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tidy. Only one personal item was placed on it. It was a photograph of two little children, a girl of five and a boy about a year younger.

‘How are those adorable kids?’ Becky questioned.

If any one person had broken through Tizzy’s zone of seclusion, it was Becky. It was through Becky that Tizzy got her job at T & G Mallaby. They had worked together on many projects at their last place of employment. Becky never forgot how upset she had been when she and Tizzy had been paired together for the first time at their first job. At the end of the first week she had felt that she would die of boredom. Tizzy hardly spoke, they never had their lunch break together, nor did they socialise after work. It was the second week that saw the change in their relationship. It was Tizzy’s work that Becky started respecting first. Her advertising ideas were

ingenious. Once they found a common platform, their conversation became easier. Soon their relationship progressed to friendship. As they won award after award, that friendship got cemented into a stronger bond. Becky was the only person who knew everything there was to know about Tizzy. And when Becky went up on the stage to collect the awards she knew that Tizzy should have stood there beside her. Only, Tizzy wanted to remain in her cocoon. And as much as Becky wanted to, she knew that it was not yet time to pull her out of that cocoon.

Then Mallaby had approached Becky to join his firm. She agreed, on condition that Tizzy be employed as well. At first he had refused. He had never heard of her nor seen any of her work and was not prepared to employ people that did not share his vision. It was only after seeing Tizzy’s work that Grant hired the two of them. And five years later, they were still working there as a ‘team’.

In that time Becky had met, fallen in love with and married T & G Mallaby’s Sales Manager, Roger Whitman. Her only regret had been that Tizzy had declined to become her bridesmaid. Becky had even agreed to let Tizzy wear the dark glasses. By the time Becky married, she had come to look upon Tizzy as her sister but no amount of persuasion worked. Becky did manage to convince her to attend the wedding and that had been a big step forward.

“They are fine. I spoke to them last night.” Tizzy answered Becky’s question. Lost in her thought, Becky looked blankly at Tizzy. Then realising that Tizzy was responding to her question she smiled back.

“Get yourself ready for a very busy time ahead of us.” Becky informed Tizzy.

“Why, I thought we were right on top of everything?” Tizzy questioned without stutter or hesitation.

“Roger just walked by a few minutes ago. He said that Grant was sealing a major deal this morning. And that means more work. Much, much more work.” Becky grumbled.

But Tizzy knew that Becky was really looking forward to the challenge. Both of them worked best under pressure. And as long as Roger was also at work, Becky really did not mind staying back either.

“When do you get the kids again?” Becky changed the subject back to the kids.

“Tonight, their father is dropping them off at six. I will need to leave at five. I have them till Monday. I hope you have not forgotten that I have taken Monday morning off. Greg will pick them up at eleven in the morning and I’ll be back here by lunch time.”

Becky did not mind at all. In fact, she wished that Tizzy would take a lot more time off instead of spending so much of it at work. A phone call cut short their conversation.

Becky was glad she had sorted that out, for within ten minutes of their conversation the champagne bottle had been uncorked. T & G Mallaby had taken on their biggest client ever and the entire building was abuzz with excitement. An email invitation from Grant Mallaby arrived at every computer. “Celebrations in the boardroom at 4.30p.m - The American Media have come on board.” Even as she read it Tizzy knew, this was another celebration she would not be attending.

The day turned out to be busier than they expected. Becky went from meeting to meeting while Tizzy continued with their existing work. The last hour was a scramble for Tizzy as she rushed to finish her work by five.

Grant was in his elements. After a disastrous start to the day, it had ended up becoming the most wonderful moment in the company’s history. Grant and his elder brother Tom had started the company ten years ago. He was twenty-three then. His brother had been two years older. Everyone had said their inexperience would be their downfall. But that very inexperience is what proved to be their success. They were prepared to try anything and everything. Failure was not a fear and success was not yet a drug. Within three years they had turned their two-man venture

into a major player in the world of advertising. There was only one way to go, and that was up.

