Law of Attraction (8 page)

“But you
could
dance,” protested Kay. “My tennis isn’t even as far up as the most basic level.” Already Kay was feeling happier. She and Michael had their old rapport back and she couldn’t really blame him for trying to help her. It had previously been agreed that more staff were needed. He disappeared into his room and Kay stood up, hung her jacket on the coat stand and consulted the drawing she’d made of the office furniture and the space it was to occupy. Just a few more changes to be made.

The office door flew open and an attractive young woman came confidently up to Kay. “I’m Vanessa,” she said, “Mike’s expecting me. Would you tell him I’m here?”

“Of course,” replied Kay, not taking to this forthright young woman at all. She was about to invite her politely to take a seat, when she saw that she had already done so.

Michael came bounding out to the reception area grinning at Vanessa. “How good of you to get here this morning,” he enthused. “Would you bring us some tea, Kay?” The two of them disappeared to Michael’s office, leaving Kay wondering what had happened to the suggestion that they would all have their drinks together. Still, it was
nothing to do with her. She was not the owner of the business and she had other things to do.

During the day Kay reluctantly had to admit that Vanessa was efficient as well as attractive. After being shown how the telephone transfers took place, she’d sent a couple of calls to Michael’s office and deflected another two or three by taking messages and passing them on. She also liked to chat.

“Isn’t it good that Mike’s going to be the boss? I think he’ll be ever so successful. The girls at the tennis club think he’ll want to settle down soon because he’ll need a wife to put on business dinners, host cocktail evenings and so on.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” Kay said, hoping that if she didn’t join in Vanessa would be quiet and let her concentrate. She was working through all the invoices trying to make things add up. Although she knew in the long term having Vanessa to take on some of the work load would be useful, at the moment she wasn’t fully occupied.

“I think…”

“Why don’t you nip out to the bakers and get some buns then make tea?” Kay really didn’t want anything to eat as the lunch Olive provided was more than adequate and she knew a big meal would be waiting for her when she got home.

“That’s not a good idea, Kay. I don’t want to put on weight and I’m sure you need to watch yours too. We don’t want Mike getting chubby either. I’ll just get myself a glass of water.”

Kay sighed and tried to ignore the endless chatter. She supposed she’d get used to Vanessa, but today she couldn’t wait for six o’clock to come round.

“It’s fun to be working for Mike,” said Vanessa at half past five. She fetched her coat from the coat stand and shrugged it on. Kay didn’t know what to say. If Vanessa had been an ordinary employee she’d have reminded her of the agreed hours, but she was Michael’s friend and so she kept quiet.

Having spent another hour typing more letters Michael had dictated that day Kay was ready to go home. Just as she was about to head back to Olive’s he appeared with a pile of papers in his hand. “I thought you could file these before you go.”

Kay was cross once again. “Why don’t you ask your pretty new receptionist to file them in the morning? It’s not as if she’s fully employed.”

Michael was quiet for a moment then said, “Really, Kay, I’m disappointed you feel that way. I thought better of you.”

Chapter Eight

“I’m really sorry I’m late, Olive. I had to stay and work on for a bit. I hope the meal’s not spoilt.”

“Not to worry. I’ve been to my friend’s house for a natter so I thought we’d get fish and chips tonight. You do like them, don’t you?” Olive took her purse from the table and waited for Kay’s response.

“Oh yes, I do, but let me go.”

“No, I need to keep active and I like a chat with the owners. You put some plates to warm in the oven and lay the table. Then make a cup of tea. Salt and vinegar?”

“Please.”

Kay did the allotted jobs then read her book while she waited. It wasn’t long before Olive was coming through the back door with Michael trailing behind her.

“Look who I found at the chip shop. The poor man was going to take fish and chips back to the office because he has so much work to do.”

Michael grinned at her. “That’s right, I had some filing to see to.”

“Filing!” Olive exclaimed. “You shouldn’t be doing that.”

“I know, but some members of my staff have minds of their own.” He winked at Kay and mouthed ‘Sorry’.

She couldn’t stay cross with him for long. She unwrapped the newspaper from her portion and breathed in the delicious aroma as it wafted into the room. “They look good. I’m starving.” Kay tucked in. “We had fish and chips every Friday at home.”

“You must miss your family. You don’t regret coming to Blayton do you?” Michael asked.

“Not at all. I’m very happy here when you’re not being a slave driver and when your new receptionist manages to stop talking for a few minutes.”

“She
is
a bit of a chatterbox. Would it be a help if you moved your desk into my office. I’m usually pretty quiet when I’m working. It would be nice.”

Olive stopped eating and looked at each of them in turn.

“That would be a very bad idea and you know it Michael. Whatever would the rest of the staff think?” Kay wished she could just agree, but she knew it wouldn’t be professional. “It will be fine. I’ll get used to Vanessa and she’ll be busier and have more people to talk to soon. Now if everyone has finished I’ll put the paper in the bin and make some more tea.”

