by Rhoda Baxter
Jim
##
From: Marshall Winfield
To: James Edwards
Okay. Okay. Fine. I'll meet you by the lifts in five minutes.
* * * *
Jane shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Keith was sitting next to her and, not very subtly, looking at her legs. He and Eric had been trading insults and joking, which would have been entertaining, if Keith hadn't been showing Jane so much non-professional interest. Being arm-candy for Ashby meant she was used to being ogled at, but she'd never learned to be comfortable with the experience. She wondered how early she could make her excuses and leave without looking antisocial.
Ordinarily, she didn't mind being surrounded by men. Before Triphoppers became famous, she had spent many an evening in the pub with Ashby and the band without feeling awkward. But then she had been a student and the band had been just a bunch of guys her boyfriend sang with. She hadn't needed to impress them.
With these men, the situation was different. They were work colleagues and part of the city set. She could sense undercurrents of professional tension, but didn't know what they were. She felt as though she was a fresher at university once more, aware that allegiances formed and impressions made in the first week would dog her for the rest of her time there. As despondency started to creep over her, she told herself that she shouldn't rush to judge. She took a sip of her wine.
Keith was good looking enough, but the way he was eyeing her up was irritating. Eric was telling a joke, watching Jane out of the corner of his eye. She recognised that look too, from when she was with Ashby. It was that of someone calculating how useful she would be to them. In her past life, she would have clung to Ashby and played the dumb blonde, but she couldn't do that here. She had to work with these people. She had to show them that she was smart, capable and likeable.
Besides, she reminded herself, she wasn't blonde any more.
"Hallo, hallo," A cheery voice made them all look up as a red haired man approached "I'm Jim, one of the junior partners." He had a friendly face and an infectious smile.
Jane liked him immediately.
"Hi." She wondered if everyone defined themselves by their level of seniority in the company.
Jim moved aside a little. "This is Marshall. One of the associates."
He was tall and handsome and looked oddly familiar. She hadn't been introduced to him at the office, she would have remembered. And she didn't know many people in London. Where had she met him?
"Hello again." Marshall's brown eyes lit up. A dimple appeared in his cheek.
The jogger from that morning! He looked different in a suit and with his hair neatly combed. She had thought that underneath the sweat and the jogging clothes, he might be quite attractive. It turned out she'd been right.
"Oh! I didn't recognise you..." She was about to say "with clothes on" but realised how inappropriate that would sound. She felt her cheeks warm.
Marshall seemed to sense the rest of the sentence and his smile widened.
"Do you know each other?" Keith's eye narrowed as he looked from one to the other.
"Yes, we ran into each other earlier this morning. Literally." Marshall looked around. "Can I get anyone a drink?"
"I'll have a pint of the usual," said Jim. "I'll grab us a couple of seats."
Keith moved his stool slightly closer to Jane. Jim dragged a stool over and sat on the other side of her. "So," he said as he shrugged off his coat. "How was your first day, Jane?"
"It was good, thanks." Jane waited for any comparisons to life in the North, but none came.
Marshall returned and sat opposite Jane. By then Keith was talking again. There was a certain over-the-top quality to the way Keith spoke, as though he was trying to project more personality than he actually had. Jane tried to listen to him, but found her attention kept being drawn towards Marshall. He really was very handsome. But then, Ashby had been handsome. It didn't mean he was a nice person.
When there was a lull in Keith's monologue, Marshall said, "So, Jane, what made you decide to become a patent agent?"
Jane had been asked the same question at almost every job interview. "I wanted to be involved with cutting edge science without actually doing any lab work. I figured, what better way than to become a patent attorney and help people file patents to protect their brilliant inventions."
"Too right," said Jim. "Leave the research to people who are good at it, I say."
Marshall shot Jim an amused look and turned his attention back to Jane. "You started off working in the pharmaceutical industry, right?"
Jane wondered if he'd been reading her CV, or whether that information had been part of the email that Ruth mentioned.
"So why did you decide to leave Manchester and come down here to move into private practice?"
Jane decided to ignore the first part of the question; it would be impossible to explain her reasons for leaving Manchester without mentioning Ashby. "I wanted to work on a wider variety of projects." She made eye contact with Marshall for the first time and immediately forgot what she was about to say.
There was a brief pause and she realised that everyone watching her. Reluctantly, she looked away from Marshall's eyes, only to find herself looking at his lips. Hurriedly, she focused on the safer territory of his eyes again. "How about you? Did you always work in private practice?"
Before Marsh could answer, Keith said, "Marsh has always been with R and T." He clapped Marshall on the shoulder. "Started off as a mere trainee."
Marshall raised his eyebrows at Jane and nodded. "What he said."
