Piping Her Tune Read online

  Fiona merely nodded in agreement. “That’s true, though I believe it’s more than that. With such a domineering personality, it’s hard for her to mesh with just anyone.”

  “Huh! You can say that again. She would expect complete submission from a partner. No matter who she was, she’d have to roll over and sing for her supper.” A vision of a woman lying on her back with her legs in the air like a puppy while Victoria scratched her stomach popped into Abby’s brain. She shook it away.

  “Nay. She wouldn’t be happy with anyone like that. That’s the crux of the matter—she’d be bored after two minutes. It’ll have to be a union of minds as well as bodies. Whomever she chooses must be her equal or she’ll never be happy.”

  Abby checked her watch with reluctance as the light dimmed through the window. A pity they had to go, the conversation was absorbing. More questions needed to be asked to satisfy her curiosity. “Come on, it’s nearly time we joined the others. I’ll help you shift your things into the other room before we go downstairs.”

  At the dinner table, Abby was more in her element than on the previous evening. Her eyes shone as the discussion shifted from people she didn’t know to focus on world affairs, politics and items in the news. Her intellectual comments and balanced assessments about the topics seemed to strike a chord with her hosts. They deferred to her frequently, soliciting her opinion and beaming at her like a teacher might at a particularly clever pupil. Victoria didn’t contribute much; she moved her body at regular intervals to sit at odd angles, then slid two tablets in her mouth and washed them down with merlot. Even though the roast lamb was excellent, she seemed to be having trouble staying awake. At the end of the main course, she excused herself for the night.

  Ellen raised her eyebrows at her husband as the door closed behind her. He shrugged. “She’s feeling the effects of the ride. It looked like her back by the way she was sitting on the chair. That’s the second lot of tablets I’ve seen her take in two hours and washing them down with alcohol should be a real sucker punch. She’ll be knocked out ’til morning.”

  Two hours later, Abby found Victoria sprawled out cold on the bed, her mouth open, drooling on the pillow. “Not such a superwomen after all, are you,” she murmured. Her pulse quickened as her eyes wandered down the sensuous planes of Victoria’s body, then without thinking, she tucked a stray curl away from her face. She trailed the tip of a finger down her check, marvelling how soft her skin felt. It was like silk, and not pale either, but glowed with life like it’d been blessed with a touch of springtime. Abby examined the full mouth. What would it feel like to kiss it? She imagined it would be like a feathery caress. With a sigh she pulled the covers over Victoria and turned to her own bed, feeling totally frustrated. At the rate she was going she’d never find out what it was like to kiss a woman. But then an unwanted thought came. She really didn’t want to kiss just any woman.

  As she tried to sleep, she looked over at Victoria and Fiona’s words rolled around in her head. She would have liked to have found out more about Victoria’s past. What drove her to be such an achiever? An overachiever in fact. She had everything yet wasn’t prepared to slow down. Was it the result of a financially deprived childhood, or was Victoria simply someone who was so competitive she had to be the best?

  Abby wormed into the bedclothes, annoyed. Why did she psychoanalyse everyone? She should follow her mother’s “live and let live” philosophy. Abby’s job at the Legal Aid hadn’t helped: troubled people cast shadows across familiar things, and turned everything into off-kilter versions of normality. Their plights made Abby realize life wasn’t black and white, just numerous shades of grey. Everything had a cause and effect. She was a classic example. The death of her father when Abby was sixteen left her mother to struggle to make ends meet. Abby grew up fast. The best things in life might be free (as the saying goes), but lack of money certainly didn’t equate to happiness.

  She glanced again across at the shadowy form in the other bed. Why was she having such confusing thoughts about Victoria? They’d never get on. But as Abby drifted between consciousness and sleep, another image appeared in the haze: She lay with her legs in the air like a fluffy tiger cub while Victoria scratched her belly.

