Heller (10 page)

I walked down
to the office and sat at my workstation. No one else had turned up
for work yet. Not surprising perhaps, because it was only
seven-thirty. Maybe I was a little
too
eager this morning. I
spent ten minutes rummaging around in the three drawers to the
right of my desk. There was a very nice supply of good quality
stationery provided, including some
Heller’s
letterhead
paper and pens with the stylish black and gold
H
logo, matching the sign on the office wall.

I turned on my
computer and while it was loading made myself a coffee at the
machine in the kitchenette. I’d done some casual barista work
before so was able to make myself a credible cappuccino, only
burning my arm once on the steam. Back at my desk I brought up my
favourite news site on the computer. I was reading about yet
another terrible natural disaster when Heller walked in. He looked
good, wearing tight-cut black suit pants, a dark green monogrammed
shirt, opened at the neck, and elegant black crocodile shoes. He
casually carried his suit jacket in his hand. I threw him a
dazzling smile. He raised his eyebrows and glanced down at his
watch. Then frowned as he took in my casual appearance and bruised
face.

“You don’t
have another business suit?”

I shook my
head, instantly shamed at my impoverishment.

“Come to me in
about ten minutes and we’ll discuss the next few days,” he ordered,
striding past me into his office. I watched him all the way. Nerves
struck me suddenly and I could already feel the coffee pressing on
my bladder. I stood up and walked around the office, trying to
appear inconspicuous, looking for another bathroom other than the
one near Daniel’s desk in which I’d changed before my interview.
There wasn’t one.

Problem!
I thought as soon as I opened the door and walked
inside, taking in my surroundings properly. There was just one
toilet in the room, seat up. The toilet paper hadn’t been replaced
and there were no female hygiene provisions. Daniel’s desk was only
a few metres away. I baulked at the thought of sharing this space
with the two men and Niq. I guess I’m not big on unisex bathrooms.
I quickly backed out and dashed upstairs to my own bathroom. After
checking my hair and makeup and brushing my teeth again to remove
any coffee-breath, I walked back to my desk.
Living where you
worked certainly had a lot of advantages
, I thought happily. I
hadn’t even had to pack any lunch because I could just saunter
upstairs and prepare it fresh at lunchtime.

Chapter
7

I sat back at
my desk and continued perusing the news until I judged that the
requested ten minutes were up. I hesitantly approached Heller’s
office and knocked gently on the door. He looked up from his
writing and gestured me in. I sat at a chair on the other side of
his desk.

He continued
writing for a while and I took the opportunity to watch him. He was
left-handed, his script confident, bold and surprisingly neat. His
fingers were long and elegant, his nails manicured. There was what
appeared to be faint scarring around the knuckles of his right hand
and more recent scarring on his left. I was transfixed, staring at
his hands, wondering how it would feel if they were caressing my
skin. It was only when they stopped writing, placing the gold pen
on the desk, did I realise that he was speaking to me. I looked up
quickly, desperately focussing on what he was saying.

“. . . and
I’ve no doubts you’ll be happy to hear that,” he continued, unaware
that I had missed the first part and therefore had no idea of my
level of happiness at hearing what he’d just said. “So Rumbles will
take you there at ten and then Mei will look after you.”

“Rumbles?” I
queried, wishing I’d been listening.

“I know, it
sounds improbable, but he swears that is his real name. He will
collect you from your desk before ten. You should be back this
afternoon by no later than five. Then tomorrow we have appointments
with some potential new clients. Your first test, you might say.
That’s all,” he said, dismissing me and turning back to his
work.

Great!
Something or someone named Rumbles was taking me somewhere and then
someone named Mei was taking me somewhere else. I didn’t have a
clue what I’d be doing, but I’d be back at five. Mental note to
self:
stop perving and pay more attention next time
.

Rumbles turned
out to be an incredible giant wearing the
Heller’s
uniform.
He was an older man and one of the more senior security officers.
He told me that he was second-in-command in the security section
under Clive and also did a spot of discreet chauffeuring of VIP
clients on Heller’s direct instructions. He was to be my escort for
the day and confided that he had been given strict and detailed
instructions by ‘the Boss himself’ on safely delivering me to
wherever I was going and home again. That made me feel special.

