advertising-for-love by Rakhibul hasan (fb2 epub reader .TXT) 📖

bad.”

“I know about them now. She had one this morning when I asked her to come into the Branson meeting. And it’s too late not to call her into meetings. I had to get her to come into the Wallis one this afternoon as well. She seemed to have coped pretty well.” Grant said casually

“Blast, I am sorry to do this to both of you. I’ll try and ring her at home again. I tried to ring her

earlier but the work phone has been switched onto the answering machine and so is the one at her

home. Listen, if there is problem don’t hesitate to ring me tomorrow. And Grant, I am sorry. I

really mean it. You did not need my problem as well at this busy time.” Becky expressed the

guilt she had been feeling the whole day.

“Look kiddo, just take care of yourself and that little one inside. We’ll manage. Luckily we could

borrow the two new recruits from sales. For the moment I’ve asked them to assist Tizzy.” Grant

reassured her.

“Thanks, you are wonderful. Roger and I are very lucky. And keep that Branson away from my friend.” Becky continued

“I am only her boss; get her husband to do that if you are that worried.” Grant replied.

“Grant, Tizzy has no husband. She has no one else in this world to protect her, that is, besides the three of us.” Becky’s words stunned Grant

“But the man and the children?”

“How do you know about them?” Becky queried

“I was driving past her home and happened to see them together. And she has a photo of the kids on her desk.” He replied

“Grant, she has no husband.” Becky repeated.

“What about the children? The wedding ring?” he asked

“I’ll tell you everything when I come back. Just keep an eye on things OK.” Becky pleaded

“You should be thinking of yourself and your kid at this moment. Stop worrying. Tizzy is a grown woman and from what I saw of her with Branson, can look after herself too.”

Becky was not as sure of the situation as him but she said her goodbye and tried to ring Tizzy again, only to meet with the same result

Grant could not explain the momentary joy that he felt on finding out that Tizzy did not have a husband. But this was soon replaced by the sobering thought of knowing that her loneliness was probably the reason why she had made her work her life. He could not wait to find out why she wore a wedding ring and who the children were.

At the end of this thought, he looked at his watch. It was 9 p.m. That explained his gnawing hunger. He decided to call it a day. Picking up his briefcase, he switched off the lights and walked out. He took the lift down, bid goodnight to the security man and walked out of the building. He felt exhausted and decided he would pick up a Chinese take-away on his way home. He no longer had the energy to prepare a meal for himself. After that he was going to hit the bed. Getting into the car he began driving out of the car park. It was dark outside but as he took the bend he spotted ‘that thing’ again. The mini was parked in the car park facing the side entrance. There was only one other car there and it belonged to their security company.

On impulse he turned the car around and drove back to the entrance. Parking his car beside Tizzy’s he took the lift up. The security guard was surprised to see Mallaby back so soon but accepted his explanation that he had forgotten his mobile phone. Grant prayed that it would not ring until he was in the lift and out of hearing range for he could feel it lying in the safety of his coat pocket.

The light was on in Tizzy’s office. He walked towards it. Tizzy was standing barefooted packing her things away. Her weary shoulders arched for relief. Her dark glasses were lying on the table. He must have made a sound for she reached for the glasses and put them on before turning to look towards him.

“I thought you were security.” she began. Then she noticed his weariness. He looked drained and she felt even guiltier. If Becky had been here, she would have taken over the meetings. She on the other hand was letting everyone down. “I thought ev..eryone ha..d left.”

“You look tired. You are going to kill yourself if you go on like this. I must get down to advertising for another person. I should have done it today.” Grant surprised himself with his reply. He paid his staff well and for that he expected them to complete their task. If that meant working overtime, then it simply meant that. He knew Becky and Tizzy often worked back. It had never bothered him in the past.

“You look tired yourself, maybe we should advertise for another d...irector.” And then she smiled.

Grant laughed. This was the first time, Tizzy has ever joked with him. In his heart, he knew how true the words were. Tom and he had been good together. Now he was one partner short and with two times the volume of work. No, three times. Maybe another director was not such a bad idea after all. But this was a family concern and must always remain a family concern. That was Tom’s dream. It was his too. And it would be impossible to find someone who had his views and his goal and more importantly had his vision. But she was right in that they definitely needed more help.

“Touché! Are you having any problems?” Grant asked

“Not really. I was actually jjj..ust about to leave.” With that she slipped her feet into her shoes and picked up her shoulder bag.

