Diamonds Are Not Forever

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY 
Elliot 

She'd thrown me off my game by being there. She wasn't supposed to be there.
I wasn't even supposed to be there.
I'd promised Frankie he could handle this meeting on his own, well not completely on his own, our Head of Finance was due through the door any minute. But after our blazing row at his birthday, because he'd chosen to pine after the owner of the company we were after, I'd moved a few meetings around to be there out of fear that if I let Frankie and Miss Goulding in that conference room alone for longer than five minutes – they'd probably start fucking on the table.
I was trying to stay present, to listen as Frankie and Ashley batted back and forth about expansion and brand vision, but every time she moved in her chair slightly or let out a sigh – my body would react to her and a wave of annoyance would ripple through me.
Juliette had stormed off from me the last time we spoke, to dance with the lumberjack looking guy she worked with. Millie was quick to fill me in that they were just colleagues and nothing more, even if the guy did quite clearly want into her panties. I was glad to hear it. About the just colleagues thing, I hadn't really decided on how I felt about Teddy wanting to fuck her.
I'd hoped the next time I would have the opportunity to speak with Juliette, it was somewhere less abrasive than in a negotiation with her boss and my brother in the room.   
I knew how hypocritical I was being on Frankie, tearing him a new one on the terrace when all he'd done was kiss the woman. Meanwhile I'd fucked her coworker twice in one night, knowing I was breaking my own rules as I did it.
As if she could hear my internal thoughts, Juliette looked up at me with her large brown eyes and bit down on her bottom lip. It sent all the blood in my body to my crotch.
For fuck's sake Elliot get a hold of yourself.
"What do you think Elliot?" Frankie turned to me expectantly, I tracked over the conversation to think of a suitable response that didn't show my mind was elsewhere.
"I think the current assets of Goulding Company are in a strong place to move forward with an expansion pretty rapidly. Your company doesn't have any long-term liabilities, which is exactly what drew Truman & Son's to it. I think we have a lot we can offer you to make your vision a reality Miss Goulding, and I think your company can help us expand our own vision of being a powerhouse for the transportation and distribution in the jewellery industry."
Frankie rolled his eyes at me. "Majoring in business was your mistake, don't make the rest of us pay for it with your lingo and sales pitch."
I wanted to kick him under the table but refrained, my better judgement winning. Instead, I leaned back on my chair and flexed my arms down at my sides to release some of the built-up tension there.
"The short of it is," I began, "Truman & Son's has the revenue to make Goulding Jewellers more than just a high street store with a great reputation. I won't pretend we aren't new to the market of selling jewellery, our recent buy out of Hugo Talls & Co is in its infancy, but we want to break into that market in a big way by bringing in more established companies into our brand. Your company has the ability to give us credibility in the field, that paired up with our overseas suppliers and contacts would make us one of the best in the business. I think we have given you everything you have asked for Miss Goulding, all that's left to do is sign on the dotted line."
Ashley Goulding sat and staired at me blankly, not letting on if my speech had worked. Juliette sat upright in her seat and flicked her eyes between the two of us, waiting for someone say something next. She had been deathly quiet the whole meeting.
When nobody said a word, I pulled the pen from my breast pocket and placed it on the glass surface between us.
I'm throwing down the gauntlet Miss Goulding, are you going to pick it up?
I swear she was about to reach for it when a knock on the door made us all jump a little. Jonathan Cross, our Head of Finance, strolled into the room like he wasn't half an hour late to the meeting. He was a short man with a pot belly, it protruded from his ill-fitting shirt as he took a seat next to me at the table.
"Apologies for my tardiness, I hope I haven't missed too much." He apologised, giving Miss Goulding and Juliette a polite nod.
"This is Mr Cross," Frankie introduced, "He's our Head of Finance at Truman & Sons."
Ashley smiled at him sweetly, smoothing out the lapels of her light blue power suit as she reached across the table and finally picked up my pen. "I'm glad you are here Mr Cross, I was just about to sign-"
"A very wise decision." I hailed, letting my body relax.
She held up her index finger to me, to indicate she wasn't finished. "As I was about to say, Mr Truman, I was just about to sign your contract...once one last amendment I'd like to discuss is brought to the table. My last demand if you will." Ashley's pale pink lips turned up in a cunning smile as she clicked the nib back into the pen and slotted it into the pocket of her jacket.
Frankie's eyes flashed with a mixture of amazement and fear, Juliette's face was still frozen in a state of awe as she breathed heavily.
I took a calming breath of my own, letting the oxygen leave my body before sucking it back in tenfold. "By all means, please let me know your additional demand." The irritation in my voice drowned my words.
I was finding it really hard to stay calm, we had pandered to every request she'd given us, I couldn't imagine what else she could  think up to add to the mix.
"I'd like 10% pay rises for all my current staff, excluding myself."
Juliette nearly choked on her water, which she'd made a habit of picking up and pretending to drink in order to avoid looking at me or anyone else in the room for that matter.
Jonathan made an uncomfortable sounding noise, shuffling in his chair so he was sat on the very edge of it. "Miss Goulding, I hardly think-"
She cut him off, turning to Juliette as she spoke.
"Mr Truman has been kind enough to fill me in on what an asset Goulding Jewellers would be to his business, so I'm sure you can all understand that my staff are what makes Goulding Jewellers so distinguished. They are my asset, and it is in my best interest to protect that asset above anything else."
Jonathan looked to me for an answer, running a finger along the edge of his shirt collar like it was choking him. We both knew I'd shown my hand too soon, if we didn't agree to this, we'd lost our case completely. And I wasn't in the market for being the person who had to go knock on my father's office door and tell him I was the reason his business plan had fallen to shit.
After a beat, I gave Jonathan a quick nod and he turned back to the wide-eyed Juliette and confident looking Ashley.
"Consider it done, Miss Goulding."
"Excellent." Ashley rose from her seat instantly and walked round to Frankie, pulling him from his chair and shaking his hand firmly. He didn't hesitate to linger on the contact a fraction longer than what was socially acceptable in a business meeting between soon-to-be-colleagues.
"I say we should go grab a coffee to celebrate." Frankie smiled, eventually letting her go so she could shake hands with a bewildered looking Jonathan.
"I would love a coffee. Mr Cross, would you care to join us?" Ashley asked politely, Frankie faltered slightly behind her at the thought of his attempt at getting her alone was being ruined by the boner killer that was Jonathan Cross. "We can talk over the contract amendment in the coffee shop myself and Juliette passed on the way in?"
Jonathan rose from his own chair and shook hands with Ashley, his stubby fingers fumbling with the perfectly manicured ones of hers. "I appreciate the offer, but I would like to get the contract amended as soon as physically possible, if you will still be around, I can have it drafted and ready to sign within the hour."
"That would be preferred." I nodded to him, getting to my feet and shaking hands with Ashley. She gave me a triumphant grin before looking over my shoulder to her colleague.
"Jewel, are you coming for coffee?"
Juliette looked like she was in a petrified state, her hand frozen on her empty glass of water suspended mid-air; she had gone a ghostly shade of white. Her lips moved as if she was going to say something, but she never found the words.
"Actually," I ushered the others towards the door, "If it would be agreeable, I have a spot of business I'd like to discuss with Miss St. James."
Frankie gave me a puzzled look, followed closely by a scowl from Ashley. The two exchanged glances before turning back to me in unison. I tried for my warmest smile, baring teeth as I shot internal daggers at Juliette's tenacious boss.
"Please, it won't take a moment."
Juliette must have indicated some sort of agreement from behind me, as Ashley suddenly gave me a curt nod and turned on her heels to leave the room, closely followed by Frankie and Jonathan.
When the door closed behind them, I prepared myself for what I was about to do. We were finally alone, and I was finally going to able to put some actions to my other business plans.

