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.

After the call, Sharon went over the Japanese stock market, observing all the shares they held and how they were doing. She had an appointment with a Japanese client that afternoon and wanted to know what she was talking about when she met him.

She was coming out of the beautiful building which housed the bank at Lunch time when she saw Bryan strolling towards her from the taxi that had just dropped him.

He looked at her and in his head, he thought, 'Look at the lady who made him feel less than what he was. She tries to put me down at all times but she does not know that I cannot be out down. I am like a mountain that cannot be shaken. Instead of allowing myself be put down by the likes of her, I shall cease to be Bryan Ferdinand. She reported sick but there is no sign of the I'll health in her. She looks as cool and as beautiful as ever and I want her desperately but I'll be damned if I'd let her know after hurting my feelings at every turn,by flinching away from me, from my touch but she had screamed with pleasure while I made love to her and had even given me live bites that had kept reminding me of that night. Perhaps she had imagined she was with someone else? Like that German? Or David? She had allowed me near her only because she was very lonely and I happened to be the one available at the time? Damn her!

She held on tightly on the railings of the staircase for support as they met on the steps, wondering the rude and cynical word he would have for her that afternoon as her heart lurched as she saw him and she was not disappointed.

He nodded, 'Back at work then? his face dark and cool.

'Yes'.

'David saw it was the flu'. His sardonic tone indicated that he didn't believe it.

She lifted her chin. 'Yes, that's right'. Her own tone told him that she didn't care what he believed.

His mouth twisted. 'But now you're normal'.

Anyone else overhearing them would have taken what he was saying at face value but Sharon heard the undertone. The sarcasm, the distaste and she flinched from it.

'Yes', she said as she started bitterly into his black eyes.

'I know you'll be pleased to hear how much David kept saying that he missed you', he drawled. 'They say absence makes the heart grow fonder, didn't they? So your bout of flu was brilliantly timed, obviously'.

She didn't answer, her face stiff, just walked away, blinded to the traffic and confusion of London as she moved.

She hadn't seen him for over a week but he had t been out of her mind all that time and just now as they talked, she had kept looking at him, looking away, unable to stop looking back, swinging wildly all the time between extremes of feeling which left her giddy.

Absence had had a drastic effect on her heart, it seemed.She wished to God it hadn't.

That brief encounter on the steps outside the bank would make it easier next time she saw him, though. She hoped.

In fact, she saw him again the next morning in David's office. There were several of the bank directors there. Bryan and Sharon were able to ignore each other without it seeming strange.

Nobody else seemed to notice the chill in the air whenever they spoke to each other, either. Al though it seemed so obvious to Sharon. O my David picked up on it and mentioned it later in private,gently chiding her.

'What is wrong with you and Bryan? I had hoped you two would get better by now than you obviously do. Didn't you hit it off while you were in Rome? I thought that being thrown together like that might have broken the ice between you too but the way you talk to each other lately, the ice seem thicker than ever'.

Flushed and furious with herself for letting David glimpse her feelings, she said simply, 'I'm sorry if it's that obvious. I always try to be polite'.

'Oh, Polite, Yes. But I know you both, I don't need you to draw diagrams. Everytime the two of you are in the same room,the temperature goes down with a thump. You know my plans for him Sharon, one day, he'll be sitting on my chair. Try to make friends with him'.

She forced a pretense of laughter. 'Good heavens, David, stop talking as if you're ninety three! unless you are planning to retire at fifty. Bryan isn't going to take over for a long, long time'.

Then their eyes met and she frowned, struck by a new idea.

'You aren't planning to retire, are you?' That prospect appalled her. David gone. Bryan in his place? She would have to leave the bank!

'I'm certainly not planning anything if the kind but you never know what the future holds, do you? If I had been told that my wife would be taken from me so soon, I'd never have believed it. She was so you g and full of life. She never had a terminal sickness. The future is uncertain. So make friends with Bryan, Sharon'.

Sharon looked closely at him. Hope he was not trying to say something to her.

'You are okay David, aren't you?'

'I am but I am asking this of you. I am disturbed about your hostile attitude towards each other and I want you both to be amicable towards each other. That's only what I am trying to say'.

'It was too late for that, David, Sharon thought grimly. She could not even consider that. He had done alot to wreck her life and peace. She and Bryan were never going to be friends. They might have tried at it had the conference not happened but it had and they had briefly been lovers, now they were enemies and it would take a miracle to change it to be otherwise.