Inspired by Night: - a sexy new age romance (11 page)

The following morning I scrutinised the packaging on the Crunchy Nut cornflakes. It informed me there were 131 calories in a 30-gram serving. That was OK. One hundred and thirty one down, one thousand, six hundred and eighty six to go. I started pouring the cereal when I remembered Chris had said I would need to measure and weigh things. I had no idea what thirty grams of cereal looked like. I rooted around the kitchen cupboard until I found some scales, dusting off the layer of dust and setting the weight of the bowl to zero. Thirty grams was reached in no time. Really, I thought. That’s all? I reasoned that I could afford to double it and measured out 60 grams. I grabbed the milk and noticed the nutritional sticker. One hundred millilitres equalled fifty calories. I found a measuring jug, and measured out 100 millilitres and poured it over my cereal. I frowned and poured another measure. Better. I could live with that. I usually had the milk right up the top of the bowl so I could drink the leftovers at the end, the milk tasting of honey and nuts from the cereal. One meal down, 362 calories spent, 1455 remaining. Plenty of calories left.

I made a mental note to ask Steph if she knew how many calories her sandwiches contained and which had the lowest amount. 

Chapter Twelve

I arrived at work early; I wanted to be in my office and working when Steven arrived. Last week had been physically busy and active and had been a welcome distraction. Steven had so far been true to his word and not mentioned anything about ‘us’ since he had pounced on me. I wondered when he would ask me out on a date and occasionally found myself practicing my responses, ranging from rolling my eyes and shaking my head, sighing, and saying ‘too soon’, to screaming at him in exasperation.

I knew it was what I wanted and that I should be relieved he’d finally listened to me, but a part of me couldn’t shake the feeling of disappointment that he had stopped relentlessly pursuing me.

I heard the door open and the sound of his chair rolling away from his desk.

‘Hello?’ He called. I opened my office door and popped my head around the edge. I faltered as I saw him. His hair had that ‘just got out of bed look’ that other men spend hours perfecting and he was wearing black jeans that hung off his hips and fell to the floor, his Converse peeping out under the frayed edges. He was wearing a patterned shirt, open at the neck, his sleeves rolled up revealing slightly tanned arms. He probably spent his weekend outdoors and caught some sun. The colour suited him.

‘Oh hey,’ he grinned, ‘I forgot about your executive office space. Are you all settled in now then?’

‘I am. It’s swanky. I like it.’ I laughed. Swanky was hardly the word for it but it was nice enough. It was my space again, a miniature replica of the main office that had been my sanctuary. I had a large heavy desk in front of the window and I’d treated myself to an executive chair, more expensive than necessary but comfortable. I’d have to be careful I didn’t find myself snoozing in the afternoon.

I’d acquired a black and white chequered rug for the floor and I’d painted the walls a warm cream colour to make the pictures stand out. I’d had canvas prints made of all the various apps I’d programmed over the last three years. A leather sofa matching the chair filled the wall next to the main door with a small coffee table for meetings. I never had understood why meetings should be formal, uncomfortable affairs sat around a table. Why couldn’t we relax on a sofa and chat over a brew?

Steven popped his head around the door and whistled through his teeth.

‘It’s nice. Of course it’s not as big as my office,’ he laughed sweeping his arm indicating the main room, ‘does that make me more important that you?’

‘Of course,’ I smirked, ‘you’re the one who does all the work!’

He laughed and shrugged.

‘Better make a start then, but first, can I get you a cup of tea, madam?’ He asked theatrically.

I grinned and nodded.

Steph sounded strange on the phone when I spoke to her and I remembered about Friday night. I wondered if anything had happened and was displeased by the stab of jealousy that shot through me as I considered it a possibility. She laughed when I asked her if she knew the number of calories in her sandwiches.

‘Olly, I work with food every day, it’s my life, of course I know how many calories are in my sandwiches. If you ever bothered to come in and look at a menu, you’d know too.’

‘Awesome, can you bring me a menu at lunch time? Today I’ll just have my usual.’ I had thought checking calories would be difficult but it was turning out to be really easy. All the food packages had them printed on and Steph included it on her menu. Perhaps she recognised there was a whole market of calorie counters and that’s why she’s always so busy.