* * *

Kay could hear an owl somewhere out in the night. She turned over and tried to get to sleep, but it was eluding her and she knew why. Michael was always in her thoughts even though she knew her feelings for him weren’t reciprocated. She went over the evening. How he’d winked at her and said sorry. She remembered the moment when his hand had brushed hers. She thought how lovely it would be to move into his office. If only…

She gave herself a talking to. She must separate work and her home life. She needed to pursue her hobbies and get to know new people. That had to be the answer. Tomorrow she would ask Olive what she knew about the possibilities for dancing in the town. There was the Orchid Ballroom, of course, but she wouldn’t want to go there on her own. She’d find out about classes and maybe learn one of the new dances. Having made the decision she turned over yet again and promptly fell asleep.

* * *

Olive admired the green and pink dress Kay was wearing. “You look lovely. You’ll be the belle of the ball.”

“Hardly. Don’t stay up will you, Olive? I won’t be very late, but I expect it will be past your bedtime. Did I tell you that tonight we’re going to learn a dance called the stroll? I think I know a little bit of it. Come on, Olive, let’s try, It’s a simple six count. I’m not sure, but it might go like this. Tap, tap, tap, step, break, step. And again.”

When Olive had collapsed in her armchair Kay grabbed her bag and skipped towards the door. “I’ll teach you properly when I’ve learnt all the steps.”

“I can’t wait,” Olive grinned as she caught her breath.

When Kay arrived at the venue it wasn’t quite what she’d been expecting. It was a plain wooden hall which wasn’t nearly as glamorous as the Orchid Ballroom. Kay hoped the whole evening wouldn’t be a big disappointment, but as soon as she walked in she was pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of the people there.

A tall thin man, who introduced himself as Len, stood in the centre of the hall. “Welcome to you all, especially any new members.” It seemed to Kay that all eyes were on her and she felt a bit shy. “As usual we’ll walk through the steps before going on to practise them with music. Just follow me.” He turned his back on the gathering and took them through their paces a couple of times. Then he put a crackly record on the gramophone and the music echoed out.

For Kay, it was much easier to move with the music as it transported her. Her fluid movements were noticed it appeared as, when the music stopped, there were several admiring glances in her direction.

“You’ve danced before,” said Len.

“Not the stroll, but yes I used to dance although I haven’t for a while. Not like this.”

“You’re a natural,” he said. “Everybody find a partner, one you’ve not danced with before. That way you get to know each other. We’re one man short so I’ll dance this week. You’ve done well with the new routine, but we’ll return to the old tried and trusted ones now, shall we?”

Kay found she was dancing with a pleasant young man who trod on her toes and clasped her too tightly, but she didn’t mind. It was good to be on the dance floor again. Dancing with Michael had been different; this was learning new skills. She picked up the threads easily and remembered the moves. She smiled as she thought of getting Olive to dance again. The music finished and Kay’s partner reluctantly let someone else take his place.

After an hour had passed Kay felt hot and her feet ached a bit with the unaccustomed movements. “Tea break,” called Len. “The urn’s on.”

“I could do with something a bit stronger than tea,” gasped one of the men.

“Me too,” added a young woman, fanning herself with her hand. “Are we going for a drink afterwards as usual?”

“Yes, you must come with us, Kay. It’s nice to have another pretty woman in the group.”

When they’d had their tea, Len put on another record and invited them to take their partners for a waltz. “That’s an easy one for you all to enjoy,” he said.

The evening passed pleasantly and Kay was sorry to leave the hall, but was looking forward to going to the pub along the road with the group. She was making new friends and it felt good.

“Kay,” called Len, “I forgot to say that there’s a competition soon. Would you like me to enter you?”

She had no hesitation in nodding her head.

“I’ll let you have the details next week.”

At last she was starting to achieve her independence.

Kay was surprised to see the lights on in Elm Close when she arrived home. She let herself in quietly in case Olive was asleep in her chair. Tiptoeing into the sitting room, she was greeted with a smile from her landlady. “I had to wait up and see how you got on,” she said standing up. “The milk’s in the pan. Come through to the kitchen and tell me all about it.”

“It was great fun,” enthused Kay, keeping Olive amused with the goings on of the evening while the milk boiled. “And we went to the pub.”

“You sound as if I’d be shocked at that revelation,” grinned Olive.

Kay knew her mother would be. “And you’re not?”

“Not at all.”

Olive Carter was full of surprises, thought Kay as she sipped her cocoa. It was nearly midnight and Kay was pleased that tomorrow was Saturday and she didn’t have to set her alarm clock.

Up in her room she pirouetted lightly around the room, her pretty dress circling around her. She’d not take much rocking tonight, she reflected.