Jim laughed. "Marsh is one of our bright young things," he said. "Who knows, he might make it to partner one of these days."
Keith gave a derisive snort.
"I worked as a research chemist for a bit before I came here," said Marshall. "As you say, the variety appeals."
The arrival of Jim and Marshall changed the tone of the evening. Jim's good humour was infectious and the conversation moved swiftly away from work to teasing Eric about his upcoming wedding. Jane noticed that Marshall didn't say a lot. She wondered if that meant he was shy. Keith had stopped looking at her legs quite so often and was using the time to make supercilious remarks, mostly aimed at Marshall. Marshall, whilst not openly ignoring Keith, appeared not to hear any of them.
Jane found the interaction between the two men amusing. After her second glass of wine, she found she was fighting the urge to giggle. For the first time in a long time, she relaxed and was surprised to realise she was enjoying herself.
* * * *
It was late by the time Jane returned to the flat. Polly was lying on the sofa reading.
She looked up from her magazine. "Hiya. How was the pub?" Moving to London had taken the edge off Polly's accent, but it was still noticeably from Lancashire.
Jane found it comforting to come home to. She shrugged off her coat and sank gratefully into a chair. "Not bad." She eased her feet out of her shoes. "I seem to be in a mostly male team."
"Oh aye? Anyone nice?"
"Well, there's Keith, who was definitely eyeing me up. A guy called Eric who was a bit creepy." Jane counted them off her fingers. "Jim, who's lovely, but married and Marshall, who's a bit quiet."
"Huh. No one promising then?"
Jane stared thoughtfully at her toes. "Marshall seemed all right."
Polly peered at her. "You're blushing." She leaned forward. "So, this Marshall. Tell me about him."
"I ran into him earlier in the morning. Or rather, he ran into me. I stepped out without looking and he was jogging past and ran smack into me."
"And then you met him again in the pub."
"It looks like we might be working together sometimes."
Poly nodded. "Is he fit?"
Jane felt her cheeks warm again. "Well, yes. In a Matthew McConoaughey kind of way."
"What?" Polly sat up. "Dimples?"
"Only one."
<
br /> "Oooh. And?"
"And nothing." Jane decided not to mention that she'd got a good look at him in his running shorts. There were some details best kept away from Polly. "He seems very nice. But like I said, very quiet."
"Maybe he's shy."
Jane laughed. "Don't get excited Pol. He's a work colleague. He's bound to have a girlfriend anyway. Most nice men our age do."
"You mean you didn't find out if he was single? Jane, you disappoint me."
"Pol..."
"This is the first guy you've so much as noticed since you got here. I'm allowed to get a leetle bit excited." She held up a finger and thumb to show how little. "If nothing else, it shows that you're coming out of the depressed state you'd got yourself into."
"I wasn't depressed, I was angry. I still am." She sighed. "I don't think I'm ready to meet anyone just yet anyway. I mean, my last relationship was a total car crash, I'm not really looking forward to going into another one."
Polly clicked her tongue sympathetically. "You shouldn't let it get to you. Ashby's not worth it."
Jane held up her hand. "I really, really don't want to talk about it right now."
Polly gave her a long look. "Fair enough. But if you do..."
Jane looked at Polly fondly. They had known each other since they were at school and Polly had always been there for her. When Jane discovered Ashby's infidelity, the first person she'd told was Polly.
"You've done so much for me already," Jane said. "I mean, if you hadn't offered me a place to stay so I could apply for jobs here, I'd still be living with Mum and putting up with people whispering about me behind my back."
Polly waved her hand. "Don't be silly. It's fun having you here. Besides, what are friends for?"
Impulsively, Jane reached over and gave Polly a hug. "You're the best, you know that. As soon as Ashby coughs up my share of the deposit from the flat, I'll get out of your hair, I promise."
Polly laughed. "Have you had your tea?"
"I don't really feel like eating. I'm bushed." She pushed her hair back and again was surprised to find it so short. The new haircut was lovely, but she missed having hair long enough to flick over her shoulder. "At least the new look is working. No one seemed to recognise me."
"It's nice not having to watch for the press all the time." Jane stood up and stretched. "Let's hope they've lost interest in Ashby and his pathetic little life."
Polly looked at the magazine in her hand. "Actually..."
Jane froze. "What?"
Polly flicked the copy of Spotted! to a page in the middle and handled her to her with an apologetic wince.
"Oh no. What's he done now?" The magazine article showed Ashby, looking tanned and gorgeous, with his arms around two girls in bikinis. Jane felt her heart contract at the sight of him. He looked well, and happy, without her. Both the girls were draped on him, sporting super white smiles--and she couldn't help noticing--better toned bodies than hers.