‘What’s the boy having?’ she asked; her tone was almost too disinterested to be genuine. Something must have happened on Friday. I was slightly relieved that whatever had happened wasn’t something Steph was excited about. My jealous head crawled back to its crypt. I had no right to be jealous anyway.

‘Not sure, I’ll put you through to him.’ I pressed the transfer button and dialled his number. It had taken me ages to work out how to programme these phones over the weekend and I hadn’t had a chance to tell him about it yet. I doubted he had even noticed the new phone on his desk. I could see him through the open door and noticed his amusement when he saw the phone. He glanced up at me puzzled as he answered the phone.

‘Inspired, Steven speaking,’

‘It’s me. Got Steph on the phone for you.’ I pressed the transfer button again and replaced the handset. He was still watching me through the door, his bemused expression making him look adorable. I shook my head and looked away.

I was working on the new business plan when he appeared in my doorway, his eyes smiling in amusement.

‘Everything’s changed,’ he said, ‘new swanky office, new phones. What’s next?’

‘We’re getting a server put in next month, shared drives, all that stuff, it’ll make it easier for multiple staff to work on the same project. I figured my haphazard ways were fine when it was just me but if I’m going to attract a good team, I need to have better systems in place.’

‘I hope it won’t get too streamlined though, I kinda like your haphazard approach.’ He seemed almost sad and I wondered if I was in danger of losing the identity I’d built up. I dismissed that notion, after all the systems were about control, the staff increase was about expanding production, and I would need to be able to monitor the progress of everyone. I held his gaze for a while and smiled.

‘I sort of feel like you’ve been here a lot longer than two weeks,’ I frowned. ‘I should’ve done all this before you started, then you wouldn’t have known any different.’

‘I guess you didn’t know if you could cope with staff before I started, though. I’m quite flattered actually.’ He cocked his head to one side and smiled at me, his eyes twinkling. I could see thoughts passing through his mind, things he wanted to say, but he stopped himself each time. I returned his smile and put him out of his misery.

‘You’ll still be my favourite, I’m sure.’

His grin widened across his face, he stood looking relaxed against the doorframe, but his clenched fists betrayed his struggle to restrain himself from crossing the room and demonstrating his feelings.

‘I was going to request that you only hire women but I realised it might make me sound a bit like a pervert, when I actually just want to eliminate any competition.’

‘Competition is healthy though, I know I have my fair share of it.’ I raised one eyebrow wondering if he might shed some light on Friday night. I didn’t want to bring it up but I was curious about Steph’s mood. Instead he shrugged and backing away from the door he challenged me.

‘Maybe you should hurry up and grab me before someone else does then?’

I shook my head, smiling, and returned my concentration to the business plan. I hated business planning. It was so dull. I never quite understood why I had to spend so much time writing down my intentions when I could just be getting on with the work. I let my thoughts wander and realised I was feeling content since my little exchange with Steven. Nothing had changed. He still wanted me.

I heard the door burst open as Steph’s trolley clumsily forced its way through into the main office. I stood up and leant in the doorway of my room and watched her as she followed it through.

‘I hear you’re expanding?’ She smiled with interest at me, ignoring Steven as she handed him his sandwich. He had removed his headphones and was frowning at the obvious snub. I smiled to myself as I watched his face fall with disappointment when he opened his sandwich, expecting the generous helping he’d received before and saw the standard portion the rest of us were used to. His eyes met mine and we both shrugged slightly.

I took my sandwich off her and nodded towards the office to show her.

‘Wow, it’s fancy. Look at you Miss Olivia Jones, executive manager boss lady.’

I laughed at her description.

‘We acquired the next room too, same size as this one.’ I indicated the main room and continued, ‘I’ll have lots more lovely new customers for your lunch rounds soon!’

‘Ah now that is what I like to hear!’ She agreed. Finally she glanced over at Steven who was watching our exchange with an expression of mild confusion. ‘How’s your girlfriend?’ She asked him coldly. He frowned and shook his head, the corners of his mouth moving down into an upside down smile and he shrugged for good measure. I felt a prickling sensation on the back of my neck as she continued, ‘Melissa? Is that her name? The girl in the pub on Friday.’ Steven closed his eyes and breathed out slowly.

