"Surely your background check told you that the only man I've been involved with recently was Oscar, and you know what happened there. I can't possibly manage more than one man at a time, given that I work stupid hours."
"We only found three men, including Oscar. I'm assuming there are gaps in your relationship history on the check we did," Ivan said.
"No, there's no gaps," I replied, blushing slightly. Yeah ok, just three men, not exactly experienced. Ivan looked shocked, but didn't say anything. I decided to change the subject. "Where do you live when you're in London?"
"Not far, I have an apartment in Saffron wharf. There's a garden square nearby for the girls. They prefer the woods, but it would have meant a long commute each day." He paused, as if trying to find the right words to say something. "Elle, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, fire away."
He looked a bit pained, "when I said we would have raw, wild sex, did that scare you off?" His eyes bored into me, and I knew I'd have to tell the truth.
"Yes, it did. It made me feel like a sex object, or a plaything. I'm not experienced enough yet to take on a sex god, and I don't want to sleep my way up the career ladder, I'm sorry." I stared into my coffee, feeling a bit stupid.
"No, Elle, I'm sorry if I made you feel that way. Very Russian of me, sometimes I forget..." He trailed off.
"Forget what?"
"That you're not the sharp, assertive lawyer when you're off the clock," he said, "and that you are a lady. I bet I scared the life out of you."
"It sounded...rough. That's what turned me off. I'm really not into the whole 'pain is sexy' thing."
"I see." Did I detect disappointment in his eyes? I cleared away our cups, making it clear that coffee was over. Ivan didn't seem to take the hint.
"I'm gonna send you home now. I need my sleep." I said, thinking that possibly, direct was better. Ivan stood and smiled warmly.
"Sleep well. I'll see you Wednesday afternoon. I'll make all the arrangements." He gently kissed my cheek, sending hormones flying around my body, and left.#p#分页标题#e#
I lay in bed that night replaying our evening. I tried to analyse what was holding me back with Ivan. We got along well, I fancied the pants off of him, but the idea of actually having sex with him terrified me. I felt overwhelmed by him, both physically and mentally, as if there would be no way back once I experienced making love with him, and I would measure all men by him for evermore. In addition, he was a client, and the last thing I wanted was a reputation at work.
I woke up at my usual time, and left for the gym at six sharp. I needed to get in early and make a start on the contract for Ivan, before my first meeting at nine thirty. I noticed I needed more tights, and decided I would have to get over my squeamishness and ask Laura to pick some up for me. I had always regarded women who claimed to be too busy to do the normal stuff in life to simply be disorganised. There was no way I'd get the chance to go anywhere near a shop today, my schedule was packed, and as it was, I'd be doing my laundry at eleven that night so that I didn't run out of clean knickers that week.
I was at my desk by seven fifteen, and began the contract, working through my notes carefully and methodically. In the end, I finished it by quarter past nine, and emailed it over to Ivan. Approximately two minutes later my phone rang.
"How have you done this by quarter past nine?" Ivan asked.
"Good morning Ivan, hope you're well. I got up early," I replied, "besides, I have a busy day ahead, so I thought I'd get it done and out of the way. Let me know what amendments I need to make. By the way, I'm going to need Roger at half seven, is that ok?"
"Yes fine, I'll tell him. I'll let you know about the contract." He cut the call. So rude. I was interrupted by the arrival of Laura with a cup of tea, and a sheaf of faxes that had come through for me to look through. I skimmed through quickly before my nine thirty turned up.
Paul Lassiter was the owner/CEO of a recruitment company. He was tall, blonde and boyish looking. While not quite in Ivan's league, he had a warm smile, and was extremely charming. He explained that he wanted to separate his temp, permanent and training divisions, and needed an umbrella company set up, preferably in a low tax territory, and the three new companies set up to funnel their revenue through the parent firm. I made copious notes, and promised to do some research and email him with some proposals. I explained that I would need to speak to our partner accountants to make sure that nothing would fall apart under the scrutiny of HMRC, should they decide to look.