Then Tom succumbed to cancer. Grant’s initial reaction had been to close shop. But during the reading of the will, Tom’s wish was made abundantly clear. And he left Grant with the responsibility to fulfill his dream. Grant tried to do his best alone but work kept flowing in and he found he just could not cope with the increasing workload. When it got to a point where he was sleeping at the office, he began recruiting additional staff. It was at the small business award ceremony that he first got a glimpse of Becky’s work. He knew straight away that he had to have Becky working for the firm. And with Becky, came Tizzy. Initially he could not understand Becky’s insistence on wanting Tizzy to join with her. Then she had shown him Tizzy’s portfolio. After that it was only a question of signing on the dotted line. He remembered thinking, ‘as long as she does the work, what difference does it make if she does not possess the image or the personality that a corporate position requires’.

In the five years that Becky and Tizzy had been with the company he saw Tizzy on a daily basis. She had been polite and professional but totally distant. She had never attended the social functions nor been at the award ceremonies that had taken place. Her life seemed to be her work. She arrived early and left late. That is why seeing the wedding ring had surprised him. Either her husband was away a lot or he was a very patient man. Becky and Tizzy’s friendship also puzzled him. He never understood what Becky saw in Tizzy or how they could have become friends. They were as different as night and day. Even at Becky and Roger’s wedding, Tizzy had arrived just in time for the wedding and left as soon as the couple departed for their honeymoon. She had refused to dance with anyone. He remembered thinking of asking her to dance. She had looked so lonely and forlorn. Then he saw her refuse to dance with Becky’s brother and not wanting to suffer the same fate, he had refrained from asking. He waltzed with Becky and several other people from work and noticed that she had barely looked in his direction. And even when she did, with her glasses, it was hard to know if she was looking at him or someone else.

His contact with her was limited to questions relating to work or glimpses when he walked

through the corridors. As her employer he could have walked into the office whenever he wanted but he had instinctively known not to approach her territory. She worked best when she was left alone. Becky took the orders and Becky brought back the finished product. As the outcome was always satisfactory he went along with the arrangement. With another person this system would never have worked but with Tizzy, he noticed an uncanny ability. Without ever sitting with him or discussing the project, she managed to always give him the result he desired. It was as if she knew what he would have done himself. And when Becky and Tizzy were allowed to interpret the project as they wished, he saw a unique talent that he did not want to interfere with. His clients to date, had always walked away very pleased with their advertising campaign.

Now in the midst of his colleagues and staff, he looked for Tizzy. He felt ashamed at not having thanked her for her help in the morning. But worse still, he continued to feel guilty about his comment. He caught up with Becky just after 5 p.m. and was informed that Tizzy had already left.

Grant could not explain the disappointment he felt. He had hoped that she would be there to accept his apology and his thanks. He had been even more ashamed of his behavior when he overheard a typist comment ‘Poor Mr. Mallaby. She must have bored him to death.’ That statement had made him angry both with the typist and himself. He told himself that his sympathy for Tizzy was the result of the protective feelings he had felt towards his brother. After chemotherapy, when Tom had gone bald and his skin had discoloured, he saw how hurtful people’s glares and comments had been to Tom. Yet he had behaved in the same selfish way. He also accepted that he had indeed felt a bit embarrassed at being seen with Tizzy and ‘that thing’ she called her car.

Then he remembered the wedding ring and thought ‘At least there was a man out there who is better than the rest of us’. With that he joined in the conversation going on around him and told himself that he would leave the words of gratitude until her return.

Just at that point he heard Roger say, “Grant, Becky and I have something to announce.

Hopefully it will be an extension to this wonderful moment.”

Chapter 3

Grant left work at six. His car had been returned to him after the problem had been fixed. What a day it had been. And what a way it had ended - with the announcement that Becky was pregnant. While he was elated with the news, he was also well aware of the consequences of it. Becky had always said she would like to take a career break once she had children, at least until her kids started school. That meant Becky would leave in seven months. He needed to talk to her frankly about her future plans, but tonight had not been the time to dampen their happiness. He would also need to start looking for a replacement after his talk to Becky. At this point when a new client had just come on board, he could ill afford any interruptions.

Tonight however he was concerned with another more pressing problem. Trisha had rung, just as he was leaving. She was flying in for one night and wanted to see him urgently. She had sounded nervous. He had agreed to meet her at their usual restaurant. Trisha was a stewardess with Viser Airlines and a part-time model as well. She had also been his strength when his brother had died. He decided he would concentrate on Trisha’s problem first and then deal with Becky’s.

The music in the car was relaxing and he cruised comfortably along. Then he glanced in the rear view mirror and saw