‘That girl is relentless, she’s like a zombie,’ he said bitterly. His eyes met mine and he shook his head. ‘I didn’t go home with her though. I definitely woke up alone in my own bed on Saturday morning.’ Relief flooded through me, but I had no idea how he had managed to avoid her. I looked at Steph to see if she was going to say anything more and she laughed angrily.

‘No, she dragged you off to the toilets and had her wicked way with you there.’

Both Steven and I looked at her, horrified. His face flushed red and he avoided my gaze. I tried to remind myself that he was young, single, attractive, male, and human. I had no right to feel hurt, betrayed, or angry. But I felt all three.

‘Yeah Dave was worried about you and sent me in to check you were OK.’

He watched her for a long while to see if she would continue. I grew impatient, I don’t know why I wanted to hear it but I did. I wanted to know exactly what had happened.

‘And?’ I snapped. She looked at me surprised and I tried to smile with an air of mild interest.

‘He was fucking her over the sink.’ I saw Steven drop his face into his hands, my own face registered blank confusion, Steph sighed, ‘from behind. She was watching him in the mirror. He didn’t actually look like he was particularly happy about it, mind you.’ she looked over at him with disgust and then shook her head at me.

I shrugged, shaking my head.

‘Maybe it’s true what they say about men’s brains being in their trousers huh? Must be liking a homing missile, always able to find a landing pad no matter how much the heart is saying no.’ I saw Steven slump further onto his desk as he heard my words.

‘The most disturbing part was the way she looked at me when she saw me in the mirror. She was so smug, getting caught clearly turned her on, she was so noisy.’ Steph shuddered, ‘Slut!’

‘I wonder how many people saw them?’

‘It was pretty late, there weren’t many people left, but I would imagine a few.’ We watched Steven replace his headphones, drowning us out, not wanting to hear anymore. I turned to Steph.

‘How do you feel?’

‘Honestly? On the one hand I felt disgusted, totally put me off him. On the other hand, I sort of wished it had been me he’d fucked in the toilets. Although,’ she glanced behind her at his face filled with horror and shrugged ‘I’d prefer he remembered it and was happy about it too.

‘Was he particularly drunk?’ I asked. Steph considered it for a moment and shrugged.

‘Well, I guess he was sober enough to know what he was doing, but apparently drunk enough to have forgotten about it.’

‘Well he escaped her last weekend. She clearly wasn’t letting him do it again.’ I concluded.

My jealousy evaporated and was replaced with sympathy. I wanted to go to him, comfort him, but I couldn’t until Steph left. I sensed his grief was worsened by my knowledge of the incident. I wanted to reassure him but it occurred to me that this could help put a bit of distance between us. I was confused once more about what to do and decided to just wait and see what feeling took over. I moved towards the kitchenette to make a cup of tea. Tea, the nation’s healer, made everything better.

Steph handed me a menu.

‘I take it the great diet starts today?’ she teased. I nodded, ‘OK, well I usually give you more generous helpings but for my average customer these calories are true so I will start making yours to this standard in future if you prefer.’

‘Thanks, Steph,’ I squeezed her shoulder as she turned to leave.

I took longer than necessary to make the tea. I placed both mugs on the table by the sofas and made my way to Steven. He knew I was there but he wouldn’t look at me. I took hold of one of his hands, forcing him to stop typing and look up me. His eyes were heavy with sadness and shame. I removed his headphones and nodded my head to the sofa. He pushed himself up and let me lead him the sofa. Sitting down I pulled him down into the seat next to me and put my arms round him, hugging him. His body was tense and I kissed the top of his head, stroking my fingers through his hair and rubbing his shoulder in soothing circles. He eventually relaxed, defeated, and slumped against me sighing.

‘I’m so sorry,’ he whispered in my ear. I shushed him gently. I couldn’t bear the thought of him with her, or anyone else for that matter, but he’d done nothing wrong, weird maybe, but not wrong, not to me. He had nothing to apologise for. His distress was palpable, but I couldn’t fully understand it. It’s not as though sex with Melissa was a new thing. A warning played in the back of my mind; if he was so susceptible to Melissa, could I trust him to be faithful to me if we were together? I made a mental note to be sure she was off the scene before I considered anything between us. I needed to be sure about him and he needed to sort out his baggage.