A very Corporate Affair Book 1 (The Corporate Series) (3 page)

                   The lift stopped and the doors slid open while I was looking at my map of the area, and I automatically began to walk out, bumping straight into someone stepping in.

                 "I'm so sorry," I began, before noticing we were not in the lobby, and I had just bumped into Adonis himself. "I thought I was on the ground floor." I said lamely.

                 "Just be more careful," he snarled, before studiously ignoring me for the rest of the journey down. Must be the man James warned me about I thought. James didn't tell me he was sex on legs though. I surreptitiously studied him as he exited the lift. Short dark hair, bespoke suit, and a face that would be handsome if he smiled.

                   I was indeed five minutes away from the Canary Wharf tower, which rose majestically to top the surrounding skyscrapers. I followed the directions to the gym on the lower ground floor. It was a health enthusiasts dream, row upon row of state of the art equipment, complimentary towels, pristine changing rooms, and a full list of fitness classes. I booked in for an orientation session the following day, and picked up a class timetable. I exchanged my voucher from HR for my gym pass at the desk, and wandered around for half an hour, checking out the changing room and the machines.

                  My new office was based on the 34th floor of the tower, so at nine, I went up there to introduce myself. The receptionist was a pretty Asian girl, called Priti, who seemed efficient and welcoming. She introduced me to a few of the other lawyers, all of whom seemed friendly enough.

                  "I can show you where you'll be working," said a geeky, skinny man who introduced himself as Peter Dunn. "They told me you were starting Monday, so your desk is all ready."He showed me through a large open plan office full of people to a corridor of glass fronted offices. Pushing a door open, he revealed a large office with four desks. Two desks were occupied by men. Peter explained that he sat at the far end, and the final desk was earmarked for me. I introduced myself to the other two.

                 "I'm Adrian Jones, and he's Matt Barlow. So your the ex trainee we have to get up to speed then?"

                 "That's me. I hope you don't mind having a newbie around," I said, hoping to disarm them. I knew that nobody liked babysitting newbies.

                 "I'm sure we'll cope, and it'll be nice having a bit of eye candy around, eh boys? This firm has an ugly secretary only policy," Adrian sniggered.

                 "I'll do my very best to look pretty gentlemen, just don't forget I'm not a secretary." I smiled to make them think I was teasing.

                  "If you wear a tight blouse I promise I won't get you making tea," quipped Matt.

                 "I'll see what I can do," I laughed, "as long as you'll be able to concentrate on your work if I'm in here with my cleavage on show."

                 "She's gonna have every hotshot in the tower salivating over her, you have no chance," laughed Peter, looking amused at the adolescent behaviour of his colleagues. I had fully expected sexist banter, and it all seemed quite harmless. Certainly my office mates seemed friendly enough, and I was confident I'd be able to handle them.

                 I didn't hang around long, as I wanted to explore the whole area. I discovered the vast shopping complex beneath the tower, looking out for decent lunch places and a dry cleaners. I found wine bars, restaurants, and pubs for evenings out, and a gorgeous deli for supplying food for evenings in. I stopped off at a Starbucks for a coffee, and settled into a sofa to check my map.

                  "May I join you?" My head snapped up at the masculine voice. Adonis from the apartment block was standing in front of me.

                 "Sure," was all I could manage. I went back to my map. I could do rude too. He coughed slightly, which made me look up. He was staring intently.

                  "You just came out of Pearson and Hardwick," he said.

                 I stared back, "yes," I replied, giving nothing else away. He unnerved me, which I didn't like. I hoped he didn't work for them as well. He blew on his coffee before sipping it. I watched his mouth. He had the sexiest mouth.

                  "So what were you doing there?"

                  "I beg your pardon?" How rude was this man? Out of all the ways to frame a question, he had to pick the worst.

                  "Are you a secretary?" I almost spat my coffee at him.

