Mrs R (Mrs R & Mr V #1) (30 page)

Without her support, the status of
the charity lost its high profile and now it was struggling to survive
financially. The building was in a state of disrepair and what little funding
they got from the government went on food and provisions for the people who
lived in the shelter. There was no way Home Free would be able to afford decent
legal representation and if they were shut down many of their residents would
lose the sanctuary they sought there. Rachel had met with the charity head a
few times to prepare and she was putting together her case for the court
hearing next week. The next step would be to run it past Joe. “Oh well” thought
Rachel, “no time like the present.”

Rachel buzzed through to Angela
using the loudspeaker option on her desk phone.

“Hey Rachel how can I help you?”
Angela’s chirpy disposition never failed to make Rachel smile.

“I need to see Joe –is he
free today?”

“Hold on let me ask him.” The
mellow hold music played for a minute until she came back to Rachel. “Umm, he
said to go in straight away.”

“Sorry Angela, can you ask him to
come here please. It would be more convenient.”

Rachel was reluctant to go to
Joe’s office. She didn’t want to see the changes he had made to Nate’s former
room. It was still painful for her. Joe wasn’t known for his sensitive nature
by any means and her resolve to act like a professional around him at all times
could be compromised by her emotional response to seeing him in Nate’s space.

“Seriously, Rachel? I’m not sure
Joe’s up for being summoned.”

“Just ask him please Angela; I
have all the files to show him here at my disposal, and some extra stuff on my
PC.”

“Ok crazy lady; hold on a mo”
Angela put Rachel on hold again; the mellow music came back on and she hummed
along with a familiar tune until the peace was shattered by a toe curling,
knicker wetting drawl that filled her room and left her blushing,

“If you want me Rachel, you need
to come see me. That’s the only way it’s gonna work. I thought I’d made that
quite clear. I have a few minutes free now; I’ll be waiting for you.”

The man was totally fucking
infuriating.

“Ok Joe, I hear you. I’ll be right
there.” Rachel replied sweetly having absolutely no intention of doing any such
thing. She wasn’t some needy little intern wandering around with her tongue
hanging out begging for the all powerful CEO to grace her with a minute of his
precious time.

Taking her phone off the hook so
it would sound like she was engaged if he tried to call her, Rachel clicked
into her email inbox and started to reply to some of the more urgent ones.
Several minutes later she conceded that with a racing pulse and a thumping
heart, she couldn’t concentrate properly. Her mind kept flipping back to Joe
and how he was probably plotting her demise. Rachel correctly guessed he was
not a man used to being left hanging and she regretted her flippant reaction
berating herself for once again putting her own feelings before the importance
of Genesis.

A notification message popped up
on her screen from Angela.

“MAN UP DARLING – CEO IS ON
HIS WAY OVER!!!”

“Shit, shit, shit!” Rachel jumped
up to retrieve her nude Laboutins from under her coffee table and managed to
knock several files on to the floor. “Fuck it!” she cursed dropping to all
fours to gather the scattered papers, and of course that’s exactly where Joe
found her when he entered her office; on the carpet with her arse in the air.

“Nice view.”

Tempted to tell the idiot where to
shove his sarcastic remarks, Rachel refrained as she refused to be drawn into
another futile bickering session. Looking over her shoulder at him she was even
more incensed to find him gazing out her window and not eyeing up her assets.
“Really, he wants to play games?” Rachel was no amateur, she’d raised two
extremely wilful daughters and could banter all day long if he wanted, but she
thought a different approach might aggravate him more.

Rachel flashed a full on mega watt
smile at him and greeted him in a voice all sugar candy coated, “Oh hello Joe,
be a dear and give me a hand with these could you?”

Joe glared at her, his grey eyes
narrowing and his jaw muscles clenching furiously. He looked like he was about
to explode as he deliberately and slowly told her in no uncertain terms.

“My office. Five minutes. No
second chances.” Then he turned on his heel and left.

Rachel sighed at his retreating
form; the man filled out a suit quite spectacularly. She tried really hard to
stay angry at him, but honestly she was now terribly nervous. Added to the
reluctance of going to Nate’s old office, she realised her foolishness may have
jeopardised any opportunity for Genesis to be taken seriously.

**********

Joe was fuming. Not only did the
little witch wind him up until he wanted to kill her slowly and painfully but
the last thing he had expected was to find her on the floor, doggy style with
her skirt stretched tight over her arse that was suggestively wiggling in his
direction asking to be spanked for leaving him rock hard again in the middle of
the day. He was a hair’s breath away from hauling her up against the door of
her office and kissing that smart mouth till it was too numb and swollen to
speak through. Thankfully, his big head took control of his little head and he
managed to walk away in time.

Rachel Renton was fast becoming
the bane of his life and he couldn’t figure out what to do about her. She was
creating a kink in his carefully laid plans, which he couldn’t permit; Genesis
was going to have to be terminated and her along with it. He’d just wait for
her to fail miserably, and by all accounts her lack of experience should seal
that deal sooner rather than later, and then he’d call it a day.

Joe removed his jacket and rolled
up his sleeves. His suit was three pieced; he preferred not to wear a jacket as
it felt too confining even though he paid a small fortune to have them made to
measure. Instead he wore a waistcoat that fitted taut across his body but left
his shoulders and arms free to move without any restraint. Joe wasn’t an overly
vain man but he liked to create a lasting impression and he knew this was a
look that worked well for him.

