Connexion

Part 4

Arms still folded, she inched backwards. Well, she hoped her stealthily-retreat would not be noticed. Now it would be good if her mind kept pace with her pulse.

Caleb tipped his head as his eyes pinned her to the floor and asked, "For wasting my time?" His were laced with obvious ridicule. Something about this woman, had piqued his interest, but not for the obvious reason. Why would someone who did not know him, would assume she could order him about, as if he was her lackey? The fact she found her way past the various barriers: the receptionist, his PA, and his own good sense, had allowed her to pitch her orders. How did she manage that? Surely someone would have checked her reasons for seeing him? He wondered what she told the receptionist to allow her access to his PA without an appointment.

Jena swallowed. Ok, poking tigers, the size of an elephant, is clearly the wrong move. Her heart raced like a gazelle. Adrenaline was dispersed with hasty, as her head ordered her legs to move. Unfortunately, the tiled floor in Caleb office was actually treacle. "No of course not. I just thought we, well we reached a compromise..."she petered off when she noted the spark in his eyes.

"A compromise? We? Really. In which Universe? " Caleb linked his fingers and tapped his forefingers against his lips, then looked at her, with menace in his eyes, while he said calmly, "And to avoid any confusion, I have not agreed to anything, Ms Silva." This woman seemed to think she could simply waltz into his office and expect him to follow her decree. He was also pleased that he had not let her unacceptable-surprising-extraordinary visit to penetrate his equanimity.

What equanimity, he wondered given he was still entertaining this charlatan.

She ignored the warning bells in her head and instead, she huffed. What is the problem with this man, they had just reached a conclusion, well, at least she did. They had agreed. Hadn't they? He concurred, didn't he? She reviewed the last few moments and reached the conclusion his agreement was not given verbally! She just assumed. It was obvious in his body language. And everything stacked up: She had asked him not to go out with Melanie. He asked Jena if she was here to take Melanie's position. Jena asked if he wanted to go out with her? He confirmed did not want to go out with Jena. So obviously the conclusion is he would not go out with Melanie or her! But that is where the disjoint appeared. She just assumed her points about her cousin's engagement, was registered by the man and was accepted. 

Her mind raced as the snippets of their conversation repeated in a loop in her brain. Now she was pretty sure he was just teasing her, or baiting her or was using her for entertainment. Or perhaps she had skipped reality. Her mind wandered as she reviewed the last few moments. What happened?  

She was right. Caleb was enjoying this meeting. Meeting this woman was not on his diary, but for some reason, this unexpected meeting was entertaining and amusing! And it was also useful as it gave him time. Perhaps he just needed time out, to think about a thorny problem and would approached it with a new fresh mind, because this meeting was brushing away the cobwebs and was illuminating the way forward, despite this meeting had nothing to do with his thorny problem. Maybe that is why he was treating her with kid gloves.

Jena glared at him, hoping her tone would have some impact on him. She exhaled, "For goodness sake!" She huffed and sighed at the same time. Caleb again banked his smile. Jena folded her arms, "Honestly, Mr Harland, we just sorted out the matter, you..."

He interrupted her, jammed his hands in his pockets, and grinned "Hardly." Again, a word issued with honey. He paused to give his words sombreness. "You believed that by offering yourself as a substitute you thought I would not date Melanie! Suggests you have delusions!" While his tone was laced with amusement, but his eyes conveyed his contemptuousness, coated with humour. That is quite a feat, Jena thought as she registered his tone, his words and his eyes. His tone was cheerful. His words were insulting. His eyes conveyed his scorn. All laced with triumph.

Jena threw her hands in the air and her eyes conveyed her agitation. "For goodness sake! Mr Harland! You just confirmed you were not interested in me."

"Yes." He smirked.

"You were pretty blunt about that! " Ok, perhaps she made an error in her summation and causation links. Again, she reviewed this visit: She told him to stop dating Tony's fiancée and with his statement that she would replace Tony's fiancée, she assumed he would stop dating Melanie, because clearly in his mind, anyone could take Melanie's position!