The Iceman – as one of Tessa’s co-workers had irreverently dubbed Andrew – arrived at the office about five minutes after she did. She knew he’d likely been at the office until early evening on the previous day, and probably had to deal with phone calls and emails after hours as well.
She offered him up a warm but businesslike smile as he passed by on the way to his office. “Good morning, Andrew.”
He gave her a brief nod. “Hello, Tessa. First one in again, I see.”
Her cheeks pinkened and she gave a small shrug. “I got the early bus. It’s a bit less crowded than the next one.”
“Mr. Gregson is going to need some spreadsheets done today,” he told her briskly. “I’ll be sending the information your way shortly.”
It was a great source of pride for Tessa to know that her expertise with producing complex spreadsheets was highly valued by the Managing Director. Mr. Gregson used them on a regular basis for his reports and presentations, and the vast majority of them were delegated to her for processing.
“Of course, Andrew. Send them along at your convenience and I’ll get right to them,” she assured him. “I don’t have anything else pressing on my schedule for today.”
“Good to know. I’ll email you the supporting data within the hour.”
Tessa always paid extra attention to her work when she knew the project was for Mr. Gregson. It wasn’t just the fact that he was the Managing Director – in charge of all the hotels in North and South America plus all of the employees here at the regional office. She couldn’t – or perhaps more truthfully – wouldn’t define her feelings for the incredibly handsome, dynamic man but she knew that they were not appropriate emotions for a married woman to be having for a man who wasn’t her husband.
She felt guilty every single time she saw Ian Gregson, or even thought about him, and recognized the little thrill that shimmered through her body as attraction. Tessa always dismissed her reactions to her charismatic, compelling boss as nothing more than a silly little schoolgirl crush, the same sort of harmless infatuation one might harbor for a movie star. God knew she would never, ever consider acting on her awareness of him. Besides the very obvious fact that she was completely devoted to Peter and would never consider being unfaithful to him, there was the matter of Ian Gregson being her employer. And he was so far above her in every way – intellectually, socially, economically – that it was laughable to think he would ever notice a lowly employee like herself. He dated socialites, businesswomen, and occasionally celebrities. Tessa’s co-workers were constantly tracking their boss in the society and gossip columns online, and chatting about the current woman in his life. And whether Tessa cared to hear about Ian Gregson’s personal life or not, she typically wasn’t given a choice in the matter. Just like she was rarely given a choice of the other mind numbing topics they chattered about incessantly – clothes, makeup, celebrities, a variety of TV shows, what club they had hit last weekend, the latest argument they’d had with their boyfriend. The list went on but none of the topics of conversation were of particular interest to Tessa, and certainly none of them could be called intellectually stimulating.
But she was far too shy and retiring, and too intimidated by her co-workers, to speak up. It had been that way for her ever since childhood. Moving and changing schools so often had made it difficult for her to make friends easily. She had always felt like the new girl, the outsider, and just when she’d finally started to fit in and make a friend or two, her flighty, emotionally unstable mother would uproot them and move on to the next town where Tessa would have to start all over again. And old habits died hard it seemed, for Tessa still felt like the outsider at the office, even though she’d worked here for two years. She had never really bonded with any of her co-workers, didn’t feel as though she could honestly call them her friends, and, sadly, didn’t trust any of them.
She had been at her desk for more than half an hour before the rest of the team began to filter in. As usual, Marisol was the first one in and she gave Tessa a weary smile as she put her things away. At twenty-eight, Marisol was a pretty, petite Filipina woman, married with two small children under the age of four. Even though she and her husband got a lot of support from their families, working full time and caring for two young kids wore her out. She yawned constantly during the day, drank endless cups of coffee, and seemed to operate in slow motion most of the time. Still, Marisol was sweet and quiet, was always kind to Tessa, and generally didn’t join in most of the incessant gossiping and chatter as the others did.