                  "No I'm most certainly not. It's none of your business why I was there." I watched as his eyes flashed. I couldn't work out if he was laughing at me or angry.

                  "I suppose it's not, I just saw you in their offices. I was in there signing a contract," he said.

                  "Are you a client?" I asked, suddenly wary of upsetting him.

                  "No, I was there with my own legal team, they had drawn up a contract for the other party. So are you going to tell me why you were there?"

                 "I start work there Monday, I'm a lawyer for Pearson and Hardwick, just moving over to corporate. Went there today to introduce myself."

                 "So are you going to introduce yourself to me? Seeing as you nearly knocked me over at home and work two floors below me in the tower?"

                 "I'm Elle Reynolds. I just moved into the apartment, James’ new flatmate. Have you lived there long?"

                 "About two years. I'm Oscar Golding, and it's very nice to meet you Elle." He leaned forward and shook my hand. His hand was surprisingly warm and soft for such a harsh looking man. I wanted to get a smile from him to see if I was right about him being more handsome. I gave him my best beaming smile, hoping he would reciprocate. He just about managed to turn the corners of his mouth up when his phone rang. As soon as he saw the screen, he scowled and excused himself. I went back to my coffee and my map.

                  I picked up a box of Krispy Kremes before heading home. James came out of his study when he heard the front door.

                 "Thank god you're back. I was going boggle eyed at my screen in there. What you been up to?" He made coffee and set out the box of doughnuts while I told him about the gym, my office, and the shopping mall.

                "I bumped into our downstairs neighbour this morning, quite literally. He really is a strange one. Snarled at me in the lift, saw me in Starbucks this afternoon and managed to piss me off again."

                 James laughed, "how did he manage to piss off a jolly little thing like you?"

                 "Said he saw me in the Pearson and Hardwick offices and asked if I was a secretary." James' eyebrows shot up.

                 "Why did he assume you were a secretary? Stupid man."

                 "Quite. He really is quite unpleasant. Never smiles either." I sipped my coffee, and smiled at James demolishing the pile of doughnuts. "I did make sure he wasn't a client though."

                  "Clever move. Never a good idea to make a client feel like an idiot." We both laughed.

                 James made fajitas that evening, which were delicious. Afterwards I had a long hot bath before putting my pyjamas on and joining him for a bit of telly and a glass of wine before I turned in.

Chapter 2

                            Friday evening, James invited me to join him and his friends for a drink in one of the local bars. I wore my one and only little black dress, and heels, slipping a leather coat on for the walk there. James actually scrubbed up quite well, much to my surprise, and introduced me to his group of friends. They were a mixed bunch, with two couples, two single men, and an older woman called Jenny, who said she was an artist. She had flame red hair, dressed in a flowing caftan and called everyone 'poppet'.

                 "Poppet, this girl is divine," she said to James, "is she hetero?" I blushed puce.

                 "Yes she is, so mitts off," he replied, before whispering in my ear, "she's a raging dyke, so don't go to the ladies with her." 

                 Neither of the two single men there floated my boat, one being short and chubby, and the other so thin he was almost transparent. James introduced them as Tom and Gary, although I didn't really work out which was which. The two couples seemed nice, but appeared to be happier sitting in their coupley foursome chatting about Ikea, or whatever couples talk about. We all stood around drinking bottles of beer, and listening to Jenny's funny stories.

                  One of the Tom/Gary men sidled up and asked if I liked going to the cinema, before blushing almost purple.

                 "Not really my thing, I can never stay awake for a whole film," I replied, shutting down any prospect of him asking me for a date to the pictures. The last thing I wanted to do was turn one of James friends down, so I moved away and went to the bar to order more beers. Thankfully, he seemed to get the hint, and turned his attention to Jenny.

                 James and I were both swaying a bit as we walked back to the flat, giggling at Jenny's outrageous flirting with me. At one point I'd had to almost hide behind James as she openly stared at my chest.

