They finished their lunch and retired to Sir Richard’s study. He opened a manila folder and handed her a document and an ink pen. “Donna, I need you to read over this, and if you’re happy with it, sign it.”
Donna rolled her eyes as she read the title. She glanced over the first few paragraphs and picked up the pen. “It’s just a standard non-disclosure contract. I’ve been signing these for years with D’Netics.” She flipped through the rest of the document until she found the familiar markers. “Missy usually put little red flags for me,” she grinned, signing with a flourish. “I see your secretary does the same.” She slid the document back to Sir Richard.
“So you’re agreeing with everything on it, even though you haven’t read it?”
“They all say the same thing,” she sighed and sat back in her chair.
Sir Richard’s eyebrows arched. “And you’re sure you don’t want to read the rest of the contract.”
Donna folded her arms across her chest and locked her eyes with his. “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t trust you, Sir Richard,” she responded. The look in her eyes reminded Sir Richard of an event that happened years ago. A slow smile spread across his mouth.
Richard covered his mouth, suppressing a grin. “I told you she wouldn’t notice,” Gary softly chuckled.
Sir Richard glanced at Gary and Richard, turned and dropped the contract in the paper shredder. Donna’s mouth gaped. “What are you doing?”
Sir Richard slid another contract across the desk. “Pick it up, and this time read it – all of it – we’re in no rush.” He stood and walked to the window, motioning to Gary and Richard. They talked quietly while Donna finished reading through the contract.
Donna turned in her chair. “What’s going on? I can’t sign this! My signature is already on it, and it’s dated for a year ago. It’s even been witnessed by Melissa Hart – Forrest’s secretary. How did you…?”
Sir Richard turned. “You really should learn to read the fine print, petal.”
“You can bet I will from now on! Is this some kind of joke? This can’t be legal!”
“Oh, it’s legal. The fact that you didn’t read the contract before you signed it doesn’t make it any less binding. You’ve been working for Triplet International for a year.”
Donna frowned. “There were no signatures on the contract I signed. That much I would have noticed!”
“Mine was,” Sir Richard grinned. “Missy works for me.”
“Jared suspected, as much,” Donna scoffed. “He thought it was odd how she showed up, not long after Gary left.”
“D, you didn’t think I would leave you over there all alone, did you?”
“So, you’ve been spying on me all this time? Were you responsible for the bugs in my apartment?”
“No, Donna. Those weren’t down to me,” Sir Richard spoke up.
“Then how did you pull this off?”
“A couple of years ago, Missy noticed you didn’t read through the contract before you signed it. About a year or so ago, when Forrest changed your research, Missy took a huge risk, but it paid off. She’d been keeping tabs on you and she could tell you were becoming increasingly dissatisfied with your job. As you can see, my signature is smaller than Forrest’s,” he said, pointing.
“Yes,” she nodded. “I can see that.”
“Let me show you how she did it,” Sir Richard said, reaching for the contract.
“Be my guest,” Donna said, holding her hands up dismissively. She watched as Sir Richard peeled off the red markers and turned them around, completely covering his signature. He then stacked some other papers on top, covering the company name.
“Does this look familiar?” he asked, a sly grin turning up the corners of his mouth.
Donna blushed at her lack of caution. “I can only imagine what Forrest would have done to Missy if he’d seen this.”
“He did, but Forrest signed a photo copy. He already knew what was on the contract. When he saw your signature, he scribbled his without question. You didn’t know it, but the contract he intended you to sign was a little different from this one.”
“What do you mean? Different, in what way?”
“You would have agreed to abandon your research and put all your time and effort into finding a cure for Forrest.”
“A cure for what? Forrest is ill?”
“Not just ill, pet,” Richard spoke up, “…dying. Forrest is in the final stage of CML.”
Donna’s mouth gaped. “That explains why he changed my research.”
“He was hoping you would find a cure in time.”
Donna glanced at Gary. “Did you know about this when you were at D’Netics?”
“No. He wouldn’t have had any symptoms, when I was there. We only found out about a year ago. He’s tried drugs and different kinds of alternative treatments, but nothing was working. He’s been in remission for the last couple of months. We think he might have received a bone marrow transplant from somewhere, but we can’t be sure. He’s been very secretive about his condition.”
“Why in the hell didn’t he just ask me? I would have helped him.”
“Helping Forrest might not have been the best thing for the world,” Richard muttered.
“Petal, you don’t know George Forrest, as well as I do,” Sir Richard interjected. “There is no way he would have ever allowed himself to become indebted to anyone, much less, a woman.”
“If he thought he was in remission that would have explained his odd behaviour,” Donna mused. “Almost overnight, he went from an arrogant prick, to trying to be my best friend. I didn’t buy the new George Forrest, but I wasn’t going to turn down all he was offering, either,” she chuckled. “For all the hell he’d put me through, I figured I deserved it. It doesn’t matter, he won in the end. Everything I’ve worked for was destroyed when Kim blew up the building.”
Gary cleared his throat. “Not exactly.”
Donna glared at Gary. “What do you mean?”
“Baby, after you signed that contract, I downloaded everything to our database. None of your research was lost.”
“What about the stuff on D’Netics mainframe? I can’t imagine Forrest just gave you access to that.”
“Up until a little while ago, I could access anything in the building, including Forrest’s office and penthouse apartment.”
“What do you mean until a while ago? What happened?”
Gary glanced at Sir Richard. “We don’t know, Donna,” Sir Richard interjected.
“What parts can’t you access?”
“Your department. The floor where Forrest’s office is. His private parking lot and lift, the top floor and his penthouse apartment – oh – and the new building that got blown up.”
Donna looked confused. “I can understand his office and penthouse apartment, but why my department and the new building? What was he trying to hide?”
