After sitting on the floor for so long and crying her heart out, she realised that she couldn't stay there all day. She had to go down to breakfast because he was capable of coming up to get her and she didn't want that- she didn't want him walking back into her bedroom. The very idea wanted to make her want to throw up again.

She showered and put on a dark grey pleated skirt, a lemon shirt, a grey waist coat over that. She combed her auburn hair into an elegant French pleat and did her make up. Clipped neat silver earrings on her ears and the considered her reflection.

She wanted to look businesslike, cool and remote.

Bryan Ferdinand wasn't going to find any weakness in her today, never again in fact.

She had lied to herself for so long, telling herself that she hated him while she was in fact carrying a torch for him. Last night, the torch had set her on fire but it had burnt out now, thankfully, all that was left was blackened earth and emptiness.

Now she really did hate Bryan Ferdinand.She would be armoured against him from now on.

She collected her conference briefcase, the notes, the folders, the printed material they kept being handed and never had time to read.

Head up, she took a deep breath and went down to the dinning room. She paused in the door swallowing.

Yes, he was already there, sipping orange juice, turning the pages of a copy of the Financial Times, no doubt, yesterday's paper. Today's issue would not have reached Rome yet.

This morning, he looked grimly formidable in a dark suit, the jacket open to show his tight fitting waistcoat, immaculate white shirt and dark blue silk tie. His face was closely shaken, unshadowed, his black hair, sleek. He looked like he had had a great night's sleep, damn him, unlike her.

He must be as cold as ice. Last night she had been utterly convinced that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

She watched as he put his half finished glass of juice down, his long fingers steady. Hard to believe that those same hands had taken her to heaven last night.

She flinched from the memory of his lovemaking, bit her lip and tasted the salt of her own blood in her mouth. Damn him. Damn him.

He closed the newspaper, glanced up, caught sight if her, his eyes narrowing, searching her face. What was he looking for? A sign of how much he had hurt her? She showed him a shuttered face, saw his brows flick together as if he was disappointed. If he thought that he was having any more fun at his expense, he was sadly mistaken, she thought grimly, walking towards him.

He rise to his feet. 'Good morning', he came round to hold her chair for her and she sat down, very conscious of him as he pushed her chair inwards again, unable to hide the flinch she gave as his hands brushed her shoulder.

Bryan gave her another if those piercing looks, his black eyes chilly. 'Did you sleep well last night?'

The bite in his tone didn't escape her. She wanted to hit him, yell at him but she fought to keep her face as icy as his own.

'Yes, thank you. Did you?'

Before he could answer, the waiter arrived and she ordered coffee, orange juice, prunes with natural yoghurt and toast.

When the waiter had gone, she asked Bryan stiffly, 'What did you want to talk about anyway?'

'Your opinion on the conference discussion, obviously, or of what you have heard so far', he coolly said as though they were mere acquitances. You were making notes all the time in the conference hall, I noticed.

He always notices everything, she thought. 'For David', she said aloud.

His mouth twisted. 'Of course'. His eyes stabbed at her across the table suddenly. 'Did you make notes last night, for David?'

White, she whispered, 'Shut up. Damn you. Shut up!'

The waiter came back with her orders and poured her a large cup of Fresh coffee,offered cream or hot milk.

'Black, thank you', she said hoarsely, spooning the creamy white yoghurt over her prunes, feeling her stomach churn at the very idea of eating them, but forcing herself to do so.

She had to seem normal, calm, unworried at all costs. She mustn't let him know how much damage he had done to her.

The waiter refilled Bryan's cup, 'I'll bring your toast now'.

When he walked away, Bryan said in his remote, cool voice, 'May I read your notes or are they for David's eyes only?'

Sharon glanced at him secretly through her lowered lashes, hating him. 'You mean, is there anything about you in them?No, there isn't and there won't be, don't worry. I won't be telling David any private anecdotes'.

