Blood Match (6 page)

Her heart was beating like crazy. He stormed off giving her a very cold and confused look as he left the flat, banging the door behind him and shouting out that women were fucking strange… She felt like a complete bitch doing that to him. It was not her intention to hurt or upset him but of course she had. She was quite tearful about it. Why was she so immature and stupid around men! What was she thinking? Furthermore what would Adam say when he found out….?

Because she was sure he would…

There was one little upshot of this experiment however. Serena was quite sure that even a seemingly passionate and long embrace with Phil had nowhere near the effect on her that a gentle touch from Ethan could. She would have to find a man like him, somewhere, somehow. He was her benchmark and nothing less would do.

Chapter 10

The rest of the week flew by. Adam was still dating Emily. A whole week – that was a record! What with his shifts and dates every night, she had not seen him all week until she arrived home this evening.

“Hi Adam, how’s everything going?” She said as she dropped on the sofa kicking off her shoes. He was eating his dinner at the table.

“Dynamite!” he said between mouthfuls. “Your dinner’s in the kitchen”

“Thanks Adam… so tell me, is dating better than one night stands?” She asked him, keenly interested.

“So far yes, we’ll see though” he replied. “How’s the job going?”

He finished eating and put down his knife and fork.

“It’s early days, but okay… I’m quite enjoying it really.” She answered.

He looked at her in a serious mood folding his arms.

Uh-oh, she thought, here it comes….

“Serry. What’s all this stuff with Phil. What’s going on? He’s been on my back all week. He’s quite upset”

“Do you really want to know?” She asked hesitantly. She did feel she could talk quite openly to Adam. He knew all about this sex stuff after all. She was going to tell him about Mr nice eyes in a minute.

“Sure I do… What’s up?” he said.

“Well I like Phil. He’s a nice looking bloke and kind of appealing to me. I know he’s your pal, well our pal really, and I shouldn’t have, but I wanted to test the waters… just like you suggested. So I asked him to kiss me. He already did that at the club when we were both rather drunk, did he mention that part? Well now… how shall I put it….it was a very nice experience, but I just didn’t feel, you know,
‘that way’
enough about him! He obviously did though. Altogether it was a very bad idea!”

“Hmmm I’ll say! An extremely bad idea actually! He’s my best friend Serry!”

Adam sounded cross with her.

“So why exactly did you ‘out of the blue’ feel like you had to put my best mate through the wringer anyway… I don’t quite get it?” he asked curiously.

“Well, I haven’t seen you to tell you about this, but I had a little bit of an encounter at the club and it sent my pulse racing. Remember the rich guy I was staring at in the restaurant – it was him. We had a little dance and I was…well, I was really into him actually. He had me going so hot Ad….” She confessed feeling her face flush at the memory.

“Oh really? And how did that pan out?” Adam asked, suddenly very interested and flopping on the sofa next to her.

“It ended within two tiny minutes. His sister broke us up…” Serena said sadly, grimacing as she remembered Nina’s words.

“His sister! How come?”

“It was quite unpleasant actually. She told him to stop messing with the local wildlife. He told her to apologise and she wouldn’t. I got upset and ran off. End of micro romance!” She said wistfully.

“Really? Probably just as well though. I told you they were odd. I saw them all get into a limo when we were leaving.  Black car, blacked out windows. Black haired, black clothed people… Creepy if you ask me, like a bunch of crows going home to roost”

“He was not creepy. He was just dreamy.” Serena insisted.

“So, let me get this straight… you were testing your responses with Phil were you? Seeing if he could create a similar sensation as Mr Creepy did?” Adam asked. He’d hit the nail right on the head and she nodded.

“Please don’t think too badly of me Adam, I explained it all to Phil before we started. I said he shouldn’t take it the wrong way. I even made him promise. It was just a bit of a kiss. That’s all it was – honestly!”

“Serry, I don’t think badly of you. But for an intelligent woman you are actually a bit daft at times… You need to understand men. Let me spell it out. If you kiss a guy like that ….and it wasn’t just a quick little kiss, was it Serry? Phil told me you were both really into it… expect some repercussions. He’ll want to go further. No matter if you have a contract written in blood beforehand. He’ll want a crap load more. Get it?”

