Faith - Lesley Pearse [101]
She paid off the cab driver, left her two suitcases out in the yard and breezed into the offices.
‘Mrs Brannigan, how lovely to see you!’ Miss Lofts the receptionist exclaimed. ‘Is Mr Brannigan expecting you?’
Miss Lofts had worked for Greg’s father before him and she was dedicated to the company. She was over fifty, with grey, tightly permed hair, favouring tailored navy suits and pussy-cat bows on her blouses, and Greg said she was the last word in efficiency.
‘No, I want to surprise him,’ Laura said, giving the woman a flashing smile. This was one place where she knew people liked her, for they considered her as one of them: she’d been on the Tiger Toys promotion team before her marriage and made quite a few friends in the company. ‘I missed him so much I came home from Madeira early.’
‘It’s good to seeing you looking so well,’ Miss Lofts said, her smile a genuine one. ‘Go on in and give him a jolt. He’s only having a chat with the sales team and they’ll all be pleased to see you.’
If Laura hadn’t been so anxious she might have laughed because she couldn’t have timed her arrival better if she’d known Greg’s itinerary for the day. The sales team were men she knew really well and had had many boozy nights out with before she began going out with the boss. She ran up the stairs feeling very much more confident.
She opened his office door without knocking. ‘Tah dah,’ she said, making a theatrical gesture with her arms, and sidestepping the three men seated opposite Greg at his desk, she rushed across the room and hugged him. ‘Hello, darling,’ she said. ‘I couldn’t stay away from you any longer.’
His shock was palpable, but he recovered quickly. ‘Laura! You look marvellous, but perhaps you’d better wait downstairs until we’ve finished here.’
‘You don’t mind me being here, boys, do you?’ she said, smiling flirtatiously at them as she perched on the desk. ‘I could make you all some coffee.’
Harry Michaels, Frank Crew and Sid Emery all grinned delightedly at her. They’d all chatted her up in the past, lechers all, despite being middle-aged. But they were decent, hardworking, family men at heart and they wouldn’t approve of what Greg had in mind for her.
Greg gave in and let her make the coffee, and as she expected it was only minutes before Harry complimented her on how well she looked. ‘I’ll be better still once I’ve seen Barney,’ she said. ‘He’s down at Greg’s mother’s. Will you ring her, Greg, and tell her I’ll be right down to collect him?’
‘Later, Laura,’ he said. He looked rattled.
‘Then I’ll ring her,’ she said, reaching out for his phone. ‘I can’t wait to see him,’ she said to the men. ‘It feels like I’ve been away for a year, not just two weeks.’
Greg put his hand out and stopped her lifting the receiver. ‘I’ll go and get him, Laura, you go on home and wait.’
‘But that’s daft,’ she laughed. ‘You’ve got work to do. It’s much easier for me to go.’
‘Go on, let her get her baby, Greg!’ Harry said. ‘You’ve got that meeting with the art department later. And look at Laura, she’s like a cat on a hot tin roof! Mums can’t wait where their kids are concerned.’
Greg looked worried now. ‘I told Mother I was coming later today, so I could go through some old accounts with Dad,’ he said, and Laura could almost see him racking his brain for some plausible excuse. ‘She said they were intending to take Barney out to a friend’s for lunch, so she won’t be back till after four. Let’s just stick to that, eh?’
Laura hadn’t quite got what she wanted but she could see she had him cornered. He’d be afraid not to get Barney back in case she called his mother and found out he had never been there.
‘If you say so,’ she said glumly and went over to him and kissed his cheek. ‘Mind you hurry back then, I’ll cook us something special.’
Back home later, Laura quickly unpacked her suitcases, then began a systematic search of Greg’s study. In his filing tray she found a receipt