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her unemotional planning, when Tizzy went to bed that night she took the vase of roses into her bedroom.

Chapter 4

Tizzy’s enjoyable but hectic weekend ended a little quicker than what she had planned. Greg’s work finished a day earlier and he picked up the children on Sunday night instead of Monday morning. He said it would make it easier for him to get to work on Monday morning as well.

With the kids gone, Tizzy did give going back to work a thought but then decided to take the morning off as originally planned and use that time to get the house back in order. That decision lasted until Becky rang and informed her that she was having a very bad time with her morning sickness and didn’t think that she make it to work. With Becky away, it meant that there would be no one in their section until the afternoon. Tizzy knew she could only do one thing and that

was to go in.

At 7.45 am on Monday morning Tizzy was seated at her desk with her coffee mug beside her as she worked through her e-mails. She printed the ones that needed action. Saved the important messages and deleted the rest. Then she quickly sent Grant a thank you note. It was short and polite. Nothing in it gave any indication of the turmoil that was within the writer. It read “Thank you for the beautiful flowers and the words. Tizzy.”

Then she got back to work. At a quarter past nine, Roger walked in and detailed Becky’s horrid weekend. He also brought a folder from Becky.

“Grant will collect this from you sometime this morning.” he said. Then he left after thanking her on behalf of Becky.

As Tizzy put the folder in her in-tray, she heard a sound behind her. Presuming that Roger had returned she turned towards him, but it was not Roger who had walked in. It was Grant.

Dressed in navy trousers and a pale blue business shirt, he had finished off the effect with a matching tie that complimented both items. He always looked incredibly handsome but for the first time, Tizzy was prepared to acknowledge it to herself. Tizzy had always admired Grant, the way he worked and the way he treated his staff. But it was her own reaction to him that she was suddenly more aware of now. The missing heartbeat and the nervous feeling in the stomach, it was all there. That bouquet of flowers had changed everything for her. ‘What is wrong with you?’ she admonished herself. ‘You are twenty-eight years old, not some silly teenager having her first crush. Steady yourself Tizzy, you are moving onto shaky grounds’ Despite her warning to herself, she was still not able to ignore her new awareness of him.

“Here already? Becky said you were having the morning off to be with your kids.” he commented.

“Becky rang and as Greg had taken the k..kids back last night, I thought I would come in.” she replied.

“Um..Roger said he had left the Branson file with you. I am glad you came in early. With Becky away; I will need your help on the Branson project. Becky said you know all about it.” Grant was looking directly at her as he waited for her answer. He noticed that she either had not heard the stress he had put on the words ‘your kids’, or she was not going to clarify things for him. Then he wondered why he wanted clarification in the first place.

“Yes, I am loooo..king at it no...ow.” her stutter was worse than ever. Her hands were shaking. ‘Oh hell Becky’, she thought, ‘I will never get through this day’.

Grant continued to look at Tizzy, annoyed at this turn of events. Then noticing her nervousness, his eyes suddenly softened. So this was why Becky was so protective about her. He could see the tremor in her hands. At first he was going to leave Tizzy to deal with Peter Branson. Peter was a good client but he could be a bit curt and abrupt. Becky had strongly objected and had asked him to conduct the meeting himself. Now he was glad he had agreed.

“Look, I know you hate meeting people so I’ll speak to Branson, but I do want you to be there beside me just in case he has any questions. Let me have a quick look at the notes and then we’ll take the stuff over to my desk. Branson is already there so we don’t have much time.” Grant continued looking at the papers, hoping that would ease her nervousness.

Tizzy heart began pounding. She knew this sensation well. The difficulty in breathing, the feeling of nausea, the perspiration on her face and claustrophobia! Her doctor called it a panic attack. She could hear Grant’s voice but nothing made sense. She knew she had to sit down soon or she would fall. So close was she to fainting. There was no way she could attend the meeting. She wouldn’t even be able to make it to the door, forget going past it. She knew she was letting Grant and Becky down, but there was nothing she could do about it except wish that she had not come in either.

The sensations grew worse as she felt her head swim and her body sway. Grant seemed to sense that something was wrong and looked up from the notes. He saw her move slowly around the desk, holding the edge until she was safely in her seat. Within seconds he had gone to the kitchen and returned with a glass of cold water. He saw her try to stop her unsteady hands from spilling the contents. ‘Lord hell’, he thought, ‘this was not going to work.’ Tizzy was a mess. He would have to handle this as best as he could. Again he thought ‘No wonder Becky would never let Tizzy attend any of the meeting.’

