Getting him Back (4 page)

He
stretched his arms and seemed embarrassed. ‘That’s my sister,’ he
said, before trying to take the mobile from Catherine. ‘Please
delete that picture; she’s not a bad girl really. She really likes
her new boyfriend. She’d be devastated if he found out.’

Catherine
was obviously torn. If she deleted it she knew I’d never forgive
her and if she didn’t she would be ruining a potential future
relationship for me. I could hear her brain whirring as she
struggled with the decision. She could never make any simple
decision – something she consistently blamed on being a Libran; so
this would have been killing her. I made the decision for her.
‘Delete it, Cat.’ I said.

She frowned.
‘What?’

‘I said delete
it.’

Mark
turned towards me. ‘Thanks Tez,’ he said.

‘
It’s
Terri,’ I replied. Nobody calls me Tez, except Cat and my
Mark.

He turned
back towards Catherine and watched her delete the offending photo.
You must be wondering why I asked her to delete it, right? Well, I
now had a potential opportunity to get to know
Monica better- through her brother! He
seemed to like me. Maybe I could get into some sort of relationship
with him, then not only would I be able to find out more about
Monica, I would also get to see my Mark again, because we’d be like
in-laws! This was going to be more perfect than I’d imagined. It
had to be fate. I was meant to come here tonight. Freckly Mark and
I were meant to be – for a while, anyway – just not
forever.

Chapter
Seven

H
ey
ho the bitch is gone

I went
into work on Monday feeling pleased with myself. I couldn’t wait to
tell Doreen all about freckly Mark. We’d spent the rest of
Saturday night chatting and
when we’d left the club he’d given me a quick kiss and his
telephone number. We’d gone out to the cinema last night and even
though I vowed not to fall for him, I did enjoy the feeling of
being fancied again. He couldn’t keep his hands off me during the
film and so don’t ask me what happened at the end. (Or the
beginning – or the middle!). He was gorgeous too, in a cute sort of
way. He was also funny. Before last night, I don’t remember the
last time I laughed until my cheeks hurt. Catherine was right.
Freckly Mark was exactly what I needed right now. I knew it
wouldn’t get serious. We were having too much fun for
that.

I saw Doreen
busily typing away. ‘Doreen, guess what?’ I said, throwing my bag
down on the desk and putting my coat around the back of the
chair.

Her eyes
widened. ‘What?’

‘I’ve found a
way to get my Mark back!’

I told
her everything that happened. She continued to type as I spoke; she
was the best at multi-tasking. ‘Well, I’m glad you’re happy, love,
but I hope you don’t break this young man’s heart. He sounds ever
so nice.’

‘You don’t need
to worry about that, Dor. I’m not planning on dating him for long
enough to break his heart.’

She raised her
eyebrows. ‘It’s not the length of time you are courting that
matters, Terri.’

I was about to
question her further when her boss, Steve came over to us. ‘Terri,
Mia’s asking for you. She wants to see you in her office, right
away.’

A feeling
of dread came over me. I knew my happy feeling wouldn’t last long
once I’d entered this place of evil. I smoothed down my skirt,
tidied my hair and knocked on her door.

‘Come in.’ I
tried to identify the tone in her voice but it didn’t sound evil or
happy; just neutral.

I opened
the door and was surprised to see Mia looking bedraggled. Her
usually neat hair was pinned into an up-do, with so many loose
strands it looked windswept and her usually immaculate face was
pale and drawn. Her eyes seemed red and puffy, as though she’d been
crying. ‘Sit down,’ she said, pointing to the chair. ‘I just wanted
you to know, that I’ll be taking some time off. I know I lectured
you about not bringing your personal problems into the workplace
and I need to lead by example. I told you I’ve been having personal
problems, didn’t I?’ She moved some of the loose strands of hair
from her eyes and attempted to put them back into her
bun.

‘You did, yes.
You said you don’t bring your personal problems into the
workplace.’

She
nodded. ‘That’s right. Things have gotten worse, though and so I’m
going to have to take some time off to sort them out. I can’t
concentrate on work when things are this bad.’

