‘Oh, that’s awful, I’m sorry to hear that! Wait here a second, will you? Let me just put the mug in the staffroom quickly—’ he lightly jogged over to the staffroom at the opposite end of the corridor, leaving me standing near the elevator, confused. After a moment, he trotted back, seemingly out of breath.
‘I think it’s good you get yourself some rest. I was gonna say, um—’ Jeff pressed the ‘down’ button for the elevator as we both waited awkwardly together. ‘I’m actually heading out for a meeting at a spine clinic in Fulham. I remember you saying that you lived in Vauxhall or Nine Elms or something? It’s on my way to the clinic, I’d be more than happy to drop you home. It’ll save you having to wait for the bus or walk too far.’
Right on cue, the elevator arrived – and out poured a small army of no less than twelve or so people. The chaos bought me a few precious seconds to think. Was Jeff overstepping by offering me a ride home? WouldIbe crossing a line by saying yes? Or was this just peak Nice Guy™ behaviour? Did he have an agenda? And more importantly – did I really want him knowing where I lived before I even knew his coffee order? I had about ten seconds to decide, because the elevator had emptied and was now staring us down like, ‘Well? You in or what?’
We both stepped into the elevator and as it closed, I replied:
‘Um, yeah … sure! As long as it isn’t out of the way or anything. That’s very kind of you, Jeff, thank you.’
‘The pleasure’s all mine,’ he replied chirpily. Maybe he wasjust being a nice colleague after all. We walked in silence to the staff car park and to his car: a dark-green Range Rover. Nothing fancy, then. Jeff opened my door before going round to his, and after giving him my postcode, we set off home, with me mostly sitting in silence as Jeff talked about his upcoming meeting at the spine clinic. So far, so innocent.
‘I’ve been working with that clinic for the last three years,’ he told me, ‘and I find it so frustrating how they always seem to deliver biopsies and frozen sections late. It’s absolutely unacceptable, so I think this meeting with the clinic manager and the owner should hopefully change things, but to be honest if it doesn’t, I may have a chat with you during our meeting next week about potentially doing research to find a list of new spine clinics with their own labs in London, if that’s OK?’
‘Yep, that’s totally fine. I’ll remember to make a note of it, thanks,’ I said, distracted by the utter cleanliness and organisation of his dashboard. He had a bobble-head Jesus figurine centred on the cream-coloured dash, with a compartment above the gear stick that included a spare iPhone charger, a packet of chewing gum, hand sanitiser, lip balm (Tatcha lip balm, nonetheless!) and a small tube of Rituals hand lotion. In the air-conditioning tab he also had a Rituals car perfume stick. A woman’s touch, perhaps? Although I didn’t want to assume. I couldn’t see any evidence of children in the car – no loose crayons, empty juice cartons or games consoles to be found. I wondered if he did have a family and, if so, what they were like.
No, Cassandra. That wasn’t the aim here. The aim was to get home and get yourself slut-ready for the handsome man due at your place this evening. I had all week to think about Jeff’s private life.
A few minutes later we arrived at my flat. As Jeff parked outside and switched the ignition off, he turned to face me,his eyes boring into mine.Weird.I suddenly felt anxious; what was going on?
‘I really do hope you feel better, Cassandra; you’re a highly valued member of the team,’ he said, his eyes lowering to my lips as he spoke, which put me even more on edge. You could have cut the tension in the car with a knife, and all I wanted was to run up into my flat.
‘Ahh well, thanks so much – Jeff. That means a lot. I’m sure I’ll be fine once I’ve had some rest,’ I replied, forcing a small smile. My hand headed towards the door handle – then froze. A weight settled on my shoulder. I turned around, startled to find Jeff leaning towards me; his face suddenly far too close and his hand now softly squeezing my shoulder. My stomach dropped and ice shot through my spine. What the hell?
‘Umm, sorry but what do you think you’re doing?’ I replied, horrified and mentally making a note to report to HR as soon as possible. This was NOT OK.
‘Oh, I’m, I’m sorry I … maybe I mistook the signs. I thought—’ Jeff jerked back as if burned. His words tumbled over themselves as he scrambled back in his seat, the colour draining from his face.
He looked genuinely mortified; as he should. I couldn’t believe this had happened.
‘Signs? Signs where?’ I stuttered, trying to control my emotions. I didn’t really know how to react; all I wanted was to be at home. I continued, ‘I’m sorry if you got the wrong impression, Mr Paulson, but I was under the impression that our relationship was purely professional. I would like to keep it that way,’ I said, gathering all the maturity and professionalism I had in my arsenal as I turned towards the door and slowly let myself out.
