Better Together

by Annalisa Carr

  She stood up and came around the desk, holding out one small, lightly tanned hand, which had three silver rings on it.

  He stared at the hand, hypnotised for a moment.

  “I’m Tallulah Becks,” she said. “I’ll be your acting admin assistant.”

  He shook her hand briefly. The turn of events was going to destroy his fairy fantasy. He couldn’t think about his assistant in that way, and if she were incompetent, he wouldn’t want to. He glared at her.

  “We have met before, but you probably don’t remember—”

  “I remember,” he said. “You keep bumping into me.”

  “Human Resources sent me.” She didn’t sound fazed by his obvious bad temper, so either she was extremely laid back or, going by his run of luck, just plain stupid.

  He let his eyes linger on her slight figure. She wore a close-fitting knee-length dress that fastened with a bow at the waist. It would have passed muster as business wear if it had been black, or navy or even camel, but it wasn’t. It was a mass of irregular spots—dark blue and bright pink on a turquoise background. He shook his head again and inspected her shapely brown legs which ended in sandals. Not even proper sandals. Flip-flops with bling all over them. Her pale streaky hair was pulled back into a ponytail, but fine curls escaped all around her hairline.

  He sighed heavily. “How old are you?” She looked about eighteen.

  “I’m twenty-six.” Two perpendicular lines formed between her eyebrows.

  “Does your mother know my mother?” he asked.

  Her frown deepened. “I doubt it.”

  He inspected her again. Where did Pamela Addison find this one?

  She coughed, and his eyes drifted back to her face, which wore a patient expression.

  “Would you like some coffee, Mr Marlowe?” She nodded at the corner of the room where the percolator stood. “It’s almost ready.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be in my office.” He pushed the door open, letting it swing shut behind him. He’d barely logged on when she walked in, carrying a tray with a white mug, a white jug, and a small white bowl. She put it down on the corner of the desk.

  She’s already outperformed Davy. The fly buzzing on the inside of the window has outperformed Davy. As the thought crossed his mind, she walked behind his desk to the window and, opening it a crack, shooed the insect out.

  “What would you like me to do first?”

  “Did Davy leave a list of the projects I’ve asked for? I’d like you to get me the reports for all of them.” He wanted to check for any recent anomalies in accounting. He frowned as he thought about it.

  “I’m sorry, sir. Davy didn’t leave anything.”

  “Shit.” Aiden felt like hunting the man down and punching him. Instead, he raked both hands through his overlong hair. He’d have to have another word with human resources. They needed to put the idiot on warning. Why’s the company wasting money on his wages?

  Tallulah raised her eyebrows.

  “I’ll send you a list.” He should still have the copy in his inbox.

  She nodded and turned to leave.

  “Tallulah?”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Don’t call me, sir.” Loretta always called him by his name, but Loretta was someone who knew how to do her job and someone he respected. He wasn’t sure about Tallulah yet, but he certainly didn’t want her calling him ‘sir.’

  “Okay.” She sounded like she was humouring a child. “Anything else?”

  “Yes.” He remembered his accommodation problem. “I need somewhere to live. Did Davy leave any updates on that?”

  She shook her head. “What sort of place are you looking for?”

  “A service apartment as close as possible to the office,” he said. “Two bedrooms, and it would be nice if it had a gym.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” She tugged on the end of her ponytail, and another strand escaped to fall onto her cheek. She tucked it behind her ear. “Anything else?”

  “Yes. Could you dress in office-appropriate wear tomorrow?” He needed to think of her as part of the office furniture, and at the moment, that wasn’t working too well.

  She gave him a blank look. “Of course, sir.” The door closed behind her.

  He sighed. If she found him somewhere to live and managed to get him some of the files he needed, he’d be surprised. She looks like she should be playing with unicorns in a fantasy world, not printing out financial documents.

  He really needed somewhere to live and not just because of the commute. His father was due out of hospital the next day, and Aiden knew him well enough to realise he wouldn’t be able to resist asking about business. He also knew that his father had been told to completely relax. No work. No worries. That wouldn’t happen if Aiden stayed. Their relationship wasn’t going to change now. He wasn’t comfortable in the Surrey house anyway. It was too big, too formal, too tidy, too much his mother’s house. In addition, Francesca spent a lot of time there, and he couldn’t take any more of her sidelong looks of resentment. He’d always managed to get along with his sister, and her open hostility upset him.

  He poured milk into his coffee and sipped at it before sending a list of his required files to his new assistant.

  The previous night, his father had looked terrible when Aiden visited, but a couple of nurses would be moving into the house when his father returned home, and that stopped him feeling too guilty at planning to move out. He couldn’t wait.

