“Not very well,” he replied snippily.
“Well, it’s not my fault that you’ve probably done this to him so many times before that he was onto me the second I walked in.”
“Maybe he was onto you because you weren’t very convincing. Don’t quit your day job and become an actress,” he said.
And at that, she burst out laughing. Her laughter was so loud that a few people turned around and looked at them.
“This is not funny,” he whispered. “Oh God, this whole thing, all of it, is ridiculous. I can’t believe you did that. And why on earth would you do a forward roll into my office?”
“It was for added dramatic impact,” she said and then looked at him angrily. “You told me you didn’t care how I did it or what I did. You told me to end the meeting, and that’s all.”
He paused. He had said that. But who in their right mind went from “please end a meeting” to setting off a false alarm and dramatically babbling about containment fields and doing acrobatic moves in the office?
“But look.” She spoke again, her tone changed now. “Look how happy and relaxed everyone is.”
“What?” he asked.
“The staff. Look around.”
He looked around and she was right. Everyone had smiles on their faces. Everyone was talking and laughing and they all looked like they were enjoying their break in the sun. This pissed him off. Work was not meant to be enjoyable and social.
“I think a fire break is good for office morale,” she said, looking pleased with herself. “A break outside in the fresh air always helps destress.”
The firemen finally exited the building and gave him the all clear. A collective disappointed sigh rose up from everyone, and thisreallypissed him off.
“We’ll see about that,” he grunted. He walked up to a small wall and climbed onto it. “Everyone,” he said. “You will all be staying for an extra hour after work to make up for this.” He climbed down and walked straight back inside.
CHAPTERFIFTEEN
Ryan
By the time he’d finished his last call for the day, it was well after 11 p.m. He put the phone down and stood up, stretching out his back which was really starting to kill him. He reached into his drawer and took out an aspirin, he could feel a headache coming on.
He packed up his things and walked out of his office, only to see her there.Her. He’d almost forgotten about her. He’d forgotten about Doris Granger who worked for him and had been the cause of all that drama today and was now slumped over her desk fast asleep and making little squeaking noises with each out breath.
He walked over to her desk quietly and stood over her. She was an odd one. She’d surprised him today with the telephone but then in the next breath had completely fucked up with the evacuation. He was just about to wake her up when she let out a little moan followed by a breathy sigh as if she was dreaming about something pleasant. He couldn’t remember the last time his dreams had been happy ones. He stood above her, fascinated by the little noises she was making and by the way her nose crinkled when she breathed. She’d pushed her glasses onto her head and he was curious to know what she looked like without the cumbersome things.
“WHAT?!” She suddenly shot up as if she knew he’d been standing over her. “Who? Where am . . . Oh God, did I fall asleep? What’s the time . . . What?” She looked around frantically, as if she had no idea where she was for a moment or two, and then tilted her head up and her sleepy eyes locked with his and . . . and . . .
Without the glasses on, he could finally see her face properly. And he was stunned. Her eyes were startling. They were big, round and an unusual amber color. In this light, they looked golden. Her cheekbones were high and defined, and her face was dotted with small freckles. He tried to open his mouth and say something to her, but couldn’t. She quickly pulled her glasses back on, and her perfect features disappeared.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” She shot out of her seat like a firecracker had been lit underneath her and grabbed her bag. “I’m ready to go,” she said, but then followed it with a massive yawn. She slapped her hand over her mouth and tried to act as if it hadn’t happened. He smiled this time—completely forgetting that he was tryingnotto smile at her.
“Let’s go!” He quickly wiped the smile off his face and strode towards the elevator. Down to the ground floor, through the empty reception area and out into the parking lot he walked. He turned around and could see Doris was struggling to keep up. She was walking on her tiptoes as if she was in some kind of circus act. He looked down at her feet and then ran his eyes up her legs.
“What happened?” He pointed at them.
“Uh, the knees and shins are from my incident with the bike, and I think I walked over some thorns yesterday too.” She was walking very strangely now. Balancing on her toes and then rolling back onto the sides of her feet, as if avoiding her heels.
“Did you disinfect them?” he asked.
She stopped walking and gave him a puzzled look.
“Like with an antibacterial lotion, or Dettol or something like that?” he clarified. He hated repeating himself.
“If you mean, did I wash them with soap and water, then yes!”
He sighed. “Clearly, youwantto get an infection then!” He found it highly irritating that she was walking around with legs that could get infected at any moment. Who did that?