He was quite
chatty and told me more about the security part of Heller’s
business. They did one-off assignments for visitors to the city,
and also had ongoing relationships with certain events managers who
provided regular security work and crowd control at concerts,
weddings, and other large gatherings. The bread-and-butter of the
firm though was long-term security work at businesses and large
building sites. Heller also loved winning private security jobs
where his surveillance teams would tip off his security teams of
any breach in the security systems previously installed by the
business. That was win-win-win for him because he received income
from the initial installation of the security equipment, the
ongoing surveillance services and the follow-up security services,
all in the same job.

Rumbles
detailed some of the assignments he’d been involved in as part of a
Heller’s
security team, including for a couple of A-list
movie stars, a drug-addled major international sports star and a
very famous but alcoholic and promiscuous young singer.

“Sounds so
exciting,” I breathed, desperate to hear more salacious details. “I
hope I get to meet some famous people too.”

He looked at
me pityingly. “You think it’s going to be exciting being around
celebrities or rich people, but it’s generally not. A lot of them
are arrogant shits who don’t even notice you or even forbid you
from making any eye contact with them, and the rest are addicts or
just plain crazy. Even with the ones that are slightly normal, you
have to deal with the paparazzi and those bastards are clever and
persistent. And every now and again you’ll get a fanatical fan. So
it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be.”

I nodded
agreement, but I still secretly had stars in my eyes. This job was
going to be fantastic! There couldn’t have been a luckier woman in
the world – free everything as well as the chance to meet
celebrities. I was in heaven.

We pulled up
outside a deluxe and discreet hotel. Rumbles rushed out of his door
and around the front of the black 4WD to open my door for me.

“Thank you,” I
said appreciatively, not sure that had ever happened to me before
in my life. He led the way through the lavish foyer to the hotel’s
spa retreat.

“Here you go,
Miss,” he said, with a gallantry that I assumed had died a few
centuries ago. “After you’re finished here, Miss Mei will pick you
up and take you for the afternoon. I’ll return for you at the end
of the day.”

“Thank you so
much, Mr Rumbles,” I said, and we shook hands, much to his amused
delight.

“I hope you
enjoy yourself today, Miss,” he said sincerely. “The Boss made a
good decision to hire you. You’re a real breath of fresh air at
Heller’s
.”

I wasn’t sure
what to say in response to that, so merely smiled brightly at him
and walked into the spa. There I was greeted warmly by professional
and considerate staff. And for the next three hours, I was pampered
to within an inch of my life. I was massaged, pedicured, manicured
and waxed. I had a deep facial (the staff being careful of my poor
nose) and the skin specialist enthused over my pale skin –
so
beautiful, so clear, just lovely
– and I was given an armful of
expensive products to nurture my specific skin type. I had my hair
treated and cut expertly and was given another armful of expensive
hair products. I had my makeup applied and was given many tips on
doing it properly, ominously including how to cover bruising.

At the end
when I peered at the mirror I barely recognised myself. My skin
looked smoother and clearer. My hair was glossier than I could ever
have imagined and fell around my shoulders in soft and gentle
natural waves. My makeup complemented my large light brown eyes, my
fingernails shone and my body tingled all over from the massage. I
felt like a princess.

As I mentioned
before, I’m a naturally nosy person, so I had no hesitation in
asking whether the rest of the
Heller’s
team came here for
styling, and was told that a stylist visited them at the Warehouse
once a month for haircuts, manicures and other grooming
requirements. I was also told, to my amazement, that I now had a
standing booking once a month to come in for my own styling. Oh
boy, I was loving my new job more and more every minute!

I was
finishing a delicious light lunch of smoked salmon sandwiches and a
glass of champagne, compliments of the spa, when a petite lady
approached me. She had a wise Yoda-face framed by a geometric black
bob so precise that her hairdresser must have used mathematical
apparatus to plot the cut. Calm black eyes peered out from under
the severe black fringe.