  He needed to call Loretta, check up on his office, and call his partners to make sure they’d got everything they needed from him. It looked like he was going to be away from New York for months rather than weeks, and he had a feeling that his father’s declining health might be responsible for the lax attitude around Marlowe Development’s head offices. As well as poor timekeeping on the part of those of the staff he’d seen, he could feel a complete lack of motivation and energy pervading the building. He’d introduced himself to the senior management team and been profoundly unimpressed. They’d struck him as a group of men at the end of their careers, just raking in their bonuses and waiting for their generous pensions. Perhaps he was being unfair, but their lack of enthusiasm made him cranky. Thank God I don’t have to work here permanently. What’s Francesca thinking of? How can she stay here?

  ~ ~ ~

  Tallulah picked up the last stack of papers and slipped them into a plastic folder. That made five of them. Everything the autocrat in the inner office had asked for. He seemed a little cranky, but nothing like as bad as human resources had made him out to be. Still, stunning good looks could only take you so far. He was as hot in his beautifully fitted business suit as he had been in jeans, and it looked as though he was overdue for a haircut. Makes him more human, she thought, deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt before she completely wrote off his personality. Stacking the folders, she picked them up and knocked on his door.

  “Come in.”

  She pushed the door open and walked over to the desk, placing the files next to the computer. “The information you wanted.” She’d had enough of calling him sir. It had been amusing for a while, but it was childish and unprofessional. That wasn’t her, and anyway it gave her ideas. Stern boss fantasies weren’t really her thing, so she told herself that perhaps she should dial down the ‘sirring’.

  “All of it?” He raised a beautifully arched eyebrow in surprise.

  “Yes.” Why would I bring incomplete work for him?

  “Good. Did you get the list of the projects I asked Davy to work on?”

  She nodded.

  “How much of it had he finished?”

  “None of it.” She pulled a face, with no idea how her predecessor had spent the week. “I don’t think he’d started.” Something’s happened to this place. The last time I temped
here, the atmosphere was dynamic.

  Aiden’s perfectly sculpted lips flattened in displeasure for a second.

  He was a pleasure to watch, even when he was in an evil temper. At least there was some benefit to the job. Other than the inflated salary of course.

  “Could you make a start on it?” he asked.

  “Yes.” She paused. “I’ve shortlisted a couple of possibilities for apartments. I planned to go and have a quick look at them this afternoon. If they’re okay, I’ll let you know and you can check them out.”

  Aiden’s interest sharpened, and he leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms above his head. He’d removed his jacket, and his shirt sleeves were rolled up to the elbow. “Have you got the information on them?”

  “I can print it out.”

  “Bring it in. I’ll try to have a look.”

  Tallulah left the office, printed the property brochures, and went back into his office without knocking. She slid the new pile of folders onto his desk.

  “Thanks.” He was flipping through the pile of project files. “I’ll talk to you this afternoon.”

  “I might not come back after viewing the apartments,” she said. “It depends what time I finish.”

  He glanced up. “Are you a clock watcher as well?” His voice had an edge of contempt.

  Tallulah forced a bland expression onto her face. “Probably, sir. I am paid by the hour.”

  Screw my fantasies. She refused to daydream about such a grump. She flounced out of the room and closed the door behind her before he could say anything else.

  No one had ever criticised her work ethic, and he’d been derogatory about her clothes as well. Nothing in her wardrobe counted as office appropriate, or at least not as he would define it. He’ll just have to put up with the clothes I have. She smirked, wondering what she could find to wear the next day. The dress she was wearing at the moment was one of her least flamboyant garments. Thank God I’m only here for another month. He was pretty to look at; he made her pulse race, but his character left a lot to be desired. And what was all that stuff about his mother and my mother? Why would they have known each other? Weird.

  She opened the list of jobs Aiden had emailed her and started to work on them. It was only ten o’clock; she had time to get through a reasonable amount before lunch, and it made a pleasant change to have an office of her own.

  At twelve thirty, she locked her computer and stood up to stretch. She needed to go and check on Kyle. After leaving him with Lucy from HR when she’d arrived, she’d put him out of her mind, telling herself there was no point in worrying. Lucy had said he’d be based in the mail room, so she ran down to the basement, hoping she wouldn’t bump into chatterbox Cathryn.

  Kyle was perched on the edge of a desk, talking to the girl who sat behind it. “Hi, big sis.” He stood up when Tallulah walked in.

  The girl sat up straight, her long black hair piled loosely on her head, and her body encased in black trousers and a tee-shirt. The clothes must be hot for July, especially in the basement, where the air conditioning seemed to pump warm air, rather than cool, around the open-plan office. A faint remnant of black makeup hung beneath her eyes.

  “This is Tanya,” Kyle said. “Tanya, my sister, Tallulah.”

  The girl smiled. She appeared shy. “Nice name.”

  “Thanks. How’re you getting on?” Tallulah asked.

  “Okay,” he said. “It took me a couple of hours to wake up properly.” He turned to Tanya. “She poured a glass of water over me this morning. With ice cubes in it.”

  Tanya giggled.

