Against the exotic backdrops of some of the most beautiful places on earth, three very different pairs of women learn about life and love far from home. 1 страница

Journeys

Against the exotic backdrops of some of the most beautiful places on earth, three very different pairs of women learn about life and love... far from home.

China: Petra Vossler is sent by her father to evaluate Quin Venizelos, their Canadian company's successful, yet mysterious, division manager of the Far East. Quin personifies the business cliché that knowledge is power, but when Petra arrives in Hong Kong, Quin learns that unrequited attraction is powerful, too. East meets West as these two strong, opinionated women clash and unexpected romance flares.

Kenya: Alex and Sarah are lovers who parted ways many years ago. Alex finds the courage to travel across the world to try to rekindle the love she once had with Sarah. In wild Africa amidst exotic cultures, Alex and Sarah struggle to find trust and commitment as they are unwittingly lured into a deadly plot of political intrigue.

South Africa: Laurie and Danielle are old friends divided by time and South Africa's turbulent politics. Now, many years later, Lauri returns to South Africa as a reporter, and asks Danny to show her the new South Africa. Laurie hopes to win Danny's heart, but Danny is held back by her strict religious upbringing. The trip explodes into violent passions when Danny must deal with a dangerous poacher to save the woman she has come to love. Pack lightly. Everything you need for a memorable trip is here, in the pages of Journeys.

CHINA

Chapter 1

Dr. Petra Vossler pulled her jeep into one of the parking places reserved for Kurt Vossler, president and owner of Vossler Engineering Corporation. The five parking spots weren't marked in any way, and except for their location right beside the private elevator that went to the top floor of the Vossler Building, there was no indication of rank or privilege. Kurt Vossler was a proud man, but not one who felt the need to flaunt his power. He expected people to recognize his achievements and respect him for them. No one ever parked in these spaces without permission; it was simply understood.

Petra used her key to activate the security system and then punched in her access code. The elevator doors slid open with a soft hiss, and she crossed over from the functional cement world of the workers into the luxury and prestige of the corporate executive. The offices didn't really suit the no-nonsense sort of man her father was, but corporate image was everything. Petra understood this, but like her father, she wasn't always comfortable with it. The carpet in the elevator was a deep pile of burgundy, the walls brass and teak with inlays of mirror. Petra kept her face neutral, knowing that cameras and microphones were part of the elevator's security system.

A minute later, she exited on the top floor. Olive Bond was there to greet her. "Dr. Vossler, welcome. Mr. Vossler asked that you wait for him in his private office. He'll be there in five minutes."

"Thank you, Olive. It's been a while. I hope your husband and the twins are all well," Petra said as they walked across the spacious reception room to the president's office.

"Yes, the family is fine. Jason bought another store, and the boys will be going off to university this fall. Sam plans to study computer science, and Mike wants to take a law degree, then a Masters in business. I think they intend to form a new company and build it up as they go."

"Good for them. Do they still build computers on the side?" Petra stopped at the door to her father's office and allowed Olive to open it for her.

"Yes, in fact they have enough money from their business and scholarships to put themselves through university. But they feel PCs are old technology now and they want to move into other areas. They're hardworking boys. Jason and I are very proud of them." Olive stepped into Kurt Vossler's private office and held the door for Petra to follow.

Petra Vossler was a beautiful woman. She was of average height, her hair was the rich colour of mahogany, and her eyes were chocolate brown, like her father's. Like her father, too, she was intelligent and successful, but there the comparison ended. Kurt Vossler was tall, aloof, and a tough business competitor. His only child was more like her late mother: friendly, vivacious, and concerned about social issues. Her doctorate was in Social Science.