                 "She's not normally that bad. She flirts a lot, but she really couldn't take her eyes off your chesticles tonight." James sniggered at the thought.

                  "I don't think my tits have ever been so gawped at. Even blokes lift their eyes to my face after a while."

                  "Never mind little Elle, take it as a compliment. At least you pulled." We both laughed.

I woke late the next morning, with a bit of a fuzzy head. I staggered into the kitchen to make tea. There was no sign of James, so I made tea and a couple of slices of toast. I was checking my emails when James appeared looking bleary eyed. He poured a cup of tea and sat opposite me at the island.

                 "Did you make me drink all that beer last night?"

                 "Nope. You did it all by yourself."

                 "Next time, can you remind me I get shocking hangovers please."

                 "Will do. Although I'm surprised a big fella like you can't hold his beer."

                 "Not as surprised as I am that a little shrimp like you can."

                 I went and got him some paracetamol from my bathroom cabinet, and made him an espresso to perk him up, before changing into my gym kit and heading off to my orientation session.

   The gym was pretty empty due to it being a Saturday. My instructor, Lorna, showed me round all the machines before rating my fitness level and giving me a health check. I stayed behind to do a workout. I programmed my iPod to my running playlist, and hopped onto a treadmill. Starting with a brisk walking pace to warm up, I worked my way up to a fast paced run. I loved to run, finding it the ideal exercise to clear my head and help me think.

                 After half an hour, I slowed the treadmill, and stopped to take a swig of water. The gym had filled up a bit while I'd been in my own world, and I became aware of Oscar standing in the doorway staring at me. Determined not to be intimidated, I gave him a beaming smile and a little wave. He looked a bit disconcerted, and gave a half wave back before walking to the furthest running machine in the room, and starting his run.

                  I did another half hour on the weights machines, working my body methodically to gain maximum benefit. I liked being fit and strong, and took pride in having an athletic figure despite the hours I spent sitting at a desk.

                  Back in the changing room, I put on my swimsuit, and headed out to the pool area. I liked to finish a workout with a swim and a sauna. I decided on 25 lengths of front crawl, which didn't take too long, as I could swim pretty fast. The sauna at the end was to be my reward for a good workout. I pulled open the wooden door, only to find Oscar sitting on one of the benches.
Damn,
I thought, annoyed at bumping into him again when I just wanted to sit and sweat in peace.

                 "We must stop meeting like this Miss Reynolds," he said. I simply raised an eyebrow, and sat back on the bench, closing my eyes. He didn't take the hint.

                 "That was quite an impressive workout," he went on, not twigging that I was practically ignoring him. I opened one eye. He looked hot in just shorts. Nice smattering of chest hair too.

                 "Just a normal workout," I said quietly.

                 "How often do you work out?"

                 "Every day usually, if I can." I wanted him to go away, his half naked body in close proximity was having a bit of an effect on me, which I didn't like.

                "Would you like to join me for a coffee or something when you finish in here?" I opened both eyes in surprise. A man who had never so much as smiled at me was asking me for coffee! He still looked miserable.

                 "Sorry, I have an appointment I need to get to." I really didn't want to spend time with this scowling bundle of anger issues, and I really wanted to get my nails done.

                 "Another time then," he said, as he stood up and walked out of the sauna. I breathed a sigh of relief. I stayed in there another five minutes, enjoying the peace, before heading into the showers.

                 Feeling squeaky clean, I wandered down to the shopping arcade to see if the nail bar could fit me in. Forty minutes later, I was perfectly manicured with long lasting gel polish in a sophisticated nude shade. I text James to see if we needed groceries, then headed home, stopping at the mart for milk.

                 Back home, I told James about my encounter with Oscar at the gym.

                 "Hmm, seems like he's set his cap at you. Just be careful, there's something about him that's just not quite right."

                 "I just don't understand how he thinks he can chat me up without cracking his face. It's a shame, he would be good looking if he smiled a bit. He's got a killer body though."