Inspired by Night: - a sexy new age romance (2 page)

‘Of course. Hey, Steph, I have a new member of staff to add to your list. Steven Teller.’

I handed the phone over to Steven, and a flicker of uncertainty crossed his face before a huge grin spread across it and he spoke confidently into the phone.

‘Hi, Steph. This is Steven, how are you?’ He laughed at whatever she said and he looked across at me smiling. ‘Yeah, she’s made me a cup of tea and everything. I thought I’d be the one making the teas around here!’

I raised my eyebrows and muttered, ‘Oh you will be.’

Steven finished his lunch order and replaced the handset. He grinned at me like he knew something he shouldn’t. Damn Steph, what had she told him about me?

It was not going as I’d expected. Why wasn’t he more scared of me? I was the boss, for goodness’ sake!

I shuffled together the papers I had in front of me and handed them to him.

‘Induction pack. There are a few forms to fill in and I need your bank details for your salary. I’ll leave you to it; give me a shout when you’re done.’

‘Sure thing,’ he replied, ‘I have a form for you too from the university.’

He held out a booklet towards me. Really?
He
was giving
me
work to do? This was all wrong. I could feel the crease between my eyebrows forming.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

‘It’s to do with the internship programme; they need to know that I’m fulfilling the criteria set out by the programme organisers.’

Oh yes, that was the other reason I’d chosen him. Steven was on a fast-track intern programme, which matched up suitable graduates for twelve months’ work experience. The salary was part subsidised by the programme so I got him cheap. I had not realised that this would cause me more work. I really needed to get an assistant.

‘So what is he like?’ Ruth asked me, tucking her feet underneath her body as she curled up comfortably in my armchair that evening. She knew I was stressing out about managing someone and was eager to find out how the first day had gone.

‘He’s annoying,’ I sighed. ‘No, he’s not annoying, he’s just young and cocky and sure of himself.’

‘Aren’t those last two the same thing?’

‘Cocksure? I guess so. He called me Olly.’ I folded my arms across my chest defensively and frowned.

She gasped, mocking me. ‘That bastard, calling you by your name.’ She laughed. ‘Everyone calls you Olly.’ Ruth was too reasonable sometimes; always saw the good side to everyone and everything.

‘Yes but you know me. He should call me Olivia, or Miss Jones even.’ I stopped when I saw the smirk on Ruth’s face and started laughing, ‘OK, maybe not Miss Jones, but you know, it’s a little familiar to go shortening people’s names before you even know how they take their tea. Not one single cup of tea did he make me today, I had to make my own.’

Ruth rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. ‘How is that any different from all the time you’ve been working for yourself?’ she asked sternly.

‘Ah, but now I have to make two cups! I mean what am I paying him for if not to make me my tea?’ I shrugged and let out a dramatic sigh. ‘I don’t want to go in tomorrow.’ I grumbled.

‘I’m absolutely certain he’s not that bad. Maybe he was just nervous and hid it behind bravado. I bet he’s not as sure of himself as you think he is.’

I pondered this for a moment.

‘Well I’ll be nice, but it’s his bloody turn to make a brew!’

‘So what does he look like? Is he cute?’ Ruth teased, ‘Or does he look like an über-nerd?’

‘I don’t know, he’s about twelve or something,’ I gasped incredulously, ‘I didn’t notice whether he was attractive.’ I thought about what Steven looked like, ‘He’s quite trendy looking; all skinny jeans and big hair. Looks more like a gig promoter than a computer geek.’

Ruth’s eyes lit up as she laughed. ‘He sounds pretty hot, no wonder you hate him!’ She threw a cushion at me. ‘You should just start being nice to him,’ she added in all seriousness.

I shrugged. ‘I made him four cups of tea today. If I were any nicer it would be borderline sexual harassment.’

I grinned then and she laughed, regarding me quizzically. ‘What on earth is wrong with your hair?’

Chapter Three

I vowed to get over my stupid prejudice toward Steven the next day, so when he arrived I made him a cup of tea and showed him where everything was kept so he could help himself. OK, maybe I was trying to hint he should get a round in once in a while, but I did it in the name of workplace fairness, not because I resented making him a drink.