They walked out together and took the elevator down

“Have you eaten yet? I am famished. If you haven’t, would you like to join me?” he asked

Tizzy thought of lying but just then her tummy growled. ‘Well there goes my excuse’ she thought.

“I have dinner prepared at home. Ttthanks anyway. I am already indebted to you for one meal today.”

Grant smiled. He really looked so tired. Unable to stop herself she said, “You are welcome to join me if you like. It w..won’t be anything elaborate, just yesterday’s rice and Thai curry and the company won’t be w..wonderful either.”

Grant was exhausted and just wanted to head home but he knew how difficult that invitation had been for Tizzy to make.

“I’d love that if you are sure you have enough.” then before she changed her mind he said. “I’ll follow you”

They reached her house in fifteen minutes. She parked in the garage and as he could not find another spot, he parked in her driveway. Once inside, Tizzy made him a drink, put on a CD and disappeared into the kitchen refusing his offer to help. In five minutes she had their dinner heated and served. They talked about work during their meal and he informed her that Becky had been trying to contact her. Dinner turned into a relaxed occasion. They were often silent yet neither felt the need to rush into constant conversation. Grant in particular felt peace around him. It was oddly comforting to know that nothing was expected of him.

After dinner, Tizzy washed up and then she checked the messages. Becky had left ten messages

for her. The last one was more of a curse. Tizzy rang her back, and took a good five minutes to

calm her down. During the entire conversation, Grant noticed that Tizzy had not stuttered once.

Then he heard a frantic note in her voice as she remarked “You told him! Oh Becky I wish you

hadn’t.” Grant knew she was referring to his conversation with Becky earlier that day.

Tizzy put down the receiver, paused a moment, and then hesitantly walked toward the lounge room where she had asked Grant to relax.

“Gg grant, about what Becky told you”...she started.

“Tizzy the day you want to talk about it you can count on me being there to listen, but let’s not talk about it now. I can tell you are not ready.”

Tizzy was relieved. She had not known where to begin. Her loyal glasses once again hid her worried eyes.

She offered coffee and he accepted. Minutes later she walked in armed with two mugs and a plate of her favourite mint chocolates. In the lounge room, stretched across the sofa, Grant had fallen fast asleep. So deep a sleep, that even when she placed a pillow beneath his head and covered him with a quilt, he did not wake.

Tizzy sat in the chair opposite him and had her coffee. She was free to observe Grant. Not a quick glance, here and there, but really look at him. Suddenly she knew the answer to all her questions. The palpitation when he was around, her eagerness to hear the sound of his voice, the reason why she worked so hard. It was him. It had always been him. She hadn’t realised the feelings she had as love, but she knew now, she loved him with every breath in her body. But they lived in different worlds. It was not fair to expect him to come down to her world and she would never be able to reach up to his. She could never bring herself to go out of her secure universe. The chains of her past were too strongly bound around her to let her do that!

She finished her coffee and went into her room. After she changed, she got into bed. She had locked the dogs in the guest room for the night just in case Grant and the dogs frightened each other.

She feared that she would not be able to sleep after her mammoth ‘discovery’, but the moment her head hit the pillow she fell off to sleep. But it was not a dream that she had, it was a

nightmare. It was happening again and she did what she always did. She woke up screaming. The next minute Grant had raced into her room. He switched on the light and found Tizzy in a daze. He called out to her several times. Finally she looked up and he stared at a terrorised pair of cobalt blue eyes. With her hair hanging loose and her pale pink nightie, she looked so young and so very afraid. He took a step forward but she shrunk further back. “Tizzy, it’s me. Grant. It is Grant.” His words continued to meet a blank dazed look.

Finally Tizzy seemed to recognise him. A second later, she rushed out of the bed and flew into his arms. Grant held her tightly until her sobbing subsided. Then he led her back to the bed. He went into the kitchen and got her a glass of water. After she had drunk it, he lay down beside her and held her until she fell asleep again. He could not get the cobalt blue eyes out of his head. He had never seen eyes that shade before. They were hypnotic; mesmerising. He looked at her face. Why would anyone with those magical eyes and such beautiful hair, deliberately make themselves look so ugly. He gently supported her face against his shoulder and found himself caressing her soft hair.

Tizzy’s breathing had settled into a steady pace but still he could not bring himself to let her go. He scanned her face once again. She really had quite a nice face. Each feature being evenly placed. Finally his eyes