Gary’s cell phone rang. He glanced at the name and accepted the call. “I’ll call you right back, Babe.”
“How long are you going to be? I’m headed to the cafeteria for a short break.”
“Not much longer. I’ll call you back.” Gary disconnected the call.
“Was that Tina?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“As far as I’m concerned, we’re done,” Sir Richard said. “Donna, was there anything you wanted to talk about?”
“Not right now. I assume I’ll start work on Monday?”
“If you’re up to it – yes,” Sir Richard said. “Sometimes, Gary and Ricky like to work at home, so I had a high speed fibre-optic network installed. You can access your research from here if you want to.”
Donna smiled. “Gary did something similar for me at D’Netics.”
Sir Richard softly smiled. “Gary has many useful talents.”
“Especially with computers and nanotechnology,” Donna agreed.
“We’re done, Gary,” Sir Richard said. “Ricky, why don’t you give Donna a quick tour? I’ve got a few things to finish up here. I think she’d especially like to see the horses, and since she’ll be living here, introduce her to the dogs, as well.”
Donna furrowed her brow. “I didn’t see or hear any dogs, when we got out of the car.”
“They’re trained not to bark,” Sir Richard responded. “We let them out at night, and when we’re away.”
“They know us…” Richard added, “…and they’ve learned to tolerate Gary because he gives them treats.”
“It beats trying to outrun the buggers!” Gary grumbled. “I’ll see you later. Just don’t forget about the dogs tonight when you and Sam get back.”
Richard frowned. “Did you have to tell her that? Come on, pet. Time for some fun.”
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After showing her the house, Richard took Donna riding. The tour along the riverside took about an hour. There were lots of trees and flowers in bloom. They tethered the horses to a bush, took off their shoes and went for a paddle in the edge of the water. Donna sat on a flat rock, with her knees pulled up and her arms wrapped around them. She turned her head toward Richard and rested her cheek on her knees. “It’s not so bad over here,” she smiled. “The water is a little cold, though.”
“I enjoyed our water balloon fights, back in Louisiana, but I wouldn’t want to repeat them here.”
“No kidding,” she laughed. “It would be more like throwing ice water on each other.” She glanced at her watch and started putting her socks and cowgirl boots on. “If you’re going to show me the rest of the grounds, we’d better go. It’s getting late. I have to start thinking about getting ready.”
“Right… your date with Sam,” he murmured as he finished putting on his shoes. He stood and helped Donna to her feet. “We’ll make one more stop,” he said helping her onto her horse. “Then we’ll tour the rest of the grounds, unless you’d rather skip the duck pond.”
Donna’s eyes lit. “I’d love to see it!”
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Richard took some stale bread from his saddlebag. “Where did that come from?” Donna asked.
“The house,” he smiled, reached up and grabbed the sides of her waist, helping her off her horse. He locked his eyes with hers for a few seconds. Donna cleared her throat and stepped back. Richard softly smiled. Sooner or later you’ll give in, again. He led Donna to the bench and tethered their horses to the back of it.
They talked for a while, tossing stale bread to the ducks and swans swimming around the edge of the water. “Some say swans mate for life,” Richard commented.
Donna snorted. “They say the same thing about wolves, but like a lot of other pretty lies, it’s just a myth.” Her eyes glossed. She swallowed hard. “Nothing is forever,” she sighed. “Not even love.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Come on - in our day and age! Can you imagine spending your entire life… with one…” she broke off and shook her head. “I’m sorry.”
“Donna… it’s OK. I know how you felt about Jared. I know you’re hurting. You don’t have to be strong around me.”
“Yes I do!” she snapped and stood. “I don’t have a choice. I have to move on,” she said, untethered her horse and took off toward the stables.
Richard fantasised. “I could imagine spending my life with one person. Jared, I’m sorry. She’s just too easy to fall in love with,” he mused, mounted his horse and took off at full gallop. Despite her broken heart and unpredictable moods, Donna was full of life and wonder. Everything about her made him smile, especially her laugh. Richard wouldn’t give up.
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Sam and Joyce were in the lab with Tina and Mary. Sam as usual was playfully flirting with all three women. Ian was over on the other side of the room, pretending to work. Sam glanced at his watch and swallowed the last of his coffee. “Well, it’s been fun, ladies…” he said standing to leave, “…but I have to go.”
“Where are you off to?” Mary asked. “Hot date with Jasmine?”
“No,” Sam grinned. “Donna Rigden.”
Tina cut her eyes at Ian. Joyce frowned. “What about her arm?”
Ian stepped closer. “What’s wrong with her arm?”
“She had a bandage on it when she got here,” Joyce offered. “I heard it was a gunshot wound.”
“Oh, she’s fine,” Sam responded. “It wasn’t as bad as it looked. I put a couple of stitches in it and gave her a shot.”
Joyce raised an eyebrow. “That wasn’t what I heard.”
Sam glared at Joyce. “Then I guess you heard wrong – didn’t you,” he said and left.
Mary patted Joyce’s hand. “Don’t worry. Sam will never get his hooks into that one. Richard has already marked her as his next conquest.”
“What do you mean?” Tina asked.
“He dumped me for her right before he left for America.”
Tina and Ian shared a glance. “I see I wasn’t the only one. Wonder how long it’ll be before he gets bored with her?”
Joyce’s mouth gaped. “Richard has been in America? All this time, I thought he was in Ecuador.”
Mary laughed. “Goes to show how much information he shares with his friends,” she taunted. “Ian… any plans for tonight?”
“Sorry, Mary. I’m busy.”
Tina reached for her purse. “I’ve gotta run!” Joyce stood to leave.
Ian laid his hand on her wrist. “Joyce, can you hang on a second?”
Joyce softly smiled. “Sure… what’s up?”