Victoria stepped out of the elevator and walked through the Arrival offices. She held her head high and kept a determined step.
She’d never been a good actress and had never been good at reading people. Neither had ever been required of her; now she was expected to do both with some confidence.
She had to appear upset, which wouldn’t be a stretch because that was exactly how she felt. Someone was pulling strings and playing games, and Victoria wanted to tear the office apart until she found them. If she didn’t find them in Arrival, then she’d take to the streets of New York. She’d go as far as she needed to put a stop to the madness.
Holly had other ideas. Ideas that involved subterfuge and a more measured approach. Ideas that would probably be much more successful than the trail of destruction Victoria would prefer to leave in her wake, in her search for the perpetrator.
She walked into her outer office and tossed her coat at Claudia.
“Move my appointment with Lars to tomorrow, tell Colin I need to see updated figures within the hour, take Izzy to be groomed—today. And take off that awful scarf. You look like Beethoven.”
Claudia opened and closed her mouth a few times in shock before muttering an apology and clutching at the silky monstrosity around her neck.
“Louise,” she called as she entered her office.
A few seconds later, Louise appeared with a notepad and pencil in hand.
“Cancel my dinner reservation for Friday,” she said, putting her bag by the side of her desk and looking through the mail.
“Of course, Victoria. Would you like me to rebook?”
“Why would I attend a romantic restaurant alone? Unless you can manage to convince Holly to return to my side.” She looked up at Louise, doing her best to maintain a passive expression. “No? Then, no, just cancel the reservation.”
“O-of course. Anything else?”
“No.” She sat down and opened the envelope at the top of the pile. She heard Louise walk away. She got a small, black leather notebook out of her bag and picked up her Montblanc fountain pen from her desk. She made a note of what she had said and what Louise’s reply had been.
There were probably undertones that she hadn’t detected. She’d told Holly it was going to be an impossible task for her to notice anything untoward in anyone’s behaviour as she quite frankly never spent any time looking at their behaviour to notice any changes.
A log of all of her interactions was essential, even though it was going to be a criminal waste of her precious time.
Still, she’d do whatever it took to resolve the mystery and have Holly back at home. She’d just taken the first step, announcing the breakup. Well, in the only way Victoria Hastings possibly would announce such a thing.
The wheels were in motion; now she’d just have to wait.