Kurt Vossler had never indicated to anyone how he felt about his daughter's choice of career. The Vosslers didn't talk about their private lives. Even Olive, who had worked as Kurt's private administrative assistant for the last five years, could write what she knew about the family in a single paragraph. On the other hand, Petra knew enormous amounts about the private lives of the people who worked for Vossler Engineering, as did Kurt. Despite the fact that he was a rather stiff and distant man, he had never forgotten Olive's birthday, and always wished her a happy anniversary. And the year that Jason had been in a terrible car accident, Kurt had cancelled all his meetings, taken her and the boys to the hospital, and seen to it that Jason got the very best of care.

Kurt Vossler seemed to be a very intimidating and arrogant man. He wasn't. He was very loyal to his employees and took a personal interest in their lives, but he was also a proud and reserved man, and business came first.

Olive asked if Petra would like coffee and then left, closing the door with a soft click. Petra stood by the window, looking down over the city of Kitchener, Ontario. Her father had emigrated from Germany as a young boy, a number of years after World War II. Like so many in Europe, he had lost his family in those dark years. His father, a soldier, had been killed in the war, and his mother had died during the Allied bombings of Dresden. Kurt had come to Canada to live with a distant cousin and to start a new life.

Kitchener had been settled by German immigrants in the nineteenth century, and at one time had been called Berlin. That name had been change during World War I, and the town renamed after the famous British general in order to show loyalty to the Commonwealth.

Petra sighed. Life was all about new starts. A little over four weeks ago, her father had suffered a mild heart attack. That information had been kept very quiet. Kurt Vossler was Vossler Engineering, and the company's worth would plummet if it were known that the owner-president was seriously ill.

The door to the office opened and Petra turned to smile at the tall, handsome man who stood there. At sixty-five, Kurt Vossler looked far more fit than many fifty-year olds. But as Petra walked across the room and hugged her father, she could see grayness in his skin and stress lines around his eyes that hadn't been there last year.

"Hi, Dad. How are you feeling today?"

"Not so bad, honey. Those pills I put under my tongue work well, but I get tired more quickly now," Kurt said. Petra smiled affectionately. Her father knew better than to try to keep things from her. She'd always had a way of worming the truth out of him.

The two sat down in the conversation area overlooking the city, and Petra took her Palm Pilot from her shoulder bag.

"Well, you went over the resumes, who do you recommend?" Kurt asked, settling down to business.

"Quin Venizelos," Petra said.

Kurt grimaced.

"Dad, she's the only one with the brains and drive to fill your shoes. If you name her as your successor, the investors will feel confident in the company. I hope you're not hesitating because she's gay," Petra said.

"My own daughter is gay. That's not an issue."

Petra busied herself arranging the resume data of the regional directors on her Palm Pilot. "It could be an issue with the stockholders," she said.

"Business doesn't care who, what, or how many an executive sleeps with, as long as the profit growth is in the double digits. Sexual morality doesn't belong in the boardroom," Kurt said.

"Then what's the issue?" Petra asked, placing her PDA on the table and looking directly at her father.

"She's a strange one. Wild."

"Brilliant," countered Petra.

"Unpredictable."

"She has an amazing success rate."

"I don't like her," he said.

"I'm not surprised." Petra laughed. "She seems to be a lot like you: focussed, a risk taker, and determined."

"She runs our Pacific Rim division as if it's her own private company. She never asks permission; she notifies me of what she's done. She's a loose cannon," Vossler said.

"Has she ever made a poor decision? Have you ever had reason to question her loyalty?" Petra asked.

"No," her father said. "The Pacific Rim is our biggest growth sector by far, but it's a huge market, so I can't completely give the credit to Venizelos."

"Agreed. But you have to admit that having someone who speaks Mandarin and Cantonese and is familiar with the various cultures is a great advantage—not to mention the fact that she speaks three other languages reasonably well, and has degrees in engineering and business."

Petra suspected he enjoyed debating with her because she always came prepared for battle. She also surmised he felt better when he saw, if only for a few minutes, the spunky, impetuous, independent girl he had known before Val's accident.

"She's more than qualified and has the experience to back up her studies. So I ask you, Petra, why hasn't she formed her own company? Why has she stayed with me?"

