Free Power Play: A Novel by Danielle Steel Page A

“I work my ass off all day. I try to keep up with my kids, and see them when I can. And by the time I read the papers I bring home every night, I’m too exhausted to get up and take my clothes off. How am I supposed to date? And if I have a date, some kind of crisis comes up, and I get fourteen phone calls at dinner. No guy is going to put up with that.” And none had in six years. And David had hated it before that, and her as a result.
    The men who had gone out with Jillian had been much more tolerant of her and less threatened by her, although she was more outspoken than Fiona.
    “The right one will deal with it,” Jillian said confidently. “Maybe a guy in the same boat you are.” She had thought about it for Fiona before, because she hated how alone she was, particularly with the kids gone now.
    “Two CEOs?” Fiona said with a look of horror. “What a nightmare. Besides, my counterparts are dating twenty-two-year-olds. I’m out of the running. And they’re mostly go-go dancers and porn stars. I don’t qualify. Successful men don’t go out with serious, successful women. They know better, or something.”
    “You just haven’t met the right guys,” Jillian said firmly.
    “Maybe there are no right guys. The good ones are all married,” Fiona said simply.
    “And cheating on their wives,” Jillian said knowingly.
    “I don’t want one of those,” Fiona said matter-of-factly.
    “You need to get out more and meet more people,” Jillian said honestly. “Just to have some fun.”
    “Yeah. Maybe,” Fiona said, looking unconvinced. “Maybe when Iretire.” Jillian gave her a dark look, and then she asked about the leak she’d read about in the press. Fiona explained the situation to her and the implications, and told her about the investigation to find the source. She mentioned what a hard time Harding Williams had been giving her, as usual, which infuriated Jillian.
    “What the hell is he so pissed about?”
    “You forget, he was Jed Ivory’s friend at Harvard. He blamed me for getting involved with him, and the divorce, and has treated me like pond scum ever since.” Fiona smiled as she said it, although he upset her at times.
    “You were a kid, for chrissake. Jed was already separated when you met him, and has he forgotten that Jed knocked up someone else, while you were believing his bullshit to you about it being true love? Please!”
    “Harding doesn’t believe that and never will. He thought Jed was a saint because they went to Princeton together. Old boys’ club and all that crap. Besides, I think Harding hates women, except for the saintly wife he talks about all the time.”
    “She probably has a mustache and a beard,” Jillian said, and Fiona laughed out loud.
    “I’ll admit, she’s not too pretty. But he seems to think she is. So, good for him. I just wish he’d get off my back and stop punishing me for causing a minor scandal twenty-five years ago. It’s gotten a little old. I’d practically forgotten Jed until I ran into Harding again. It’s such ancient history, it’s hard to believe he still cares.” But he did, and still blamed her, unfairly.
    They chatted a few more minutes, about Mark and Alyssa, and what they were up to, and Jillian put an arm around her sister asthey walked back to their cars. Fiona always loved their time together, and valued Jillian’s wise advice.
    “I really think you’re on to something with your new book. I never really think about how different men and women are, in the same position, but I like your aphrodisiac theory about men. I think you’re right.” She liked less her assessment that power and success anesthetized women and dulled their sexuality, even if for lack of opportunity, but she suspected she was accurate about that too. Jillian certainly seemed to understand the differences of how power affected men and women.
    “It’s not good news for you, but I think I’m on to something too. I’ve been noticing it among my