Office Politics Ch. 01

Jess hated job interviews.

This time last month she'd been working in a bar in a small town in Thailand, swimming every day, eating yoghurt and papaya for breakfast every morning, fresh seafood for dinner every evening, dancing the night away every night. Basically living her best life. Now here she was, sitting in the foyer of a glaringly bright office building that was trying too hard to be edgy, waiting to be summoned by the grumpy receptionist, while far hipper looking people, who seemed way more suited to this world than she was, waited with her.

She didn't fancy her chances.

The sound of her own name startled her back to the present. She stood, too quickly, and grabbing her jacket from the arm of her seat, she tried to hold herself as confidently as she could as she followed the woman out of the foyer.

There were three people sitting at the table in front of her. The women were both pretty, manicured, fashionable, their smiles and handshakes were warm but professional. The man immediately put her on edge, for reasons she couldn't immediately place. He was that typically brooding type, with messy windswept hair, and dark hooded eyes and a crisp white shirt which stood in stark contrast to the rest of his appearance. It seemed a bit excessive to have three people on an interview panel for what was essentially an entry level administrative role, but this was a company that seemed to take everything it did very seriously.

The dark haired women - Jade, indicated the only seat on her side of the table. Jess thanked her and sank gratefully into it; and tried to tuck herself neatly into the corner.

It was her third interview that week and she could already see the same sceptical expression arrive in their gaze. As soon as she explained the gaps in her CV, they would all start wondering the same thing; if they give her a job was she going to stick around, or swan off back to somewhere warm and tropical as soon as she'd saved enough money?

Well ordinarily they'd be right. She was broke and she hated London in the winter. It was cold, perpetually raining, and grey and dark and grim. No one smiled, no one talked. It was all so depressing. But her gran needed her. She was a lot better than she had been for the first few weeks after the operation, but for the next few months at least, she couldn't be left alone, for long periods, and as the globetrotting wastrel in the family with no commitments, the responsibility lay with Jess. Not that she minded, she was happy to help, even if it did mean being stuck in a city that she hated in rainy october.

They asked all the usual questions. She felt like it was going well, she was holding her own. There had been so many interviews over the last few days, that the nervous edge that she usually felt seemed to be wearing off, so it was only when he let out a huff in response to something on his macbook that it dawned on her that she couldn't recall the man on the panel looking at her since she'd arrived, he hadn't spoken since she'd walked into the room. He hadn't asked her a single question. Instead his eyes kept drifting back to his screen. There was definitely something more important on it than her. One of the others was speaking. Her eyes flew away from him, and towards the source of the voice.

"So tell us Jess," Jade asked. "Why do you want to work for this company in particular?"

She blinked, and for a moment she was entirely lost for words, which was ridiculous -it was an interview cliche.

She stumbled and stuttered, and then stopped speaking altogether. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and cast her mind back to the preparation she'd done. When she opened her eyes again she found, for the first time since the interview started, he was looking right at her.

Of course he was.

She was thrown all over again, by the glacier like intensity of his gaze, by the pure beauty in his bone structure, by the savage masculinity that he seemed to ooze from every pore. And for what seemed like a small eternity they both just watched each other, while her chest fluttered like a cathedral filled with starlings, and Jess had to use every last bit of strength she had to pull herself from the enchantment he had somehow trapped her in.

She looked away, finally breaking the spell, and churned out some guff about liking the company ethos, about putting quality and style before the latest fads (at least she'd the good sense to google the company ethos before she'd arrived) but she knew it sounded fake. she'd blown it. This strange chemistry that existed between her and the arrogant oaf sitting before her, had knocked her right off balance and more generally, she just couldn't get as excited as she knew she should about working for a boutique fashion company.

She thought about the row of girls sitting in the foyer, with their moleskine notebooks, and their perfect hair, and their expensive pointy shoes, their oversized glasses, looking like they'd just stepped out of vogue. They'd gone to much more of an effort, appeared so much more nervous, more committed, far more deserving of this post than she could ever be. This was a lifestyle to them, it was simply a job to Jess.