I wanted
to ask her what problems she had but she was my superior and I knew
my
place.’ I hope you
get things sorted,’ I said, ‘So who will I be working for while
you’re gone?’

She smiled.
(The second smile this year, I think). ‘I don’t intend to be away
for long and so I thought, from your experience and your
qualifications, that you could take over for a while.’

I felt my
heartbeat speed up. Was Mia Cowell actually allowing me to take
over her job? ‘That would be great,’ I said.

‘I knew I could
count on you, Terri. I’ve left a list of things I need sorting. I
hope to be back in two weeks. Can you manage until then?’

I nodded. ‘Is
there anyone I can go to for help if I need it?’

‘Yes. You can
go to Steve. I’ve cleared it with him.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Oh and I’ve
hired a PA from a temp agency for you. Don’t try to do everything
yourself. Give her the work you would normally do for me, ok?’

I nodded.
She stood up, put on her coat and grabbed her handbag. ‘I’ll leave
everything in your capable hands then. See you soon.’ And with that
she was gone, leaving me to sit behind her desk. It felt weird, yet
it was giving me a taste of what life could be like if I stopped
being scared of responsibility and actually got my act
together.

I spun around
in her chair and was amazed at the view from her window. Down below
I could see people going about their daily business. An aeroplane
flew past and I could almost see the passengers inside it. It was a
great view. I was surprised she got any work done at all there were
so many distractions outside. I was interrupted by a knock on the
door.

‘Come in,’ I
said, in my best Mia Cowell voice.

It was Steve.
‘I’ve got your new PA here, Terri,’ he said.

A small girl
who looked like she should still be in school stood before me.

‘And you are?’
I asked, suddenly aware of how a small glimpse of power had turned
me into a monster.

She visibly
quivered before me. ‘It’s Danielle,’ she said.

‘Nice to meet
you, Danielle. Why don’t you take a seat outside and I’ll be out in
a second to show you around.’

She smiled.
‘Thanks.’

She
closed the door behind her. I took several deep breaths. I would
not let power go to my head. I wouldn’t become like Mia. I wanted
Danielle to feel happy in her work; there was no need to be a
bitch. From now on, this department was going to be a bitch-free
zone.

After I’d
spent the morning training Danielle I went back into Mia’s office
to eat my lunch. I invited Doreen to join me but she had errands to
run. I hoped she really did and it wasn’t just an excuse to avoid
me now that I was a boss. I tucked into my tuna and mayo sandwich
as I logged onto Facebook. I was the boss now so surely this was a
perk! Mark’s page hadn’t changed much. I noticed some more messages
from Monica. One of them said how much she’d missed Mark on
Saturday and how she’d spent the night hoping he’d come to see her.
What a joke! She was probably praying he wouldn’t. Who knows what
she and Travolta got up to that night? Well, freckly Mark probably
does. I’d get to find out tonight as I was meeting him again. I was
quite looking forward to it. Last night was for getting to know
each other, but tonight was about getting to know Monica. I needed
ammunition. If I could get proof that she was a total cow then
maybe my Mark would realize
the mistake he’d made, dumping me and we’d have our dream
wedding after all.

Chapter
Eight

Freckly Mark
looked quite smart when he picked me up. He was wearing a grey suit
and a spotted tie. ‘Hi,’ he said opening the passenger door of his
Peugeot. ‘Sorry I’m late; I’ve just got out of work. They sent me
on a job, interviewing a woman about her stolen dog.’

‘That sounds,
interesting,’ I replied as I stepped into the car and started to
adjust the seat.

‘Yeah it was.
Les was off sick and so I got to do his job. I hope he stays off
all week.’

I laughed. ‘My
boss is off too. I’m doing her job while she’s away!’

‘
Wow!
Freaky!’ he said, starting the engine and revving it up so it
screeched as he pulled away from my house. I’m sure I saw my mum
poke her head around the curtains. She would think he was a right
boy-racer!

‘So where are
you taking me tonight then?’ I asked.

