Chapter 5

First day back for Rebecca was the monthly board meeting. She resolved to lead from the front foot, rather than allow some half baked office gossip to establish itself.

She shuffled nervously as the other members of the board arranged themselves with their notes and files. Sam eyed her suspiciously, sensing from her attitude she had a bombshell to drop.

At last the Chairman strode in and stood by the top of the table. He waited for everyone's attention before sitting, 'like some Field Marshal, ' Rebecca often thought.

"Ahem!" Rebecca said. "Can I say something before we begin?"

Sam leaned forward grinning. Several others had bemused expressions. Few of them had any doubt they were about to have some fun. The Chairman, himself, smiled indulgently. Rebecca now suspected he'd always had a thing for her.

"Bradley and I are going out," she announced, tersely. "That's all."

"Who's Bradley?" someone asked.

"That engineer guy," Fiona, the company legal specialist, told him.

"Ah!" the Chairman said.

"'Going out casual' or 'real serious going out'?" Fiona continued. "Spill?"

She was a nosey bitch, Rebecca thought, and they never really got on.

"Oh, going out serious, definitely!" Rebecca informed her.

"Hmm. And he would be, how younger than you?"

"17 years!" Rebecca was defiant. She was buggered if she was going to let these judgemental arseholes stare her down.

"Big difference!" proclaimed the chairman.

"How old is your second wife, again, Arnold?" Fiona, clearly having fun, asked another of the directors.

"Oh, yes, quite young, isn't she?" the Chairman said.

"So? Doesn't make any difference these days, does it?" Arnold defended himself.

"Especially if you're an old guy and the girl barely out of High School!" Fiona, dived in. "I say, good on Rebecca. Time us old girls got a bit of young crumpet!"

"Yes, quite!" the Chairman squirmed.

Rebecca was surprised she'd found a determined ally in Fiona. Clearly the woman had a chip on her shoulder about the subject.

"Yeah, about time, Rebecca. Wish you all the best," said Sam, smiling. He, too, had been surprised, but, he was a good friend and she welcomed his support.

"You don't have any problems working alongside your, ah..." the Chairman began.

"Boyfriend!" Fiona finished for him.

"Yes. Any difficulties there?"

"We still talk!" Rebecca smirked to general amusement. The Chairman then called the meeting to order and the subject quickly passed.

When they broke for lunch, Rebecca dashed out to meet Bradley in 'their' little kerbside cafe. She found him waiting and, maybe, a little anxious.

She told him what went on and he laughed. Her reputation, he insisted, was more important than his because he didn't have any.

"Much less a trial than I thought," she reported.

"You think, maybe, we could hook up for dinner tonight?" he asked.

"Dunno," she replied. "Probably have to work late. How about I give you a key..."

"You trust me?" he smiled.

"No! Nevertheless, we could have a little supper? You could warm up the bed?"

"You don't have an electric blanket?"

"Yes, but this way will be much more fun," she sniggered.

"Hello you two!" came a loud voice. It was Fiona, the legal specialist. "Mind if I take this seat?" She sat before they could give an answer. "I'm Fiona, you're Bradley. aren't you?" He nodded. "Been dying to meet you since Rebecca let the cat out of the bag!"

Fiona was a professional looking woman in her fifties with a preference for snappy power suits and blond rinsed hair. She was always impeccably dressed and came across as somewhat intimidating. She and Rebecca had taken a dislike to each other from the get go. Rebecca found her too loud and opinionated. Fiona, no doubt, thought the same about her.

"I'd just like to thank you, Rebecca," Fiona said, "for giving me the best laugh I've had in years."

"Don't mention it," Rebecca replied, her tone had a frosty tinge.

"I've waited a long while to see old hypocrites like Arnold and the Chairman taken down a peg. Never thought you'd do it, though. Always figured you for a bit anal retentive!"

"Oh, thanks!" Rebecca replied, clearly annoyed.

"No! Don't take it that way. I have to apologise to you, Bradley. I tend to shoot from the lip."

"Used to it," he smiled. Rebecca glared at him.

"Those guys think they can buy themselves some dipstick, wafer thin, bimbo - young enough to be their daughter, granddaughter, for Christ's sake!"

"Yeah? And your point is?" Rebecca's eyes narrowed.

"But if we women go out with someone a bit younger..."

"Look, I see your point, Fiona. Everybody in there saw your point. You have an issue with hypocracy. You resent the men in there with their trophy wives. Honestly, I don't give a fuck! I just hate the gossip, the rumour-mongering, and the prying into my life. Everybody knows, now, and there's nothing more for them to whisper about. That's all I was trying to do."

"Hey! Fine by me!" Fiona put up her hands. "Your call!"

Meanwhile, Bradley looked on bemused. He was fascinated by the dynamics between the two women - alike, in many ways - yet disliked each other.

"Right!" continued Rebecca. "So, how's your husband doing? He was starting a business, wasn't he?"

Fiona's face fell, to be replaced by anger and suspicion. Rebecca could see immediately she'd put her foot in it. "That's not very funny, Rebecca!" she told her, coldly.

Rebecca looked at Bradley, who was shrugging and cautioning her with his eyes. "Um, is there..." she began. "Has something happened?"

"You don't know?" Fiona asked.

"What?"

"Robert left me last year for a Russian girl he'd been meeting on the Internet. 25, she is, with nothing resembling a brain!"

"Oh, God! I'm so sorry, Fiona. I'd no idea!"

"Really?" she asked, skeptically. "You must be about the only one in the company that doesn't know."

"I see, now, why you went in to bat for me back there."

"Fuck the little cunts!" she spat.

Rebecca looked up at Bradley who was recoiling from Fiona's language. To look at her, one could scarcely credit her with knowing what the word 'cunt' meant.

"Shit, it must have been hard for you?" Rebecca tried to console her.

"Yeah! It was tough. I think that's the worst, y'know? Going through all the grief, the rejection stuff, and having to suffer that smug arsehole Arnold and his ilk."

"Look, I'm sorry I laid into you a bit back there. Honestly, I didn't know about you and Robert!"

"Water off an old duck's back. I admire you, Rebecca. You get out there - find yourself a good man - then charge into the wolf pack and give them the big finger. I wish I could do the same. I just don't trust men anymore. Robert showed me they're all jerks - present company accepted."

"I never thought that," Rebecca explained. "But, I have to say it's not easy moving aside for someone else. Especially after doing things my way for so long. Having to consult - that's what I have to get used to."

"You're lucky. After thirty years living with someone - and they were mostly good years - suddenly I'm alone in that big house Robert bought for us. Every decision about that place was Robert's. Can you imagine living - all alone - in the house of a person you despise? Who hurt you beyond reason?"

"Leave!" Bradley intervened, suddenly.

"Huh?" Fiona was startled, as if she didn't imagine Rebecca's new boyfriend actually spoke.

"Sure! Rebecca said. "Pack up and leave. Sell up - buy your own place?"

"On a beach," suggested Bradley. "Right by the ocean - a great reflector of moods!"

Rebecca looked at Bradley, barely containing her laughter. He'd used that line on her not more than two weeks ago. She wondered if it was his trademark pick up.

"Where the fuck did you pick this guy up, Rebecca?" Fiona laughed. "He's fond of the bullshit, isn't he?"