“Hand sanitiser,” Verity said, turning it around then dropping in it her bag.
Jake stopped walking and put his hand inside Verity’s bag. He pulled out the hand sanitiser and handed it to her. “Did you actually check that the lid was closed? Are you aware that it is alcohol based? Are you aware that there are a number of convenient pockets in that bag to ensure you can be organised? This is your first day, but you’re stretching me.”
“Stretching you?”
“Yes, with regard to my patience. If you are a child, I can treat you as a child. If you are a woman who is going to be of benefit to me and to this organisation, then act like it.”
“I thought I was,” Verity replied, putting the hand sanitiser inside a pocket of the bag.
“You thought wrong,” Jake replied, “This is not a game, this is your job. A lot of people depend on me to do my job and provide accurate information. If you can’t even place things inside pockets, or check that lids are on, can you be trusted with billions of dollars? More poise, more control, and less glibness. Clear?”
“Yes, Sir,” Verity said softly. She felt like a child being rebuked at school.
Jake stood in front of the elevator doors and Verity pressed the button with her elbow. He looked at her and back at the doors. The doors opened and he stepped in. “Basement.”
Verity pressed the ‘B’ button with her elbow and looked at the floor.
“The carpet is bland, look at the doors,” Jake said, “Or better still, turn and check your appearance in the mirror. If you’re satisfied with it then I won’t pry.”
Verity tilted her head. She had no idea what that meant. Did it mean that he thought she was ugly? Verity turned around and looked at herself in the mirror. She opened her eyes wide and rubbed the moisturiser in above her eyebrow. “Ugh.”
“I assume that wasn’t unction from a man,” Jake said, “Unction sacred or otherwise may be symbolic on one’s forehead. I assume it was rather some misleading beauty product intended to make you look fifteen if you’re twenty five and so on.”
“Moisturiser with sunscreen. And beyond making sure I don’t embarrass you in public, what goes on my face is none of your business.”
“You just spoke to me like that? After my earlier advice? Interesting.”
“Sorry, Sir,” Verity said.
“Take it back.”
“Okay,” Verity shrugged, “I’m not sorry.”
“Good. Here’s a simple concept for you, Miss Sharpe, if you make a mistake learn from it. If you intend to say whatever you want to me and then apologise, don’t bother. You can’t just say what you want and apologise for it like it will erase what you said. And the other side is that if you do mean to say it then why apologise?”
The doors of the elevator opened and Verity put her arm out to ensure Mr Horton could leave the lift without the doors closing on him. She followed him to a limousine and went to open the door, “Shall I open your door?”
“Is it a business door or is it a car door? The car doors are Ivan’s issue, not yours.”
A man opened the back door of the limousine and Jake got in followed by Verity. She sat opposite him and adjusted her skirt.
“Your knees are nicely placed, but this car was designed for my height, you can angle your legs so your ankles won’t hurt.”
Verity raised her eyebrows and angled her legs, “Like this?”
“You have nice legs, they suit your body structure overall, you are mainly in proportion, although perhaps your legs are long for your body. How fortunate for you. Although a larger backside would offset your breasts nicely.”
Verity held her tongue. He was attractive and masculine, and she wasn’t sure if his abrasiveness was alluring or annoying, but in any case he was definitely interesting.
“There is something on your mind. Speak,” he said.
“I’m not a dog,” Verity said, quietly.
“If I were to ask you to lie down and roll over, would you do it?”
“Depends what we were wearing.”
Jake smiled, “You’re learning. Maybe I won’t have to beg.”
Verity studied his appearance again trying to work out how old he was. She thought perhaps he was in his early forties, but it was hard to tell. He dressed well, he smelled good, and his skin was well cared for. He looked different when he smiled, as though his permanent pout was forced. She raised an eyebrow wondering if he had some kind of cosmetic surgery.
“Do you ever take off your brassiere?”
“To go to sleep,” Verity replied.
“It should be twelve hours on and twelve hours off. More off than on if you can. You look like you only sleep for five hours, so you should perhaps remove it when you go to your home and return it to your body when you are leaving your home. Only due to some expectation of what constitutes public decency, otherwise leaving it off permanently could be a good option. May I see your breasts?”
“No, you may not.”
“What about what you have on under your skirt, may I see that?”
“No.”
“Would you like to see what I am wearing under my suit? I am all for equal opportunity.”
“No, thank you,” Verity replied.
Jake lit a cigarette and turned on an exhaust fan above his head, “You would be more attractive if you frowned less and smiled more. I don’t even think you know that you’re frowning, do you?”
“Perhaps not,” Verity said, rubbing the line in the middle of her forehead.
Jake sighed, “You’re ageing your face with your attitude. Perhaps I could extract a sentence of more than six words from you. Here’s a nice topic, tell me about the person you love.”
