She looked defiantly at Tom. To her further irritation, a gleeful expression was back in place, dark eyes glinting hopefully. “Not until Hell freezes over”she said, and led the way to the lift, leaving Tom to deal with the luggage. 

The Penthouse Suite was beautiful. A large sitting room furnished in elegant greys and creams with an adjoining bedroom, sporting the largest bed she had ever seen, and a marble bathroom. The wide floor to ceiling windows looked out over the entire city of Newcastle, with the river and the bridges given centre stage. “Wow!” she heard him exclaim, “This is really something “. 

“It is. And, of course, we aren’t really sharing. You can have the sitting room, with that beautiful sofa, I’ll have the bedroom.” Important to make that clear quickly, she thought. 

“Of course; you OK with sharing the bathroom, or would you rather I went along the corridor to the public one”. His voice was heavily sarcastic. She didn’t deign to reply, but picked up her case and went into the bedroom. A quick search in the fitted wardrobes found a spare pillow and blanket, which she took and put on the sofa. So far so good.

 They had only just met, most of the negotiations for the merger of their respective travel agencies having been done on line and on Zoom. The merger made good business sense, his specialising in the US and South America, hers covering Europe. They were here now to iron out some outstanding clauses and, if ironed out to their mutual agreement, to sign and exchange the contracts.   She had chosen to meet in her home city of Newcastle, convenient too because Tom was based in Edinburgh. She realised he was studying her intently, and the infuriating blush started to rise again. How ridiculous, what was wrong with her, colouring up like a twenty year old. 

“You can use the bathroom first, if you like. I’ll probably take longer than you”.

 “Are we going to eat together tonight? We still have a lot to acquaint ourselves with?”

 “Yes, of course. But let’s eat somewhere other than the hotel.. I know a very good Spanish restaurant on the Quayside. I’ll book a table for 8.00, is that OK?” 

“Brilliant, I’ll be super fast in the bathroom”. And with a very winning smile he went off. Becky’s mind went straight to what she might wear. Her one designer dress, that was for sure. 

 Darkness was approaching when they left the hotel to make the short walk to the Quayside and the restaurant. The river looked incredible as the buildings along the embankment started to light up. Becky felt good, her silk Chanel shift was a triumph of simplicity, its gorgeous green reflected in her eyes, her blonde hair was twisted high on her head, with some very fetching strands escaping. She felt sophisticated and confident, especially when Tom’s eyes had lit up so appreciatively when he saw her. “You look lovely” he’d said simply.  

She’d inclined her head graciously before retorting mischievously “You scrub up quite well yourself”. And she had to admit he did, despite her instinctive feeling of animosity towards his over confident and rather arrogant manner.

 Her agency, Europe’s Secrets, was her baby, her life,  certainly for the past 10 years since the tragically early death of Robert, her business partner and very nearly her life partner. Their wedding was to have taken place on the island of Santorini, but just two months before Robert had driven down to Maidenhead to meet someone regarding a prospective merger. He hadn’t been impressed, telephoning to say it wasn’t right for them and he was heading back to London. Just an hour later he was at the centre of a huge pileup on the M4.  What followed for Becky once the heartache subsided was work, work and more work till she had reached her present stage of a possible merger with a leading trans Atlantic travel agency. 

They chatted amicably as they walked over ancient cobblestones down to the river, both enjoying and commenting on the vibrancy of this small city.

“Good evening, Antonio”.  In the restaurant they were greeted by a small, dark man, very clearly Spanish even before he spoke.  The pungent mixture of garlic, herbs and unmistakably Mediterranean aromas invaded the senses.

“Buenas tardes,  Señora Price, so good to see you again”.

Becky and the waiter exchanged small talk in Spanish  until Antonio seated them at a table with a  river view .  With drinks to  hand and a menu to peruse, Becky could feel herself start to relax.  It annoyed her intensely that Tom had this unnerving affect on her.  As he studied the menu, she in turn surreptitiously studied him.  A strong face, still with a shock of dark hair - she had seen his profile so knew him to be 49, some 5 years older than herself. It was his eyes that had the strange effect on her, brilliant light blue, and seemingly permanently amused about something.  Not her, she hoped!

He startled her suddenly by putting down the menu and looking directly into her eyes.

“Do you feel comfortable with me as a business partner, Becky?”