“Well I do now obviously. Oh dear…! How on earth can I face Phil again. I’ve known him for so long… He’s lovely and I now feel so awful.”

“Just let it go. Apologise some more when you next see him. He’ll survive. He did get to snog you big time anyway, that must be some consolation – don’t beat yourself up about it kiddo…!”

Chapter 11

The weekend passed quickly for Serena with her delayed trip to Wales to see Janet and Don. She drove up on Saturday afternoon and stayed the night. It was wonderful catching up on news, seeing their house and things but during the visit she found her head was not quite right. She was actually feeling really worried about her presentation on Monday, now that it was almost upon her. This spoiled her visit somewhat and her appetite for Janet’s wonderful lunch, as it occupied her every waking moment all day Sunday and all the way home in the car. Her mind was going over and over it, again and again…her stomach twisting in anxiety until she finally fell asleep late Sunday night.

Monday morning arrived much faster than she wanted it to and she sat at her desk waiting in a state of acute nervous tension. If she had been a nail biter, she’d have bitten them all down to the quick by now! She was looking her best as she knew it boosted confidence levels to know you were as smart as you could be in appearance. She needed a hell of a lot more boosting at this moment though! Alistair and she had set up the presentation equipment earlier and he was going to call her up to the boardroom when she was needed.  She sat there with her stomach in a state of flux, twiddling nervously with her pen. She felt like she needed to visit the ladies room, but knew full well she actually didn’t! Nerves always affected her that way.

The phone rang and it was time. She entered the lift and pressed the second floor button, checking her hair and subtle makeup in the mirrored interior for the final time.  The door opened and she walked down the thickly carpeted corridor to the boardroom. She stood outside and to calm her racing heart she took a few long deep breaths before opening the door. She stepped in with her eyes cast down, closing the door gently behind her. She scanned the room for Alistair and made her way over to the head of the table where he was waiting.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, members of the board, for the those who have not yet met her, can I introduce our new Social Marketing consultant Serena Green who will run you through the presentation from this point onwards.“ Alistair announced in his jolly voice.

Serena looked around the table at the sea of faces with a forced but confident looking smile. She knew most of them already from her initial tour around the building. She spotted Thelma, Mr Lin, Andrea something or other from IT, Thomas Brooks the Finance director… Her gaze stopped suddenly, the smile disappearing as she reached the perfectly suited form of Mr nice eyes.

‘NO WAY! This could not be happening! Not him!’

Her mind swam for a moment.

His eyes widened and he drew his mouth into a tight line as he now obviously recognised her too. She felt as if her heart had stopped beating in that instant. The sudden pain in her chest was unreal! She tried to remain outwardly composed but it was damn nigh on impossible as her legs had turned to jelly. She blotted everything and everyone out as best as she could and watched Alistair as he lined up the first slide file for her.

She put on her glasses and began her presentation with as much professionalism as she could muster. She was very glad she had prepared so well as she was on autopilot the whole way through. She finished the longest 15 minutes of boardroom hell ever experienced with some final closing points and handed back to Alistair. He asked the board if there were any questions for her. She held her breath trying to stop her hands shaking, her stomach muscles clenched tight.

Please, please, dearest God, let this be over! She prayed silently…

A familiar voice broke the short silence.

“I would like to ask something, if I may. You have adequately explained why we need this type of marketing and what it actually is… but I would like to know why you think YOU can provide an appropriate social presence for a company such as ours? What is your particular expertise Miss Green?”

This was a pointed reference to her snogging behaviour the other night and she knew it. He didn’t think she was appropriate material for this type of role in the company! Well she would have to prove him wrong somehow. She took a deep breath.