  Chapter Eleven

  Victoria was all business in the morning, a side Abby hadn’t yet seen. Assertive rather than superior. She gestured for Abby to sit and took the chair opposite. “Some meetings are better held outside the workplace. This one in particular. The family has owned the land for three generations and need reassurance that our proposed coal mine won’t impinge on their remaining grazing enterprise. I came out to personally negotiate the sale to give us much more of a chance to clinch the deal. Developing initiatives to minimize the impact is one straightforward way to make all parties happy. Even though it’s government policy to grant mineral rights over grazing, our company prefers amicable solutions instead of running roughshod over landholders.”

  “So do you expect to finalize the sale?” asked Abby.

  “I’m determined to finish it today,” said Victoria firmly. “If we do, it would end months of negotiations. I want to go through the details before we see them. You can sit in. I don’t expect you to understand much, but listen and you might learn something. One of your duties on the trip is to help Fiona with recording data. I hope you’re reasonably au fait with computer filing.”

  Abby just shook her head at the statement. The woman was insinuating she didn’t have an ounce of grey matter between her ears. “I’m sure I can handle it.” She expected to pull her weight. She’d be bored out of her brain if she wasn’t given something to do. Well, she’d just have to show Victoria she was capable of managing a workload and knew how to be a good employee. To prove her point, she slipped into the role of a diligent subordinate. She asked pertinent questions with a deferential air. Fiona bestowed admiring glances at some of her queries, though Victoria’s manner remained closed. It was after eleven when they folded the spreadsheets and powered down the computer to adjourn to Bill’s office to begin discussions.

  “You bring the prospectus, Fiona, and Abby can bring the rest of the gear.”

  Discussions took the rest of the day to iron out remaining problems. Finally, Bill stood up and shook Victoria’s hand. “Right. I believe it’s time to sign those papers you’ve waved under my nose for months. Break out that bottle of champagne you’ve been saving, Ellen. After we’re finished here, we’ll pop the cork.”

  Abby relaxed as she thought over the day. She hadn’t expected to grasp the mechanics of the business so easily. In fact, she had been fascinated with the whole scenario of planning a new mine. She was keen to see one in operation. Once the sale went through, Victoria explained that the next step would be the environmental study for government approval. She was to help Fiona collate some preliminary figures to submit to their planners. Abby looked forward to the challenge.

  She could see that her boss was in the mood to celebrate and by the way she sat with her legs elegantly crossed, the effects of yesterday’s ride must have vanished. After an hour, Abby was in that euphoric state a few glasses of good alcohol produced. While the others talked, she studied Victoria. Her fingers were long and tapered like a pianist and as she talked she waved them for emphasis. Abby’s eyes moved up her shirt where the two open buttons showed the cleft between the swell of her breasts. Victoria certainly had a great body, though it was a crime her personality didn’t match her looks. How could anyone who looked like her be such a bossy-boots?

  “Well, Abby?”

  “Pardon?” She snapped to attention. Ellen’s eyes were focused on her. “Sorry, I was daydreaming. What did you ask me?”

  “How long have you been working for Orianis Minerals?”

  Abby glanced at Victoria, aware of her scrutiny. “Not long. I’ve…I’ve just recently joined the planning division and am learning the ropes on the trip.”

  “And do you find it interesting so far?”

  She leant
forward, not bothering to hide her enthusiasm. “Very much. I found the discussions extremely so.”

  “Your background isn’t in mining?”

  “Um…no. I did two years of an IT degree and afterwards worked in a legal department for years.” Abby shuffled in the chair. She hoped she sounded employable.

  “She’s multilingual as well,” said Victoria, “which was a requirement for the position.”

  Ellen gazed at the younger woman with approval. “How clever of you. How many languages can you speak?”

  “My father was a cross-cultural business consultant, so I went to school in China and Japan. Paris, too, for a time. I’ve never had any trouble with languages, even as an adult,” said Abby.

  “You didn’t finish your degree?”

  “My father died and the money ran out when my mother became ill. She has to have continuous treatment for severe rheumatoid arthritis, so I support both of us. Her invalid pension’s never enough.”

