Fight for You

| Thirteen |

2011

Edward Harvey is a stunning creature. For years he had graced the covers of business magazines and made headlines as he climbed the corporate ladder, his career advancing quickly. Even before his career began Edward was in the news. His father, William Harvey, had conquered the business world and his ventures were the talk of the corporate world. Everyone in business knew the Harvey name and the prestige it carried. Edwards life was continuously scrutinised and put under a microscope, every move he made seemed to be in preparation for taking over one of the largest empires of the century but it was something he seemed to handle with ease.

I never went out of my way to keep up with the latest news of Edward Harvey other than seeing his face in the odd article or news story. Anyone that had the pleasure of meeting him only had good things to say about him. They commented on how polite and well-mannered he was. The way he gave them his undivided attention when they spoke like nothing else in the world mattered. He was gracious and nothing was ever difficult or a big deal to Edward, he took it all in his stride.

From the very first moment I had laid my eyes on Edward Harvey, even from behind, I was captivated by him. There was something about him that intrigued me. He carried himself with such confidence and pride, standing tall, both staunch and relaxed at the same time.

While I minuted the meeting with Alex and Edward, I seemed to watch Edward as he spoke and I touch-typed. Alex invited Edward to give a background on his company and their vision for the Asia Pacific market and his face lit up. His smile was so big that I was worried his face would explode. Edward was so genuinely proud of his own accomplishments and his fathers.

As Alex and Edward went back and forth discussing contracts, potential liabilities, conflicts of interest and changes to some of the contract wording, they both agreed to the policies and contracts, I typed away and made notes when necessary trying to focus at the task at hand.
When Alex spoke, Edward would place his elbows on the table and watch him intently while he listened and took in his words. Occasionally he would rest his chin on his thumb and use his index finger to play with his lips while he concentrated.

After what felt like an eternity, Alex announced the meeting was over and invited Edward to stay for refreshments. I excused myself and headed to my office to make the changes and get the documents back to them as soon as possible.
It took me longer than anticipated to get everything squared away and up to standard and when I made it back to the conference room the two men were standing shaking hands.

"Ah Whitney, there you are. Mr Harvey was just admiring the art and asking who the artist is. These are all courtesy of our own Whitney Bennett." He gestured to the three blown up photos around the room.

"They're delightful. You are very talented Ms Bennett."

"Please call me Whitney. Thank you, it's nice to have them displayed here for people to enjoy them rather than hiding away on my hard drive." I tried to hide the red rising in my cheeks.

"Mr Hardman, I'd like to take you to dinner to celebrate our new partnership if you are free." Edward was so casual about closing a deal that was so big for our firm. I was trying to hold in my excitement.

"My apologies Edward, unfortunately, I'm travelling away with my family tonight so I won't be able to join you." I could see Alex kicking himself on the inside for letting his wife talk him into a holiday weekend straight after such an important meeting. "But-," he looked over at me with a mischievous smile on his face "Whitney, isn't Finn away this weekend? If you have no plans then maybe you could accompany Edward for dinner. You're much better company than I am anyway."

I couldn't believe what was happening. Did Alex want to lose the Harvey's contract? I'm good at my job but I never had to schmooze the clients. That was his job.