When I faced Juliette again, she'd finally put the glass down, but her face still looked chalk white. I frowned slightly, wondering if she was ill. That was quickly forgotten when she forced herself to meet my gaze and her cheeks began to redden, a fiery look filling the deep brown pools of her eyes.
"Congratulations on your pay rise, Miss St. James." I managed, retaking my seat and watching her carefully.
"Cut the bullshit, Elliot." She spat, crossing her arms across her chest, the fabric of her brightly coloured shirt rippling across her breasts as she moved. Her tone took me aback, I wasn't quite sure what I'd done to piss her off. Other than reject her. Was she so mad at me because I hadn't kissed her at Frankie's party?
I waited for her to continue, but when she didn't, I crossed my own arms and gave her a scowl back.
"Considering I'm soon to technically be your new boss, I'd watch your tone."
She scoffed at me and turned her head, so she could look at me dead on, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "Oh yeah? Well boss, could you point me in the direction of your HR department so I can inform them that you slept with me to secure a business deal?!"
Her eyes burned into mine. I felt my face turn ashen.
I was going to kill Frankie; I knew this was his doing. Opening his huge fucking mouth to Ashley in the hope he was going to get laid.
This was going to put a spanner in my works.
"Juliette, listen-"
"No, you listen!" She cut me off, her voice raising an octave higher as she jumped from her chair. "I don't appreciate you using me to get to my boss. I'm not a pawn you can move around in your fucked up game of business chess!" Juliette's voice waivered as she put her back to me and rested a hand against the glass window to steady herself.
I raised up onto my feet to join her where she was stood, approaching her slowly like she was an wounded animal.
"You're a nasty piece of work Elliot Truman, you know that?" She continued, unshed tears hidden in her voice as she stared down at her feet. When I followed her gaze, I noticed she was wearing my trousers, my favourite white cotton ones. The one's she stole from my apartment. They looked good on her, a little tight, but they hugged her curves in a way that made me want to tell her to keep them forever.
When I was stood directly by her side, shoulder to shoulder, she lowered her hand from the window and looked up to me. The heat radiating off her body like it was coming out of her in flames. I was lost, unsure of what the right thing to say was. I'd never really had to answer to my one night stands before, it was a novelty.
"I see you kept my favourite trousers." I quipped, cause it was all I could think to respond.
She snorted slightly, but she still wasn't laughing. A deathly silence filled the conference room as our eyes pondered one another. Juliette took a calming breath in through her nose then out through her mouth, trying to steady her erratic breathing.
"It was wrong of me to pursue you, knowing you worked where you do." I began, raking my hands through my hair so it was pushed out of my face. "But you have to know, I didn't take you home that night because I wanted to use you to get to Ashley."
Juliette slumped her shoulder, her face falling into a frown that didn't suit her elegant face. "Yeah right." She spat.
I grabbed both of her shoulders, angling her body so she was stood straight up in front of me. The sudden contact shocked her, it shocked me a little too, but I had to get my point across to her without her biting my head off again.
My eyes implored hers. "Believe me, I broke so many of my own rules taking you home that night. And I can assure you it won't happen again."
Juliette's face flashed with a hint of disappointment at my words. This woman was a whirlwind, even I was struggling to keep up.
Finally, I got to the apex of what I had wanted to discuss with her.
"I have a proposition for you Miss St. James, it an unorthodox one, but I need you to listen carefully to what I have to say before you make up your mind on the matter."
I steered her back to her seat, ready to make my second sales pitch of the day.