Seven Days: The Complete Story (17 page)

If you
discount the fact that this is the most awkward situation on Earth,
that is.

On my right,
Nicholas is calmly informing the staff about the beginning stages
of demolition and construction. He's pretending I don't exist.
Across the table Joel looks like a sulky five year old. I'm torn
between wanting to run and hide and wanting to stay and listen
because this is, by far, the most exciting day of my short
professional life. Which makes me sort of sad because I have this
sinking feeling that I might not be here tomorrow. I think Joel
might be going to kill me. And it’s not my fault. If anyone needs
murdering here, it’s obviously Mr Lawson.

At last the
meeting is over. Beside me, Nicholas has stacked his papers into a
neat pile and pushed back his chair. “Is it okay if I borrow Sadie
for a while, Jill? I'll send her home after we finish.”

Finish? Finish
what? He better not be thinking he can take up where we left off in
his office because that will not be happening.

“Sure. I'll
see you bright and early tomorrow, Sadie. Wear your work clothes.
We'll be going down to supervise the final stages of the garden
I've been doing at Highfield.”

“Great. See
you in the morning.”

I look over to
Nicholas who's waiting by the door. “Let's go,” he says.

I follow
Nicholas along the hall. He's walking so fast I practically have to
run to keep up. I don't know why were hurrying. I'm not in a hurry
to hear what ever it is he seems so intent on sharing.

We get to his
office and he flings the door off its hinges before ushering me in.
I'm nervous now. I know what happens when we're alone and it can't
happen here. It can't. I have to be professional. This is a place
of work.

“Take a seat.”
He's being very formal for someone who's licked parts of my body
that are never seen in public.

I perch
nervously on the edge of a leather sofa, crossing my ankles in the
ladylike way my mother taught me.

Nicholas puts
the stack of documents on the desk and turns to face me. He leans
back, half sitting on the side of the desk. A smile quirks the
corner of his mouth. “I think you owe me an explanation.”

What the?

An
explanation? What have I done?

“I'm not the
one who got the other person here under false pretences,” I say. I
thought he had me here to tell me he’d missed me. Instead he’s
telling me off for something I didn’t do.

“It's not
false pretences. You're here to work. Jill can be a slave driver
when she wants to. And a bitch about perfection. It's part of what
makes her good at her job. You’ll learn a lot.” He gives me a sober
look.

I glare back
at him. “You know what I mean. You’re changing the subject. You
knew
I was the intern. I know the Uni gave you my contact
details and my student photo. The least you could have done was
email me and let me know it was you I was working for, so I didn't
look like a dick in front of everyone.”

“I could have,
but I didn’t see the need. I didn’t think you’d show.”

I don’t know
if being this close to Nicholas is disturbing my train of thought
but I don’t understand.

“Come on,
Sadie. You’re a bright kid. You didn’t expect me to believe you
were unaware it was me you were coming to work with?”

“I’m not a
kid!”

His eyes rake
approvingly over my body, shown off to the max in Emily’s
tight-fitting outfit. He grins. “Bad choice of words.”

“Can you be
serious, please?”

I. Do. Not.
Have. Time. For. This.

“I am. But the
sight of your arse in that skirt keeps distracting me.” He takes a
step toward me. He’s looking straight into my eyes; his own are
clouded with desire and I’m starting to melt, damn him. This cannot
happen. I have a boyfriend. We’re practically married. I stand up,
straightening the damn skirt, taking him on.

“I didn’t know
who Hardwick & Lawson were. If I had, I would never have come
today. And I have no intention of returning tomorrow; so don’t go
getting any ideas. I don’t care if you’re the King of
Architecture.”

I’d rather
fail than be put in this situation again.

His lips press
together. “Fighting words, Miss Cooper.”

“Don’t ‘Miss
Cooper’ me. I’m not your freakin’ secretary and you’re not the
bloody Prime Minister so get your self-inflated head out of your
arse.”

He seems
bemused by my attack. “You didn’t orchestrate this whole thing? Get
me to sleep with you for an internship?”

What does he
take me for? I’m not some psychopathic bunny boiler. “I beg your
pardon?”

“You
heard.”