"Is that what's making you hesitate?" Petra rested her chin on the arm she draped over the back of her chair.

"She's a dark horse. I don't know what makes her tick. Also, she has a temper, and apparently no fear. I just don't know, Petra. What about Wilson, or Schumann?"

"They're damn good administrators, but they haven't got the drive or the vision to take Vossler Engineering into the twenty-first century. Venizelos has," Petra said.

For a few minutes, Kurt sat staring out the window, looking as if he were weighing all the factors. "I trust your judgement, but I'm not willing to hand this company to someone I hardly know. She's always worked in the Far East. She shows up for our stockholder and policy meetings like a damn typhoon, gets what she wants, and disappears back to her own half of the world. I don't understand the woman at all, and I don't think she's a bit like me."

Petra tried not to smile. "We could send out some feelers. See if we could pick up somebody good from another company," she suggested. "But that could take some time."

Kurt nodded. "We'll do that as a backup measure. In the meantime, 1 want you to go out to China and get to know Quin Venizelos. Then we'll decide."

"Dad, I do have my own career."

"It's summer. You teachers don't work in the summer."

"I'm a professor, and I do research in the summer and teachers—"

Vossler waved a hand to stop her favourite tirade about how hard teachers worked and how little the public appreciated their efforts. "You'll go?" he asked.

Normally, Petra would have argued that her own life and studies were too important for her to simply drop them and leave at a moment's notice. She knew that stress was definitely not good for him at this stage of his recovery.

"All right, I'll go, but you owe me big for this one."

Chapter 2

A week later, Quin Venizelos stood outside the Customs arrival gate for first-class passengers. Outwardly, she was an island of calm in a sea of noise and activity. Inwardly, she was seething with anger. Thirty thousand metric tonnes of cement would be poured in the next few weeks, and instead of being there to supervise, she was babysitting the boss's daughter.

When she received Kurt Vossler's e-mail, she considered rebelling and telling him to go to hell. Then, common sense had prevailed. Normally, Vossler gave her a pretty free hand in running the Pacific Rim division. He set the goals and she made sure that they met them. So for Vossler to send his daughter out and ask Quin to give her a tour of China, there had to be a good reason.

Quin knew that Kurt Vossler had suffered a mild heart attack over a month ago. Quin knew a good deal about the Vosslers and Vossler Engineering. She made it her business to know, hiring people to provide her with inside information. She didn't see this as spying. It happened all the time in the corporate world; information was power.

Quin worked on the other side of the world from the company's headquarters. As a woman and a stranger, she could easily be left out of the old boys' loop. She made sure that never happened by always having the information before anyone else. The other division heads came to her to find out what was going on, and that was the way Quin wanted it.

So she e-mailed Vossler that she'd be honoured to show his daughter China. It might be a waste of time, but it never hurt to have the president and owner owing you a favour. If Vossler was in serious shape, Petra Vossler would be the next owner. It was an ideal time to show the woman what she could do for the company and establish a working relationship with her.

Quin considered what she knew about Petra Vossler. She was the only child of Kurt Vossler and Sophie Mueller. Kurt had married late to n woman much younger than himself. In Petra's eighteenth year, Sophie had died of cancer. Kurt had never remarried, nor was he known to play the field. When a companion was needed for an event, he tended to bring his daughter.

Petra Vossler was twenty-nine, and had a doctorate in sociology. She had written a book on the formation and structure of immigrant communities within North American society that was well received by the academic community. She was a lesbian and had been in one long-term relationship. Her partner had died in a car accident three years ago, and Petra hadn't dated since. Like her father, Petra was a discrete and private person.

There were questions that Quin hoped to get answers to. Petra had worked in various positions in the company from when she was a young teen, yet she didn't hold a current position with the company. Instead, she taught at Waterloo University. She did sometimes draw a salary from the company as an occasional employee. Quin knew this because she had hacked into the company's accounting system. What she didn't know was what Petra did for the company. That worried her.