We sat down at the meeting table and I spread out a few client files.

‘These are the jobs we’ve got booked in at the moment. They are in various stages of development with the clients. I want you to start sitting in on future meetings so you’ll be in a position to work on the coding.’ I pushed the files towards him, ‘Have a read through them and if you have any questions give me a shout. I want to go through the new contract with you this afternoon. It’s a big job, the reason I had to expand, so I want you involved from the beginning.’

There now, that wasn’t so hard. No employment tribunals heading my way any time soon. I found it strange sharing my work space with someone, especially someone I hardly knew. I kept thinking he was going to get up any second, thank me for my time and leave so I could get on with my work. It’s like having a visitor who doesn’t know when he’s outstayed his welcome. I knew I would need to find a way to feel comfortable working while someone was there. I was sure that in time, when we got used to each other, I would wonder how I ever worked alone.

The door opening signalled the arrival of lunch.

‘Hey, chicken!’ Steph called, a hint of laughter in her voice.

I groaned as she started singing, ‘Chick chick chick chick chicken,’ and then laughed at Steven’s bemused expression.

‘I’m sorry, chick. Your song was just on the radio while I was making chicken butties, it got stuck!’ She placed my usual lunch on my desk and wandered over to Steven to deliver his sandwich bag.

‘She doesn’t like to talk about her music career,’ Steph whispered as she placed his food on the desk. Steven’s eyebrows shot up and he turned to stare at me, torn between his own curiosity to know what she meant and Steph’s warning not to ask me. He opened his mouth to speak, unsure what to say and stuttered for a while. I shook my head at Steph and then nodded towards the wall. Steven’s gaze moved to, and settled on, two frames, the first setting off a computer animated character called Jerk Chicken, the second displaying a gold disc.

‘You created Jerk Chicken?’ he whispered.

‘I’m surprised she even eats chicken any more, she’s so sick of that thing!’ Steph said, grinning.

‘Jerk Chicken wasn’t the problem – it was that stupid song. I don’t know why I agreed to it.’ I shook my head.

‘My cousin wanted a Jerk Chicken plush toy,’ Steven mumbled.

‘Well there’s a cupboard full of them over there. Help yourself, you’ll be doing me a favour,’ I laughed.

Jerk Chicken was a 3-D character I created for a project while I was in my final year at university. A slack-jawed, stupid chicken singing, “Chick chick chick chick chicken.” A few years later, I uploaded it to YouTube and within a week, it had over a million views. It went viral; I even received the link myself by email on twenty-three separate occasions.

Then I got a call from a record label wanting to release a single, a dance remix with Jerk Chicken sampled throughout it. They wanted me to make a video to go with it, of course. At the time, I was in shock that my stupid university project had become so infamous, but then I received the draft contract from the record company and I couldn’t believe the amount of money they were offering me. I didn’t have to think long to realise I could leave my job and set up on my own, knowing this song would earn me more than enough money to live off for a few years while I was getting my business started.

As it turned out, I needn’t have worried; Jerk Chicken made my CV look pretty good and work had been regularly knocking on my door since I started three years ago. But the song was everything I hated about music and it remained a constant source of embarrassment to know that all the merchandise and licensing agreements for Jerk Chicken, which earned me so much money, stemmed from that record.

Steven continued staring at me in, what was that? Awe? I felt a flush creep up over my face, which made Steph laugh as she left the office, whistling the tune to herself.

‘Wow,’ he said finally, ‘I mean don’t get me wrong, the song was awful, obviously.’ I shrugged my shoulders and nodded in agreement as he continued, ‘But when I first saw that YouTube video, seriously, I could not stop watching it. I can’t even tell you how many people I sent that link to,’ he grinned. ‘Wow, I’m working for Jerk Chicken!’

‘I hope that my track record following Jerk Chicken is far more impressive than my university project piece?’ I scowled at him.

His eyes widened and he stopped grinning.

‘Oh sure, yes of course, I mean I’ve played your games and they’re some of the best game apps I’ve played,’ he trailed off and I sighed.

‘Yeah, but it’s Jerk Chicken. I know,’ I threw a plush toy at him. ‘Why don’t you honour your newly respected leader with a cuppa?’

