by Rhoda Baxter
"Eventful. I had my purse nicked."
"Oh my god, are you okay?"
Jane decided not to tell the whole story about her and Marsh. "Yes, I'm okay. Just a bit pissed off. I had to buy a new phone and a new handbag to put it in on the way into work. It's a real pain."
"If you need to borrow a bit of money to tide you over..." she said.
"That's really kind of you," said Jane. "But I think I'll be okay."
"Well, the offer's there." Ruth sat back down.
"Thanks." Jane opened up her email.
* * * *
From: Polly
To: Jane Porter
We heard you sneaking in during the small hours last night. So? What happened? I want details.
Pol
##
From: Jane Porter
To: Polly
Nothing much happened. I told you he rescued me from the muggers. After that, we went to his flat.
He made me tea and got me to phone the police. Then he cooked me dinner. He made pasta sauce from scratch, Pol. He just got the ingredients out and cooked. No fuss. And it was delicious. I didn't know men could cook like that. Ash's idea of cooking me dinner was to make me a tuna sandwich!
Marsh was a total gent the whole time. We talked.
He's so NICE. And so grown up--especially after Ashby and his mates! Apparently, Marsh's parents died when he was 21 and his sister was 13. So he's had to look after his sister all that time. She's at uni now. She lives in the flat with him during the holidays.
I found out he was single, by the way. He's had a disastrous relationship fairly recently and has been single ever since. (:-)?
Jane
##
From: Polly
To: Jane Porter
So, did you pull? Are you going to see each other again?
##
From: Jane Porter
To: Polly
No, didn't pull. I thought for a moment that he was going to kiss me... but then he didn't--well, he kissed me on the cheek, but I don't think that really counts. He did promise that he wouldn't try anything when he first invited me to his flat. I guess he was keeping his word.
Of course, now all I can think about it what it would have been like if he DID actually kiss me.
I have a huge pile of work to do, but I can't concentrate. Aaargh!
##
From: Polly
To: Jane Porter
Hang on, hang on. He's good looking, he's charming, he can cook, he's single. He lives with his sister. AND HE DIDN'T MAKE A MOVE ON YOU.
Are you sure he's not gay?
##
From: Jane Porter
To: Polly
NO. At least, I'm pretty sure he's not. His last relationship was with a woman in the office...
And he isn't camp.
##
From: Polly
To: Jane Porter
Not all gay men are camp, you know.
There's one sure way to tell. Does he fold his clothes up neatly, or just throw them on the floor?
Pol
##
From: Jane Porter
To: Polly
If I knew the answer to that, we wouldn't be having this conversation.
I have a plan. I'm going to ask him out for dinner. To say thank you.
Chapter 9
From: Marshall Winfield [email protected]
To: James Edwards
Help!
My life has suddenly gone wrong. In order of increasing importance:
1. I have 4 working days before I have to give Susan my opposition draft. I've been wracking my brains to come up with some decent arguments. I have a few, but no really good prior art document to hang it on. The ones I have are, at most, tenuous.
2. I have three patent drafts due in by next week. I'm going to have to phone at least one client and ask for a time extension. I hate doing that. It looks really unprofessional.
3. Stevie's dating some prat who keeps borrowing money off her. When I try to tell her so, she gets annoyed with me. I thought she was supposed to grow out of the whole 'you're not Dad' thing by now.
4. Last, but not least, I think I'm in love with Jane and I can't ask her out because she's a work colleague. I know Keith is already trying to put the oar in with the partners. I can't give him more ammunition. I'd like to keep away from Jane, but it's a bit difficult when I work with her every day. She's so damn lovely, I can't concentrate on my work.
Just shoot me.
Marsh
##
From: James Edwards
To: Marshall Winfield
Sounds like a mess all right.
Can't help you with the time management issues. I'm sure you'll cope with your usual style.
I'll see if Lou has any ideas on how to help with the Stevie situation. Perhaps a quiet woman to girl chat.
Regarding Jane...it's never a good idea to date work colleagues. You know that better than most. How MUCH do you like her?
Jim
##
From: Marshall Winfield
To: James Edwards
I like her a LOT! Can't concentrate on work when I know she's in the office, day dreaming about weddings and house with picket fence type like her. It was all I could do not to kiss her last night.
And in a weird way when I'm with her--outside of work, I mean--I feel like everything is just...right. Which is odd, since I've only known her for about a week.
