A Dangerous Affair

A Dangerous Affair Chapter 46

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Tom asked Brick as he stormed into his office. He had made some excuse to Stephanie about Brick calling him in for a meeting and left her outside at her desk. Brick was reading a newspaper which was on his desk in front of him and his eyes flicked up to Tom.

“I have always found that knocking is the correct prerequisite for entering an office Tom. Perhaps you should bear that in mind in the future,” he replied, seemingly unaffected by Tom’s accusatory tone.

“I wouldn’t have touched this story if I’d have known, you must have realised that!”

Brick sighed and closed the newspaper, looking up again at Tom. “What are you ranting on about now Phillips?”

“Stephanie! And her father…and your plotting to keep it all a big secret,” he accused.

Both Brick’s expression and tone abruptly changed as he pointed a firm finger at Tom. “Now you listen to me. I don’t know how you have found out but it stays a secret … for Stephanie’s sake,” he added. He suspected that mention of her welfare would make a difference. Tom sighed loudly and fell deflated into the chair opposite Brick’s desk. “Besides,” Brick continued, “Are you telling me that if you had known it would have stopped you from making a beeline for Stephanie?”

Tom looked up suddenly. “Yes, yes it would! I mean come on, me and Hamilton’s daughter, it’s laughable!”

“The only thing that’s laughable is the idea that you could possibly resist a beautiful woman. You’ve been following her around this office for months like a love sick school boy! More to the point, I’m not in the business of concerning myself with my employers love lives! This isn’t a bloody dating service Tom! You were the right man to protect Stephanie at the time and so I allowed you to get involved.”

“Right, well I’m well and truly involved now aren’t I?” he sulked.

Brick watched Tom and to his consternation he felt a sudden twinge of sympathy for him. Okay so he could be incredibly annoying and arrogant at times but Brick had come to know Tom and he had seen a softer more vulnerable side to him. Despite his outer confidence he often struggled with insecurities inside.

Brick groaned. “Look, if it’s any consolation Stephanie has a mind of her own, you should know that. She is not affected by what others think of her and she makes her own decisions, much to her father’s dismay I might add. If you had hopes of ‘walking into the sunset’ with Stephanie…” he gave a hand gesture as if to say that he found that kind of thing rather foolish. Tom shifted awkwardly in his seat. “… and if she is daft enough to fall for you, it will be her decision to act upon that, no one else’s.” Brick was well aware that Tom was daunted by the prospect of having to face Hamilton-Brown should a relationship develop between Stephanie and himself. He also had to admit that Hamilton-Brown would probably not relish the thought of Tom and his daughter being involved.

Tom didn’t look entirely convinced. It was hard enough getting Stephanie to relax with him at times, let alone convincing her father that a relationship between them would be a good thing.

“Something I don’t understand though,” Tom piped up again. “If Stephanie and her father have so much hostility between them why would Stephanie want to work for one of his newspapers in the first place?”

Brick eyed Tom, wondering how much he should reveal. He concluded that Tom now knew about Stephanie’s father anyway so discussing the details didn’t really matter much.

“I’ve known Stephanie for a long time, since she was a teenager and she used to come in to work with her father. They were close then and Stephanie was desperate do well in her father’s eyes. She loved the buzz of the office too and the challenges of getting a good story into print. You know, despite the hostility now between them they are really quite similar.”