‘That they do,’ I eventually replied. ‘Some of the same traditions and folk tales and stuff. But I’m going to go and quickly get changed for the drinks.’ I narrowly squeezed past him as I made my way to the bathroom, flashing him a smile on the way. ‘I’m looking forward to it! Remember we’re meeting at the main reception in twenty minutes!’
‘Noted, I’ll see you – I’ll see you all soon!’ Jeff replied, beaming.
I threw myself into the nearest toilet cubicle and quickly changed into the green blouse. It was slightly creased from sitting in my bag all day, but I figured that as it would be dark, no one would really notice. I left the cubicle and went to stand in the mirror to size myself up. I looked OK, I supposed; the neckline of the green blouse went just deep enough to showwhispers of cleavage, and my A-line skirt was still a respectable length. I blotted my lips and carefully applied a red lipstick; the key for tonight was to try and have a little bit of fun, but to not give the illusion that I got down wild and loose. The last thing anyone wants at work is to become the main character the day after the night before.
After spritzing on some perfume and checking myself over once again, I was ready. Considering I wasn’t fully glammed up, I looked and felt cute enough. I grabbed my things and made my way to the elevators, where Kofi was already waiting – his vibrant, patterned jumper standing out like a beacon to everyone on our floor. He looked … conspicuous.
‘This jumper is really something, I have to say, friend,’ I said, gently nudging him in the ribs. Kofi turned away, then strutted towards me like he was on a catwalk, finishing with a flawless Naomi Campbell-inspired pose. ‘Girl, don’t hate because you’re not into the latest fashions,’ he uttered, playfully snapping his fingers in Z-formation. I just knew Sade would eat this up. We both loved a man who could give up generous amounts of banter. ‘I bought this from the Crisis charity shop in Peckham Rye – you like?’
‘I do! A bit loud, but if you like it, I love it,’ I responded, and we both burst out laughing. ‘OK, so remember the plan, yeah?’ continued Kofi. ‘We get to the pub, order our little drinks, make pleasant conversation with Mr Paulson and then do a staggered Irish exit after about an hour. Sounds good so far?’ If it’s one thing we Africans loved, it was an Irish goodbye.
‘Wait,’ I said, as we both got into the elevator. ‘How many people are coming? It’ll be hard to leave without saying bye if there are only, like, four of us!’
‘Didn’t you send out the invites, Ms Secretary?!’ retorted Kofi, laughing. ‘You didn’t check to see how many people had RSVP’d? God, you had ONE job, dude.’
We both tried to stifle laughter as the other people in the elevator uncomfortably shifted from side to side, perhaps under the impression that Kofi was seriously berating me. As we left the elevator, we were greeted with the appearance of Jeff, as well as thirteen other members of the Trauma and Orthopaedic outpatients’ team, including three other surgeons. Considering I’d invited twenty people overall on such short notice, this was a reasonably good turnout. Clearly I hadn’t made that much of an effort in the outfit stakes, as I could see that a fair few of the team had gone out with the sequins and strappy sandals (it’s January?!) for this event. Jeff had removed his blazer and waistcoat and was just in his crisp, white shirt and navy blue trousers, complete with an absolutely stunning camel fur peacoat that looked straight out of the MaxMara Autumn/Winter collection.
‘Do I scrub up well?’ Jeff uttered, staring directly at me as if able to read my mind. He did lookgood, I had to admit. I could sense Kofi next to me turning his head slightly to the side towards me and, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed him giving me a very quick-yet-pointed side-eye before going over to join the rest of the group. I could suddenly feel a pool of sweat at the base of my spine, the weird energy between us still lingering. I met his gaze head-on, matching his energy.
‘I suppose you do! I like the coat,’ I said as nonchalantly as possible as I walked towards the rest of the group. I’d never wanted to be at home so much in my life. ‘Shall we all get going then? The pub’s just a short walk down the bottom of the road.’
As a group we set off to the pub, looking like a gang of primary school students off on a school trip. Ten minutes later, we arrived at The Lancaster pub, with Jeff and Kofi bringing up the rear having lagged for a few minutes while deep in conversation. As we entered the pub, Kofi gave me what lookedlike a sly grin as one of the last to pass through the pub doors.
