Steph arrivedat her office with a bacon sandwich and a very overpriced coffee from the local coffee shop. She put her briefcase down and sat at her desk with her phone and started with the voicemails that were all very similar;I love you, I miss you, who are you seeing? Is it serious?And then as the night had gone on and he became more drunk and a little more unpleasant -you’re a bitch, all I ever wanted was to be with you and you pushed me away, you always chose your career before me and that’s why I ended up shagging the school secretary.She sighed as she hung up and checked the missed calls, the last of which was timed at just after twenty past seven. She smiled as she thought that at that time she was sharing a shower with Jon.
Then she looked at the text messages and sighed as they became more and more desperate and aggressive as they went on, but they reflected the sentiments of the voicemails. Maybe now that he was sleeping off a skin full he would leave her alone as he had done up until the previous night, although Steph was curious to know what had triggered his visit. She threw herphone onto her desk and bit into her bacon sandwich as Rosie appeared in the doorway.
“Morning, Steph, you okay?” she asked warily.
“Kind of. Simon has resurfaced and is being a pain in the neck,” she explained.
“Ah, maybe he has been given his marching orders by the school secretary,” she suggested.
Steph nodded. “I thought that too, but his timing was well off.”
Rosie frowned then nodded as if suddenly understanding. “Were you with someone else?”
“I was waiting to be picked up for a date when Simon turned up drunk and then he was phoning and texting.” She sighed, really hoping he would go away as quickly as he’d reappeared.
“Maybe after he’s sobered up he will go back to where he’s come from and leave you alone, but more importantly, who is your new man?” asked Rosie, intrigued.
“Nobody you know, just a guy and it’s not serious, just a bit of fun for a while.” She felt a sudden feeling of disappointment wash over her at the notion of that, the notion of what she and Jon were, all they could ever be.
“I see. Do you want tea or are you sticking with your designer coffee?” Rosie pointed at Steph’s cardboard cup.
“I’ll stick with this, thanks,” she replied as Rosie returned to her own desk.
Steph was auditingsome costings a short time later when her desk phone rang.
“Steph, there’s a delivery of flowers here for you and Steve Cannon from Brookers is on the line,” Rosie told her.
“Put him through and bring the flowers in if you would, please,” she replied before her call was connected. “Hello, Steve, what can I do for you?”
“Morning, Steph. I was wondering if you were definitely in this afternoon?”
“Yes, but not until after one. Is there a problem?” Nerves flooded her mind as she questioned what could have gone wrong so soon in the deal with Brookers.
“Sort of. I had a team meeting this morning and a few of my people are a little nervous that their roles are being limited by the contract with you so I was wondering if you were free to attend an informal gathering to discuss any concerns they have?”
“Yes, of course. In fact, we should probably have seen that coming and pre-empted it. What time?” She pulled her diary out.
“Two o’clock? Give you some time to gather your thoughts,” he suggested.
“Thanks, and I’ll see you later.” She’d just hung up when Rosie appeared with the biggest arrangement of flowers she had ever seen outside of a funeral procession.
Rosie grinned at her. “Oh yes, definitely ‘just a guy and it’s not serious, just a bit of fun for a while’.”
Steph stared at the flowers, pink and cream blooms; lilies, roses, carnations, gerberas and dozens of others she didn’t know the names of.
“They’re beautiful.” Rosie smiled at her, then she ran off as her phone began to ring in the distance.
Steph’s desk phone rang again and as she answered it Rosie’s voice said, “Sorry Steph, but Simon is on the line for you.”
“Shit,” muttered Steph, nervously toying with a pen. She was desperate to tell Rosie to make an excuse for her, but presumed based on the last twenty-four hours, he wouldn’t give up easily,and it would be unfair to put her assistant in the middle of her personal life. With a sigh, she spoke again, “Put him through.”
“Hello,” came Simon’s voice, “Steph?”
“Simon.”
“I wanted to apologise for last night. For getting drunk and turning up at your place and then the messages and calls, sorry.” He sounded sincere, and yet, Steph could hear something else, frustration, irritation, both perhaps.
“Apology accepted, thanks, but I really have to go.” She meant it. She did accept his apology, there was no reason not to, but she had a very busy day.