But once in bed with the quietness of the night around her, Kay found her thoughts returning to Michael. A lot had happened in the past few days. When she closed her eyes all she could see was Michael and Vanessa laughing together and she was excluded.

* * *

When Kay eventually wandered down to the kitchen in her dressing gown to fetch a cup of tea Olive insisted she tell her every last detail of the previous evening once again. Kay was happy to oblige and also happy to watch her landlady baking.

“That fruit cake mix looks delicious.”

“You can lick the bowl out when I’ve put the mixture in the tin,” Olive said before checking the temperature of the oven.

As Kay was scraping the sides of the bowl with a spoon she remembered Michael saying that they hadn’t ordered a cake for his dad’s retirement do. “Do you ever bake cakes for other people?” she asked.

“Sometimes people ask me. I do a few iced Christmas cakes for friends.”

“Would you be happy to make the retirement cake for Michael’s dad? You’ll be paid properly for it.”

“I’d love to. Just let me have enough to cover the cost of the ingredients. When you’re dressed we’ll go to the grocer’s and get what we need.”

* * *

The weekend had been hectic. After getting the shopping Olive had continued to make cakes on Saturday while Kay busied herself with a bit of housework, and on Sunday they’d walked around the park and up and down the High Street, with Olive showing Kay the points of interest. Even with all that activity, Olive’s hip had still allowed her to stand long enough to cook an extremely mouth-watering Sunday lunch of roast beef with all the trimmings with an apple pie and custard for pudding.

But now it was Monday morning and Kay made sure she was in the office early as it would be open officially for business today from ten o’clock. There was no sign of Vanessa and Kay decided not to mention her absence.

“Hello, Kay. Good weekend?” asked Michael following her in.

“Very nice, thanks. I hope yours was, too.” Kay wondered what he’d been doing, but didn’t like to ask.

He just smiled at her. “Where’s Vanessa?”

“Not in yet. How far does she have to come?”

“I gave her a lift. She asked me to drop her at the front door before I parked the car. I thought she’d be at her desk by now. It doesn’t matter, she won’t be long.”

Kay tried hard not to feel jealousy at Vanessa being given a lift to work by Michael. He’d offered her a lift a few times and she’d refused so it was her own fault. The telephone rang and Kay hurried to answer it, picking up a pencil to jot down a message.

Luckily the recruiting of more office staff had been easier than Kay had imagined. Apart from Vanessa there would be two typists, and two accounting staff starting that morning. After what Michael had confided in her about Charlie, she hoped that these latter would be honest. There was a gentle tap at the door and when it opened, Kay ended her phone call and cried out, “Susan, how lovely to see you. Come on in and inspect the new office. I’m so pleased I’m not the only one who transferred here.” Susan had been a very efficient typist at the offices of Harris and Son.

“Which is my desk? Is Mr Michael in? We have missed him.” Susan hung up her jacket and put her bag in the drawer of the desk Kay indicated she would occupy. “By the way, Betty sends her best wishes. She says she’s written you a letter. She can’t wait to visit you. We haven’t seen hide nor hair of Charlie.”

“He’s working for a rival firm here in Blayton,” said Kay, hoping she hadn’t said too much, but it would be general knowledge around the town and Susan might bump into him.

The door opened again and the other new employees sidled in and Kay gave them her attention, showing them their places and introducing Susan.

At one minute before ten o’clock Vanessa arrived looking cool and serene. “Just been to have my hair done,” she explained. “It’s a big day, isn’t it? Opening a new office.” She glanced at Kay’s hair quickly before adding, “Well I’m the receptionist and I’m the first person a client sees so I have to make a good impression.”

If you’re around to make one, seethed Kay to herself. There was no time for introductions as Michael came out of his office. He immediately walked over to Vanessa. Typical, Kay thought to herself, but then she heard what he was saying. “I expect you’ll be working through your lunch hour to make up for your lateness. And now I’d like you to make tea for us all and as soon as it’s ready let me know. I’m going to welcome everyone and explain a few things.” As he walked back to his office he winked at Kay.

For the next ten minutes Kay could hear the loud rattling of crockery and slamming of cupboard doors. She hoped Vanessa would realise this was a proper job and that there were plenty of people who would be more than happy to take her place.

The rest of the week passed busily as there was a lot of interest generated by the new firm with potential clients popping in to get copies of their terms of business. Two new partners had taken up their positions and were often huddled in meetings with Michael, occasionally requiring Kay to come and take shorthand notes to be typed up. Susan operated the duplicator and the office was a hive of activity.

“How are you getting on with the other partners?” asked Michael during an unexpectedly slack moment.

“I like them,” declared Kay. “But I was surprised that Alastair wasn’t asked to join you, mainly because he’s known to your family.”

Michael put his arm around Kay and said, “I thought you took a dislike to him and I don’t want you working in an environment where you feel threatened and uncomfortable.”