Angel (NSC Industries) (4 page)

Taking
a seat, I listened to him tell me what he expected of me, the company benefits
and how things worked round there.

An
hour later he finally stated we were finished and that I was to start reviewing
his diary and getting accustomed to things. I stood to leave and as I walked
towards the door I felt his hand rest on my lower back. I recoiled and spun
around to face him but he didn’t seem to notice my reaction and informed me
that he would like a coffee making before I made a start.

I
quickly escaped from the room and hurried down to the snap room.

I
grabbed the edge of the counter and inhaled some hard breaths. “Fuck me! The
man is an egotistical, creepy twat!” I exclaimed to myself.

A
huge laugh broke out behind me, so I spun around and saw Grace sat in a chair
with a very camp looking man.

He
had a perfect blonde quiff, a huge white-toothed smile decorated his face and
he was wearing a light, baby blue suit with a pink shirt.

He
was still laughing as he leapt out of his chair and bounded over to me. Hugging
me to him he declared “I take it you’ve met Mr Simon Peterson then or
‘Pervertson’ as all us minions call him?”

 Shocked
that I had been overheard, I smiled shyly, “I’m sooo sorry, I didn’t realise
anybody was in here, I should really learn to keep my voice in my head” I apologised.

“Hey
sweetie, don’t worry about it. We all feel exactly the same about him.” he said,
holding me away from his body to observe me.

“I’m
Josh, the runner around here. If you need anything transporting around the
building then I’m your man” he smiled at me.

Grace
guffawed loudly “Did you just say ‘I’m your man’ Josh?”

Imitating
shock, Josh lowered his eyelashes and pouted at Grace. “Oh sweetie, you’re only
distraught at the thought of missing out on this gorgeous body” he responded
with a sweep of his hands over his frame, “it’s all hard and lean you know” he
grinned at me raising his eyebrows.

“Coffee,
Darling?” Grace asked me as she waggled a mug in my direction.

“Oh
Shit, I’m supposed to making Mr Peterson one, how long have we been stood
here?” I worried.

“Not
long enough for his erection to subside, sweetie” Josh countered.

Open
mouthed I turned to him “Oh God! Really?”

Now
I was certainly worried. Shrugging her shoulders, Grace explained that Mr
Peterson had a thing for his secretaries. “Why do you think the last one ran
out before her contract was up? He’s a slimy bastard that feels his employee’s
up.”

“Bollocks!”
I uttered, absolutely terrified of how I would manage in that position.

There
had been a few, leering men since James, but none that had actually groped me.

Sweating
slightly, I felt a bit faint and sat on one of the plush chairs in the room.
“I’m not very good with those situations” I explained to my colleagues, turning
a tad white.

Grace
came and sat next to me, putting her hand gently on my knee. “You okay,
sweetie?” she asked softly.

I
gulped and nodded before I lifted myself up and walked over to the kettle. I
plastered a smile on my face before I looked over my shoulder to them “I’m
fine, who’s for coffee?”

The
day turned out to be very pleasantly surprising. I enjoyed my work, got on
really well with everybody else and Peterson wasn’t offensive again.

 At
5 o’clock, I shut my computer off, stood and stretched my aching arms above my
head.

I
heard a slight groan and I spun around to see Peterson leaning on the wall,
watching me intently. “I’m off home now Mr Peterson, is there anything you need
me to do before I go?” I asked.

A
smile played on his lips as he sauntered over to me, putting me on edge
immediately.

Grace
had already gone and I was sure we were alone and I started retreating stealthily.

Placing
his hands on the edge of my desk, he leaned towards me. “There are some things
I
need
you to do for me Olivia, but unfortunately they are not in your
job description” he mocked.

Gasping,
I picked up my bag from under my desk and quickly made for the main reception
area.

Certain
he was stalking after me, I increased my speed and as I entered the reception,
Leah raised from her chair. “You off now, Olivia? Hope you enjoyed it here with
us” she smiled sweetly at me.

 “Yes”
I spluttered at her as I made a run for the elevator, waving and smiling as I
passed her, “got to run, kids!!! You know how it is? See you tomorrow.”

She
must have thought I was crazy but she didn’t say anything to me as I shot
passed her.

As
I punched the call button at the elevator, I silently cursed at the damn thing
to hurry up as I heard Leah talking, and then giggling with Peterson.

“God
does she actually like him?” I thought but silently thanked her for occupying
him as I hurtled into the lift when the doors swung open.

As
it started to descend I grabbed the walls and took steadying breaths. “For
Fucks sake Liv, he’s not gonna attack you, you stupid cow!” I admonished
myself.

For
ten long years I’d dreaded these moments when men came onto me. I’d started
kick boxing and self-defence classes and was pretty damned good at kicking ass,
but the thought of been pursued by a man made me physically tremble.

As
the lift touched the ground floor I trampled out and rushed out to the car park,
only feeling safe the moment I clambered into my beloved Betty.

I
pulled out of NSC building and made my way to Hot Woks, the local Chinese
takeaway.

Whilst
I quickly picked out a few of the dishes, I offered them an extra tenner tip if
they rushed the order; amazed to say it worked and as I left the restaurant, I
got a few choice words flung at me from other customers.

Arriving
home twenty minutes later, I dumped the food on the table, kissed Erin and Matt
on their heads and swiftly grabbed the wine from the fridge.

As
I poured a large glass I heard the text alert on my phone.

