Kinky Boots(38)
‘Damn right, I want to control her. If she asks my permission for everything she does, sexually I mean, then maybe she’ll stay safe.’
Jill shivered in her elegantly knotted web, and a picture of another woman suspended flashed like a ruptured after-image through her head. It was already past before she realised this woman had not been tied lovingly by another. This woman had tied the knot herself, a slip-knot around her neck, done in a moment of despair, done before anyone could stop her.
Then Jill’s nest of knots gave way beneath her, tumbling her back into her body. She cried out and pushed at the duvet.
It took her a second to reorient herself to the bed she was no longer above, to the arms of Finn now wrapped protectively around her. ‘Jill, Jill! Wake up. Are you all right?’ In the darkened room she felt his gaze more than saw it, but it felt grounding, a strange word she never would have used before her association with Eleanor and the Sole Alliance. She laid her head against his chest. ‘It’s all right It was just a dream. I’m fine. I’m OK.’
He pulled her close to him, forcing a little grunt from her with his enthusiasm. ‘You scared me,’ he said. ‘You seemed so distressed.’
‘I’m all right,’ she replied. But somehow the discomfort of the dream lingered.
Finn was already gone in the morning when she woke up.
* * *
Her arrival at the office on Monday morning was greeted with relief. ‘Mrs Kenny wants to see you, in Mr Devlin’s office,’ the receptionist said, shifting nervously in her seat.
‘What’s going on?’ Jill asked. Mrs Kenny was Devlin’s superior, and Jill had only ever met the woman once in the three years she’d been working at Full On.
‘No idea.’ The receptionist avoided her gaze and shifted the few items on her desk as though she were attempting to look busy.
Inside Devlin’s office, Jill was instantly aware that something was wrong. The man’s personal items were gone and the office was empty.
‘Sit down, Jill.’ The well-preserved Mrs Kenny wore a mauve power suit that had expensive written all over it, and before Jill had completely settled in the chair the woman began. ‘Mr Devlin has left us.’
Jill barely managed to utter a little gasp of surprise before the woman waved her hand as though she were shooing away a mosquito. ‘It was sudden. Personal problems of some type, but, for whatever reason, he felt it most urgent that he leave immediately.’ Mrs Kenny folded her hands on top of the bare desk and held Jill in a cast-iron stare. ‘I’m sorry for the man’s problems, Jill, as I’m sure you can imagine, but I still have a business to run, and I’m not blind to the fact that a good deal of what gets done around here is getting done by you.’ The woman straightened her jacket and looked down at her watch. ‘There should be a meeting of staff to plan this week’s eZine this morning, am I right?’
She didn’t wait for Jill’s reply. ‘Certainly I’m not informed enough on events and long-term plans to run that meeting, Jill, but I know you are. And you’re probably more qualified than Devlin was to run this eZine. That means you’ll have to pick up the slack, straighten up the mess Devlin left and get things back up to speed.’
Jill was about to tell her that she had only come in to talk to HR about her severance, but then it hit her. Devlin hadn’t told anyone about her quitting. He’d opted to just leave. Technically she was still employed at Full On, and her reason to quit was no longer there.
‘The job’s yours, Ms Hart.’
That got her attention. And when Jill did nothing more than offer a gasp of surprise, Mrs Kenny raised an eyebrow. ‘Well? What are you waiting for? Once the planning meeting’s over see HR about your new employment status and have them change the name on the door. I’ll have my secretary schedule a lunch for us in two weeks, and we can discuss your vision for Full On. I’m excited to see what you can do.’
She stood and offered Jill her hand. ‘Good luck, Ms Hart. By the way, I enjoyed your busker story.’ Then she turned and left, closing the door to Jill’s office behind her, leaving Jill to try and catch up with what had just happened. Meanwhile Eleanor did a fine job of demon smug that made Jill feel, well, not exactly orgasmic, but pretty fucking close.
* * *
Being in charge at Full On, as Jill suspected, wasn’t an easy task. And it was not made easier by the disarray Devlin had left it in. She had managed a quick text to Vivie and to Finn filling them in on her new employment status. Vivie had answered back almost immediately with excited congratulations. Finn, on the other hand, had not replied.