Three Times! A Lady?

Suzy left me alone and after looking through my almost empty desk draws. Suzy -- or someone -- had stowed the contents of my cardboard box reasonably logically. I took a stroll around my little domain and perused the facilities that Suzy had mentioned.

"Jesus Christ mate! You'd better not fuck this little number up! How the hell would you ever get used to working in a tiny office on the third floor again?" I asked myself. Unintentionally out-loud I soon discovered.

"Charming way for an executive to talk!" A rather too familiar voice said behind me.

I spun around and found Wendy standing there grinning at me.

How do you like our office?" She asked. "I chose the colours myself, are they alright with you?"

"Wendy what...?"

"I told you daddy would find me a nice teacher, to show me how to do things around here. After all, all this is going to be all mine, one day. Well... daddy appears to have chosen you."

"But Wendy, I've come straight from the third floor. I have no idea how things work up here!"

"Oh don't worry, daddy knows what he's doing. We'll probably learn together, only you'll be my guide on how to behave around these people. Now, what do you fancy, coffee or tea?"

As we drank our coffees we re-explored the office again together, with Wendy pointing out all the little feminine touches she'd added.

Then I took Wendy on a full tour of the lower floors where she'd never trespassed before. I give you that we got some very bewildered looks. Most everyone had heard about the debacle at the presentation 'do', and few could figure-out what was going down.

The guys in my old department were friendly enough, if not a little withdrawn, and John Hewlett did a runner the moment we entered the department. I learnt later that he'd been severally reprimanded for not spreading the credit for the department's work, where it was due.

Less than a year later, shortly after Hewlett had been told that he'd have to report to me in future, he resigned.

Anyway I've got ahead of myself. Over the next few weeks Wendy and I went on a steep learning curve. We sat in on all board meetings and lots of other meetings as well, trying to understand what everyone actually did. We spent time loosely attached to each department. That was fine until it came to the accounts department; there was just too much for us to take in going on in there. But Monty told us we really only had to bother about the bottom line. The accounts director was supposed to worry about everything else.

"Mind you, you must never take your eyes off the bugger. A dodgy accounts director can kill any company. Make sure you have a good and reliable set of auditors as well. A big name doesn't necessarily mean you can trust those buggers either." Monty told Wendy and I over dinner at the Montague house one evening.

As the months slowly passed I appeared to be becoming a regular dinner guest of the Montague's. I can't say that I was particularly enamoured attending with Sylvia's dinner parties though. They tended to play Bridge after the meal; neither Wendy nor I enjoyed the game very much. Actually we'd often sit out and talk about work.

Then came the day that everything changed. Wendy and I had just come back from lunch and I was reading through a very boring report. By then Monty was charging Wendy and myself with reading these damned reports and highlighting anything we thought he should take note of. He must have been reading the same things himself though, because he'd chew both of us out if we'd missed anything he thought important.

Anyway there I was staring at my computer screen, when suddenly Wendy was beside me. I saw her hand disappear under my desk to check that the recorders and Suzy's earphone were switched off.

"What's up, kiddo?"

I have no idea when or why, I'd started calling Wendy kiddo when we were in private. It just seemed the right thing to do and she had never objected.

"I was wondering, just how long are you going to keep beating around the bush, Toby?"

"Sorry Kiddo, I'm not with you!"

"Oh Christ Toby, don't play bloody dumb with me. I see you watching me when you think I'm not looking. And I know that look in your eye as well. When the bloody-hell are you going to ask me out on another date? I can't hang around forever, you know!"

"Er, Wendy, I had no idea that you were attracted to me."

"That's Codswallop Toby. You know that I was attracted to Gerard enough to fall in love with his looks alone. You're his bloody double, so you were more than half way there before we'd even met."

"I wouldn't have thought that, taking the circumstances of that meeting into consideration, Wendy."

"Yeah but I thought you were Gerard then, didn't I? But eventually I discovered you weren't. You're a completely different kettle of fish. Shit Toby, I fell in love with you at that bloody play we went to.

"Christ, I made it clear enough didn't I? I asked if you were romantically involved with anyone and you assured me that you were a free agent. Why did you think I was interested? And I've even made it clear enough that I'm not interested in any of the guys who've tried to come on to me when you're around. I've even told that you they were wasting their time."

She had me, she really did; I had fallen for Wendy pretty soon after we started working together. But for obvious reasons, I hadn't dared push my luck.

"Wendy... Well, you're right, I am more than attracted to you, but..."

"But what?"

"Well you're are the bosses daughter and well... there's the old adage about the guy who... courts his way to the top."

"Ooh-er, what a diplomatic way to but it? But haven't you noticed something Toby. You're almost at the top right now and we haven't been dating. Everybody in the building thinks we have, by the way; so it wouldn't make any difference anyway.

"Look my father has a plan. I have a pretty large portfolio of shares in my father's numerous enterprises. Daddy controls them at the moment and represents me on the various boards etcetera. His plan of getting me in here was to teach me how to run a company, I'm supposed to branch out and take things into my own hands by the time I'm thirty. But before I do that, I need a good husband who will be there with me.

She looked into my eyes and grinned.

"Actually he's going to have to run everything because I'll need to be home looking after all of our children. I want lots of children, and I know you do as well."

"What gives you that idea?"

"You've told me on numerous occasions, Toby."

"I have?"

"Oh yeah, you certainly have. Now what say you flick that little switch under your left hand and we take this conversation over to the couch."

"Sofa!" I said, as we both heard the distinct click of the office doors locking.

"Okay Sofa. But it will be a drawing room!"

Suzy was all grins when we left the office later in the day. I didn't discover until later that a little 'Do not disturb!' light illuminates on Suzy's desk, when that door lock switch is pressed.

Life goes on

Note: There's one question that Toby apparently never thought to ask himself. Did the "Gerard" character, ever really exist?