Marsh
##
From: James Edwards
To: Marshall Winfield
Sounds like you've got it bad.
So, ignoring it and getting on with life isn't an option then?
Assuming the answer is no, why not wait until after the partner's meeting. Then ask her out. You'd have to keep things discrete, obviously. Set a few ground rules etc. But there's no reason why it shouldn't work that way.
Jim
##
From: Marshall Winfield
To: James Edwards
That's a good idea. Why didn't I think of that??
##
From: James Edwards
To: Marshall Winfield
Because this love stuff is turning your brain to cheese.
I was like that when I first met Lou. Luckily, I was a student back then and didn't need to do much thinking.
Jim
##
From: James Edwards
To: Marshall Winfield
>> It was all I could do not to kiss her last night.
Hang on, what happened last night? Why did you fail to kiss her?
My secretary tells me that Jane got mugged last night. What's going on exactly?
Jim
##
From: Louise Edwards
To: James Edwards
So, our Marsh has fallen for someone.
Hurrah! About time too.
From what Jim says, she sounds like a nice girl --not like that bizarre Dominique woman. What did he see in her?
Yes, we must persuade him to do something about it.
Lou
##
From: James Edwards
To: Louise Edwards
Dominique was a force to reckoned with. Once she set her sights on Marsh, the poor man didn't have a chance.
I hate to burst your bubble ladies, but I think Marsh is right about not dating work colleagues. It would be best if he did nothing about it until AFTER the partner's meeting. He has worked very hard for this company and deserves a bit of recognition. It would be a shame to throw it away because of a girl.
Jim
* * * *
Jane looked through Marsh's door. He was frowning at a patent and scribbling notes in the margins. She knocked.
He looked up and smiled. "Come in. How are you feeling today?"
"I'm fine, thanks." She went in, but didn't sit down.
"What can I do for you?" He looked back to his work, as though anxious to get back to it.
Jane fidgeted with the sleeve of her blouse. "I wanted to thank you for everything yesterday."
Marsh waved her thanks away. "Don't worry about it. It was nothing."
"No, It wasn't nothing. So... can I buy you dinner? To say thank you."
Marsh appeared taken aback. "You don't have to do that."
"I'd like to."
He appeared to study the paperwork in front of him. "Um..."
He was going to refuse, she could tell. She had been wrong about how he felt and she had been so certain. "It's no big deal. You don't have to." She started to back away.
"Oh no." He looked up again, his eyes flicking to the doorway behind her. He lowered his voice. "It's just not a good idea to mix work and fun..."
Jane could feel that her face was bright red now. "Right."
"But," he said quickly, "as you say, it's just dinner to say thank you, right?"
Jane held her breath.
"So, that sounds fine. When did you have in mind?"
"How about Friday night?" That way, if things went really badly, they wouldn't see each other until after the weekend.
Marsh pulled his diary towards him and leafed through. "Um... the week after would be better for me. How about Wednesday?"
"Sure. Next Wednesday then. Great."
"Hang on, I'll just write it in." He scribbled in the book. "There, you're in the diary now. So it's official."
"Well, I'd better get back to work I guess."
"I'm looking forward to it." His dimple flashed.
"Me too."
* * * *
From: Marshall Winfield
To: James Edwards
Jane was just in here. SHE asked ME out! She wants to buy me dinner to say thank you for helping her last night.
I suggested next Wednesday. The partners meet that day, so by Wednesday night the decision will be made.
Marsh
##
From: James Edwards
To: Marshall Winfield
Well done.
I don't know how you do it. I've never been asked out by a woman. Ever.
Jim
##
From: Marshall Winfield
To: Stevie Winfield
Okay, just to let you know. Jane and I are going out to dinner next week. She wanted to buy me a meal to say thank you.
Marsh
##
From: Stevie Winfield
To: Marshall Winfield
YAY!!! I'm very excited for you. You'd better kiss her this time!
You'll have to give me a full report the next day. Ok, maybe not a FULL report. There are some things I don't need to know about my big brother.
Love
Stevie
* * * *
Jane stared at her computer screen and tapped a nail on the edge of the keyboard. The night before, she had been convinced that Marshall liked her, but now she wasn't so sure. His reluctance to accept her invitation had surprised and upset her. No wonder he had been such a gentleman the night before. It was easy to be chivalrous if you're not tempted to go any further.
