If the Shoe Fits (15 page)

Eleanor opened her mouth, but Jake held up his hands.

“Wait a few more minutes. Not that I'm not desperate to hear all the juicy details, but I want Danny to be here to hear them too.”

“Well, stop looking at me then,” said Eleanor crossly. “You're making me feel nervous.”

“Sweetie, I'm just making sure you don't escape. Plus it's kind of fun watching you squirm. Obviously it was something embarrassing, or you wouldn't be doing your best impersonation of a tomato.”

Eleanor poked out her tongue, but Jake merely smiled smugly.

He was still smug twenty minutes later, though to be fair it was difficult to tell because of the almost hysterical laughter that was spouting from his lips. Danny, not to be outdone, was wiping away tears of mirth.

“That poor man,” said Danny, trying to talk through his chuckles. “I bet he wanted to fall through the floor. I can almost see his face … ”

“Well, I still
can
see his face, and honestly, the only person who wanted to fall through the floor was
me
. I thought baring my bottom in a public cafe was bad enough, but this goes way beyond the embarrassment that I felt that day.”

“I have to admit, Ella, you seem to be exposing yourself rather a lot these days,” remarked Jake, doing his best to keep a straight face but failing abysmally.

“It's all Max's fault,” muttered Eleanor, frowning at her muffin as if it was the man himself.

“Oh yes,
Max,
” said Jake, winking at Danny. “Come on, Sweetie, you haven't told us
everything
that happened yesterday, not by a long shot.”

Eleanor gave a brief — and edited — version of the previous evening's events, and was gratified to hear the various “oohs” and “ahs” coming from her friends.

“So he's coming back tonight. Actually, that's partly why I needed you to sneak me in, Jake. I'm supposed to be taking the rest of the week off. Boss's orders.”

“Let me get this straight,” said Danny, holding a hand up at Jake, who had been about to comment himself. “Your
cat
stopped you from doing the naked mambo with Charming?”

“You were about to say something, Jake?” asked Eleanor desperately.

“Oh no, it can wait. This is much more interesting.” Jake winked at Danny. “This'll be good.”

Eleanor sighed.

“Muse just got in the way, that's all. It was just one of those things.”

“Did she ‘say' anything at the time?” smirked Jake.

“No,” replied Eleanor, glaring. “I've already told you, she only seems to speak when I am alone. She had
plenty
to say as soon as Jake left.”

“I thought you were exaggerating with the whole kitty-talk thing?” said Danny, staring at Jake in shock.

“Nope.”

“I'm not nuts,” said Eleanor firmly. “I know you think I am, but I'm not.”

“You're letting your
cat
dictate your sex life, and yet you say you're not nuts,” said Danny. “Doesn't that strike you as odd?”

“Well of course, it's odd!” cried Eleanor. “But I think the fact that I think it
is
odd just proves that I'm not crazy.”

“There's logic in there somewhere,” remarked Jake. “I'm just not sure where.”

“Anyway, enough about my cat. Jake, what were you going to say before Danny waylaid you?”

“Oh, only that avoiding Charming might prove to be a bit difficult today.”

“Why?”

“Because he's spending most of the day with me,” replied Jake. “He wants to go through all of this year's shoots.”

“Why does he want to do that?” asked Danny in surprise.

“I don't know,” shrugged Jake. “But he's the boss, so he can do what he likes, can't he? Anyway, he said he'll be here at ten o'clock, so you've got about an hour or so before you need to find somewhere to hide.”

“Crap. Double crap.”

“Eloquent as always, Ella,” said Danny, stooping to kiss her on the cheek. “I'll leave you guys to it. Fill me in over lunch, yes?”

“If I'm still alive,” muttered Eleanor.

“Just keep a firm hold on your clothes,” advised Danny.

Half an hour later, Eleanor was in a cupboard, cursing her stubbornness. Several minutes before, Jake had peeked around the door to see if the coast was clear, and had promptly had a near heart attack at the sight of Charming approaching the office. Stifling an unmanly scream, Jake had proceeded to shuffle Eleanor into the stationary cupboard and hastily tell her to be quiet. Very quiet.