  Ellen patted her arm. “I’m sorry, dear. It’s been hard for you, so forgive me for sounding like I gave you the third degree. Victoria must think very highly of you to bring you on the trip.”

  Abby couldn’t resist a dig. “She values my computer skills.”

  Fiona, who was not a drinker and had been persuaded to imbibe in two glasses of champagne, was glassy-eyed as she propped an elbow on the table. “I think the lassie is going to be a great help to me. You should be pleased you asked her to come, Vic.”

  Good old Fiona. Abby stretched with contentment on the lounge like a cat who had just found a hidden saucer of milk.

  “I’m confident she will be an asset to the company,” said Victoria in a bland monotone.

  Abby delivered a satisfied grin. “How nice of you to say that, boss. I wasn’t quite sure how I’d go, but with that recommendation I’ll be much happier.”

  “As long as you do what I tell you, everything will be fine.”

  “I’d like to think I can bring some new initiatives to the position. I doubt you hired me to be a robot.”

  Victoria rapped a long finger on the arm of her chair. “I realize you don’t do things automatically. That’s why I chose you. However, I expect absolute obedience of my employees.”

  “Though some autonomy must be given surely? If you don’t delegate tasks and trust them to be carried out, business would grind to a halt,” said Abby, her temper tightly reined in. “What do you think, Bill? You’ve managed plenty of staff.”

  He looked at her with approval. “You’re right, Abby. Trust is an important component of any working relationship. It gives an employee a sense of worth, as well as getting much more out of them in the long run.”

  “That’s not what I meant. You’re twisting my words. Naturally I expect my staff to be able to think for themselves,” said Victoria, plainly disconcerted.

  Abby made a humming sound as the adrenaline buzzed. “I’ll be able to make some decisions by myself?”

  “Of course.” The answer was brusque.

  “Good. I’m glad we cleared up that point.”

  Ellen must have sensed the undercurrent in the air, for she rose quickly. “On that note, we’ll move to the dining room. Would you sit next to me Abby? I’d like you to tell me about all the places you’ve lived. I’ve never been anywhere much, and now that the sale is going through, I hope we’ll be able to do some traveling.”

  * * *

  Victoria adopted a relaxed pose but inwardly stewed. Abby continued to provoke and undermine her authority, which put her increasingly on the defensive. She didn’t understand why, but the artist’s thinly veiled contempt bothered her more than usual. Maybe it was because their pre-meeting had shown that the younger woman had much greater business acumen than she had given her credit for. Her quick grasp of the facts and figures was remarkable. It was one thing to be confident that her own intellect far outstripped Abby’s, but now she was not so sure. Abby was nobody’s fool. Victoria felt frustrated. A shift in their power struggle had happened and it didn’t favour her.

  “Where are you off to next, Vic?” asked Bill.

  “I’m taking the opportunity to look over our mine in the Bowen Basin. We’ll stay a night then head to Perth.”

  Ellen tilted her head. “You’re doing a long trip this time.”

  “We’re going on overseas after Perth. All in all, we’ll be gone nearly six months.”

  “That long? Don’t you usually send one of your associates or lawyers to handle these negotiations overseas?”

  Victoria shook her head. “Things are getting tight worldwide with orders. As much as I’d like to sit in my office in Sydney, my high-level clients and potential new markets will expect to deal with the CEO. Trust me, my experience and instincts are going to be necessary to seal the sorts of deals we’re looking for.”

  “Are you happy to be going?”

  “Surprisingly, yes. It’ll do me good to get away. I’ve become an office hermit. Every day I’m locked away with reams of never-ending paperwork.” Her eyes took on a gleam. “I haven’t been back to Western Australia for years. I got my degree there, and then went to London for post-graduate study. I came back to WA to start my first job as a geologist. My old stomping ground will be a walk down memory lane.”

  “That’s where you started your company too, wasn’t it?”

