Consequences

Part 16

In the back of his mind, Doug was wondering whether he and Isabelle Sojour-D'Sa might actually work! That was the extraordinary thing. He was contemplating seeing this through for real! Which was rather inconceivable. She was from money. Old money. He was not short of a bob or two now, but that did not bring with it the status and standing that accompanied old money. But it was more than that.

There was an air of class and etiquette that he had simply not encountered before. Despite their circumstances she had remained unflustered. Regal almost. She had listened to his statements, there were fleeting moments when he thought she looked a touch annoyed, but overall she had remained calm. Even when she realized her card had been used, she had not gone into a tail spin. That's what he found incredibly attractive. That and the fact she was a beautiful woman!

Doug tuned back into the conversation when Jared's voice broke through his reverie.

"Wouldn't do us any harm in the mean time." Jared announced candidly. But it might when they broke off the engagement. Jared wondered how many would walk away then and what the implications would be for the company.

"I hadn't thought of that until this morning when the call came through." Doug frowned as pride kicked in. "We don't need her name. They'd have come to us eventually." He hoped. There were so many things that an association with established old school could accomplish. But he had more than his share of pride. Hanging on to her name just to give their company a boost was not an option. He ruled that out instantly. Using her connections to establish links of their own, also not a good idea. Not given the short term nature of their relationship. Using her money was a definite no-no. He was pretty sure that most people would look at this new relationship and wonder why a beautiful heiress would hook up with a mongrel like him? Wrong side of the tracks. New, precocious money. A business that thrived on new technology. A man whose appearance would give most monsters a run for their money. For the first time in his life he wished he was handsome, or at the very least average looking. People would assume he'd conned her in some way. Persuaded her to go out with a mutt like him.

Doug ran a hand round the back of his neck as he thought about what people would say about this new association. No one would believe it. Would they?

"Nothing wrong with sooner rather than later." Jared said and watched his friend carefully. Doug looked pensive. More than that. He looked as if he was wishing for the stars. Which really wasn't Doug's nature. He did not do wishful thinking. He was a realist. A good honest man who worked with both feet firmly planted in reality.

"I don't want to use her like that. We're doing ok." Doug said quietly. He hoped he wasn't about to enter into a minefield. What if things got out of control and they did end up using her name? Could he live with the fact he had taken advantage of the situation? He wasn't planning on doing that. But people were bound to change how they dealt with him and the company once they knew he was with her.

"Better than ok." Jared replied dryly. "Her family may be old money, but we could afford to buy her out three times over."

"So we don't need old money connections. Agreed?" Doug asked but it was a rhetorical question. He was not going to hold onto her coat tails to carve out a path for the company. They had built it on grit and ability. Their ability, their grit.

Jared was less inclined to turn a gift horse away. Their company was doing well. They had built up a solid reputation. It was their work. But why squander an opportunity that presented itself on a plate? "Yeah, yeah. But there's no harm in talking to them...."

"Jared!" Warned Doug, but Jared was already out of the door.

"Later!" Jared called and ambled out. He'd have to give it a bit more thought. See whether it was worth taking the risk. The downside was that when Doug and this Sojour-D'Sa woman split, the company would have to deal with some flack. Jared hoped this situation wasn't about to undo all the good work they had done thus far. Then he frowned to himself. Doug had appeared somewhat distracted. As if his mind was elsewhere.