The stationary cupboard was thankfully roomy, so Eleanor was able to sit on the floor without being too uncomfortable. True, she had to hug her bent knees because there was nowhere for her arms to go, and she had to make sure that she didn't make any sudden movements in case she hit her head on the overhanging shelf, but for the most part she was fairly comfortable. Jake had also had the foresight to switch the light on, so at least she wasn't sitting in darkness.

A few moments later, Eleanor was wishing that Jake hadn't have been so thoughtful. Making its way slowly downwards from the upper shelf, descending on a strand of web, was possibly the biggest, hairiest spider in the world. Eleanor closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on the distant rumble of voices coming through the cupboard door, but it was no use. Her eyes might be closed, but her brain was still filled with the image of Scarily Big Spider landing on her face. She shoved her fist in her mouth to stifle the scream that was begging to be let out, and eased one eye open.

OhMyGod.

The spider was now level with her nose, and had apparently stopped its descent to the floor. Eleanor froze, and tried telling herself that the spider was probably far more scared than she was. The spider twitched and lowered another inch.

“Arrrggghhh!”

Eleanor scrambled to her feet and promptly saw stars as she bumped her head on a shelf.

“Owww!”

By now, the spider had climbed all the way back to the top of the cupboard and was scurrying into a dark corner, probably to avoid the scary woman who was banging on the cupboard door demanding to be let out. The mumbling voices grew louder, and after a few seconds the door was flung open and Eleanor found herself falling flat on her face.

“Er, hi,” she said uncomfortably. “Um, we appear to be out of A4, Jake.”

“Right,” he said, stepping backwards warily. “I'll get onto that right away. Top priority, wouldn't you say?”

Jake threw an apologetic look at Eleanor and made a hasty retreat. Eleanor scrambled to her feet and looked everywhere except at the man staring at her.

“Um, I'll just be off then. Back home, you know. Should probably rest my foot,” she rambled, limping over to her chair.

“Not so fast.”

“Now look,” said Eleanor soothingly. “I realize that I'm not really supposed to be here.”

“You don't say?”

Eleanor felt herself blush.

“I was only stopping by, really. I had to finish a really important job.”
Nice cover-up, Eleanor. Be calm, be airy, be unruffled.

“You needed to check the stationary supplies?” said Charming disbelievingly.

Crap.
“Er, yes. That is, it's supposed to be done once a month, and I hadn't got around to it yet. Couldn't leave it, it's very important.”

“Eleanor.”

“I mean, how am I supposed to send memos and letters if there isn't any paper?”

“Eleanor.”

“And ink. I really needed to check the ink supplies.”

“Eleanor!”

“Yes?”

“If you don't call a taxi to take you home in the next five seconds, I'm firing you.”

“What? You can't fire me because I
came
to work! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!”

“Three seconds.”

“All right, all right! I'm phoning!”

Eleanor grabbed the phone and dialed the number for the local taxi firm before Charming could say another word. After a promise that a car would be with her within twenty minutes — which was highly unlikely, knowing Cardiff's taxis — Eleanor thanked the operator and hung up.

“Satisfied?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“Not by a long shot,” replied Charming. “What on earth are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay home for the rest of the week!”

“I don't really do well with being bossed around,” said Eleanor shiftily.

“I'd never have guessed.”

“Hey, sarcasm isn't allowed,” muttered Eleanor, flopping down on her chair.

Charming walked over to her, pulled her to her feet, and practically threw her coat over her shoulders.

“Hey!” protested Eleanor.

“I'm taking you downstairs,” said Charming firmly.

“The taxi will be at least half an hour,” said Eleanor. “I'd much rather wait here.”

“And I'd much rather you weren't here at all, and seeing as I am the boss, my preferences take precedent.”

“Bully.”

“Stubborn minx.”

“This is harassment!”