‘I thought we’d
go to this nice restaurant we use for work sometimes. They do a
nice Chinese if you’re interested.’

‘I love
Chinese.’

‘Great. Me
too.’

The journey
only seemed to take five minutes. He parked his car in the
restaurant car park and we made our way to a table in a corner. It
was nicely decorated; much like your usual traditional Chinese
restaurant. There was a tank with some goldfish in it, right next
to our seats. They were also playing traditional Chinese music over
the speakers. There weren’t many other people eating and so we were
served our food quite quickly.

I started to
twist noodles around my fork – I’d tried chopsticks once before but
they weren’t for me – and I watched intently as Mark used his
chopsticks like a professional.

‘
So, have
you got any other brothers and sisters then or just Monica?’ I
asked.

‘
No,
there’s just Moni and me.’ He scooped some more noodles up and put
them into his
sexy,
mouth.

‘So what does
Moni do then?’

‘She’s a
student over at the Uni.’

This came
as a surprise considering Mark had told me she was his new
PA.
‘Oh? What is she
studying?’ I asked.

‘Psychology, I
think.’

‘
Does she
do any part-time work, then, to help pay her fees?’

‘Not that I
know of. She lives at home so she hasn’t got any expenses or living
costs to pay for – just her course fees and she doesn’t have to pay
them until she gets a job.’

I placed
a mouthful of chicken satay in my mouth and enjoyed the taste of
cream and peanuts. I enjoyed watching Mark eat. Even the way he ate
was sexy. I was surprised at my feelings. I was doing my best not
to get close to him but it was getting so difficult. ‘Is that where
she meets so many fellas?’ I said giving a little
giggle.

‘
She’s
not that bad! She’s only
nineteen. She’s too young to settle down with one guy,
anyway. We all keep telling her that.’

‘Who’s
all?’

‘Me, Mum, Dad,
you know.’ He took some gulps of his lager. ‘Wow, this Peking duck
is seriously hot, tonight!’

‘My satay is
too. I like it hot though!’

He raised
his eyebrows. ‘Do you now?’ he said, flirting with me.

I felt my
cheeks redden as I realized what I’d said. I smiled. ‘You know what
I meant! So, you said she likes her boyfriend then?’

He narrowed his
eyes. ‘Oh, yeah. So you know her boyfriend don’t you. Some friend
of yours isn’t he?’

‘
He is
yes, and Cat’s.’

‘Well she does
like him, yes, but he knows she’s only young and as far as I know,
they are both taking it easy.’

‘What do you
mean by that?’

‘You know. They
see each other but flirt with other people when the need takes
them. They both don’t want to settle down just yet so it works for
both of them.’

That explained
everything. My Mark didn’t want to tie himself down with marriage
and he’d been with me since school so, he too, was probably sowing
his wild oats, so to speak. ‘Well, she’s a pretty girl, so why not,
eh?’

He took another
sip of his lager and stared right into my eyes. I felt my insides
turn over. He was seriously gorgeous and sexy. I couldn’t let
myself feel this way. I wanted my old Mark not new Mark. He leant
forward. ‘So what’s your view on dating then?’

I felt
defensive. ‘What do you mean?’

‘
Are you
a one-man woman or do you like to keep things free and
easy?’

I wasn’t
sure what answer he wanted to hear and I didn’t know what answer to
give. I didn’t want to get serious with him but I didn’t want to
spoil things either. I was always a one-man woman when I was dating
someone so I thought it best to be honest.

‘I don’t cheat.
If I’m seeing someone then I don’t flirt with other men. If I
wanted to do that I’d stay single.’

He sat back in
his chair and took a deep breath. ‘I was hoping you’d say that. I
totally agree with you. I think there’s nothing worse than being
cheated on so I wouldn’t do it to anyone else.’ He seemed
upset.

‘Have you been
cheated on then?’ I asked.

‘Yeah, a couple
of times. Makes it hard to trust anyone else again, though.’

I felt myself
becoming closer to him. He too, knew how if felt to have your heart
torn out. ‘I’ve been cheated on too,’ I said, before taking another
sip of my drink.