“Good
afternoon, Miss Chalmers,” she said as we shook hands. “I’m Mei
Wong and I’m your personal shopper for this afternoon.” I told her
to call me Tilly and we spent the rest of the day trawling through
some of the city’s designer stores, assembling outfits for work and
some casual clothes as well.

“Heller
instructed that we must replace your entire wardrobe,” Mei told me
as we stepped into the fifth boutique. I really wanted to take
offence at Heller’s comment, but the truth was that I was
ecstatically happy at that moment and just couldn’t squeeze out
even one tiny drop of indignation no matter how hard I tried. We
bought so much that we would have struggled to haul it around, so
we didn’t carry our purchases, but left them behind at each store
for poor Rumbles to come along and pick them all up later.

“Do you help
Heller shop too?” I asked, curious as ever.

“Heller
doesn’t shop, Miss!” she exclaimed with glee, laughing out loud.
“Good heavens, the very thought!” She laughed again. “He’s a big,
tall man and can’t readily buy clothes off-the-rack. No, he gets
all of his suits, shirts, shoes and uniforms tailor-made. Very
expensive clothes, he has. I pick out his casual gear for him.
Always designer clothes, though. He’s very fussy about his
appearance. Same with the twins and Daniel. Niq isn’t so fussy, but
his Goth tastes keep me busy, I can tell you. I have to order most
of his clothes online from Europe.” I smiled at her unusual
workload. In my world it wasn’t common for men to be so interested
in their appearance. I wasn’t used to it and wasn’t sure what to
make of it.

After a while,
I decided that it was a joy to shop with Mei. She worked hard to
cover my flaws and had a wonderful eye for a good ensemble,
including jewellery, shoes and handbags. I was certain that I
wouldn’t embarrass Heller in any of these outfits. She confided
that with my height and lean (albeit untoned!) body, I was a dream
to outfit. And best of all, she was paying for everything, using a
credit card that she told me billed directly to Heller’s
account.

However, no
matter how fervently a woman loves shopping, there was always a
time when she becomes completely and utterly exhausted. By about
five-thirty, Mei and I had both had our fill and she rang for
Rumbles to pick me up. I hugged her sincerely as he drove up in the
4WD and she promised that I would be seeing her again in the
future. The boot and back seat of the car were full of bags.

“Looks like
you bought the whole shop, Miss,” Rumbles joked as we drove back to
the Warehouse.

“Just about!
Do you know that I am almost too tired to even breathe,” I
confessed, and leant back into the soft leather seat, closing my
eyes. It had been possibly the best day I’d ever had in my
life.

It took
Rumbles and me several trips to the basement to bring up my new
packages. When I went to put my new clothes away, I realised that
all my old clothes had disappeared from the cupboards and drawers.
Who had done that?
I thought with irritation. Luckily I even
had new underwear to replace that which was now gone, because I
don’t know what I would have done otherwise.

My poor empty
stomach growled and I opened the fridge to prepare the quickest
meal possible. Seeing there were no stolen burgers around, I made
the next best thing – a cheese toastie washed down with a glass of
wine. Satiated, I sleepily watched some TV and then happily fell
into bed.

That night I
dreamt that I was on the roof-top sitting on one the sun lounges
and Heller was giving me a pedicure. For some reason I was
completely naked, sipping champagne and enjoying the caress of the
sun on my bare skin. Heller was fully dressed in one of his
expensive hand-made suits. He moved from grooming my toenails to
massaging my feet. Then his elegant hands moved slowly up my ankles
and calves, massaging them gently and over my knees to my thighs,
edging closer, all the while mesmerising me with his incredibly
captivating blue eyes. I parted my thighs willingly in
anticipation, barely daring to breathe. He inched closer, leaving
my skin tingling as he progressed up my thighs. The heat grew
within me. He was about to touch me intimately with his long,
graceful fingers, a seductive smile playing across his lips, when I
woke up suddenly, breathing heavily, tangled in my sheets and
intensely aroused.
No!
I panted.
Don’t end now! Not
now!