Verity smiled, “Thank you, Mr Horton, for the opportunity to liaise on a personal level. However, at this time, I do not feel a sufficient amount of personal comfort within our power dynamic to provide you with information of this nature.”
Jake laughed and inhaled from his cigarette, “I have never met someone like you. I can’t tell just now whether you are extremely intelligent or extremely rude. I find pleasure in this unknown. I do believe you could be a worthwhile choice after all.”
“How kind of you, Sir, had I but known that you preferred that I speak with unnecessary loquaciousness, I could have been meeting your expectations at an earlier juncture in the proceedings.”
“Now that you have, I could lick your pussy with gratitude,” Jake said.
“Ah, no,” Verity said with a nod.
Jake smiled and stepped out of the limousine as the door opened. His hand appeared in the doorway and Verity put her hand in it and stepped out.
“No, get back in. That’s not how you step from a limousine. Get back in and imagine you’re a celebrity, in a designer gown, you’re not wearing any underwear and the car is surrounded by media.”
Verity rolled her eyes and got back into the limousine. Jake’s hand appeared again and Verity took it and stepped out of the limousine again.
“See, you are so easy to teach,” Jake said, “And you even have your bag. Good work. Let’s go.”
Verity walked along beside Jake wondering why he felt it was his place to tell her how to get in and out of a car. He was obviously used to being in control. She was going to have to ask him some questions about his expectations, as her understanding of what her job was didn’t appear to be the same as his. He hadn’t interviewed her for the position himself, and she wondered if she was chosen based on the photograph provided with the application. At least that was flattering to some degree. He stopped outside a door to a restaurant and Verity opened the door for him. He walked by the man who would have shown him to a seat and sat in the front window. He gestured for Verity to sit opposite him, so she did.
“I want to see him arrive,” Jake said.
Verity looked across the road to the restaurant where the appointment was to occur. “What will that tell you?”
“His thoughts in anticipation of meeting with me, whether he i
s on time or tardy, by what means he travelled here perhaps,” Jake replied.
“And you analyse all of that?”
“Yes, I do and then I see if I’m right. It’s a lot of fun for me. I enjoy numbers, but I also enjoy analysing people,” Jake said, “I observe constantly, when people don’t even know. I’m analysing you already. I am a little perplexed by you, but I will figure you out eventually.”
Chapter 19
Verity looked at the waves crashing on the sand and smiled. She’d never been to the beach this early in the morning. She looked down to her right as a four-wheel drive reversed onto the sand fifty metres away.
“Oh yeah, right on time.”
Verity turned to Krystal and smiled, “Right on time for what?”
“You think I bring my baby to the beach this early to avoid the crowds? No, honey, that’s what I tell my husband. They have some kind of boot camp down here for the Army or something and they are some fine looking men. They’ll be jumping through tyres and running down the beach and beating each other up. They’ll be doing all sorts of awesome stuff, and I’m here for the entertainment.”
Verity laughed and sat down on her towel. “Why Mrs Valques, I had no idea you were so mischievous.”
“I can’t help that there happens to be men down here when I come every third Saturday from six thirty until eight.”
“And here I thought we were watching the sun, and avoiding crowds, and being here for a cool part of the day,” Verity said with a smile.
“Sure, we can do that too. Jesse plays in the sand, and I flaunt my bikini to the sexy men who go running by. It’s win, win, win.”
Verity laughed and took off her pants. She adjusted her bikini bottom and looked down towards the men. She saw tyres being thrown on the ground from the back of the four-wheel drive and about a dozen men appear from somewhere near the car park. “This could be entertaining.”
“They’ll run by soon enough. If you time it right you can pretend to get a cramp a few metres out and have one of them rescue you,” Krystal laughed.
“Do you think they mind being watched?” Verity asked.
Krystal laughed and assured her they loved being watched, and they were getting buff and strong for more than just their jobs. Verity smiled and admired Jesse as he sat in front of her. He was two years old and he looked like his mother. She hadn’t been around many children, but sometimes she’d seen them in public. Sometimes they were throwing tantrums in cafés and the supermarket. Jesse seemed like a cheerful sort of child, easily amused and not prone to crying even when he injured himself. He was definitely the best behaved child in the café last time they went.
“And they’re off,” Krystal said.
Verity turned her head and saw that a dozen or so men were now running down the beach in their direction. She couldn’t help but smile. It looked like a race and they were only wearing shorts and running shoes. Verity thought it would be good to be able to run like that. She couldn’t be bothered running but it looked good. She watched them come back by running sideways facing the water. Verity’s hat blew off and she went to chase it. When she turned around they were coming back sideways again but this time facing them. She looked over at Krystal who was waving to them and some of the men waved back which made Krystal laugh.
“Check out the leader of that pack!” Krystal said, “Oh yes, he can drop those shorts a little lower and show me more vee.”
Verity squinted a little. “Wow,” she said, “I think I know him.”
