“Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” she said. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I replied, brushing myself down as best I could before looking back up at her. The first thing that struck me about her were her eyes, a little too big for her face, as if she’d been brought to life from a cartoon. If Walt himself had handed out an instruction to his animators to draw an innocent child, they’d have come up with something just like her. She was short with pale skin, though her cheeks were flushed as she continued to apologise. My heart gave out a pang of pain at the sight of her, she was actually trembling as if she expected me to yell at her. What the hell had happened in her past to make her so afraid?
“Just be more careful next time,” I said, resisting the urge to ask.
“I’m so sorry. You must think I’m an idiot.”
“Not at all. Look, I’m busy, I need to get on.”
“Of course, I’m just holding you up. I don’t even know why I thought it would work.”
“Why what would work?”
She dipped her head, looking at the floor before speaking. “I thought if I brought the boss a coffee, oh, it’s stupid, forget I said anything.”
“It’s your first day and you thought you’d make a good impression by taking a coffee to the boss?”
“Yeah, silly, isn’t it?”
“Not really. I could do with a coffee.”
“You don’t mean, tell me you’re not the boss, please.”
I nodded. “Afraid so.”
“Oh, that’s just perfect. I might as well go home now.”
“No, hang on. Look, I’ve got to pop to finance but then I’d love a coffee. Bring one to my office in twenty minutes, just promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“Don’t throw it over me again.”
I buttoned my jacket as I left her standing there. I had an office full of people who would have leapt over each other for a chance to bring me a drink if I asked but I’d never done so before. I wanted one from her. Looking into those eyes of hers had made me want a lot more than a drink from her. A glance was enough to make me picture her bent over whilst I raised a whip. Stop it, you’re at work, concentrate.
Dropping the paperwork off at the finance office, I was glad my jacket hid the worst of the staining. I was even more glad of the fresh shirt that waited on my desk when I got back. Susie really was good. Someone who noticed you needed a shirt and had one ready was someone you wanted to keep.
I took off my jacket and hung it on the back of my chair before loosening my tie. I had it off a moment later and was unbuttoning my shirt before I realised I’d left the blinds open. Crossing the room, I slid them shut, blocking the world out so I could change in private. I threw the stained shirt into the bin next to my desk before tearing into the cellophane covering the fresh one. I was just pulling it from the wrapping when the door flew open and the coffee girl appeared.
“Oh God,” she said, shielding her eyes with her arm. “I’ve done it again.”
“Look out,” I replied. “You’ll spill it.”
She looked up at her hand and realised it was twisting sideways in her efforts to avoid looking at me. “I should go, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise you were changing.”
“It’s fine,” I said, unable to resist laughing. “Come in and close the door though.”
“Of course,” she mumbled, groping for the door handle. Once we were alone, she shuffled forward with her eyes closed, fumbling for the edge of the desk.
“Open your eyes and look at what you’re doing,” I said as I pulled on the fresh shirt and began buttoning it up.
She did as I asked, glancing at my chest before pointedly looking down at the desk. “There’s your coffee,” she said, turning to go.
“Wait,” I replied, not even sure why I said it. She turned to look back at me and I realised I would have to say something. “Are you any good at taking notes?”
“It’s all I do at college.”
“What’s your name?”
“Natalie Brook.”
“And you’ve just started here?”
“Yep but....”
“I need to get a letter written and if there’s one thing I hate doing, it’s typing. I’d normally use a dictaphone and give it to one of the secretaries but the battery’s dead.” A lie but she didn’t know that.
“I’m supposed to be filing, Sir.”
Something stirred inside me when she said that. It was the way she called me Sir, that was part of it at least. But it was also the way she looked at me. She looked so innocent and flustered, as if she was still getting over the sight of me with my shirt off. She looked completely out of her depth and it made me want to look after her, amongst other things.