  “What do you think of the work?” Tallulah asked. The overheated room had no windows and was lit by fluorescent strips.

  “It’s okay. Lucy, that girl from human resources, said she could probably find me work on one of the construction sites if I wanted to try something different later. She was nice.”

  “That’s good.” Tallulah hoped the job wasn’t too enjoyable. She wanted him to rethink his educational goals. “Have you had lunch?”

  He glanced at Tanya. “We’re going out to get a sandwich.”

  Tanya’s mouth twitched into a smile. “Do you want to come with us?”

  Tallulah shook her head. “I’ll dash round to the café on the corner and pick something up. I’ll be out part of the afternoon, so I need to do a few things first.”

  “How’s your new job?” Kyle asked.

  “Okay,” she said, “although my predecessor must have been a complete waste of space.”

  “Tallulah’s working for the boss,” Kyle told Tanya.

  “Mr Marlowe?”

  “Mr Marlowe, junior,” Tallulah said. “Mr Marlowe, senior, is in hospital.” She wondered whether she should have asked about him, but she’d never met the man, and junior didn’t seem open to sympathetic questions.

  “What’s he like?” Tanya asked.

  “Very nice,” Tallulah said firmly, using her standard answer about anyone she worked with. It saved a lot of angst, and usually repressed anyone’s urge to question her further.

  “He’s very good-looking,” Tanya said. “I saw him in reception last week. Seriously hot.”

  “I hadn’t noticed.” Tallulah kept a straight face as she lied through her teeth. Like hell I haven’t noticed. She had to force herself not to stare at him. When she’d gone in the second time, he’d taken off his jacket and rolled his shirt sleeves up. She hadn’t been able to drag her eyes away. Forearms for goodness sake? What’s wrong with me?

  “I’d better get back. See you tonight,” she told Kyle as she left.

  She took a pastry back to her desk and did a little more work, before picking up her bag and knocking on the inner door. She hadn’t heard a peep from her boss since earlier that morning. She opened the door a crack. “I’m off now. I don’t know how long I’ll be.”

  He grunted an acknowledgement but didn’t look up from what he was doing.

  Tallulah rolled her eyes as she left. Mannerless oik. She was going off him rapidly.

  There were three distinct possibilities on Tallulah’s list of apartments, and she went to look at the farthest one first. It was in Canary Wharf and was high up in a towering block of glass and glittering metal. Two large trees stood in pots at the entrance.

  The manager came out to meet her.

  “I made an appointment to look at the flat on the eighth floor,” she explained.

  The view from the corner balcony was amazing, the river on one side meandering slowly, its surface oily in the early afternoon heat. From the other side, the towers of corporate London could be seen, their walls catching the sun and throwing its rays back. Tallulah looked around in awe. If it was up to her, she thought she’d live there just for the view, but the location was farthest from the office. She walked back into the bright sitting room, where the manager waited.

  “It’s perfect,” she said. “I’m not sure about the commute though. I’ll have to check with my employer. I’ll ring you tomorrow.”

  “That’s fine,” the man said. “You need to keep in mind that we have a lot of interest in these apartments. They don’t come on the market often, and they go quickly.”

  “I’ll be in touch as soon as possible,” she repeated.

  He dragged his gaze from her legs and shook her hand. “I’ll look forward to hearing from you.”

  The second apartment was in Islington, and there was nothing wrong with it, but the third, near Tower Hill, was the one she thought was the most suitable. It was a fifteen-minute walk from the office, and while it didn’t have the awesome views of the first place, it did have a gym and swimming pool in the basement, along with an Italian restaurant and a parking garage. She looked round the interior.

  “What about the housekeeping service?”

/>   “Cleaners come in once a week,” the manager told her. “You can ask for more frequent visits if you think it necessary. The restaurant downstairs will deliver.”

  Tallulah turned in a circle. “I think my employer will be interested. Can I bring him along tomorrow morning? Just to be sure.” She pulled up a mental image of the morning diary. There was nothing in it that couldn’t be changed. She’d email him once she got home. It dawned on her she could probably catch him at the office before he finished for the day. It was a quarter past five, and the office was only a short walk away.

  The manager was explaining how he would be pleased to meet a prospective tenant, so Tallulah thanked him and left.

  She knocked on the inner door when she arrived back at the office, waiting until he called her to come in. He was still at his desk, sleeves still rolled up and tie loosened. He pushed his dark hair away from his face as she walked through the door. It flopped back again.

  “I think the last apartment I looked at would be best,” she said. “But there’s a waiting list so I said you’d look at it tomorrow. Is that okay?”

  “I’ve set up a meeting with the senior management team tomorrow morning,” he said. “It should be over by eleven. After that would be fine.”

  There had been nothing in his diary. She’d deliberately checked. Tallulah felt like snarling, but gave him a calm smile. “I think that should work.” She would call the manager immediately. “I’m heading home now.”

  Aiden waved a dismissive hand and turned back to his papers.