The questions were still coming, but they seemed much more perfunctory.

She'd tried her hardest to ignore him, but he was no longer ignoring her, she had his full and undivided attention now, and it was doing nothing to ease her sudden case of nerves. Increasingly she became more and more aware of the utter dominance he seemed to exert over everything in the room, even the very air she was trying and failing to breathe. She wondered how the two women interviewing were apparently so unflustered in his presence.

Between one stuttering heartbeat and the next she managed to answer their questions. But she was on autopilot, just counting the seconds until she could escape the stifling effect he was having on her.

Until all of a sudden, she was being dismissed. Jade's voice was soothing and apologetic; it told her if she did hear from them again, it would only be to explain why she was not the successful candidate.

Esme, the blonde one, walked her to the door. She risked a final glance back at him before leaving. He wasn't looking at her. He was studying a paper. Probably the CV of the next applicant.

Finally free of the interview and all that corporate splendour, she took deep gulps of the cold air. The sky was a blanket of dull grey that gave the world around her a mediocre hue that starkly contrasted the world she had just left, but at least it wasn't raining. She noticed the Cafe Nero across the road, she needed to use a bathroom, and perhaps she'd treat herself to one of their lattes before she went back to gran and made lunch.

There wasn't a queue. That was her decision made. She smiled at the cute barista, tall slim with shaved sides and dyed orange hair. 'Can I get an oat latte to take away please?'

'What size?'

'Regular.' She touched her card against the reader

*

'I need some fresh air.'

With that, Gabriel stood up from the table and strolled out the room. He turned as he reached the door.

'Don't wait for me, carry on.'

Jade and the other one both looked stunned, there were still candidates to interview, but they were both too polite to say so. He wasn't sure why they needed him there anyway, the two of them more than capable of conducting the interviews, and unlike his, they were going to be working directly with they recruited, he wasn't sure why he needed to be there. It was something this company and its silly ethos of .... Waste of time if you asked him

he felt unsettled, but he couldn't say why, he just needed to get out of the building for a moment.

*

Few minutes later, after a quick visit to the loo, Jess was clutching her latte and pushing her way through the lunch time crowds, and inhaling one of her favourite scents. The easy availability of a good coffee was one of the few things that made her happy about being back in London.

She was nearly at the door when she collided with a man. The first thing she noticed was a brief snatch of searing pain. Thankfully, it passed quickly. The next she knew, the smell of her latte was replaced and she was enveloped instead in the smell of bitter strong black coffee, she looked down, to find her blouse covered in it.

And when she raised her eyes again, she was trapped once more in that familiar arctic gaze, as his grey eyes bore into hers.

'What were you doing walking across me like that while I was trying to leave?' he barked. The cut glass accent told her he was almost certainly privately educated.

What was he even doing here? There were at least two more candidates behind her.

He seemed so angry and so certain that she was to blame that her first instinct was to apologise. Profusely. But she managed to stop herself in the nick of time. How dare he shout, after he'd spilled coffee on her. And secondly, and probably more importantly, her only decent shirt was ruined and she had another interview the following morning.

She met his furious glare and tried her best to ignore the lurch of arousal that jolted at her insides. "My top is ruined and I have another interview tomorrow." she snarled through gritted teeth, "At the very least you can apologise, you selfish, arrogant pig." As she spat the words at him she wondered where all this rage had suddenly come from, she was usually a much calmer person.

He didn't reply, he just watched her.

*

It took a moment to place her. She'd seemed mousy and timid during the interview, but now he understood he was seeing her temper, the bright hot flair of it was unmistakable, and he had the sudden urge to capture her lips with his own. He was already leaning forwards, reaching for her face when it dawned on him what he was about to do, and he stopped himself and waited. When her anger finally seemed to dissipate. Instead she stared up at him, with eyes slightly too large for her face, breathing hard, she was absently biting her lip. Trapped somehow. She took a step back and in turn he stepped forwards closing the distance she'd tried to create.