Petra waited for her luggage to arrive with the other five first-class passengers. She was looking forward to meeting Quin Venizelos at long last. The woman was a legend. Her father was a Greek sailor who married a Canadian missionary working in China. Her parents both died in a typhoon, and Quin was raised by her Chinese godparents in Toronto's Chinatown. She excelled at school, both in sports and academics, and went through university on scholarships, one of them provided by Vossler Engineering. During her summers, she worked for Vossler and took a junior administration position with them upon graduating with her engineering degree. Five years later, she headed their Far East division and was in charge of their largest contract, the designing and building of the dam at Mao Ping.

Her father was right. Quin Venizelos was a powerhouse. She had taken a successful Canadian company and made it a world contender. That Venizelos had remained with the company was a mystery, and one that Petra intended to solve.

An employee placed her suitcase next to her. Declining any further assistance, Petra wheeled her suitcase and laptop through the doorway into the arrival lobby of the new Hong Kong airport. She picked out Venizelos right away. She was tall and fit with short-cropped blonde hair. Her features were more strong than pretty, but she was still a beautiful woman. Petra had seen photos of her, but in real life there was a vibrant energy about the woman that turned heads. Her presence seemed to demand respect, and when the blue eyes turned and targeted Petra's, the force almost made her miss a step. Petra understood now why her father was very hesitant about handing any more power over to this woman until they knew her better.

"Ms. Petra Vossler?" Quin asked, coming up to stand in front of Petra. Petra took a step to the side so that she wouldn't be forced to look up at Quin. She was very careful not to step back. Already the power games had begun.

"Yes." She smiled. "You're Quin. A pleasure to meet you. Please, call me Petra," Petra said, neatly forcing Quin into a subordinate role.

Petra knew her message had been received when she saw Quin smile knowingly, her eyes sparkling with amusement. Kurt Vossler's daughter had teeth and could use them. Round one to the Vosslers. It was going to be an interesting few weeks.

"Here, let me take your suitcase. The company plane is standing by, and we should be in Beijing in two hours. Did you have a good flight?"

"A long one," Petra said, "Six-and-a-half hours from Toronto to Anchorage, Alaska, an hour to refuel, and an eleven-and-a-half-hour flight to Hong Kong." She had hoped that they would be spending a night in Hong Kong before taking another flight on to Beijing. She would have to be careful; jet lag would mean she wasn't at her best in duelling with this competitive woman.

"That's about par for the course. I'm sorry to be rushing you, but we're well into the second phase of construction at the dam, and I can't spare too much time away from the site," Quin said.

"Of course," Petra said. She stayed at Quin's side while they manoeuvred through the wide causeways and shopping areas of the impressive new international airport. A smile curled the corner of Petra's mouth. Tired or not, she was enjoying this encounter with Quin. Petra could hold her own in the game of manoeuvring for a power position. She was not Kurt Vossler's daughter in name only.

The Dash 8 owned by Vossler Engineering was basic but functional. While they sat on the runway waiting for the pilot to do his final chock nnd for their control tower clearance, Quin made coffee, and offered Petra a tray of delicate sandwiches made from lobster and shrimp, served with watercress.

They talked of the weather and mutual business acquaintances, keeping the conversation general as they felt each other out. To Petra's surprise, Quin chose to sit next to her during take off.

Their arms were nearly touching, and Petra could feel the heat of Quin's tanned skin. To say the very least, it was stimulating. Petra looked out the window, ignoring her companion. Quin had a reputation for conquests, in and out of the boardroom, both men and women. She'd have to be on her guard. Besides, Quin wasn't Val. No one could replace Val in her life.

The flight to Beijing was uneventful. Quin filled her time with calls to various managers, making sure that everything was going well. Once on the ground, Quin helped Petra clear Customs and then led her to the limo that would take them to their hotel. Along the way, Quin played tour guide.

