“Hannah,” I cut in, balancing the phone between my shoulder and ear, before giving up on that entirely and switching over to speaker. “I’m not interested in long-winded excuses. Fix it. Simple as that. This is holding up my wife’s partner visa application. I expect our marriage documents to be in my possession within the next twenty-four hours.”
“I’ll have to speak to my supervisor about?—”
“Actually,I’dlike to speak to your supervisor. I’m not in the business of wasting my time, or yours. If you don’t have the authority to fast track our application—which I will remind you has been lost in your subpar system for three months now—then I need to speak to someone who does.”
“I … I can see that all your documentation is here, and in order. I’ll manually process it immediately,” she stammered, frantic keyboard strokes following her words. I breathed a silent sigh of relief, rubbing at the headache forming in my temples.
“Okay, I’ve processed your application. You’re officially married!”
“No. We were officially married on January twenty-ninth,” I said darkly.
“Oh!” Hannah squeaked. “Yes, of course, I just meant that?—”
“When can I expect the certificate to arrive?”
“You could come down to our office this afternoon, and someone can print it out for you.”
I sighed derisively. “Hannah. Do you understand how busy I am?”
“Of-of course, Mr Baxter, I … could your wife come instead?”
I glanced up, squinting against the mid-morning sunshine in the direction of the swim spa on the foredeck. Ri, having finished her training, lounged in the hydrotherapy jets. There were red marks around her eyes where her goggles had been and a small smirk on her face.
“She’s also busy,” I growled. “I’ll send my assistant, Olivia Henderson, to collect two copies. Make a note of that. I don’t want to be harassed by your office again with questions about the identity of the person collecting the documents.”
“I … I’ll print them now and have them waiting. Tell her to ask for me.” Hannah’s voice trembled. Ri cracked her eyes, turning in my direction, a question on her face.
“That’s a suitable outcome,” I replied, my voice substantially warmer than a moment ago. “Thank you for your time and your expertise today, Hannah.”
“It was my pleasure,” she mumbled. There was a pregnant pause before she added reluctantly, “Is there anything else I can assist you with today?”
Ri snorted indelicately.
“I think I’ve traumatised you sufficiently for a Tuesday morning, Hannah. I hope you have a lovely rest of your day.” I hung up and stood, stretching the stiffness from my muscles, the tightness from my skin.
“You look likeyouneed some hydrotherapy,” Ri called, patting the side of the spa. “It’s taxing, terrifying poor little government employees half to death.”
“Just let me add that task to Liv’s workflow for the day,” I muttered, grabbing my phone and navigating to CatChat, our company-wide app. I needed a moment to compose myself before I climbed, mostly naked, into the spa with her.
I was still reeling from her little confession in Romanian the nightbefore.‘I’d much rather stay here with you and kiss you silly until I fell asleep in your arms.’
What was I supposed to do with that information? Had it been a tease? Was it how she really felt? I couldn’t ask her because that meant admitting I understood what she was saying.
Better to pretend Ihadn’theard it at all.Easier said than done, I thought with a sigh, closing the admin app and removing my glasses. A text message popped up just as I was about to put my phone down. I picked it up, squinting at the blurry words.
Atlas: Do you ever intend to show your face in the office again?
Atlas: Or are you still busy getting balls-deep in your blonde bride?
Atlas:
“Are you done, big important boss man?” Ri teased.
“Done.” I muttered, ignoring Atlas’s juvenile messages … and the rush of fluttering in my stomach that they elicited. I slipped out of my T-shirt and shorts, padding across the timber deck in my swim trunks. Ri’s attention was scorching, and I tried to pretend I didn’t know she was looking at me almost completely unclothed.
I slipped into the warm water. Almost instantly, the feel of weightlessness melted the tension from my body. I floated across to the other hydro jets and settled myself against them, which put me directly in Ri’s line of vision.
“That was hot,” she purred.