There was something incredibly enticing about her, even with coffee down her front. The petit little spitfire that was by turns feisty and timid. He wanted her. Badly. She was skinny, tanned, her hair was sun bleached blonde, her striking green eyes stood out against her tanned skin. There was something refreshing and uncontrived about her.

*

Slowly her anger receded, and the rest of the world began to filter back in. The cafe had fallen silent around them - everyone seemed to be waiting with baited breath to see what would happen next. The cute barista looked on, worried. They were blocking the narrow doorway and holding up the movement of rushed office workers looking for lunch, effectively halting all activity.

He seemed to realise this too, he took a step still closer, and rested a hand on the small of her back. As he began to steer her out of the cafe. she felt an unwelcome spark of electricity at his touch. It didn't even occur to her to resist this highhanded behaviour, until they were back outside on the busy London street.

He dropped his hand from her back and continued to watch her without speaking. She tried to read his expression and failed. He really was a fine specimen of a man. All that cast iron self confidence only added to his charisma and she was finding it profoundly irritating.

She took a steadying breath while she considered how best to extricate herself from this mortifying situation and immediately she regretted it. His smell wasn't simply cologne, or deodorant, she wasn't sure she knew what it was, but it was pure male, primal and exotic, and it affected her immediately. It was like her olfactory centres were directly connected to her womb. It affected her in ways she was not equipped to deal with. Again, for the second time that day, she closed her eyes, and tried to get a grip.

When she opened them the bastard was smirking, he was well aware of the effect he is having on her.

His eyes travelled down to her shirt, his expression still inscrutable, he took a step forward and his hand reached out. She froze. He was studying her face, almost as though he was seeing her for the first time. He leaned towards her. She had no idea why but she couldn't move, she couldn't speak, she was trapped in stare. He blinked, and the moment was broken. She released a breath. Another barista hovered nearby. She was holding another espresso which he took without a glance at the barista, and downed in one gulp, placing the empty cup down on a table. And without pause, he pulled his phone from the pocket of his perfectly tailored jacket and made a call.

"Katie. I'm sending a girl. She's in need of a new outfit. I've just covered her in coffee."

As he spoke, she studied his face. His eyes were his most striking feature, the gunmetal grey of a stormy sky, but he looked like a chiselled god, strong jaw, high, prominent cheekbones, that would seem almost feminine, if it wasn't for the dark stubble shadowing his jaw.

He ended the conversation, returned his phone in his pocket, took out his wallet and withdrew a card. "Here's the address of our wholesale outlet, it's just round the corner. Katie is expecting you."

She shook her head, her hands were trembling. "You can't just use your position to pay your way out of this, you owe me an apology -for ruining my shirt -for being so rude."

He scowled. "I apologise. Now please go and get a new set of clothes."

She bristled at the lack of sincerity in his voice. "There's no need for that."

"I insist."

She wanted to tell him to stick his new clothes but she didn't have a lot of choice. The interview was first thing in the morning and she couldn't be sure she'd be able to get the coffee out of her shirt. frowning she accepted the proffered card from his outstretched hand.

"Thanks."

"My pleasure"

New clothes

It felt colder now that her shirt was wet. She pulled her flimsy jacket around her shoulders and waited. He was still standing too close. When he still didn't speak, she sighed.

"Where is it then?"

"It's that way. He nodded vaguely behind her. "Go round that corner, it's about a hundred yards up on the opposite side. You'll see the sign, long before you reach it."

"Okay, thanks.

As she turned and started walking away, she could feel his stare boring into her, but she didn't look back. It was hard but she made herself keep moving without checking behind her until she reached the corner. When she was out of sight she stopped, and leaning against the wall she pressed her eyes closed. Savouring the relief of being away from his suffocating gaze.

*

How had he gotten under her skin so thoroughly?

She could already see the logo of the shop and it wasn't long until she reached it. The shop assistant appeared by her side as soon as she walked through the door,

"You must be Gabriel's latest victim." She said laughing.