“How on earth
would I be able to do that?” My eyes widen. I'm angry now. Angry
and confused at the emotions swimming around in the pool of lust
that used to be my insides. I'm angry with Nicholas for thinking I
would concoct some kind of scheme to get him to take me on as an
intern. I’m angry with him for not letting me prepare myself. And
I’m angry with myself because I'm so turned on when I clearly
shouldn’t be. God, I'm so turned on I want to jump his bones right
here on the desk. “You think I slept with you six months ago so I
could get a foot in the door? You seriously think that? Seriously?
You’re freaking mental.”

He moves
closer. His hands move up to my elbows. Please don’t touch me, I
think. I’ll cave if you touch me. I have no willpower when it comes
to Nicholas. None.

“I’m not doing
a very good job of this, am I?” he asks.

“You got that
in one, mister.” Finding my resolve, I yank my arms away. I have to
keep my distance because if I don’t he’s going to sense how hot I’m
getting. He’s going to feel the shallowness of my breath, see the
way I’m trying not to tremble with excitement.

“I’ve upset
you.”

“You reckon?”
I could kill him, if I didn’t want to kiss him so much.

“Sorry.”

I relent a
little. “Did you think I’d do that? That I slept with you to get a
prac placement? I didn’t know who you were Nicholas, I swear I
didn’t. What we had was more than sex to me. Surely, you know
that?”

“So why’d run?
I thought we were having a good time. I liked you.”

“I didn’t run.
I told you I was leaving. I told you why. And they’re the same
reasons why I’m going to leave again now.”

Well, that and
the rather tall, redheaded, ‘boyfriend’ reason. I’m not going to
cheat on Mason. I will not become one of
those
girls.

“Don’t leave,
Sadie. Please don’t.” He moves closer and I’m reminded of that
morning in the lighthouse when he said those exact words to me and
I still left. This time however, I see that look in his eye, the
one that tells me I mean more to him than sex, too.

“I respected
what you wanted back then,” he says. “I still do. But you're all
I’ve thought about for six months and I didn’t think I’d ever see
you again. It was like someone waved a magic wand when you fell
into my lap on Monday. I couldn’t believe it was you. That woman
from the Uni must have thought I was some sort of pervert when I
asked her what colour your hair was.”

He missed me
that much?

As if of its
own accord, my body moves into the circle of his arms. My brain
seems to have forgotten I have a perfectly nice man waiting to hear
about my day. I sigh against Nicholas’ chest. It feels way too much
like home. “Did you consider maybe I didn’t want to be found?” I
whisper.

Not till I
was, anyway.

“You suck at
lying.”

True.

“I’m still
leaving. I can’t do this again. Not with you and Joel. It’s too
hard.”

“Liar.” His
mouth moves to mine and I know, despite that sensible little voice
in my head that’s screaming at me to stop him, I’m going to let him
kiss me. I want him to. I’ve missed him too. I want his lips on
mine.

Nicholas
lowers his head. His lips are less than millimetres away. His eyes
are glazed, his breathing has quickened…

And there's a
knock at the door.

“Bloody hell,”
he grumbles, jumping away, as without pretence the door flies open
and Joel storms in.

“Can I see you
in the hall for a minute?” Joel’s lips are a thin line. He doesn't
say hello. He doesn’t acknowledge my presence. It's as if I am
nothing; that the thing we had was nothing. He’s behaving like such
a baby.

“Don't move,”
Nicholas commands.

Like I’m going
anywhere. I literally forgot how to walk the minute he looked at
me. Hell, I think I may have forgotten my own name.

The door
closes. I hear muffled voices tinged with fury on the other side
and I figure this day is about as crazy as it can get, so I may as
well add fuel to the fire by eavesdropping. I mean, they
are
talking about me, why shouldn’t I know what they’re saying? I walk
to the door and press my ear to the timber. It’s old and thin. I
can hear every word like the guys are standing next to me.

“What the hell
are you playing at?” That’s Joel. He’s saying exactly what I was
trying to say before I got so confused by the sight of Nicholas
looking at me like I was his one and only. “You can’t have her
here. Jesus, Nick! You’ve lost the plot this time.”