‘What have I done?’ I whispered as we both walked up to the bar amid the cries of the rest of the team getting their orders in at the bar. Jeff was at the front, credit card in hand. ‘First two rounds are on me, team!’ he yelled, to rounds of applause. ‘You? Why … you haven’t done anything at all!’ Kofi replied, smiling a little too sweetly for my liking. ‘Unless you count undressing Jeff Paulson with your eyes as something, but hey … I don’t know what counts as “things” any more.’ I turned to look at him as we approached the bar. Damn. That definitely wasn’t the vibe I was trying to give off … I definitely did not have a crush on this man – equally, I didn’t see the harm in having a look every now and again – he WAS very handsome. And slightly goofy, which was endearing. And rich. And seemingly intelligent.
Focus, Cassie.
‘Pfft. You’re chatting shit. I have no idea what you’re talking about and I’m just going to face my front moving forward!’ I replied, lending him a side hug. Kofi laughed as Jeff came round to take our orders. His smile faltered a little bit upon seeing my arm around Kofi’s.
‘So, what’ll it be, guys?’ he said eventually, tossing his gold Amex card between his fingers, seemingly impatiently, while still looking at the space where Kofi’s waist was. At that, I instinctively removed my arms away from his waist and gave Jeff a small smile.
‘I’ll take a double shot of rum and Coke, please, mate,’ Kofi said loudly over the noise of the bar.
‘I’ll have the same please, if you don’t mind.’ I followed, smiling at him. I don’t know why it felt as if I had to get on his good side so much, but it irked me. I was supposed to be off men at the moment. Well, most men.
‘Coming right up!’ Jeff replied, flashing his dazzling smile. Ifollowed Kofi to the corner of the pub where the rest of the team had assembled: the three spine and major trauma surgeons Mr Jackson, Ms Liu and Ms Juma, and the majority of the outpatient team who were based on the ground floor of the hospital. The majority of them were bank staff who all looked to be under the age of twenty-five.
I sat in the corner booth next to one of the trauma receptionists who I believed was called Tanya. She had dolled up for the occasion especially, and was making eyes at Jeff across the room, which I found cute, considering he was probably old enough to be her dad (albeit a very young dad). Kofi was on his phone next to me, sending a flurry of text messages with a goofy smile on his face. No doubt he was texting Sade. After making small talk with Tanya (‘Have you seen the new consultant? He’s well fit, isn’t he? How much do you think he makes?’), I then locked eyes with Jeff as he sauntered across to give us our drinks. I wondered whether he had a partner, not that it had anything to do with me, of course, but I wondered what he was like at home. Was he always this jolly and bumbling? Or were these just first-week-newbie-nerves?
I thanked him for the drink and took slow, steady sips. The plan was to make my drink last the duration of the hour, by which time me and Kofi would have made a clean getaway.
As the rest of the staff began to chat and laugh with each other, I could feel Jeff’s eyes on both Kofi and me. At that point, he brought up a chair and sat opposite us, across the table.
‘So! How long have you both worked at the hospital?’ he uttered, his eyes already developing a glassy film. We’d only been at the pub for ten minutes. Kofi – distracted by his phone up until that point – put his device away and replied after taking a sip of his drink. ‘I’ve been here about five years or so now, Cass started a bit after me, didn’t you, Cass?’ and gave me a gentle nudge in the ribs.
‘Um, yeah!’ I replied, shooting a subtle side-eye to Kofi. ‘I’ve been a secretary here for a few years and I absolutely love it. But what about you? What made you decide to join our hospital?’
At that moment, I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. A quick glance told me it was aOuiMeetnotification, no doubt Jericho sending through details for our meeting on Saturday. I smiled slightly at this – I was interested in what Jeff had to say but I was also giddy with excitement at the thought of what to expect over the weekend with Jericho too.
‘Oh, erm, I guess I just wanted somewhere a bit closer to home for the most part, and it just felt like a good time to leave my old Trust, really.’ I acknowledged his answer with a smile, wanting nothing more than to go into the toilets so I could read Jericho’s message in peace, but for the sake of trying to get to know Jeff, I questioned further.
‘Oh nice! So um, where do you live, if you don’t mind my asking?’
‘I’m in Vauxhall actually; you heard of those high-rise buildings with the swimming pool linking the two together?’
I knew exactly where he meant, as that apartment building was a mere seven-minute walk from my flat. I remembered viewing one of the flats in that building out of pure curiosity, just to see what they looked like from the inside, and I remember the way I laughed when I was told that the two-bedroom flat I viewed (it was a ‘price on request’ at the time of viewing) was £4,800 a month.
‘Oh, yes, I know it well!’ I replied. ‘Not far from me actually. The flats in those buildings are stunning; do you rent or own?’ A bit of a personal one to ask maybe, but the rum had already begun to take effect, so fuck it.