What did that even mean? She wondered, "You must be Katie." she said instead

"Ooh, will you look at that! Is that linen? You better get that in some cold water immediately, you mustn't let it dry."

Jess was ushered over to a row of blouses, she picked one at random.

'Great choice!' Katie said. There was more enthusiasm in her voice than Jess had felt about any item of clothing. Ever.

'This skirt would go very well with it.' She said, holding up a brown plaid skirt

It's lovely, but I can't afford...

You don't have to, Gabriel insists. Her grin was infectious

Jess wanted to say no, just the shirt, but Katie looked crestfallen at her reluctance. She agreed to try it on, to humour her.

"He told me they interviewed you," Katie said through the door of the changing room. "Will you be coming to work with us?

"I don't think it went very well, but I have another interview tomorrow, hence..." but she stopped speaking, she was holding the new blouse up, looking over her shoulder at her bum, turning around. The skirt was nice. she hadn't realised how high the waist was, until she put it on. It wasn't the sort of thing she would ever have picked out for herself, but now she was wearing it she loved it.

"I'm going to take it," she said slowly. "I know I shouldn't, but I am." It didn't matter, she told herself, she was never going to see any of these people again.

When she emerged from the changing room, Katie's face lit up.

"It looks great. I knew that cut would suit you, but I think it's a bit roomy." After a quick rummage, Katie found the same skirt in the size smaller and before Jess got the chance to dissuade her, she was being gently pushed back into the cubicle.

Katie was right though, it did look better. Jess was just about to say so, but when she came out of the changing room for the second time he was there, standing by the till, talking to Katie, looking fetching in a rain splattered, grey, wool coat. They were both laughing at something together. Jess wanted to turn around and creep back into the changing rooms and wait for him to leave, but she knew that wasn't going to work. He was obviously there for her. Besides, she'd enjoyed the chance to get a look at him from a bit of a distance for a moment too long, because when Katie's face burst into a smile as she noticed Jess, he followed the direction of her gaze and then it was too late to hide.

He walked towards her and Jess fought the urge to back away. That time she noticed his hair, for what felt like the first time. It was thick, tossled, inky black, and suddenly wet. She felt an improper urge to reach up and run her hands through it, to brush the droplets of water away.

He came to a halt a few steps away from her. For a long moment they just watched each other, and neither of them spoke. Every cell in her body screamed at her to step back, to reclaim her personal space, which he was definitely invading. Somehow she managed to hold her ground

"I'm sorry," she found herself saying, before she meant to speak. Anything to fill the excruciating silence. "I shouldn't have called you an arrogant pig.."

His gaze was serious. "No I'm sorry, you were right, I did owe you an apology." As he spoke, his appreciative gaze roamed over her figure, taking in the new clothes.

She felt her face heat into what she was quite certain must have been a blush. "Let's just forget it happened."

"Okay, if you're sure." He smiled and his whole face transformed.

Arousal shot through her like a bolt of lightning, almost bringing her to her knees. She grabbed the back of a nearby chair to steady herself. He wasn't smiling anymore, but there was a fire raging in those eyes of his. The pupils were so big she could hardly see the irises anymore.

"The skirt looks great"

She was definitely Blushing "Thank you," she mumbled. She had to get out of the man's presence, before she did something stupid.

Katie appeared in the periphery of her vision, holding a bag. She faltered, opened her mouth to speak and then after looking between them she closed it again. But thankfully, with her arrival, Jess had been released again from the grip of her attraction.

Thank you so much Katie, I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. I better be getting out of your hair.

Inside the bag, carefully folded were Jess's clothes. Later when she got home Jess would discover her shirt had been rinsed and carefully wrapped in tissue paper. Katie's thoughtfulness would be the only reason Jess's linen shirt would emerge from the washing machine later, unscathed.

She left the building to discover that the bleak skies made good on their promise and the heavens had opened. There was torrential rain all the way home. She was drenched and struggling with her key in the lock and wondering if the day could get much worse, when her mobile rang.