Thank goodness she hadn't thrown herself at him. That would have been terribly embarrassing. The trouble was, she still fancied him and she would have to sit through dinner, knowing he was just being friendly. She just knew she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about kissing him the whole time. It made her warm just thinking about it.
She placed her hand against her cheek. It was a major disadvantage having such pale skin.
* * * *
From: Jane Porter
To: Polly
Well, I asked him out. He didn't seem all that keen. I'm all embarrassed now.
Jane
##
From: Polly
To: Jane Porter
Ouch. That doesn't sound good. I bet he's gay.
##
From: Jane Porter
To: Polly
You're not helping.
* * * *
There was a knock on the door. It was Keith. He ignored Ruth and looked at Jane. "I heard you got mugged. Are you okay?"
Jane frowned. It had been less than half an hour since she'd told Ruth. Gossip traveled really fast in the office.
She didn't want any more attention. "It wasn't such a big deal. More of a bag snatching, really."
Had Marsh been telling everyone about how he rescued her? She hadn't thought he would be the sort, but then she'd been wrong about people before.
She had been wrong about Ashby.
"I thought it was more serious than that," said Keith. "Mind you, Sally does tend to exaggerate."
Jane forced a little laugh. "No. No big deal at all." She wondered how Sally knew.
"Well, if you need anything, my door is always open." He turned to leave. "I'll see you later."
When Keith had left, Ruth popped her head above the partition. "I'm sorry. I didn't realise you didn't want people to know. I mentioned it to Val when I gave her my last set of dictation notes. She must have told Sally."
Jane sighed. Val was Marsh's secretary. Sally was Keith's. If the secretaries were talking about it, then the whole company probably knew by now. The last thing she wanted was people taking an interest in her life again. At least this time they'd be asking her how she was and not talking in hushed whispers when she passed. And there would be no photographers waiting to snap when she was least expecting it.
"It's okay," she said. "It really wasn't anything major. Just a bit of hassle to lose my cards and phone. That's all." At least now she knew it wasn't Marsh telling people about what happened.
Ruth sank back down into her chair, mouthing "Sorry" again.
Jane waved the apology aside. She opened up the file she was working on and got back to work.
* * * *
From: Stevie Winfield
To: Marshall Winfield
Marsh, I've just Googled your friend Jane. Turns out there's another Jane Porter, from Manchester. That Jane used to go out with Ashby Thornton. Isn't that a weird coincidence?
Stevie
##
From: Marshall Winfield
To: Stevie Winfield
Not really a coincidence. They're the same person.
I also looked Jane up on Google, for professional interest. I have the advantage of knowing what she looks like--and a rather nice photo of her in the copy of Spotted! that Eloise left on my desk. She's changed her hair, but she's the same person.
M
##
From: Stevie Winfield
To: Marshall Winfield
##
From: Marshall Winfield
To: Stevie Winfield
Why should it bother me that she went out with someone rich and famous and talented?
Marsh
##
From: Stevie Winfield
To: James Edwards
Okay, I Googled Jane. Turns out she's famous. She used to go out with Ashby Thornton. She was all over the magazines when she and Ashby split up. He cheated on her with a girl from Hollyoaks. It was a TOTAL scandal. The mags said she'd disappeared. Looks like she reappeared in your office! Wow!
Although, I'm worried now. What does a glamorous ex-WAG want with my brother???
Stevie
##
From: James Edwards
To: Stevie Winfield
Who the hell is Ashby Thornton?
##
From: Louise Edwards
To: James Edwards
Jim, do try and keep up. Ashby Thornton is a Britpop singer. He's the latest thing, according to Spotted!
Stevie, don't worry about it. Just because Jane used to be in the public eye, doesn't mean she's going to hurt Marsh.
As for what she sees him. What are you talking about? He's gorgeous, he's successful, he owns his own flat and to top it all off, he's a lovely man. What's not to like?
Lou
##
From: James Edwards
To: Louise Edwards
Oi, wife, I AM reading this you know. A man doesn't need to hear that his wife thinks his best mate is gorgeous!
Stevie, from what I've seen of Jane, she's a nice person and doesn't really fit the 'glamorous ex-WAG' bill. If she was that sort of a person, she would have sold her story to the Daily Mail and made some money out of it. It sounds to me like she's trying to get on with her life.
First you worry that he WON'T go out with her Then you worry that he WILL. You women perplex me.
Jim
##
From: Louise Edwards
To: James Edwards