“He’s upstairs,” Amil said, raising an eyebrow. “Do me a favour and eat the bacon elsewhere, yeah? Smells like burning bodies.”
“Sure,” Johnny replied, shaking the fire extinguisher. “Anyway, I’ll just…” Instead of finishing the sentence, he walked past them and into the report-writing room. He dropped the fire extinguisher into its holder and trudged up the stairs to the management corridor.
“Damn, girl, good for you,” came Taylor’s playful voice from one of the side offices.
He and Wendy looked up as Johnny pushed open the door. Wendy’s hand was splayed across the table and the smell of nail polish tickled Johnny’s nose as he eyed the brush pinched between Taylor’s fingers.
“Morning,” Wendy said, glancing down at her bright red nails then back up at Johnny.
Johnny’s mouth twitched.
“Well?” she said, wiggling her fingers. “Whaddya think?”
“Er, very nice,” Johnny said, shouldering his bag onto the table.
They weren’tnice,and in fact he was feeling some type of way about it.
Taylor didn’t look up. He was a little scratched up but otherwise looked normal.
“God, blokes are bloody useless,” Wendy said, rolling her eyes. “Can’t rely on either of you for a decent compliment.”
“Hey, paint your own nails next time,” Taylor muttered, dipping the brush back into the pot.
Johnny looked down at his own purple nails, sniffing.
Wendy smacked her lips at Taylor like a horny old cougar, and Taylor blew her a kiss.
“Wendy’s got a date,” Taylor mumbled, muscles tense across his shoulders.
“Uh-huh,” Johnny replied, dropping the bacon sandwich parcels onto the desk. “Anyone we should know about?”
Wendy laughed. “I appreciate the sentiment, darl’, but he’s an out of towner, shall we say.”
“He’s younger,” Taylor said, flashing a smile at Wendy. “A plumber, right, Wend?”
Wend?
Wendy nodded and gave him a salacious grin. “Hoping he’ll sort my plumbing right out.”
Taylor laughed, wrinkling his nose. “You dirty girl.”
Blinking, Johnny stepped back. “Sorry, am I interrupting?”
Wendy sucked her bottom lip and winked at him. “Why, you need Taylor to touch you up, hon?” When he didn’t answer, Wendy threw back her head and let out a filthy laugh. “Now there’s a porno I’dpayto watch.”
Johnny backed away, shoulder hitting the doorframe. “Just… eat the sandwiches,” he said. “I’ve lost my appetite.”
Wendy’s laughter bounced down the corridor as he took the stairs two at a time back to the report-writing room.
“Sickening, isn’t it?” Amil said, from behind his usual computer screen. “They found one wanderer together and now they’re best buds.”
“Please tell me they’ve painted her nails a neutral colour?” Isla sighed, flopping into a chair next to Amil. “I said they could do it so long as it was tasteful.”
“If you call the shade ‘really red’ neutral, then yeah, I guess,” Amil said, shaking his head.
Isla buried her head in her hands. “The boss will be on my arse about uniform regs next,” she said, leaning forwards to look at Amil’s computer screen. “Anyway, any update?”
“Not yet,” Amil replied. “But there’s over ten thousand signatures already.”