'I'm sure you won't', he said, his voice stinging, 'Hasn't it occured to you yet that I might?'

Her face grew taut, white as bone. She watched him with bitter contempt. 'Was that all it was all about? Was that your game plan? You got me into bed so that you could tell David and wreck my....'

'Chance with him?' he drawled, mouth twisting.

'Reputation!', she said. 'I know how ambitious you are, I think that you see me as some sort of threat to your plans. If I married David, I'd stand in your way, wouldn't I? But I didn't think that even you would sink to seducing me just so that you could run off and tell David about it!'

That got home. Dark red filled his face and he looked at her savagely. 'And I wouldn't! I am not the type to kiss and tell, you needn't worry'.

'Am I supposed to say thank you now?' she asked icily.

There was a barbed silence, the Bryan clipped out, 'What about your conference notes? Can I see them or not?'

'Oh, why not?' she said wearily, 'But they are in shorthand'.

'That's no trouble. I can read shorthand'.

'I might have know you could', she said bitterly. 'You are an expert at everything, aren't you?' Including seducing women. He was very good at that. He must have had a lot of practice to be such an expert.

His eyes glittered, but he answered flatly. 'I did a business course before I went to the university. Shorthand, typing,computers. I've found it very useful.

She tried to match his level tone. 'I use a rather scribbled shorthand of my own though. Wouldn't you rather wait until the notes have been typed?'

'Not unless this is your roundabout way of refusing to let me see them.

'Oh, very well', she said, knowing that he left her no choice, got out her notepad and gave it to him.

'I'll read it some time today and let you have it back before we leave', he said putting it into his own briefcase.

The waiter came back with their toast. Sharon took hers with black cherry jam and pretended to eat it while Bryan ate his with marmalade.

They talked about the conference as they finished their breakfast. Then Bryan looked at his watch.

'The car must be here by now, we'd better go'.

The drive to the conference hall this time was endless. Sharon wondered when it would come to an end. The venue was not far from their hotel but today, the distance seemed to have increased tremendously. The car was claustrophobic, stifling her and making her feel like screaming, shut up in it with Bryan. His body far too close, every movement he made tearing at her nerves and making her sweat.

She was so tense that as they got out of the car to go into the conference, she caught her heel on the Kerb.

Bryan put an arm around her to stop her from falling, and as their bodies touched,Sharon had that familiar dizzying sense of the world spinning round her.

She pushed him away, trembling and as she did so, caught sight of a dark red graze on the side of his throat, just under his ear.

Heat enveloped her as she realised what it was. She had bitten him last night in the last moments of their lovemaking. She hadn't realised that she was leaving such obvious marks. What if someone noticed, made a joke about it? She would want to dink to the floor!

'Oh, for goodness sake, stop looking at me like that!' Bryan said his face I ily hostile. 'You are as safe as houses with me after last night. I won't be trying my luck again. David is welcomed to you'.

He turned on his heel and walked away and she slowly followed, fighting tears.

Bryan's delivery of David's speech was impressive. He had the full attention of the conference and a number of questions were asked all of which he was able to answer without needing to consult with her.

A group of women from one of the biggest merchant banks was there and their utterances showed that they were smitten by him. One was even bold enough to say dreamily, 'I wonder what he is like in bed'. This brought about a gale of laughter from them all.

Sharon felt her face burning. She was glad nobody she knew was close enough to overhear the conversation and notice her blush. They might have put two and two together.

The day dragged on, Gerhard was having lunch with some important people from the German bank' fraternity and she only saw him briefly on the corridor. The day seemed to be against her. Being with Gerhard and seen his admiration would at least have increased her confidence in herself and given her something to take her mind of Bryan and the events of the previous night which had at the time been so beautiful that she had wanted a repeat this morning but his coldness, impersonal attitude, icy indifference and rude remarks had spoilt it all for her with the stinging shame of knowing that she had allowed herself be taken by the wrong person and had fallen for him. What was she going to do now? Why did she have to come on this trip at all? Why did David have to fall I'll? Why had she cared so much for David that she had not excused herself from going on this trip with this arrogant and remote, cold hearted son of a gun?