Lexi:

Hey
sweetie, hope your day was a good 1

Xxx

Hitting
the reply button, I texted back:

Me:

Yh,
creepy boss tho,

Beth
& wine arriving at 8, u joining us?

Xxx

“Plates
or out of the cartons, mum?” Erin asked, holding up the Chinese. “Oooh cartons darling
can’t be bothered with pots tonight” I said winking at her, “Good day? You off
to Brad’s tonight?”

She
shifted slightly in her chair and put her head down, lowering her eyes and
wiping an imaginary piece of lint off her jeans.

“What’s
wrong, Erin?” I lifted her chin with my fingers and looked into her tear filled
eyes. Shaking her head and turning away she proceeded to open all the Chinese
cartons, trying desperately to occupy herself and ignore the question.

“Come
on, sweetheart, what’s happened?” I probed again.

Withdrawing
from the table, Matt made an excuse and took his dinner upstairs, giving Erin a
slight smile and tiny nod of his head as he exited the room.

Erin
looked at me with eyes full of unshed tears and sighed “I think he’s seeing
someone else, Mum.”

Twiddling
with her fingers in her lap, a single teardrop fell onto her t-shirt. That
solitary tear broke my heart the moment it fell.

Erin
and Brad had been together for just over two years and I thought their
relationship was rock solid. Brad seemed to dote on her and was always
respectful to her wishes.

I
knew they were having sex. Erin had come to me the moment they were considering
taking their relationship further and asked for my advice. Grateful for the
knowledge that my 16 year old daughter was mature enough to ask for my opinion,
told me everything I needed to know that she was ready for it.

She
arranged an appointment with the family planning clinic herself and after my
lecture about making sure she never missed a single pill or used extra
protection when she had vomited, she had been tenacious with taking her pill
regularly.

All
in all, I was proud of my children; each one.

Taking
her hand in mine, I delved for more information. “How do you know, Erin?” I
asked her, wiping a tear away from her cheek.

“He’s
been acting really weird, Mum,” she said, her choked voice breaking my heart a
little more. “He keeps looking at me weird, he’s always talking to his mates
and when I enter the room, they all shut up quickly and today’s the third time
in a fortnight that he’s cancelled on me. I sneaked a look at his mobile
earlier and he’d removed all his texts, every single one. Now why would he do
that unless he’s got something to hide?”

Her
tears were flowing freely now and she was taking little sobbing breaths.
“Sweetheart, I don’t know the answer to why he’s being like this but I really
think you need to talk to him,” I spoke softly “it could be something really
innocent or something trivial he’s done and thinks you’re gonna blow off at him.”

Timidly
looking into my eyes as she took a sad breath, she asked “But what if it’s
something I don’t wanna hear, Mum? What if he’s found somebody else? Or he
doesn’t love me anymore?”

Stroking
the back of her hair as she placed her head against my shoulder and cried
softly, I spoke to her tenderly “But Erin, wouldn’t you rather know the truth
than the hurt of not knowing like this? Even if it’s bad news at least you’d
know and could start dealing with it and sorting it out between you both?”

She
lifted her head to look at me and nodded as she lifted from her chair “You’re
right, Mum. I’m going to ring him and ask him to meet me to sort this out. I
need to know. I love him so much but I’m not gonna let him treat me like this.”

As
she bent to kiss me she said “I love you mum, you’ve been through so much shit
in your life but you’re always willing to put it behind you and carry on. I
hope I got those genes from you because I have a feeling once I’ve spoken to
Brad, I’m going to need the guts you have.”

I
stroked her arm and smiled at her “When the hell did you get so grown up and
smart Erin? I’m proud of you sweetheart. You make sure you stand up for what
you believe in, and drain every bit of life out of this world you can, Darling!”

Walking
to the room door she turned to look at me but stared straight into my soul “Mum,
if life had been different for you, I reckon you would have been the fun,
loving girl you so desperately want for me. I think it’s about time you
starting thinking of yourself now and try to find the love you deserve from a
man. They’re not all like my dad you know, there are some good ones out there”
she smiled and winked.

“Oh,
I know that Erin, just because your dad was like he was with me, don’t for one
minute think I haven’t loved or been loved by a man who thought I was once his
world, his life and his very soul.”

 I
shrugged my shoulders at her puzzled glance and I winked before I added “But,
shit happens, Darling and we all make catastrophic mistakes.”

Laughing
she left the kitchen and climbed the stairs, pausing to shout “You know it, mum.”

***

As
soon as I pressed the ‘end’ button on my phone after talking with my mum and
giving her an update on my day, Beth came bounding through the back door,
closely followed by Lexi, who was carrying a bottle of champagne.

Presenting
me with the expensive, already chilled bottle, she grinned at me “Courtesy of
my wonderful hubby, on the first day of your amazing high-profiled job. His
words not mine.”

Chuckling
I took it off her and got three glasses out of the cupboard and filled each one
with the sweet, bubbling liquid.

“Cheers!”
Beth declared, chinking her glass with ours.

Walking
through to the lounge, she looked over her shoulder to me. “Fill us in then,
Liv. What’s it like? What are your colleague’s like? Any fit hotties?” she
probed, raising her eyebrows.

“Bloody
Hell Beth, gimme chance, I’ve only been there for twenty four hours and already
you’re trying to hook me up. We’re not all tarts like you” I snickered.