"There are twelve million people living in Beijing, and another three million commute into the city each day to work. Bicycle is the best way to get around. There are ten million bikes in the city."

Petra tried to take in the information that Quin shot at her, although her mind and body had had just about enough. She needed time to wash, sleep, and adjust to the change in time and location.

"Beijing seems to be experiencing a building boom," Petra said, noting the skeleton frames of new construction everywhere.

"Yes, there's been a lot of investment in China, particularly by the Japanese and Americans. The last ten years have brought about amazing changes. There are over fifty McDonald's restaurants in the city now, catering to the renewed interest in the West."

Petra watched through the window. Although poverty was evident, there were no beggars or street people that one found in most cities. The streets were packed with bicycles, Russian-made mini trucks, old buses, and people. Dressed neatly in the latest European designs, the people went about their busy day. Petra was both impressed and surprised by the wealth and prosperity she saw in the city. Poor areas of ramshackle homes, ancient buildings, and modern skyscrapers all mixed together in an exotic mix that was the new China.

Quin had booked them into a suite of rooms at the Palace, a five-star hotel designed for westerners. Petra tried not to show her surprise. This was not what she had expected in coming to the world's largest communist country. The lobby was a spacious terrace that towered three stories above them around a central open area. A wide, curving staircase of marble was guarded by two life-size marble horses, and a waterfall cascaded from one story to the other, where shops and offices were located. On the main floor, stores such as Chanel, Dior, and Hermes offered their wares and a string quartet played Bach in the corner.

They took the polished brass elevator to the top floor and found their luggage already waiting for them and their TV broadcasting a personal greeting plus a listing of the many services provided by the hotel. Their suite consisted of a central living and dining room, off which were two dressing rooms, bedrooms, and en suite baths. Petra thanked Quin for escorting her to the hotel and disappeared into her section of the suite, glad for the opportunity to wash and rest before she had to deal with Quin Venizelos again.

While she waited for sleep, Petra could hear Quin at the keyboard of her laptop. Petra deduced her visit had been planned carefully by Quin to give an optimal positive impression. Her father had been right to send her to China; Quin was a lot more than she seemed. She appeared to have considerable knowledge of the workings of Vossler Engineering and knew many of the North American administration very well. Too well. Petra suspected that Quin had a source of inside information.

Chapter 3

Petra awoke feeling slightly sick and badly disoriented. It took a few minutes for her brain to sift through the sensory data and remind her that she was in China after a gruelling twenty-five hours of non-stop travel halfway around the world. She rolled over and checked the clock. She had been asleep for five hours. Reluctantly, she forced her body out of bed and headed for the shower. Less than an hour later, she was ready to face the adventure ahead.

Quin was waiting for her with a smile that radiated far more friendship, Petra knew, than was really being offered. Petra returned the warm greeting, but didn't take it too seriously. She was used to people attempting to cultivate her friendship. In fact, Petra thought Quin had been remiss in not cultivating a friendship with her before this. Perhaps Quin planned to use this golden opportunity to correct that oversight.

They walked from the hotel, taking some of the back streets to the restaurant that Quin had picked for them. The mixture of the old and new China couldn't be more obvious. Old walled enclosures, made up of clusters of poor houses, or rows of single-room shops, grey and cluttered with second-hand merchandise, lined the street. Quin pointed out a small hospital built by the colonialists at the turn of the last century, a monument of Victorian architecture, and the place where the bones of "Peking Man" had been examined before they were crated and placed on a train, never to be seen again. The loss of this valuable archaeological evidence of early man's development was still a mystery. At the end of the block, a huge, modern sports complex was being built. China was a land of sharp contrasts.

They entered a large store and took an elevator to the second floor, where a busy local restaurant was located. Quin placed her hand on Petra's back and steered her to a small, round table in a quieter nook. "I thought I'd bring you here this first night because it's typical of the sort of restaurants that the rising middle-class of China frequent," Quin said over the noise and bustle around them.