“Are you all right? Look, forget I asked you to come. You stay here. I’ll handle it. If I have a question, I will come over. I better get Roger to come and sit with you for a while. You still look very pale.” he turned to walk towards the door.

The tears had started. Tizzy did not know if it was from relief at not having to face Peter Branson or disappointment at letting everyone down. A second later he was back by her side. He reached out to comfort her but she shrank from his touch and he withdrew his arms to his side.

Maintaining his distance, he squat down and said “Tizzy, will you be ok if I leave you alone for a little while. I have to go and see Branson. I will be back as soon as our meeting is over. I’ll call Roger or one of the girls to sit with you.”

“No ..I www..ill be all right. I am so...orry...” Tizzy let out in between tears.

Grant stood a moment. He saw the tears fall down her cheeks. She wiped them with the back of her hand. He noted that even now she had not taken off her glasses. ‘Oh hell’, he thought. He better excuse himself from the meeting. She wasn’t his problem and his show of concern had not been wanted, so he asked himself as to why was he still worried about her? A minute seemed to have passed and she said “Ppl..ease. go...i will bbb.ee fine.”

He picked up the folder and was just about to do as asked, when looking up he found Branson standing at the doorway. With disapproval clearly written on his face, he looked from one to the other.

“I am sorry, I seem to have come in at the wrong moment.” Branson said sternly “Look we can make this another day.” Branson hated being kept waiting and hated it even more when that delay was because of a woman. If Grant was having an affair, that was his problem but Peter Branson was not going to put up with unprofessional behaviour from anyone. The fact that he was very fond of Grant made no difference to this policy.

Grant too was equally annoyed. Branson’s tone clearly expressed what he was thinking. It was clearly apparent that Branson thought that he had caught them out. He would have to set things straight later on but clarifying things at that moment would have been like adding fuel to the fire. He continued to look at Branson and noticed Branson’s expression change. Branson was not looking at him anymore but at Tizzy with an unreadable but strange expression. Then he glanced at Grant and back at Tizzy. That action irritated Grant for he knew exactly what Branson was thinking. It was transparent. ‘There was no way Grant would be involved with someone like Tizzy’. Grant wondered why this should upset him. It should have brought relief.

Grant was not wrong in his deduction. When Branson had first appeared at the doorway, he had only seen Tizzy’s bent head.Now he saw her properly. This girl was ‘a nothing’. There was no way Grant would be involved with someone as plain as Tizzy. He had seen the women Grant had previously dated. He had recently even heard that Grant had been seen with a stunning model. He felt guilty at jumping to the wrong conclusion. This was no ‘office affair’. He would have gone back to Grant’s office, but something about Tizzy held his interest. Maybe it was that forlorn aura she had about her or maybe because she reminded him so much of his own daughter.

Tizzy in the meanwhile had calmed down considerably. Her palpitation had stopped as soon as Grant had told her that she would not have to meet Branson. The cold water had eased the pain in

her head but she still did not trust herself to stand up. She continued to look at the man standing at the doorway. ‘If Grant would just walk out with him, everything would be fine’.

As if Grant had heard her prayer, he walked over to Branson and said “Peter we might as well get back. I’ve got everything I need now.”

Grant knew well that courtesy demanded that he introduce Peter to Tizzy but having witnessed the panic attack, he now feared the consequence of the introduction. He began to move as if to leave but instead of following him Branson walked further into the room and in Tizzy’s direction.

“So this is where your geniuses work.” All the while Branson kept his eyes focused on Tizzy. Grant could feel his annoyance grow. He was very fond of Branson. Their relationship extended beyond their business dealings. But Branson should have followed his lead and left the room. Unknowingly Branson was going to aggravate an already delicate situation.

“Yes and unless we leave one of my genius alone, she won’t be able to live up to her reputation.” Grant voiced in a hurry and hoped Peter would get the message. Instead Peter seemed more adamant to stay in the room.

“With such a compliment it would be remiss if I left without meeting her myself” All the while Branson was moving closer to Tizzy.

Reaching her, he held out his hand. Grant looked apologetically at Tizzy and hoped she would be able to cope.

As soon as Tizzy noted that the attention had focused on her, all the earlier sensations returned. Her breathing visibly increased, perspiration covered her forehead and her mouth began to go

dry.

Grant was now angry but he was unable to display it for he could not establish the subject of