LITMIR.BIZ

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woman's name was Valerie, and now that her territoriality and job security concerns were dealt with, she proved to be very knowledgeable of the division’s operations. In the further twenty-five minutes it took for Ted to finally arrive, Amelia learned a great deal about enigmatic Coremade brand.

      Valerie had worked here for thirty-two years, and she spoke animatedly about that time. In all the time she’d been here Coremade had only produced a single product line; a black boot. It had been the same design through her first years working here, delivered in a simple but well made mountain ash box, lacquered in a deep black stain and varnish. That had changed in the 1990s. When faced with closure they’d undertaken Coremade’s first real product development. This had resulted in a doubling of the price and an expansion, though in relative terms slight, in the numbers sold. It had been more than enough, though, to keep the tiny division invisible.

      “And this all came from Ted?

      She smiled again. ”None of us would be here without him. He did all of this.”

      Amelia was genuinely impressed. The loyalty and admiration this woman had for him was caused her to ignore her misgivings after the phone conversation. Not to mention that the qualities of the shoe and its ability to fly in the face of the industry’s departure from this country was remarkable.

      Inexplicably Valerie dropped her gaze and a voice sounded from behind Amelia. “Who are you?” The tone was gruff and imperious.

      Turning slowly, with complete unconcern, Amelia came to face an older man. He was taller than her by at least ten centimetres and in his mid fifties. His face was cavernous and clean shaven, with a shock of thick, dark hair crowning deeply furrowed brow ridges. The man’s eyes were of a deep blue, fierce and intense. In all he was an imposing figure, and Amelia understood why many here would be cowed and in awe of his bearing.

      She, however, was not. “I had an appointment to see you half an hour ago.”

      Ted drew his eyes away from her immediately and walked past, fumbling for keys in his pocket. Without facing her he spoke back to her. “I never take meetings before 9:30, you must be mistaken.”

      Amelia suppressed an instinct to retort with an icy suggestion that she’d write him up on it. There was no point in causing disruption here. It wasn't likely she’d spend much time with these people or in this place and there was no point in stamping her authority. Glancing back over at Valerie, she saw the woman give her a compassionate smile.

      Her voice was little more than a whisper as Ted kept his back to them and entered his office. “Don’t worry about it, he can be a bit grumpy in the morning.”

      Giving her a thin-lipped smile, Amelia nodded and turned to follow Ted as he kept his attention away from her and retreated behind the large oak desk. On closer inspection, the office was indeed well fitted out; chairs, desks, couches, tables and fittings were all very good quality. It was very obvious to her that this was someone’s personal domain.

      She stood quietly as Ted peered down at a collection of papers on his desk, pointedly not meeting her intent stare. Just as Amelia’s irritation began to spiral, he finally looked up at her as he sat down at the high backed leather chair. “What is it you want to talk to me about?”

      Not responding for the moment, Amelia put her satchel down on the floor, deliberately nudging the door closed as she did so. With an exaggeratedly casual gesture she sat down at the outer of threechairs in front of the desk and spoke quietly. “You may have heard that Havesheld is going to go through some changes. James has resigned.”

      That statement had exactly the desired effect and for the first time Ted showed veiled interest. “No I hadn’t, Richard hasn’t said anything.” His voice did hold a note of scepticism.

      “This happened last week, it hasn’t been made public yet, though I’m sure it’s getting out by now.” She paused for a moment before continuing. “There’s no danger to Coremade, but as part of the restructure we need to change the presentation of the remaining brands.”

      He sat back in the chair and folded his arms. “What’s this got to do with me?”

      Amelia gave him a shallow smile. “I like what I’ve seen of Coremade, I like what it is now. I think there’s some value in having you comment on the new lines we’re going to come up with, both from a design and detail perspective.”

      His response wasn’t at all what she expected. Ted seemed to puff up with self importance for a moment but then, quickly, a veil of obstinacy returned. “That’s nice, but I’m not particularly interested.”

      Frowning, Amelia retorted quickly. “Why?”

      “My commitment is to Coremade. I made it, I built it, I’m the reason it survived, and I don’t want to be distracted.”

      Finding this response strange, Amelia was at a loss for words. For a moment she was silent and then she finally responded uncertainly. “I’m not suggesting you leave here.”

      He reached down to his desk and flicked idly through a stack of papers. “Does Richard know you’re down here?”

      Almost at the point of exploding, Amelia tried one last attempt. “He knows I’m here.” At that statement he regarded her a little more openly, though not much, and she continued in an entreating voice. “Ted, this isn’t going to impact on anything and what you have to say could really help. All I’m asking is that we discuss some new lines and look at a few prototypes. It can just be you and me if you like.”

      There was silence in the room as Ted seemed to consider the proposition. Finally he spoke in a gruff voice. “I’ll think about it.”

      Unsure for a moment whether to force him or acquiesce, Amelia opted for the latter and rose from the chair. She simply couldn’t fathom his reservations. By any measure this could only be considered flattering and deferential. “I’ll leave you to think about it.”

      No response was forthcoming; he simply nodded imperceptibly and dropped his eyes to regard the papers on his desk. Shaking her head slightly, Amelia realised this was the only acknowledgement he was going to give. Without further comment she rose and reached for the door, her temper piqued.

      From a quiet corner of the large room, a man lifted his eyes from the last he was gently stretching a piece of leather over and watched the woman’s departure. The motion was slow and timid, as if he feared being noticed. With his head still tilted towards the bench his eyes flicked briefly in her direction before dropping back down again. There was a slouched cast to his demeanour and nothing remarkable or noteworthy about his appearance; his clothes were nondescript and plain, and his dark brown hair hung lankly over his brow.

      Before he returned to the task before him, a momentary pang of anxiousness swept through him and he repeated the same diminutive gesture to look for Ted. Watching him carefully for a few moments his nervousness dissipated. There was no sign of stress, or frustration in his supervisor’s demeanour and clearing his mind of paranoid fears the man drew his eyes back to the finished piece of leather.

      Chapter 3

       Suspicions

      Amelia leaned back and stared at Ted intently as he peered at the samples laid out on his coffee table. It had been an excruciating process to get him to sit down and engage with anything she’d suggested. Over a four month period she’d done her best to contain her temper as he continually rescheduled reviews and cut meetings short. On the verge of looking elsewhere, she conceded there were actually very few people who innately understood the whole gamut of issues relating to designing, producing and marketing a successful product. He may not have talent in all of these, but Coremade had undergone a transformation that catered to most.

      Aware now that he was pushing his luck and that Amelia wouldn’t simply disappear, Ted had now reverted to a pattern of dismissing the material in front of him. The criticisms were broad and sweeping making

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