‘No, yes of course. That was inappropriate of me, Cassandra. I’m sorry, I … yeah. I hope you feel better soon,’ he said, hisvoice shaking. I’d barely slammed the car door shut before he tore off, tyres screeching as he fled the scene.
I ran into my flat, feeling more annoyed than anything. I didn’t believe that I’d given off any vibes of liking him and, if so, why would he even think to act on it on company time? Work was going to be incredibly awkward; I pondered whether to seriously approach it with HR. He hadn’t hurt or abused me in any way, and I suppose it was just crossed wires as he said, but still …
I felt awkward, and weird. Weird because in the back of my head I wondered if I weren’t so emotionally invested in Theo, would I have stayed in Jeff’s car? And if so, would I have wanted anything to happen? Also, was I unknowingly giving off signs that I’d wanted anything to happen between us? I didn’t think so? Sure, he was nice to look at, but that was as far as it went. What an odd thing for him to do.
Hmm. Questions that needed answers.
I didn’t have the time to contemplate what had just happened. I needed to compartmentalise the interaction for now – just for tonight, while I dealt with my upcoming date; I would cross that Jeff-sized bridge tomorrow.
After making sure Toby was watered, played with, cuddled and fed, I sent Sade a quick text, briefly letting her know about tonight’s date for security reasons. Theo was a lovely guy, but so was Ted Bundy, and as a single woman living alone, you could never be too careful.
Hey sis! I hope you’re having a great day. FYI; Jericho/Theo coming round to mine tonight for the first time. Letting you know for security reasons. If I end up missing, make sure the news use that pic of me when I had the red curly hair at your birthday party last year, that’s a cute one xxx
Tonight definitely called for an ‘everything’ shower – the kind that felt like a full reset. Although Jeff didn’t actually kiss me, I still felt as if I needed to wash away his aura – his essence, so to speak – and feel brand new. For me, that meant co-washing my braids, doing a full-body shave – paying particular attention to my nether regions – indulging in a deep scrub, a thorough wash, layering on an in-shower body oil, and topping it all off with a face mask. By the time I stepped out, I was glistening and slippery, feeling like a dolphin. I then reached for my shea butter moisturiser and lathered my body in it, before going over everything with a cocoa butter body oil to seal in the moisture.
I still had three-and-a-bit-hours before Theo’s arrival, so I decided to use the time to pick out what I was going to wear. If all things went well tonight, I’d already decided on a burgundy mini chemise that I’d picked up from Ann Summers a few years ago. It still had a good amount of mileage left, and made my boobs look amazing. I’d wear that with my dressing robe on top to lounge in afterwards.
For my main outfit, I needed something that didn’t come off as too ‘try-hard’, yet I didn’t want it to be super casual and basic either.
After rooting around for twenty minutes, I finally decided on wearing an Elomi push-up bra underneath a plain white fitted cropped tee. I paired the tee with a patterned silk maxi skirt from Whistles – also known as my ‘good luck’ skirt. Somehow, every time I wore it, something good seemed to happen. I was wearing it the day I got a pay rise at work. The second time, I had two unexpectedly great dates … with two different guys. And the third? During a hospital strike, I ended up with an unexpected three days off. Coincidence? Maybe. But I wasn’t taking any chances.
I gave everything a good iron and laid the outfit out on thebed like a proud stylist prepping for a red carpet moment. I also decided to take another swig of Gaviscon, just to be safe. My stomach had mostly chilled out, but I wasn’t about to let indigestion crash the party. Not tonight.
I went out into the living room and gave it a last-minute clean, and popped a bottle of Whispering Angel I’d been given a few months ago into the fridge to chill. Fast forward the next couple of hours and the dishes were washed, a plethora of scented candles had been lit, my bedding had been changed and Toby’s cat hair had been meticulously scraped off the sofa. I’d changed into my outfit and, by my own standards, I lookedfuckinghot – if I did say so myself. I had that effortless, cool-girl energy going on, with just the right touch of sex appeal thanks to the push-up bra and the way the fitted tee hugged my curves, cinching in at the waist and giving my hips that extra hourglass drama. I loved to see it, and I hoped that Theo would too. It was twenty-or-so minutes until I was due to expect him, so after a healthy spritz of my evening fragrance (Cairo by Penhaligons, if you were wondering), I sat down on the sofa and tried to relax myself. I hadn’t had sex in nearly six months; I was practically a virgin again. If the worst came to the worst, Theo could always take the lead anyway. I checked my phone for any last-minute updates; Sade had eventually texted back:
OOOWEEEE I know that’s right! Wishing you the best of luck tonight, sis – we will debrief in the morning and, yes, I agree the red hair pic is v nice. Will keep in mind if you get murdered or anything xx
