Ulterior Motives Read Online Free Page B

work was that he might do some business with Keene International. I didn’t know he was connected to Elite. How could I have known?”
    “All right, all right, I’m sorry. The damage is done—”
    “No ‘damage’ was done,” said Shelley. “All he did was look around a bit. For goodness sake, even Chuck has been here before.”
    “Why did you bring Tanner here in the first place? Was it his idea?”
    “No...”
    “You suggested it?”
    “Yes...”
    “Why, for God’s sake?”
    “Because he took me home and then drove me back to work. I invited him up here for a cup of coffee. I was just trying to be polite.” That wasn’t the whole truth, but Shelley intended to keep certain mistakes private.
    “All right, even assuming that he really didn’t know who you were, why didn’t he say something once he realized his mistake?”  
    “That’s what I’d like to know,” Shelley muttered.
    “He was thinking about other things, maybe,” suggested Francesca knowingly as she entered the room with a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water.
    “What things?” asked Wayne.
    “That’s enough, Francesca,” said Shelley. “Give me that. My head hurts.”
    “What things?” Wayne repeated. “Francesca, did he seem unusually interested in something up here?”
    “Yes, he was very interested—”
    “Francesca,” Shelley warned.
    “In Shelley.”
    Both Wayne and Francesca turned to stare at Shelley. Francesca looked at her with fond concern, while Wayne seemed convinced his boss had lost her marbles.
    “And you fell for that?” he demanded.
    “I didn’t fall for anything,” Shelley insisted.
    “My God, Shelley, of all the men to pick—”
    “That’s enough, Wayne. I made a mistake, that’s all. He caught me off my guard, but it won’t happen again. He didn’t see or hear anything up here that’s going to lead to our dramatic downfall. Now I think we all have too much work to do to waste any more time dwelling on why he didn’t tell me the truth. He’s obviously a slippery character, that’s all.”
    There was a moment of silence as they digested this.  
    “All right,” Wayne said, “you’re right. We shouldn’t overreact to this. I’ll get on the phone and find someone for tonight’s French class. You’d better call Chicago.”
    Shelley called her superior in Chicago to explain what they’d just learned. She decided not to tell him about the afternoon’s events, since it was irrelevant and made her feel foolish.
    “Have you ever heard of this guy, Jerome?” Shelley said into the receiver.
    “No, but then he’s obviously never come to the Midwest before. I’m supposed to call the New York office tonight and the Paris office on Monday morning. I’ll ask about him then. If he’s well known, they’ll be able to provide information on him. In the meantime, Shelley, just don’t let him come between you and that contract with Keene International. We’re counting on you.”
    “Yes, Jerome.”
    “Call me around ten o’clock Monday morning with this week’s figures, and I’ll let you know what I’ve heard.”
    “Okay.”
    “Don’t worry about it, Shelley. You’re doing a great job. You’ve always made me glad that I recommended you for that post.”
    Shelley smiled. “Thanks, Jerome. I’ll talk to you Monday.”
     

     
      Shelley worked late that night. This had nothing to do with Ross Tanner or her worries about what kind of trouble he could cause. She had increased business by more than thirty percent in the time she’d been director of the Babel school here, but she still hadn’t been supplied with the staff necessary to cope with that extra workload. She had requested an associate director and another secretary; headquarters in New York had denied these requests but promised to review the situation again the following year. So Shelley worked longer hours as business continued to grow.
    Upon reflection, she could believe Ross hadn’t known who she was. He had