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His deep voice, and that Scottish accent he wrapped around words like pleasure. Not only did it turn me on, his voice soothed me like a lullaby, despite the verses being about offal and head lice.
My conclusion: Scottish poets are weird.
But the poem about Bonnie Doon and the red rose had been lovely. I vaguely remember slumping on the couch against him, his voice vibrating through his chest and through me. He’d swooned me to sleep.
I raced back to my room, grinning. Now, fully awake, I was ready to swoon a different way this morning.
But Stuart was missing.
I scrubbed my face. I’m a professional. I won’t jeopardise my promotion.
But he said he’d wait for me.
I darted out of the flat, having showered and gotten dressed in record time. I needed to see him. I was headed to the coffee shop nearby, to grab something for breakfast and coffee, when I ran into Matt from accounts.
“Are you alright, Matt?” His face was pale. “You don’t look so well.”
“I escaped the office just in time.” Matt shuddered. “Caroline is getting a right bollocking for embezzling money from the company!”
Dread settled in the pit of my stomach. Suddenly I wasn’t hungry.
“What are you talking about?”
“And to think this is on top of that ugly breakup with her boyfriend four months ago. He left her right messed up -”
“Matt!” He jumped and I took a deep breath. “From the beginning, please.”
“Her ex left her right messed up, she cried all the time, heartbroken she was -”
“No! Before that!” I gasped. “Did you say four months ago she broke up with Stephen?”
“Aye, Stephen’s the guy. Stuart sacked him for theft, ye know. Caroline had only come good again about a month ago and now this. Who’d have thought she had it in her, embezzling!”
“Fuck.”
“That’s exactly what I said and then I got out of the office. Couldn’t believe it!”
“No, I mean I don’t believe it at all. I never did.” I blinked rapidly. “She got her new nails - gel tips - just after he broke up…”
“Oh yeah, well wicked gel tips. Sometimes ye just need to the full salon treatment to get over a man. Not that she did though -”
“New nails… I have to stop Stuart – Wait!” I said. “But how did he know about Caroline?”
“How’d ye mean?”
“I mean, why does he believe she did this?
I’d left my report on my desk. My stomach roiled with dread.
“No idea, love. All I know it’s going down right now in his office.”
I bolted out of the cafe, leaving my coffee order and Matt behind.
I could see the columns of dates and figures in my mind from my report. She got gel-tipped nails four months ago.
As I ran down the corridor to the meeting room that doubled as my office. I startled, hearing shouts from Stuart’s own office across the corridor.
I scanned my desk.