  “I met Malcolm at Port Hedland and we became friends. We formed a small exploration show with a very tight budget. We hit a seam of iron ore and the rest, as they say, is history. Bit of luck, really, finding the deposit. We were down to our last hundred dollars so we had to work on the drilling rig ourselves. We couldn’t afford many staff.” She laughed. “I literally had the ass out of my pants.”

  “I hadn’t heard that story. I guess people only see success and not the struggle to achieve it.”

  Victoria patted her stomach. “Those were the days when I was fitter. I’m five-star accommodations now.”

  “What about you, Abby. Ever been to Western Australia?” asked Ellen.

  Abby peered at Victoria with a bemused expression. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought it smacked of approval. But no way would that be right.

  Abby blinked before she answered her hostess. “No. I’ve always wanted to have a look over there. I’m excited about going.” She turned back to Victoria. “I’d like to see you with the ass out of your pants.” Ellen grinned and Fiona let out a low hiss. Abby sucked in a breath. She screwed the napkin as she stuttered, “I…I didn’t mean…that didn’t come out right. What I meant to say, I’d like to have met you in those days with your ass out of your pants.” She flushed red. “When you were poorer, I mean.”

  Victoria’s mouth twitched into a ghost of a smile. “I can assure you I wasn’t very interesting. All sweaty and grimy out in the field.”

  Abby’s fork nearly missed her mouth at that vision, then she pulled herself together and said firmly, “Huh. You underestimate how refreshing it is to see someone working with their hands. There’s nothing wrong with good old-fashioned sweat. And life’s not so predictable. Tied to a desk doing the same old, same old every day is boring.”

  “You’re spot-on, Abby,” said Bill. “That’s why I love life on the land so much. Every day’s an adventure.”

  “Personally I dislike not being in control, not knowing what’s going to happen from one moment to the next,” said Victoria, aware she only argued to annoy Abby. Privately, she agreed with Bill. Her life over the last few years had become a source of frustration. She’d been much happier in those days without much money, enjoying the thrill of the chase.

  “Pish,” said Abby. “Routine is boring. Habit is a mindless state, needing very little brain power.”

  “Nonsense! Having a business run smoothly requires a great deal of intelligence. If there’s no routine, things can dissolve into chaos,” said Victoria, her voice sharp.

  Abby leant further over the table. “If we want to get into a philosophical argument, mathemat
icians maintain that chaos can give us insight, power and wisdom.”

  “Hypothetical theories don’t make good business practices,” growled Victoria.

  Fiona, lost in the argument and determined to quell the spat, hastily intervened. “What each of you is saying has merit.”

  Victoria whipped round. “Oh? Please elaborate.”

  Abby too frowned at the secretary. “I’d like to hear what you think as well.”

  Ellen rose from her chair as she watched Fiona squirm under their scrutiny. “As much as I would like the fascinating discussion to continue, I believe the cook wants to clear the table. Shall we move to the lounge for coffee? Or a glass of liqueur, if you prefer a nightcap?”

  Fiona looked at her with gratitude. “I think I’ll retire. It’s way past my bedtime.”

  Once they had settled in the lounge, Bill steered the conversation to less contentious subjects. Later, Victoria sat out on the balcony until Abby went to bed, then slipped into the room without saying a word.

  * * *

  They started off mostly silent on the trip back to the airport. Fiona refrained from backseat driving, or saying anything much for that matter, and Abby was consumed with her own thoughts. The quiet was only broken by the rush of wind against the windscreen and the steady purr of the engine. After half an hour, the lack of conversation grated on Victoria’s nerves, especially since she was still on a success high.

  “Cat got your tongues?” she asked in a jovial voice.

  A snort erupted from her assistant. “I dinna have anything to say. Ye don’t listen to me.”

  “Come on…don’t take it so much to heart. We all can get a bit snippy at times. I would have thought you’d be in a good mood with the finalization of the sale. What about you, Abby?”

  “I’ve been thinking over something. I’ll run it through with Fiona with the data. I noticed your recording system needed some fine-tuning when we were going through the spreadsheets yesterday. Especially the mapping. I believe I can devise a program which will simplify the process.”