She skimmed the text.
SPOTTED! EXCLUSIVE: Pictures of Ashby Thornton with not one, but TWO bikini clad bombshells.
We have red hot pictures of TripHoppers star Ashby Thornton on the beach in Cannes with two blondes, reputed to be sisters. Two months ago Ashby--25--split up with his long term girlfriend Jane Porter--inset--after Jane caught him in bed with Janelle Shawn from Hollyoaks.
Ashby is celebrating his newfound singledom whilst on location in France. Sexy Jane meanwhile, is said to be heartbroken and has left Manchester.
Below it was a picture of Jane herself, all sleek blonde hair and makeup, accompanying Ashby to a launch party. The caption said 'Jane, disappeared?'
"Shit." Jane sank back down into the chair. "Shit. Shit." She waved the magazine. "Why do they have to keep going on about me? Bad enough Ashby's tart goes to the papers about his sordid one night stand."
She threw the magazine on the floor and buried her head in her hands. "We could have had a nice dignified split if it wasn't for that. Why does he have to keep dragging me into these things?"
Polly slid off the couch and put her arms around Jane. "Oh honey. It's okay."
"But why me? He's got some new bimbos, why do they have to bother with me?"
"Well, maybe it's because you photograph so beautifully." She held up the magazine. "I mean look at you. You look like a movie star and you're not even trying."
"It's all in the makeup. I don't look like that in real life."
"Especially not now. I think you're worrying about nothing. No one's going to recognise you with your new hair and new image." Polly gave Jane another hug. "Besides, no one is going to think of looking for you in a patent law firm."
That was true. "I suppose you're right."
"Of course I'm right." Polly stood up. "It'll be fine. Trust me."
Chapter 3
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* * * *
From: James Edwards
To: Marshall Winfield
Subject: Jane
She's nice.
Did I detect a spark of interest between you? You seemed to know each other from before...
Jim
##
From: Marshall Winfield
To: James Edwards
Subject: Re: Jane
Like I said, I bumped into her in the street when I was jogging in yesterday morning, that's all. She's a work colleague. It's never a good idea to mix business with pleasure. You can't have forgotten what happened the last time I did that!
And yes, she is nice.
##
From: James Edwards
To: Marshall Winfield
Subject: Re: Jane
And pretty too
Do you remember every person you meet in the street? I think not. I suspect you might have some competition from Keith.
##
From: Marshall Winfield
To: James Edwards
Subject: Re: Jane
I get the impression I'm not popular with Keith at the moment. I'm not entirely sure how I've managed to piss him off this time. I guess I have to keep him sweet, at least until after the next partner's meeting. I've worked too hard to miss out on a partnership just because I can't stand Keith.
Re: Jane. I literally ran into her. Nearly mowed her down. She wasn't looking where she was going and stepped into my path. So, it's not surprising I remember her. Get off my case.
Are you allowed to look at other women? I'm sure Lou wouldn't approve.
M
##
From: James Edwards
To: Marshall Winfield
Subject: Re: Jane
Keith's problem is that he's über competitive. It's almost like a reflex with him. He can't seem to help himself. I guess it comes from ha
ving super powerful parents.
Anyway, he was the youngest person to be made partner in this firm. If you make it this time round, you'll be a whole year younger than he was. He doesn't want to lose his crown.
He's a devious one. And clever. I'd watch my back if I were you.
Jim
PS: I'm married. Not blind.
##
From: Stevie Winfield
To Marshall Winfield
So? How was last night? What's the new girl trainee like?
Stevie
##
From: Marshall Winfield
To: Stevie Winfield
It's 9 a.m. What are you doing online at this hour? You don't normally get up before 11.
The new trainee--Jane--is okay. Seems nice...and quite bright. Which is good since she's going to be working on this big opposition case that Susan's got. We're going to need all the help we can get.
Marsh
##
From: Stevie Winfield
To: Marshall Winfield
That's not a description. What does she look like? Or did you stare at your pint and not look at her all night?
I'm up because I drove Buzz to the station this morning. There didn't seem much point going back to bed afterwards.
Besides, I was hoping this new girl might be The One for you.
Kisses
Stevie
##
From: Marshall Winfield
To: Stevie Winfield
Why is everyone obsessed with Jane? The poor girl's only been here 5 minutes and everyone's trying to set her up already.
By the way, I'll sort out the money you wanted this evening.
Which reminds me, you didn't answer my question. What happened to your allowance?
Marsh
##
From: Stevie Winfield
To: Marshall Winfield
I lent Buzz some money to pay for his trip. Don't worry; he's going to pay me back.
I think you're being cagey. Sounds like you like this girl.