‘Coming right up, boss,’ he grinned and bounced towards the kitchenette.

Steven placed a mug of tea and a plate of cookies in front of me and sat down. ‘Homemade,’ he said by way of explanation. They looked amazing – soft and chewy with big chunks of chocolate. I could feel my mouth watering and my stomach clearing a path for the inevitable influx. I mostly follow a ‘seafood’ diet, as in, I see food and I eat it.

‘They look amazing,’ I mumbled as I reached out to take one, trying to be a little calm about it and not just shovelling it into my mouth like I wanted to. The smell alone was driving me crazy; they were so fresh. I will never think badly of Steven again. I bet James wouldn’t have brought these little pieces of heaven to my door.

‘I made some notes about the current projects. I hope you don’t mind?’ Steven said, forcing me to concentrate on work and not biscuits. He pushed a sheet of paper towards me. He’d made some good points about the brief for a mobile phone app, currently unresolved between myself and my client Jack, mainly because he wanted a level of interactivity I didn’t think was possible within the brief.

‘It’s quite a new technique that I was working on in my final project and I think it could work with this,’ Steven finished up and I realised I’d missed half of what he said, but recognised he was offering a solution that would please the client. That would also mean having to hand over a large chunk of the project to Steven because I hadn’t updated my skills yet.
Damn it.
I knew I was being stupid feeling resentful and even perhaps a little bit jealous, but I couldn’t help it. This was my project, I’d worked hard to win it, and to hand it over to someone else made me feel inadequate. But isn’t that why you hired him, I asked myself. Because his skills are completely up to date? And because I had too much work coming in to do alone. I
had
to hand some of it over. I bit into another cookie. Oh homemade cookie, I sighed inwardly, if only everything were as simple and lovely as you. I nodded at Steven.

‘Congratulations, kid, you just won your first job. Can you put together a plan of how this will work, and we’ll meet with Jack later this week?’

Steven stared at me, then shook himself.

‘Yes, yes of course, thank you. Wow, are you sure?’

‘Of course I’m sure, now take these away from me before I eat them all.’ I reluctantly pushed the plate of cookies towards him and stood up.

‘Do you still want to go through the new contract with me?’ he asked, reminding me why we had sat down at the meeting table together. Humph! I grumped inwardly. So you can steal that away from me too?

‘I do, but I’ll put together an overview and email it to you tomorrow. I think if you can get your plan started this afternoon and we can go finalise it with Jack you can get cracking on this as soon as possible. I was going to have you share the new contract because I wouldn’t be able to do both by myself, but if you can take this one off my hands I’ll be able to do more of the new one.’

I grinned then, as I realised we were embarking on two big pieces of work at the same time: quite an achievement for a small time developer. In the past, I’d worked on a client project for six months and then worked on something of my own, dividing my time between commissions and developing something I
hoped
would sell and earn me lots of money. Taking on two clients at once was a big step, but seeing Steven’s enthusiasm made me feel excited about expanding. Maybe I’d take on some more staff, after all. Someone who would make the tea, for instance!

Chapter Four

The familiar notification sound clicked on my laptop signalling an instant message. I was updating my Facebook status and accepting some friend requests. Steven had added me on Monday night but I was only just checking my account three days later. The instant message was from him, thanking me for adding him as a friend. I debated whether to reply or just ignore it. On the one hand I didn’t really want my employee intruding in my life outside work, but on the other hand I didn’t want to be rude. I typed,
You’re welcome, see you tomorrow
, and hit enter. Then I closed my laptop and switched on the television. No doubt there would be a message waiting for me next time I logged in that I wouldn’t need to reply to.

The following morning, Steph arrived early with our sandwiches and sat down on the sofa, closing her eyes for a few moments’ respite from the rush of the café. Friday mornings were always busy, with everyone treating themselves to breakfast, although lunchtimes were often quiet with people going out to the market or the pub for lunch.

The office was an old infant classroom which had areas built in which would have served as a play shop or play house. There was also plumbing built in for a cleaning area for arts and craft activities, which Dave had used to build in the kitchenette.