Chapter 10
Jayden opened the door and stepped through. She met Rhian’s eyes and nodded to get her to follow. She wanted coffee. No. She needed coffee. Rhian fell quietly into step beside her through the long corridors filled with people and noise and the smell of antiseptic and sweat. The hum of the lights overhead felt like an itch on her skin, and the regurgitated air made her lips dry. She licked them and felt the cracked skin on her lower lip. She made a mental note to pick up some salve as soon as she could.
She ordered a cappuccino from the barista in the hospital cafe.
“Two, please,” Rhian said and fished change out of her pocket.
Still Jayden said nothing as she led them, with drinks in hand, to a table in the far corner of the room. She watched as Rhian stirred it before taking a sip. She felt drained, her eyes stung, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up in a corner and let the world carry on without her. But that wasn’t an option. Not only would Fen kill her, but also something was niggling, wheedling inside her, demanding…something from her. Something she didn’t have the time or the inclination to decipher right then. She had Rhian Phillips to deal with. She sipped her coffee. So let’s start dealing.
“Would you really sue?”
Rhian looked uncomfortable. “I wouldn’t, no. But it isn’t my company, and I do believe that Rachel would feel she had no choice.”
“Why do you call your mother by her first name?”
Rhian sighed. “Long story short, she’s my stepmum. She married my dad when I was three. My parents had joint custody, but Mum died when I was five. So I lived with Dad and Rachel after that. I call her Rachel, because that’s what I’ve always called her. But in real terms, she’s the mother who raised me. And the mother I love.”
“Yet you call her a bitch.”
Rhian smirked. “On occasion. And usually she’s quite pleased with the appellation.”
“Strange woman.”
“Driven woman.” Rhian sipped again and twisted her cup around on the saucer. “She built her company from nothing and has succeeded in a cutthroat business for almost thirty years. She’d argue that getting called a bitch meant she was doing her job right.”
“Screwing people over is doing her job right?”
Rhian shook her head. “That’s not something she sets out to do, nor does she enjoy it. But she doesn’t shy away from making the best situation for her clients and herself in any given situation. She’s very honest about that. She has no hidden agenda. She wears it on her sleeve. And that makes her easy to work with in many ways.”
“You always know where the knife’s coming from?”
Rhian snorted a humourless laugh. “Yes, I suppose that’s one way of putting it.” She stirred her coffee again, tapped the spoon against the lip of the cup, then put it back on the saucer. “Will you work with me?”
Jayden watched her for a long moment. Watched the way she tucked her blond, shoulder-length hair behind her ear and the way her grey eyes seemed to be darker in the softer light of the cafeteria. The way her fingers twisted a napkin or played with the spoon or spun her coffee cup. She was never still. Her leg bounced on her toes, vibrating her whole body gently. Nervous? Hyperactive?
“If I tell you something’s too dangerous, will you threaten to sue me to get it into the show?”
Rhian shook her head. “No, I don’t want anyone getting hurt. This has to be as safe as it possibly can be.” She held Jayden’s gaze. “Climbing’s inherently dangerous. I know that, and everyone coming here knows that. But I don’t want anyone taking unnecessary risks. I need someone there who will see them and stop them before they can occur. That’s not about anything but being a sensible, decent human being. I haven’t come to this as a producer or director. I’m in marketing. To me, dying and broken people aren’t something that’s easy to market and sell to the public. No matter what the producers and director might say it will do for the ratings.”
Jayden nodded. “Very well. The moment you violate that, our contract is null and void, and you can take me to any court you want. Clear?”
“Crystal.”
She reached for her cup and swallowed half the contents. “I need a couple of days here before I go to El Chaltén and we get started.”
“No problem. What do you want me to do in the meantime?”
“Whatever marketing executives do.”
Rhian frowned. “I was supposed to be going over the routes and challenges with Fen. Everything else I have to do is as done as I can make it right now.”
“No e-mails you’ve got to send or people to bug on the phone?”
Rhian chuckled. “I’m very efficient. I’ve already bugged everyone who needs bugging and set the Internet ablaze with correspondence. So what can I do to help you?”
“Christ,” she muttered, and swallowed the rest of her drink. “I’m not leaving here. I suppose you could go to the office and pick up the paperwork Fen’s already done and bring it here. We can go over it here, and ask her anything while we’re at it. That would probably be a big help.”
“I can do better than that.” She pulled out her phone and tapped the screen. “Carlos, hi. Are you busy today? You are? When? Fantastic. Listen, I need you to do me a favour on your way over. Have you got a pen?”
Jayden chuckled. Efficient indeed. The paperwork would be here in a third of the time and save a full round trip in fuel. She had to appreciate the economy as well as the effective planning. She closed her eyes for a moment, letting everything sink in. Trying to ground herself and not think about what this was going to mean. What she’d just agreed to.
“So Carlos is heading out to the airport in a couple of hours to pick up a load of gear that’s coming in today,” Rhian said. Dragging Jayden’s attention back to the present. “He’s going to swing by the office beforehand and get the files Fen’s put together. He said he knows where it all is because he helped her build some new shelves or something to hold them all. I also asked him to bring a few things for Fen and Mark. Just some clothes and stuff for Mark, and some bits and pieces for Fen. I hope that’s okay?”
Jayden nodded, touched by the unexpected gesture. “That’s very thoughtful of you.”
Rhian ducked her head as a faint tinge of pink stole across her cheeks. “I thought you probably came straight from the airport and had whatever you needed already, but if you want to get some sleep, you’re welcome to use my hotel room. As you know, Mark’s there now, but if you want to go after, or I can see if they have another room. If you’re going to be here for a little while, you may as well get to sleep in a bed instead of just that chair all the time.”
Jayden held up her hand to stop the words. Rhian’s mouth closed with an audible click. “Do you always talk so much?”
Rhian blushed again. “Only when I’m nervous.”
Jayden’s eyebrow hiked up her forehead. “I make you nervous?”
Rhian sighed. “Incredibly. I mean, you’ve been to frickin’ Antarctica! You’ve done the 8000ers, and the Seven Summits.” She put a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, I’ll stop now.”
Jayden chuckled. “The offer of your hotel room is another very kind gesture. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
Rhian shook her head, hand still in place. She seemed determined not to speak again…for a few minutes, at least.
“Then, thank you. When Mark gets back, I will take you up on it. No need to go to any additional expense. We’ll be here more than we’ll be away, so hot-bunking should be fine. However, right now, I could do with some food and another coffee.”
“I can get that. What do you want?”
“I’m capable of getting something—”
“I know. My treat. For saving my hide.”
Jayden clenched and unclenched her teeth. “Fine. I’m not fussy, just food, preferably warm, and plenty of it.”
Rhian grinned. “That I can do.”