Preparing for his meeting with
Rachel he sat in his chair at his desk facing the door. He leant his arms on
the glass top enjoying the cool surface against the heat of his skin. With his
door open he could see down the length of the hallway and the minute Rachel
left her own office and headed down towards him, the sway of her hips and the
bounce of her tits had his dick sitting up and paying attention.

“Oh that’s just perfect” Joe
muttered under his breath knowing this meeting would be conducted in its
entirety with him sitting down. He couldn’t be sure if he was cursing himself
or commenting on the sight of Rachel and chose not to analyse the dual meaning
of his words as he feared the latter may be true. There was no doubt she was
easy on the eyes. Today she was wearing a navy pencil skirt tailored to drape
over her curvaceous arse. She had teamed it with a navy silk shirt with gold
buttons that caressed her upper body highlighting an impressive rack. It was
undone just enough to show off her long neck and hint of cleavage. Sky-high
heels didn’t seem to hinder her at all – how the fuck women walked in
those things never ceased to amaze him; but they showcased her shapely legs
perfectly.

Rachel was sophisticated elegance
in a perfectly fuckable package; his dream date until she opened her bloody
mouth. Her patronising manner of speaking to him like he was something she’d
stepped in on the way to work drove him insane. He’d heard the way she
conversed with the rest of the staff and evidently it was a tone she reserved
just for him. But she would do well to remember that he held all the power here
and treat him with a touch more respect.

Leaning back into the soft leather
backed chair, he crossed his arms over his chest and smiled like a beast about
to eat its prey.

Rachel could feel Joe’s eyes on
her. Determined not to be intimidated she added a little more swagger to her
walk and braced herself for the bollocking she was fully expecting. However,
she hadn’t predicted what the effect of seeing Joe in Nate’s office for the
first time would have on her. It hit her square in the chest and her heart
squeezed tightly under her skin. Tear prickled behind her eyes but she held
them back as a fierce jolt of pain wracked her body. She felt hot and cold at
the same time as a tidal wave of grief rolled over her effectively rendering
her mute.

“Nothing to say Rachel?” Joe
mocked from behind his desk. Rachel shook her head vigorously.

“Good, then you can just listen
for once. Don’t bother sitting down, you won’t be in here for that long. You
have one chance to prove to me that Genesis is worth considering. I will base
my decision on the success of your first case. Lose and it’s all over. I have
already allowed you to indulge your cause at the resource of this firm and its
costing money. If you fail to at least boost the profile of Gyles Bishop with
your little crusade then you have no value to add and we will be parting ways.
Do I make myself clear?”

Joe’s words had barely registered
through the haze of her pain, but Rachel understood the gist of what he was
saying and nodded her agreement. He was leaning across the desk frowning at
her. His long dark hair framed his handsome features and he was playing with
his beard again. On some level Rachel was aware this was his tell tale sign of
agitation, but she was fast descending into a panic attack and needed to
escape.

“You can go now. Come back
tomorrow with details of your first case and how you plan to win.”

Rachel fought the overwhelming
urge to flee at speed but mustered enough grace to walk normally back to the
safety of her own office.

Joe continued to run his fingers
through the soft hair covering his chin wondering what had just happened. He
was ready to deflect her every argument but she hadn’t said a word. Something
was wrong but he couldn’t figure out what.

“Angela, can you come in here
please?” he buzzed through to the one person he could rely on to be honest with
him. Nothing seemed to faze Angela so far; he had sought her counsel on many
issues and he genuinely liked her.

“Boss?” she enquired as she
plopped herself down in a chair facing him.

“Tell me about Rachel Renton.
She’s seriously pissing me off and I have no idea what I’ve done to deserve her
disdain.”

Angela’s eyes widened at Joe. “Are
you really that insensitive or just an idiot?”

“I’m glad you feel comfortable
enough to point out my faults even though we’ve only been acquainted for a few
short weeks, but contrary to popular opinion, I’m not a total prick.”

“Joe, you have a job to do here;
and something to prove. We are all aware of that and no one more so than
Rachel. Look around you Joe. I’m not going to make excuses for Rachel’s
behaviour but for the love of god, you are sitting in her dead husband’s office
threatening to end her dead husband’s legacy. Nate was a popular man Joe and
you would do well to remember that.” Angela stood up, cross with her boss for
being exactly the insensitive prick he claimed he wasn’t.

“You do the math, as you Americans
are so fond of saying.”

**********

Angela stuck her head around
Rachel’s door. “You ok hon?”

Rachel was standing in the corner
of her office between the two windows looking out over the great City of
London. The view was humbling and it helped Rachel gain some perspective. The
streets below buzzed with activity. People were going about their business in
ignorant bliss of the turmoil in her office a few storeys up; the world hadn’t
stopped just because hers had been turned on its head.

“Oh Angela, what am I doing? What
was Nate thinking? I’m not equipped to handle big shots like Joe. My work was on
a much smaller scale in a totally different environment.” Rachel began pacing
across the carpet flinging her arms up in despair.

“Oh stop being so dramatic. He’s
just a man and he’s pissed off at something he hasn’t been able to control”
Angela slid gracefully on to Rachel’s couch and crossed her legs. Leaning
forward, she added, “and I’m not talking about Genesis!”

Rachel stopped dead in her tracks
her head whipping round to meet Angela’s mischievous grin. “If you mean me
you’re on the wrong track. It’s not about me being in control; it’s the
principle that matters. I won’t let him dismiss this project because it’s not
dripping in pound signs. Gyles Bishop wants to boost its Global profile and
‘giving back’ is high on everyone’s agenda in caring, sharing 2013. Plus it
works to the advantage of the less privileged. Not all of us have numbers after
our surname. Joseph William Mason the Third.”