“The social marketing arena is a comparatively new field, sir. There are not many experts around yet!  However, whilst studying for my degree I helped develop a social network for Cambridge University, for the practical part of the course. In fact I wrote my dissertation on the subject of this latest form of business reputation management. Although this is a well-known institution with an already qualified reputation, it had no active social profile on the internet at all. If you look at all the major social platforms today – it does now.  The Professors and Dons and other contributors are able to work with this medium. I personally instructed them in the online social etiquette. They know how to get their message across, announce news when and if they need to. Does that answer your question fully, sir?” She looked him squarely in the unsmiling eyes when delivering her reply.

“That will do for now, thank you Miss Green. I would like a meeting with you later, if I may? I want to know more about this social world you inhabit. Please come to my office at 2pm this afternoon.”

She nodded and picked up her notebook and left the room. She rushed down the corridor and into the ladies cloakroom and locked herself in a cubicle. As the adrenaline that had been coursing around her body subsided, she started to shake and then tears started to flow as she wept her heart out. How could this be!  Ethan is on the board? Her ultimate boss!

Oh fuck it!
 she thought. What a messy start to her working life…

As she sat at her desk that afternoon waiting for 2pm to arrive, she considered walking out and never coming back. But this position was a rare find. She wanted it. She wanted the salary too. She could do a very good job and get much needed references for the future. She had to try and salvage something at least. Maybe she could win Ethan over by being so profoundly excellent in the quality of her work and so damned professional that he would eventually be impressed rather than disgusted.  It was worth a shot. She had to give it a try.

She got up at two minutes to two and made her way to the executive suite. Outwardly she looked to be in complete control, but inside she was a mess! She walked down the corridor looking at the nameplates. There was only one with the initial E she could find. Mr E. Karrigan CEO. Marvellous, he was not only on the board, he was the top dog in charge of this company. She read it again. Ethan Karrigan, her judge and jury and her tormentor.

She had put on her glasses as it made her look more serious and she needed all the help she could get.  She knocked and was summoned inside with a loud “Come.” She entered and walked up to his desk as confidently as she could.

“Please sit. I won’t be a moment” he commanded.

She sat. Finally he looked away from his computer and locked on to her gaze with his lovely eyes. They weren’t so nice at the moment though. He looked rather annoyed.

“Miss Green. I cannot tell you what a surprise it was to find you in my boardroom today. I am still in shock actually. Your rather loose drunken behaviour the other night, which I couldn’t help but notice in its full entirety, all night long, is not the standard I expect from an employee of this company. Especially from the one who will deal with our treasured business reputation on the World Wide Web. I am in two minds as to what to do with you.”

He sat back in his chair with his arms crossed staring so darkly at her it made her wince inside.

He was furious beyond a doubt. He’d seen ALL of that….? Not just the earlier part? Kissing three men on the trot so lewdly and eewww….probably the shorts flashing, boob shaking, pole dancing routine on the podium as well! But how could he have seen all that kissing and other stuff…  and was insinuating he did, unless he was standing nearby deliberately watching her!

She pushed the memory of her wild behaviour from her mind and concentrated on redeeming the situation.

“Sir, I understand your concern.  However, that was not the usual standard of behaviour for me. I may dance a little madly from time to time, but the errr….other excessive behaviour you may have witnessed is not something I normally indulge in.

May I remind you that that was the club scene and I don’t think anything I did on that Saturday night was obscene at all, for a club! My work is my priority here and I intend to be professional and excel in what I do for this company.

I shall not be dancing wildly on the board room table or kissing the other members of staff, you can be assured of that!

Can I suggest we draw a line under our unfortunate first meeting? I was most upset at the time regarding your sister’s remark and I may have over reacted after that. And before you say it, I know I am totally responsible for my own actions, I am just giving you a reason why it may have happened.”

She finished her great speech hoping she had made positive headway into his opinion of her.

“My word, what a splendid oration – did you rehearse it before you came in here?  Look, I am willing to give you the benefit of the doubt for the moment.  I am in full agreement – we shall indeed draw a very big line and not mention it again. Hopefully I can also stop thinking about it whenever I see you, but I sincerely doubt it. However, if I feel you are not of suitable calibre for this company at any time in the future, I will not hesitate to dismiss you. Understood?”