Becky didn’t reply straight away - she couldn’t.   His eyes held her captive, she felt unable to breathe.    And for God’s sake, she was blushing again!    This wouldn’t do, she had to get a grip.  She cleared her throat and moved slightly in her seat,“Of course I’m comfortable with you.  Naturally, it’s good  to meet properly after all these months, to get to know the real you  - and you to get to know me.”

“I agree, and we are ideally situated to get to know one another very well, aren’t we?”

There was no mistaking the look in his eyes nor the mirth in his voice!   She shook herself mentally, her business was at stake here.  She was afforded a brief respite when the waiter came to take their order.  As Tom ordered a bottle of Rioja, she forced herself  choose.

“I’ll have the gambas pil pil and the calamari, please”.

She brought her gaze back to Tom’s face, and his expression twisted her heart in a peculiar way.

“Tom, we have work to do.  I can’t believe your business got this successful with you mixing business with pleasure.”

“ You’re right, but I’m not going to pretend with you.  I find you very attractive,  have done since we started negotiations.   I’m not sure where this leaves us , but I needed to be upfront with you.”

Becky willed herself to be composed, grown up, in charge of herself and the situation.  But in reality, her heart was doing somersaults and she didn’t think  her legs would support her were she to stand up.    Tom was talking again.

“And, Becky, I suspect you are not entirely indifferent to me.  I  hope that’s right because I must get to know you better”.  The  slightly mocking look she had become familiar with was gone, and he was looking into her eyes with an intensity and sincerity she couldn’t ignore.

She forced herself to speak.  

“Tom, let’s settle the business side of things first and then…..”

“Then what?  The business is settled , our lawyers are doing that.  This meeting was solely to see how you and I get along.   And I have told you clearly how I feel.  I didn’t try to meet up with you earlier, though, believe me, I wanted to so badly, but I wanted our business negotiations to finish without complications.    As I understand it, they now have  and I’m going to seriously complicate things now.  I’m falling in love with you”.

He had reached across the table for her hand and she was incapable of pulling it away from his grasp.

“We hardly know each other, we met literally 5 hours ago.”

“We’ve been talking on Zoom  for 6 months, our pasts have been explored and laid out for all to see.  There only remained this meeting, and for me, Becky,  its everything I hoped and imagined.  Well,” the mischievous laughter returned to his eyes. “almost”.

What he said was true; from a practical point they knew each other’s backgrounds.  She knew he had been divorced 12 years previously, had an 18 year old daughter, lived in Edinburgh, but she didn’t know ……oh, so much she didn’t know.

“Tom, this is happening too fast.  Can we reset this to a slower pace, enjoy our meal together and use the time to , to…..” she floundered for minute. “For example, I don’t know if you enjoy reading, love art,  what music you like.”

“ I know, and you’re right, of course.  I’m too impatient, but I feel I’ve been waiting to say that for so long, and meeting you today simple confirmed, no, amplified my feelings.  You are beautiful and obviously a warm and kind person.”

“And you, are you warm and kind?”

“Well, I like to think so.  I love animals, support lots of charities.  You know I have a dog, Baxter.  He inveigled his way into our zoom meetings from time to time”.

“Yes, and I have a cat”.  She laughed,  “And of course, we also both love to travel”.

“Yes,” he laughed in return, both acknowledging a sudden relaxing of tension.  “Becky, imagine how wonderful it would be for us to experience Venice, Rome, Sevilla, Granada again but this time together”.

“Of course, and for me to enjoy New York for the first time!”.

“God, I’d love to show you New York,  and Washington and…..oh, it’s a vast continent, it’s going to take time.”

With the atmosphere continuing to clear, the rest of the evening passed in animated conversation, as they vied with each other to disclose more and more of their inner selves, their likes, their pet hates, and at the end, when the cafe solos and brandies arrived, Becky wasn’t  surprised to find  her hands once again encircled by Tom’s.

“Can falling in love be this easy?” She asked .

“It can, if you don’t get hung up on too much conventional thinking.  After all, we aren’t in our twenties or even our thirties any more.  We are two grown up people , perfectly equipped to choose wisely and hopefully make good decisions.”

Even as they looked into each other’s eyes, a vision of the king sized bed back in their shared hotel room swam between them.  Becky was only too aware that that was to be her decision.  She could only hope she would choose wisely.