“She’s the top
student in the landscape architecture course. We’re the top
architecture firm in the city. Seems like good match to me.”

“You hate
students.”

“So do
you.”

“You tell me
all the time how inept and brain-dead they are.”

“Most of them
are.”

I can hear the
incredulousness in Joel’s voice. “But most of them aren’t Sadie,
are they?”

“Exactly. And
change is good. It’ll keep us on our toes.”

“Having Sadie
here is going to more than keep me on my toes. I got a damn hard on
in the middle of the boardroom. Thank Christ I had a table to hide
behind or it would have been awkward. I haven’t been that out of
control since I was thirteen.”

Even though I
don’t want it to, a hint of a smile plays at my lips. Joel still
wants me. So does Nicholas. I should stop thinking about that. It’s
very bad that I am.

“Get rid of
her,” Joel adds.

Oooh,
that’s a bit harsh.

“I want her to
stay.”

“She’s bad
news. You know she is. We can’t have her here. It’s going to cause
conflict.”

I press my ear
harder, trying to get a better seal but I can’t hear how Nicholas
replies. I hope he’s defending me. I hope he is. Not that it
matters because I can defend myself; I am an independent strong
woman… with her ear against the door like a teenager.

I’ve had
enough of this. I open the door. Hands on my hips, I confront the
two men who are facing off in front of me. “Don’t bother arguing,
I’ll ring the placement office in the morning and tell them it
didn’t work out. I don’t care if I fail, I’ll make it up somewhere
else.”

“Might be for
the best,” Joel says, speaking to me for the first time.

Is he for
real? He’s actually going to let me lose this chance?

I take a deep
breath. “Yes,” I repeat. “God forbid, you might lose control of
your penis if I’m around.”

And with that
I stomp down the hall to the staff room, where I retrieve my bag
and sprint through the building and out into the street so nobody
will see me leave. I never took myself for a quitter but I guess I
was wrong.

By the time
Emily gets home from her shift at the supermarket three hours
later, I’m drunk. Pissed as a nit, in fact. It’s out of character
for me to drink alone and the fact that I’ve changed from my office
outfit to my pyjama bottoms with the hole in the bum and a
stretched t-shirt speaks volumes for my demeanour. I’m upset and
annoyed. I’m confused because I came so close to kissing Nicholas
when I have a perfectly lovely boyfriend who should be arriving in,
oh, about half an hour. I’m giggling hysterically at something
inane on the TV and I don’t even like TV. I want to rant but I
can’t. I can’t tell Emily I’ve ditched Hardwick & Lawson unless
I tell her why I did it. And either admission will cause her to
commit murder… mine. So I’m staring at the TV with the occasional
titter for effect. I am officially a loser.

Emily stands
between the TV and me. Her hands are on her hips. “What’s happened
this time?”

I think she’s
getting a bit tired of me whining about this prac thing. I sag into
the cushions preparing myself for the onslaught I know is sure to
come. I’ve concocted a story but she won’t believe me. Emily’s a
bullshit detector. She can spot it a mile away.

“Today was an
absolute unmitigated disaster,” I reply, though the words don’t
come out like that. One of them sounds more like ‘un-smiti-lated’,
which I know is not a word. I stumble on. “I can’t, can’t go back
to Hardstick & Lawson.” Then I burst out laughing because I’ve
just made Nicholas’ company sound like a porn studio.

“Why?” She’s
looking at me like I’ve declared I’m going to go deep sea diving
without an air tank.

“Because the
Lawson in Hardwick & Lawson happens to be Nicho-lash
Law-shon.”

Oh gosh. I’m
so smashed.

Cue Emily’s
blank face. Sometimes, I wonder if she’s secretly blonde under that
brown hair. “So?”

I speak very
slowly, enunciating the words clearly so she’ll understand my
waffle. “As in Nicholas I’ve-seen-you-naked Lawson.”

She pauses for
a second, her face twisting in recognition like someone’s put her
on one of those non-surgical facelift machines and her muscles are
going mental. “Wow,” she says at last. It’s not said in a way I’d
expect, especially not when followed by a slow whistle. “Hashtag
shock of the century.”