He threw himself on the tall chair across from her, she could smell a hint of his perfume.
“Well … Jamie … as we discussed earlier, there are some papers I need you to sign,” he took out a folder from his drawer and pushed it towards her. “Since you will be working in my close circle, there will be a lot of information I need to keep to yourself in regards to my company, it’s operation and of course my private information.”
She took the folder and opened it, “By private information, is there any specifics?”
He sighed, “Let’s just say … you are not allowed to talk about me, my company and how it operates … even with Perry.”
She skimmed through the agreement, “Hmm … Perry … so you have him checked too? What else do you know about me and Perry?”
“Everything there is to know,” he answered simply with a faint smile. “I always check the backgrounds of everyone I will be working with, including the people they are closely associated with, no offense … information is a currency Jamie, that’s why I need the people I’m working with to be discreet, we never know what my business rivals will do with information they have about me … and given your history, I have my lawyers drafted me a few agreements.”
She stopped reading and looked up at him, “My history?”
“Yes … I recently learned that you are closely associated with Knox and Sons, by associated I meant, you are Graham Knox’s estranged daughter … actually, I never knew he had a daughter until we ran your background check and found out why I never knew about you,” his eyes pointed straight at her.
“You’re referring to the last campaign I did that resulted in a lawsuit against my family?” she wasn’t hiding anything.
“I have to say it’s very brave of you to go against your family … but then again … if you’d go against your own family, there’s no telling what else you could do,” his tone was flat, as flat as his expression, but his words were poignant.
They stared at each other for a moment, she pushed aside the folder. “If you are engaging in any form of illegal activities in your company … or personally, I would like to withdraw from this agreement immediately.”
“Oh no … there’s nothing illegal about my business, nor I’m engaged in anything shady personally, I can assure you that … I’m simply questioning your loyalty, Jamie, that’s why I need you to sign these papers.”
Jamie raised her eyebrows, “My loyalty? Wow … you’ve read one side of my family’s version of what happened and that’s your conclusion?”
“That’s not the only thing I based my opinion on … I’ve also learned that you are married to another business rival of mine … Eduard Payne?” he calmly asked.
“Was … I was married to him once, that’s right, I have nothing to hide, Gabriel, unlike someone who needs to hide his address or his face and demands a bunch of papers to be signed for confidentiality agreement,” she was losing her patience.
“No, Jamie … you are still married to Eduard Payne, legally … you are Mrs. Eduard Payne.”
She was shocked, “No, we’re divorced … I signed the papers four years ago.”
“And he never filed them, he still owns dozens of assets under your name and still actively buying assets under your name.”
“That bastard! I had the impression that it was a done deal, I signed a prenup and I didn’t ask a penny from that guy after our divorce.”
He leaned forward to his desk and clasped his hands together, “So technically … you were committing adultery when we engaged in a sexual activity awhile back and your husband could file a lawsuit against me.”
Her eyes widened, her jaw dropped, “You’re kidding me, right? That’s what you’re worried about? I swear I had no idea he didn’t file the papers … he tricked me into believing that we are legally divorced … I was not committing adultery, I was having consensual sex as a 32 year old divorced woman!” Her head was spinning, mostly because the new revelation of her marital status.
“Yes, that is your understanding of the matter but factually … it’s not, … see this is why I’m very careful with information, Jamie, I need to know if you hold any evidence of that night that could incriminate me … if you do, we need to destroy it, I’ve confiscated the Somerset Inn’s CCTV footage of that night, so everything is clear from that side.”
She thought for a moment, “No … I don’t have any evidence of that night … God! I should’ve listened to Perry, I shouldn’t have gone out that day,” she muttered to herself.
Gabriel took a deep breath, “I’m kinda glad you did though.”
She looked at him bewildered, she had never met such a complex individual before. “Gabriel … Why are you doing this? I mean … Why are you donating to my program? Obviously, you see me as a liar and a cheat … and a traitor to my own family, why would you risk having someone like me in your close circle?”
He sat back on his chair and looked away, “I told you … I love turtles.” He stood up, “And I like you … I like what you put into your work … I think you have potential.”
She winced, “Potential for what?”
He turned to look at her, “Potential to be whatever you want to be … what do you want to be, Jamie?”
No words could come out of her mouth, she shook her head, he was speaking as if he was talking to a fresh graduate. “I’m a 32 year old woman who has left my own family, divorced an absent husband and is living the life I’ve always wanted for myself … I’m good, all I ever wanted to be in life was to be happy.”
“Are you?” he stared into her eyes.
She looked away from his gaze, “Like I said … I’m good.”
“There’s always room for improvement, Jamie, there’s always something you can do to reach your goal … and no, you’re not divorced, I thought we’ve established that.”
She rubbed her eyes and hung her head down.
“We need to do something about that … your divorce, because otherwise my offer won’t stand, I cannot attend to your sexual needs unless you are already divorced … I cannot risk committing adultery.”
She looked up again, she was losing her mind. “No … no … there will be no sexual activity between us, Gabriel, let’s keep it professional … I’m doing this for the turtles … and my sanity,” she said.
He curved a smile, “That’s a very wise decision … so first thing’s first … I need you to sign those papers so we can move on with the program … and then we need to take care of your divorce, after that, my offer still stands, you can come to me any time if you need assistance to fulfill your …”
“Sexual needs … yes, I get that the first time,” she cut him off. “If I’m going to leave for Bhorma next week, I don’t think I can get a divorce from Eduard in one week’s time, he obviously benefitted from this status, I can’t afford to get him to court,” she held her head with both hands and grunted.
“Don’t worry about that, Jamie, consider it done … I will take care of it from now on … I have people who can do it for you.”
“You do?” The conversation seemed to get more absurd for her.
“Yes, don’t ask me how … but it will be done and we’ll let you know once it’s done, now, please … sign the papers,” he handed her a pen.
She opened the folder again and signed, her mind was still racing over the news of her impending divorce.
“Thank you … I guess it’s safe to say that we’re all set for Bhorma … if you don’t mind, Jamie, I need you to come again in three days.”
“What for?” she asked.
“I think it’s necessary that we get to know each other before we leave for Bhorma … I would like to start now, but I have to take care of Eduard Payne’s divorce from you first.”
She looked at him, he was so casual about it, he didn’t seem to think that everything that came out of his mouth was anything other than normal.