Petra took in as much detail as she could. She was one of the few Europeans in a dining room filled with the dinner crowd. "I've been to other communist countries, but they're very different from this," Petra said.

"There are realities within realities in China. The massacre at Tiananmen Square taught both sides a hard lesson. The students learned that the days of the Red Guard, the student army that Mao had formed and then lost control of, were over. The leaders of China learned that they couldn't prevent change. But face is everything here. Change has to happen without seeming to happen. Communism still very much exists at an administrative level, but in everyday life, free enterprise is the reality."

"Have things changed that much, or has the government simply turned a blind eye to minor infringements of communist doctrine?" Petra asked, after waiting for Quin to order dinner in Mandarin.

"Things are changing; they have to. Once education, housing, and healthcare were paid for by the government. Now, the young people are expected to cover these costs. They can only do so if they're allowed to make money. Capitalism is everywhere, but without official approval. As long as the people don't threaten those in power with their actions, it's ignored."

Petra looked into Quin's eyes. "And if the leaders do feel threatened by the rapid change, we get another Tiananmen Square?"

"That's always a possibility. The Great March and Cultural Revolution changed life only superficially. Mao and his followers lived in the Forbidden City, as the Emperors before them. Their whims became law, just as the Emperor's. In a country that houses one quarter of the world's population, life is cheap no matter what people believe on a philosophical level. China is a five-thousand year-old mediaeval culture. The communist revolution rolled over the land as one more tide of events. In many ways, the old China went on."

Their meal arrived, and the conversation ended as Quin explained what each appetizing plate of food was. The dishes were placed on the circular platform in the centre of the table. It could be spun to bring the various dishes within reach. The food was typical of the hot, spicy cuisine of the southern areas of China, Quin explained. It had been Mao's favourite.

They ate quietly. Quin was an attentive hostess; she picked delectable pieces from the serving plates with her chopsticks and placed them on Petra's plate. Petra managed her chopsticks with reasonable accuracy, if considerable awkwardness, and found herself enjoying the company of the woman beside her.

The floor show was a mixture of dance and song, showing off the various costumes, folk dances, and music of different regions of China. It seemed to Petra that Quin didn't seem interested in the beautifully coloured silks and the interesting music played in the minor keys favoured by Eastern composers. Her quiet asides to Petra were about the culture and the symbolism behind each element.

Petra was equally as fascinated by her dinner companion as she was by the show. Quin Venizelos was far more than just a brilliant engineer. Her knowledge about the culture she lived in was amazing. Petra wondered if this European woman, raised by a twist of fate in an oriental family, saw herself as European or Chinese. Whatever her cultural reality, Quin Venizelos was a powerhouse of talent and drive. Petra could see more clearly now why her father had concerns. Having Quin as a regional director of the company was a little like holding a tiger by the tail. It gave Vossler Engineering a lot of power, but if the hand slipped, that power could very easily be turned against the company.

After the dinner show, Quin walked Petra down Gold Street, one of the main shopping areas of Beijing. Again, there was no sign that this was a communist country under strict government control. The streets were crowded by shoppers, and the stores offered the latest in European designs and technology. Billboards on roof tops advertised Calvin Klein, Nike, and other popular manufacturers, mixed in with the rare sign promoting communism and the worker.

Petra was surprised by the absence of visible military personnel, and spotted only the occasional police officer walking about, armed with nothing more than a wooden billy club. "I thought there'd be a stronger show of force," Petra said.

"There's very little street crime in China. The West doesn't always get the right idea from sensational media coverage. What happened in Tiananmen Square was brutal. Hundreds were killed or arrested. One Chinese announcer I know kept reporting what she was seeing on Chinese television so that the people would know the truth, even though she knew that one of the dead was her own brother. It was a brave act, but there's another side to the story."

Дата добавления: 2015-11-04