Apart from Gerhard, Bryan was busy too, at least she was spared the torture of his presence that afternoon, and when their car arrived, there was no sign of him, so she went back to their hotel alone.

The ball was the final event of the conference and Sharon had been looking forward to it. But she could not face going, not after last night. On an irresistible impulse, she picked the phone and dialled the airport.

'Is there a plane for London this evening?' she asked.

'Yes, please'.

'Is there a free seat on it?'

'There definitely is ma'am'.

'Okay thank you' Sharon said as she booked herself on the plane, wrote a note to Bryan and went downstairs to check out.

Two hours later, she was in the air on the flight back home to London and away from the disturbing and cold Mr. Bryan Arrogant.

***************************************

Bryan got back to the hotel late and was not happy after reading the note Sharon had written.

He could not fathom what the problem with the girl was.

The first night, he had been sure that she wanted him as much as his need for her. But after his kisses and caresses which she returned with a fervour he found encouraging and exciting, she had accused him of pilling her up with wine so that he could take advantage of her.

He could not deny that he had wanted her right from the first time he saw her. He had told her as such last night. Oh last night. He had felt like he was flying.

He had wanted her as she came down with her short sexy green gown and all eyes had been on her. He had not been able to take his eyes of her.

He had had an irresistible urge to touch her which he had done while suggesting the food she should sample but he had not intended to get her drunk or light headed and then taken advantage of her.

She had wanted it, he was sure. He saw how shaken she had been when she saw those two lovers going at it in the dark shop doorway.

He had been greatly aroused too. He who had been keeping a tight leash on his desire for her. But the sight just loosened all his resolve and he found himself loving her there in the dark and truely if not for the interruption, he might not have waited to get to their room before taking her - he would have taken her there and then. The girl made him lose control.

He was not happy about the words he said to her then nor this morning and he saw how shaken she had been after hearing his words but she had also hurt him by the words she had spoken and how cold and remote she had been after the memorable night they had had.

He had hated her then because he had thought that that night was going to herald a new beginning to a more intimate relationship between them. He had not wanted a one night stand.

Now just when he was looking forward to attending the ball with her, she left suddenly. Damn her!

She must have gone back to her beloved David. He could not fathom what David had that he didn't. How could she choose David over him? Could David satisfy her the way he could? Maybe David could financially but sexually and otherwise, without sounding immodest, he knew David was no match for him and though she had realized it last night but obviously he had been wrong.

He had felt a kind of connection with her and thought that she felt it too but he had been mistaken. She made his blood run hot and cold at the same time, bringing out the best and worst in him. He hated her and yet desired her greatly. She was like an itch that just won't go away no matter how remote he tried to be. And the worst of it all was that she didn't care. Imagine flinching away from his touch after what they had shared last night. Who would not be hurt? Damn her. Damn her.

Sharon woke up the next morning with a splitting Headache and a temperature, so she didn't have to lie to David when she called him at home.

'I flew home a night early, I'm coming down with the flu, started throwing up and it's so hateful being I'll in hotels. I didn't miss any of the conference though, just the ball and Bryan is there to cover everytime that does happen.

David was sympathetic. 'Don't worry about it. I think that you did the right thing. I hate being I'll in hotels myself'.

'How are you? Feeling any better?' she asked, reminded that he had been ill before they left. In fact that was the reason she had had to go to the conference with Bryan in the first place. How much different she would have felt today if he had gone with her. She broke off a sigh Incase he heard it and started asking questions.

I'll be back on Monday. I'm okay', he said. 'Maybe you caught the same bug I had? I hope I didn't give it to you. Have you got a headache?'

