Chapter 2 - The Woman in Red
Emma met Vanessa properly two days later.
The banquet venue was a private estate owned by one of Hawthorne Global’s board members. It featured a wide garden, a marble terrace, old oak trees, and a view of the river.
Emma arrived early with fabric samples, lighting diagrams, and three floral proposals.
Vanessa was already there.
She wore a fitted cream suit and held a tablet against her chest. Her blonde hair was perfectly arranged, and her smile seemed polished rather than natural.
“Mrs. Caldwell,” Vanessa said. “Lucas talks about you constantly.”
Emma doubted that.
“Hopefully nothing too terrible.”
“Only that you’re very talented.”
Vanessa’s perfume reached Emma before the handshake did.
It was distinctive: dark cherry, amber, and something floral.
Emma remembered it because the scent seemed too heavy for a morning meeting.
Lucas arrived fifteen minutes late.
He walked directly toward Vanessa.
“You changed the schedule,” he said.
“You asked me to.”
“Right.”
Their eyes met for slightly too long.
Emma watched Vanessa hand him a coffee.
His usual order.
Lucas took it without asking what it was.
That did not prove anything.
Executive assistants learned preferences.
Still, Emma felt a quiet discomfort settle beneath her ribs.
During the venue tour, Lucas dismissed most of Emma’s suggestions.
He wanted a larger stage.
A longer introduction.
A display featuring photographs of his work.
“This is supposed to celebrate the company expansion,” Emma reminded him.
“It is. My leadership made the expansion possible.”
Vanessa nodded.
“The board will want to recognize that.”
Emma turned toward her.
“Does the board tell you what it wants?”
Vanessa blinked.
“I prepare meeting notes.”
Lucas stepped between them conversationally.
“Emma, the white roses are perfect. Let’s use those.”
The subject changed, but the tension remained.
Later, while Lucas spoke to the estate manager, Vanessa stood beside Emma beneath the floral arch.
“You must be very proud of him,” Vanessa said.
“I am proud of what he has accomplished.”
“That sounds carefully worded.”
Emma looked at her.
Vanessa smiled.
“I only mean that ambitious men can be difficult.”
“You seem to understand him well.”
“I spend more time with him than anyone.”
The statement could have been innocent.
Vanessa did not deliver it innocently.
Emma closed her folder.
“Time is not the same as importance.”
For the first time, Vanessa’s smile disappeared.
Lucas returned moments later.
As they left the estate, Emma noticed him place his hand briefly against Vanessa’s lower back to guide her around a waiter carrying equipment.
The contact lasted less than a second.
But Vanessa leaned into it as though it was familiar.
That evening, Emma asked Lucas directly.
“Is something happening between you and Vanessa?”
Lucas stared at her from across their bedroom.
Then he laughed.
It was not a kind laugh.
“You cannot be serious.”
“I’m asking a question.”
“You are accusing me of sleeping with my assistant because I accepted a coffee.”
“I saw the way you touched her.”
“I prevented her from walking into someone.”
“And the way she spoke to me?”
Lucas removed his watch.
“Vanessa respects confident women. Maybe she noticed your insecurity.”
The comment landed exactly where he intended.
Emma folded her arms.
“You could have answered without insulting me.”
“I did answer. You just don’t like it.”
Lucas went into the bathroom and closed the door.
A few minutes later, Emma heard him speaking quietly on the phone.
She could not hear the words.
May you like
Only the softness in his voice.
It was a softness he no longer used with her.
