Page 5 of Pure Recklessness

‘Eleanor. Eleanor Lewis.’

‘And why are you here?’

‘For the temporary Content Writer interview.’ I fought the urge to roll my eyes.

‘Do you know what Sated International does, Eleanor?’

A shiver shot down my spine as he said my name in that deep, gravelly voice. It really was something. He should do voiceovers. He was wasted in HR.

‘You specialise in apple pie and toys,’ I said as confidently as I could.

‘Do you know what kind of toys?’ He pressed.

‘Yes. Dolls, chicks and vegetables apparently.’ I gestured towards the items on the table.

He raised an unimpressed, but perfectly shaped thick eyebrow.

‘And do you often turn up to interviews unprepared, without even bothering to research the company?’

‘No!’ I protested. ‘I didn’t have time!’

‘Unbelievable.’ He tutted, shaking his head like a disappointed parent.

‘Hi!’ A woman in a fitted purple structured dress rushed into the meeting room. ‘You must be Eleanor! I’m Melissa, so sorry I’m late. Oh!’ Her eyes widened as she looked at her colleague. ‘Mr Devlin! Sorry, sir. I didn’t see you there. I… did you need this meeting room?’ Her face crumpled.

‘No. I was just passing and saw this Eleanor woman playing with our latest toys. Apparently, she enjoys using them on the Tube and was about to have a quick swipe whilst she was waiting for you.’

Melissa’s eyes flew from their sockets.

‘Oh! Goodness me! I…’ she stuttered.

Honestly. What was I missing here?

Why was everyone acting like I’d just committed a serious crime? At this point if I confessed to robbing a bank naked, they’d be less shocked.

‘I didn’t realise there was a person in the modern world who wasn’t aware of what we do at Sated, but clearly these people do exist. I’ll leave you to handle this unfortunate situation, Melissa.’ He turned and left, clearly unimpressed with me.

‘I wanted to research the company,’ I insisted as Melissa approached the table. ‘But the interview was at such short notice and there was no reception on the Tube so I couldn’t. I’m sorry. Wait,’ I said as the realisation hit me like a truck. ‘Did you say that was Mr Devil? As in, the CEO? The big boss guy?’

‘Yes,’ she sighed. ‘And it’s Mr Devlin.’

‘Oh, crap. No wonder he was annoyed that I didn’t know anything about the company. But I still don’t understand why he was so bothered about me using the lipstick. I assumed it was a tester, so no one would mind.’

The corner of Melissa’s mouth tipped up into a brief smile, before she suppressed it.

‘The reason Mr Devlin wasn’t happy is because that’s not a real lipstick, Eleanor. It’s a vibrator.’

2

BLAKE

Un-fucking-believable.

Who the hell turns up to an interview at the head office of one of the biggest, most successful retailers of sex toys, lingerie and adult accessories in the world, without doing their research first?

And how could she not have even heard of us?

Sated spent millions on advertising, marketing, PR and social media every year to ensure that didn’t happen.