“Edward left him to watch me. He hasn’t been too bad, to be honest. I think I had the wrong impression of him.”
The waitress arrives with our drinks. I asked William to order before I got here, seeing how I only have an hour’s break.
“So, what’s new? What have you been doing?” He smirks.
“Working, spying on good looking men, stuff like that.” I roll my eyes.
He laughs. “I miss you.”
I grab his hand over the table. “When are you coming home?”
He sips his drink. “I’m not.” And then he shrugs. “Not to Nottingham anyway.”
“God, Edward is driving me completely mad, Will. He’s completely out of control.”
“My point exactly. Sorry about the other night—leaving without saying goodbye. He just makes me so furious that I can’t even be around him.”
“He’s only worried about you. How are things going with Penelope?” I ask carefully.
“Up and down.” He sighs. “I don’t know, we have good weeks and bad weeks. The thing is, what I choose to do with my marriage is my business. Imagine if you met someone and Edward stuck his nose in where it wasn’t wanted.”
“I can’t think of anything worse, to be honest.”
“Exactly. And Penelope’s not perfect, God knows that. But I have a child with her, and I want him to grow up in the same house as me. What choice do I have?”
“It will be okay, and you know, you really are being amazing by staying with her and trying to repair your marriage for Harrison’s sake. Not many men would do that.”
“I don’t feel so amazing some days.” He smiles. “Anyway, tell me about you.”
I sit back in my seat. “I met a gorgeous man.”
“You did?” he asks in surprise.
“Yeah.” I sip my drink. “It was a disaster.”
“Why?”
“When he found out I was...” I hesitate, “inexperienced, he didn’t want anything to do with me.”
He scowls, confused. “Would he rather you be a stripper?”
I giggle. “Probably. Anyway… it was the push I needed to get out of Nottingham. Don’t tell Dad or Edward, but I plan on moving here permanently eventually.”
A big smile crosses his face. “You do?”
“Uh-huh.” I smile proudly.
He takes my hand across the table. “Good for you, babe. Good for you.”
*
“This stupid fucking prick of a machine!” Paul cries.
Sarah’s hands are in her hair and her eyes are wide. “What the fuck do we do?”
I put my hand over my mouth to stop myself from laughing because this is hilarious.
The photocopier has gone crazy, and hundreds of papers are being spit out at record speed. It won’t shut off and it won’t quit printing. It’s Wednesday, and we are supposed to be making training manuals for Veronica, but things aren’t exactly going to plan. It seems to happen a lot in this dodgy mailroom. I have never laughed so much.
“Pull the plug out,” I push out through my laughter.
“Yes,” Paul says, scrambling for the power cords. He shuts them off, and the copiers all fall silent, leaving us to stare each other for a moment.
There is paper everywhere. We have no idea what order the papers are in.
“That machine dropped some serious acid last night,” Paul grumbles.
“Seems so.” I look at the mess around us. “What do we do with all this?” I ask.
Sarah looks around, too. “Shred it. We’ll have to start again. It will take too long to sort this shit.”
Sarah’s phone rings. “Hello. Hey, Marcie…” Her face falls as she listens. “Oh no. Oh, damn it, Marcie. I’ve been waiting for this date for three fucking years.”
Paul and I exchange questioning looks. Who is she talking to?
“Yeah, I know.” Sarah sighs sadly. “That’s okay. Who the hell am I going to get to come with me?” She exhales heavily. “Fine. No, it’s okay, I’m just disappointed. I’ve been looking forward to it for months. He’ll probably cancel on me now.”
I begin to pick up the papers from the floor, while Sarah finishes her conversation and hangs up the call.
“Fucking great!”
“What’s wrong?” I frown.
“I have a double date on Saturday night, and the girl who was supposed to be coming with me has strep throat.”
“So, go alone.” Paul picks up the papers with me.
“He won’t come unless it’s a double date.”
Paul and I frown at each other. “Why not?”
“Because he doesn’t even want to come at all. My uncle does business with him, and I’ve had a crush on this guy for years.” She puts her hands on her hips in dismay. “My plan was to look gorgeous so that he can’t help falling at my feet.”
I smile. “Well, that’s an excellent plan. Of course he will fall at your feet. Look at you.”
“I know, right?” She smirks and gives a wiggle of her arse.
“Just get someone else to go with you,” Paul suggests.
“I don’t have anyone.” She sighs. “This whole day is a fucking disaster.” She kicks the photocopier in disgust.
“Take Lottie.”
Sarah’s eyes flicker to me. “Would you come?”
My face falls. “Oh.” I shake my head. “I don’t… I don’t know the guy.”
“I don’t, either. It’ll a blind date for both of us.”
I stare at her in horror.
“Please.” She bounces on the spot and grabs my arm. “I really like this guy, and I can’t go without someone else with me.”
“You said you didn’t know him!”
“I don’t, but I really like the look of him.”
I roll my eyes.
“Honestly I’ve had the hots for this guy forever. Oh, please, Lottie. Please will you come?”
I stare at her. I mean, I could go, I have nothing else on… but a blind date? I really don’t think that’s such a good idea.
“What the hell?” Veronicas cries out.
Our eyes widen, and we spin to see Veronica assessing the room from the doorway. Her hands are on her hips and her face is furious.
“This damn machine is on acid!” Sarah cries. “We had to shut the power off and everything.” She throws her hands up in defeat. “We couldn’t stop it.”
Veronica looks at the papers all over the floor. She breathes deeply and closes her eyes. “I’m going to count to ten, and then I’m going to turn and walk out of here before I fire you all.” She inhales in a dramatic fashion. “Clean this mess up, and get those booklets finished before I lose my living shit.”
We all drop to the floor and begin scrambling to pick up the papers. Veronica storms to the elevator and disappears, the doors closing behind her.
“Fuck off, you old mole,” Sarah cries as she flips the bird to the closed elevator doors. “I hope the Grim Reaper comes around and fucks you up the ass with a baseball bat.”
“Why can’t you just say that to her face, Sarah?” Paul mutters, disgusted. “Then she wouldn’t give us this shit.” He throws a pile of papers into the bin. “And by the way, the Grim Reaper is too good for her. He has standards, you know?”
The situation overwhelms me, and I sit back on my knees, laughing. Loud, belly-cramping giggles take over, and I can’t stop.
Sarah kicks the photocopier again, and then Pauls begins to laugh, too, until eventually Sarah joins in and the three of us are lying on the floor in uncontrollable fits of giggles.
“This job sucks hairy fucking balls, man,” Sarah shouts up to the ceiling.
“Right?” Paul agrees.
I continue to laugh. If only they knew…
I think this is the best job in the world.
*
I glance over my shoulder at Wyatt and Anthony as they follow me across the street, making sure to keep their distance. I’ve warned them with murder if they blow my cover tonight. I told them I didn’t want my new work colleague to know I have security, which is true, but I also don’t want Sarah to find out who I really am.
I know her opinion of me will change if she finds out, and to be honest, I really like her company. She’s refreshingly honest, and she likes Lottie Preston—the real me.
And I have to admit, I like being Lottie Preston, too.
It’s Saturday night, and I have no idea how, but Sarah has somehow talked me into going on this blind date with her. We are meeting the guys at this restaurant-bar place.