'Frightful one'. But she suspected it wasn't flu that was making her head ache, although since she had been sick several times that day, she knew now that it wasn't just her shamed revulsion over letting Bryan make love to her that had made her throw up the morning after when she had woken up to find him gone,leaving just a curt note behind.

'High temperature? Thirsty? Shivery?' David asked.

'All that's.

'It sounds like what I had. Well, one comfort is that it doesn't last long. Stay in bed and call a doctor, and don't come to work until you are one Hundred percent again'.

'I won't David. I left my conference notes with Bryan. He will give them to you if you want them urgently but it would be easier for you read them after they had been typed up'.

'Forget about work, Sharon's, David told her. 'Just concentrate on getting well.

By evening, she felt terrible. It was definitely flu and she stayed in bed, shi eating under a thick winter duvet, dosed herself with aspirin and drank alot of squash and orange juice and water. She didn't eat at all, couldn't keep anything down.

When she went back to work, she had lost weight and looked pale. David gave her a concerned look as she stepped into his office.

'You have been ill. You look terrible'.

She laughed. 'Thank you, David. You're so flattering. 'Did Bryan give you my conference notes? Have they been typed up?'

'Yes, I've skimmed through them'. He talked about some of the topics which had been discussed at the conference, asked her some questions, then said, 'Guess who came into the office yesterday?'.

Blankly, she said,'Who?'

'Gerhard', David said laughing. 'He told me he'd run into you at the conference. He's in London with a team from the German bank' to hold talks with the Bank of England. We are having Lunch later this week- I told him that I'd bring you along if you were back at work. Ate you free on Thursday?'

'I think so. I'll have to checky diary though, I'll let you know'.

She wasn't sure that she ever wanted to see Gerhard again. Seeing him now would always remind her of what happened at the conference

It really wasn't his fault but just maybe if they had not been discussing him and his intention towards her, Bryan would have gone straight to his room and she to hers and there would have been no incident where she would have been fighting to prove his gentlemanliness which had led to her tripping and falling and Bryan with her and how they had ended up in bed.

She sighed silently. It was all just so stupid. How could she ever forget what happened at the conference when she worked here, under the same roof with Bryan and could hardly a oud seeing him everyday.

If she was sceptical about seeing Gerhard because of the things she considered the shameful events at the conference, then she should perhaps stop working at the bank so that she would also avoid seeing Bryan who was the perpetrator and the person who had kept treating her with remoteness and condescension since after that night.

And why should she be so unfair to Gerhard? It wasn't his fault. Any of it. He didn't even know what had happened. Nobody did. Red colour stained her cheeks. She hoped nobody ever would.

She went into her office to look at her diary and sat behind her desk, staring at nothing, wondering how she was going to feel when she finally saw Bryan again.

The phone rang. It was one of their investment managers, sounding gloomy. 'Sharon, I'm having issues with one of our clients. He is threatening to take his account away because he is not satisfied with the way I am managing his money. Could you speak to him? Have lunch with the two of us sometime this week?'

She looked at her diary again and sighed. 'Okay, Peter. Friday is free. Who's he again?'

'He's Wright'.

'Okay send me his file together with all the shares you've bought for him and how they are doing. I suppose we're making money for him?'

Peter drooled apologetically. ' I have had one or two strokes of bad lucks.You remember that investment we were trying to talk the clients into buying in the fall which fell through not long afterwards, I took some of that for him'.

Sharon was sad. That had been their mistake. They should never have got into it but it had looked okay in the face of it.

'Why didn't you get rid of the shares for him, switch into something else?'

'You know that is not our policy. David likes us to ride the ups and downs instead of buying and selling. That was my instruction and I stuck to it'.'But Peter there are exceptions to the rule one of which is when a company is being run by crooks. And the company manager absconded with so much finds. Look fix the lunch for me t week and not this anymore so that it would give me more time to make some rearrangements'.

And Peter thanked her and rang off.