He nodded. “I’ve decided to play a lone hand today, Stockton. It’s important that no one knows of the strategy suggested by that memo last night. The appearance of sincerity can best be maintained on our side by true belief. Therefore we let the cards fall where they will until only one play becomes possible. I’ve deleted the memo from the computer file. Delete it from your memory, Stockton.”
“Yes, sir.”
Tessa had to stifle a derisive laugh at herself. Business. Strictly business. If she had stopped to think about it, she should have realised that Blaize Callagan wouldn’t give a damn about anyone knowing he had “relaxed” with her. It simply wasn’t important to him.
“And what I said to you about sidestepping ringi....”
“Deleted, sir,” Tessa assured him.
He relaxed. His eyes drifted down to her ankles and back up again, having gathered a warm gleam of appreciation. “Nice dress, Stockton.”
“Thank you, sir.”
His mouth slowly curved into a dazzling smile that curled Tessa’s toes and did a lot of chaotic damage on the way to reaching her extremities.
“You’ve got style, Stockton,” he said approvingly.
Tessa sternly repressed the heady rush of pleasure in his compliment. “It’s nice of you to say so, sir,” she said offhandedly.
One eyebrow lifted in sardonic inquiry. “You think I’m nice?”
“Oh, don’t go overboard, sir. Your niceness is only a very small percentage of your total self. Trivial, really.”
He stared incredulously at her for a moment, then burst into a peal of laughter. He looked so devastatingly handsome that all Tessa could do was stare at him and try desperately to keep her body and soul in one piece. He finally sobered, but his eyes kept dancing with some deep inner delight.
“Stockton, your vocabulary and ideas increase in leaps and bounds. A lot of hidden depth there. However, it’s time to fortify ourselves with a substantial breakfast. This day will not only be exhausting, but quite draining.”
“Yes, sir,” Tessa agreed, feeling very pleased with herself. She had surprised Blaize Callagan again. She mentally chalked up another positive score. He would be even more careful in future about underestimating her.
Breakfast was a buffet affair, although a hot breakfast could be ordered. Blaize Callagan, of course, sat down and ordered. Milling along a line of people was not his style. Tessa, however, was attracted to the wide selection of fruits and croissants. Jerry Fraine joined her in the queue.
“How’s it going, Tessa?” he asked.
“Fine, Jerry,” she assured him. After all, she hadn’t done anything that would reflect badly on him.
“What’s on the agenda for today?”
The question slid out naturally, his expression completely bland and open. Which meant he was very keenly interested. Tessa knew Jerry Fraine too well not to recognise his probing tactics. However, in this instance her first loyalty was to Blaize Callagan, and he had sworn her to absolute discretion. On the other hand, she would be going back to being Jerry’s secretary, so tact was definitely called for.
She smiled. “Jerry, if it’s anything like yesterday, I think we’re in for a lot of surprises.”
His eyebrows shot up in amused inquiry. “Like what?”
She leaned towards him conspiratorially. “If you can get Mr. Callagan to tell you, then I’d appreciate it if you’d tell me. He keeps a lot to himself. I never know what’s going to happen next.”
It was the right touch. He gave a dry little laugh. “I know what you mean. Just hang in there, Tessa. And don’t—”
“Stuff up,” she finished for him.
Jerry grinned at her. “Are the glasses working?”
Tessa frowned. “I think he suspects something, Jerry.”
He started chuckling and quickly coughed to cover up. “Just hang in there, Tessa. Don’t let your guard down. Blaize Callagan is a great man, but... he could tear you apart.”
It was friendly advice, she knew, and she appreciated his concern for her. “I can look after myself, Jerry,” she assured him.
Jerry’s eyes twinkled with some secret amusement. “I figured you could. Otherwise I wouldn’t have...” He shrugged off whatever he had been going to say, then added, “He certainly didn’t know what he was getting in you.”
Tessa frowned at him. “Didn’t you tell him?”
His face blanked out for a second, then projected wise experience. “Some things, Tessa, are better left for other people to find out for themselves,” he said gravely.
That was true, she thought. It was no use telling anyone you could do things. It was better to show them you could. “Right,” she agreed. “And thanks for recommending me, Jerry. I’m glad I got the chance to see how you people work.”
They parted then and went to their separate tables. Blaize Callagan had a plate of eggs and bacon and sausages and tomato and mushrooms. He really meant “substantial,” Tessa thought. She decided he would never bother saying what he didn’t mean... unless it had a business purpose.
Tessa did not enjoy the morning conference. It was certainly an education to watch the subtle shifts in top-level negotiations, but she could not help feeling disappointed in one specific outcome. Blaize Callagan seemed to be admitting total defeat. Although his men fought hard to put across their points, he sat with his shoulders slumped forward, projecting a listlessness that seemed totally out of character. Even when the Japanese delegation advanced some counter-proposal, he would wearily shake his head.
By mid-afternoon, the business conference had come to a premature conclusion. They were packing up, dejected, depressed, the usual courtesies hanging solemnly in the air like black thunderclouds.
Then Sokichi Nokumata, Blaize Callagan’s chief opponent against ringi, made a suggestion about a project that was completely peripheral to the main deal. Tessa felt the instant tension flow in Blaize Callagan’s body, saw the hard glitter come into his eyes. He gave the upward look of a man without any firm resolution, pondering the suggestion. Then suddenly negotiations were going full bore again.
The late afternoon session saw all Blaize Callagan’s plans come to fruition. The Japanese delegates against ringi were all being siphoned off onto another project. Divide and conquer. This was a master deal maker at work. Tessa had never seen anything like it, not even from Jerry Fraine.
Only in hindsight did she begin to appreciate the tactics that had been outlined in the memo last night. And only now did she begin to appreciate the intricate and incisive mind that drove the man who had subtly engineered precisely what he wanted.