“Trust me, you'd know if I was harassing you.”

There wasn't really an answer to that, so Eleanor poked her tongue out at his back.

“I saw that.”

“Saw what? There was nothing to see. And even if there was, you had your back to me, so you really couldn't have seen anything. Not that there was anything to see, because there wasn't.”

“Eleanor?”

“What?”

“Shut up.”

“Bully.”

“You already said that.”

Eleanor debated whether she should poke her tongue out again, but decided against it. Charming escorted her — well, frog-marched was more like it — to the ground floor and made her sit in the reception area. Derek was manning the desk, and looked up with surprise when he saw Eleanor. His face lit up and he made to greet her, but then he saw Charming and, turning an ugly shade of red, busied himself with some paperwork.

“Um, you had a chat with Derek, then?” whispered Eleanor awkwardly.

“Leeming? Yes, I had a chat with him, all right. I've confined him to reception for the next three months with strict instructions not to speak to any of the female staff unless it pertains to work-related subjects.”

“That's a bit harsh.”

“He's lucky I didn't sack him.”

“He's harmless, I already told you that.”

Charming looked at her pointedly, and Eleanor shifted uncomfortably.

“Eleanor, what is harmless today could be a case for sexual harassment tomorrow.”

“I'm sure you're over-reacting,” said Eleanor firmly.

“I'm not the one who resorted to hiding in order to avoid him yesterday.”

Damn
. Eleanor hated it when people used logic against her.

• • •

When Eleanor arrived home a little later, she wasn't in the best of moods. Her plan of resuming work thwarted, she now had almost three full days of nothingness stretched out in front of her. This was bad, very bad. It meant that she couldn't distract herself from the upcoming party — which she was still undecided about whether to attend — and the trouble with Christie. The ex-stepmother problem was gnawing at her, but there wasn't anything she could do about it because she had no idea what Christie was up to, and had no way of finding out, either. Friday's meeting loomed over Eleanor's head like a storm cloud, and she had an awful suspicion she was going to get thoroughly drenched by it before the week was over.

“I see you changed your mind about work,” said Muse innocently.

“My mind was bloody changed for me,” muttered Eleanor darkly. “That man is far too bossy for his own good.”

“He has to be bossy,” said Muse reasonably. “He
is
your boss, after all. And please watch your language.”

“Look, if I want to swear when I am alone, I'll bloody well swear, okay? As long as nobody hears me, it doesn't matter.”

“You're only making it harder for yourself, Ella. If you continue to swear at home, you'll forget yourself when you are in public, and
then
what would happen?”

“People will realize that I'm a normal woman who curses now and again?”

Muse glared — yes, glared, Eleanor was certain of it — at her.

“I suggest you try to find something to do,” sniffed Muse disdainfully. “Perhaps that wardrobe clean-out that you put off last week.”

“I didn't put it off; I was given something else to do, remember?”

“Yes, well, you certainly can't practice walking in your heels at the moment, can you?”

Bloody hell, and I thought I was in a bad mood.

• • •

Several bags were piled neatly by Eleanor's bedroom door a couple of hours later. She'd ransacked the wardrobe to such an extent that all she had left were a few pairs of jeans, three pairs of trousers, four blouses and half a dozen T-shirts. And the dress, of course. The beautiful strapless gown that Jake had purchased for her, that she loved immensely, but still wasn't sure about wearing to Gerry's party. If she even went, that is.

Even the corset and skirt combination that she had worn a few weeks ago didn't survive the clothing massacre. After the recent trend of exposing her body in inappropriate situations, Eleanor wasn't taking any chances. She eyed her results with satisfaction. True, she had very little left to wear, but she had a nice contribution for the local used clothing store, plus she had given away potential tools of embarrassment, so all in all it was a good afternoon's work.

Glancing at the clock, she smiled. She'd managed to waste three and a half hours, all of which were spent pleasantly avoiding thinking about things she didn't want to think about. Awesome. Then she looked at the clock again.