Caresaway by DJ Cockburn

Author:DJ Cockburn [Cockburn, DJ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Annorlunda Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Since reading the Time article, Edward had spent a lot of his day staring out of his office window. Sometimes he watched the changing moods of Table Mountain or touched the plate glass window to feel the vibrations of the Southeaster blowing off the Atlantic. More often, he saw Tia reflected in it. Tia laughing. Tia frowning. Tia naked with her open arms offering an intimacy he’d never known before or since. He wondered how many girlfriends he’d discarded since Tia. Fifty? A hundred? Not one of them had kindled a flame that burned him as the memory of Tia did. What had possessed him to give her up? The answer was as obvious as the answer to introspective questions always were. He’d killed the ability to feel the flame.

He turned at a knock on the door. The art of giving his back to his callers had deserted him along with so much else.

Beatrice looked stunning. She’d replaced her cornrows with finely woven hair extensions, and her trouser suits with a high-hemmed dress revealing legs that looked as if they’d get her up to Maclear’s Beacon in a dozen strides. She brought no coffee and sat without being asked.

Edward recognized the signs of the same egotism that had led him to believe he could be a CEO without Caresaway. Since he’d seen Tia’s photograph in Time, he hadn’t been able to direct himself, let alone his company.

“We have a problem,” said Beatrice.

Edward sighed and faced her across his desk. Her eyes pinned him like a dead moth.

“You read the article?” Beatrice tapped her finger on the copy of Time that was still on Edward’s desk.

He nodded. He’d reread it every day since Beatrice had given it to him, usually giving more attention to Tia’s picture than the words.

“It has caused quite a stir. The FDA in America is launching an investigation. Tia de Jongh is going to help them.”

Edward sat bolt upright. He was no longer able to affect nonchalance. Beatrice’s features showed no reaction. Only calculation.

Something was wrong with the situation that went beyond the way Beatrice was flourishing under the influence of Caresaway. Why was she bringing him information that should have come from Pharmakaap’s expensively retained lawyer?

Beatrice saw enough of him that she must have noticed moroseness drive out dominance as Caresaway drained from his metabolism. She was the only one who knew he’d no longer explode at bad news, so she’d volunteered to break it to him. Part of her job was to control access to the CEO. If she persuaded people she was the only one who could handle him, she could monopolize access to him while making herself indispensable to the rest of the board.

Item 4. Cunning / manipulative.

Through an act of kindness, he’d turned her into a psychopath who was rerouting the channels of power through her own desk. He edged back his chair, as though a little distance would make her less dangerous. He used to like boasting that prey always recognized a predator.

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