“Which one? The blonde at the front? Nice! He’s certainly got some love muscles happening. Ever seen his vee? I want to see it, lower those shorts, baby, lower. I wanna see that vee.”
Verity laughed and slapped Krystal on the leg, “Actually he does have a vee.”
“Ooh, you’ve seen his vee. Damn girl. I want all the dirty details.”
Verity laughed and shook her head, “No, no, I’m not going to kiss and tell.”
“You should let him know you’re watching him and see how much harder he works to impress you. I know they pump it up for me when I give them a whistle.”
Verity laughed and shook her head. “He’s here for a reason. I’m not going to distract him. Maybe it’s not him and it just looks like him.”
“Okay, but when they start doing their push ups and sit ups and punch ups, we’re going to be taking Jesse for a walk right by them on the water’s edge,” Krystal said.
Verity and Krystal played with Jesse in the sand and laughed about life. When Krystal announced it was time to walk, Verity stood up and dusted herself off. She walked along the water next to Krystal with Jesse in between them. She decided that she wasn’t going to look in the direction of the men working out and she’d stay closest to the water. She knew that Krystal was going to ‘get her perve on’ but if it was Adrian, she didn’t want to distract him or make him think she was following him around. He’d clearly had issues with that in the past and Verity had no interest in upsetting him. She heard a few whistles and a ‘woo hoo’ or two and some other indecipherable comments as they went by, but Verity kept looking straight ahead or at the water.
Verity couldn’t help but laugh as whoever was barking the orders up there yelled, “That’s one… that’s two…that’s three…” and so on. She thought she should probably exercise more, and this wasn’t a bad way to do it. Walking on the wet sand enjoying the early morning sea breeze was pleasant. If Krystal wanted her to come for another early morning walk on the beach she would definitely do it, with or without a boot camp in progress. She smiled thinking about the love of her life and his dedication to sports and the outdoors. He was always running or boxing or jumping around. He would play any sport he was asked, and Verity was always a spectator. She hoped he was okay wherever he was and whatever he was doing right now.
A seagull flew close and reminded Verity where she was right now. She focussed on the conversation, and Krystal was talking about wanting another baby. She was laughing about how much fun her husband and her were having trying to make one. Verity was curious about long term sexual relationships and how they stayed attracted to each other. She wondered if it was just natural because they loved each other or whether they started to need help in that area.
“No, we don’t need any help. It’s love. We’ve been together since high school,” Krystal said, “We have all kinds of sex. Sometimes it’s really lazy, sometimes it’s really passionate, sometimes it’s casual.”
“Casual?”
“Yeah, like we just decide to go have sex and then when it’s over we just continue on with whatever we were doing before the sex.”
Verity laughed, “That’s funny. I mean, it’s not funny, but it sounds funny that you’re having casual sex with your husband.” Verity stopped to look at a shell and picked it up. “Do you think it’s wrong to take this from the beach?”
“I collect pretty shells all the time,” Krystal said, “The way of nature is that those abandoned shells get broken down by the waves and the elements, and become more sand. I guess in the long run we’re stealing sand.”
Verity laughed and examined the shell again. There was a little beach in her first love’s home town. It was only a kilometre long and it suited the town immensely. It was funny how his town seemed rural, and had farm animals, but at the same time it was coastal too. She had only been there one time, but when they talked about their future they said it was somewhere they could go on holiday to get away from the hustle and bustle. She thought it was a good plan.
Krystal picked Jesse up and put him on her hip and they turned around to walk back again. “I don’t want to work in the city forever,” Krystal said, “I’d love to be able to stay home with the kids but we have to pay off our house and we both have to work. My husband said that he would take two jobs so I could stay home but I don’t think that’s fair. It makes me want to work more because he’s so considerate.”
“Have you thought of setting up a savings account or a term deposit or som
ething?”
“I thought you stopped working for the bank?” Krystal laughed.
“I have, I just like money and making it work for me. I was considering investing in property as well. I’m hoping that if I get to the point where I don’t want to work then I can afford to do that, at least for a while.”
“Investing sounds complicated to me. We talked about getting a financial consultant or something to see how we could budget better with what we have and reduce some debt. Right now we live fortnight to fortnight, so there’s not much scope. And of course, we can’t actually afford a budget consultant. I saw the ad on television and it looked good but they cost money.”
“I could do it for you. I’d do it for free,” Verity said, “It doesn’t have to be a risky investment, you wouldn’t lose anything.”
Krystal told her that would be awesome and she would love that. She turned to look at the men as they passed by, and they appeared to be hitting each other with padding. Krystal laughed that the best things in life were free. Verity agreed and again admired the beauty of the water and the sand.
“Excuse me, ladies,” a voice called out.
Verity and Krystal stopped walking and turned to face the man who was coming closer. Verity smiled, it was definitely him. She looked at his pumped up sandy muscles as he arrived near them.
“Hello, ladies. I hope you don’t mind, but a number of my friends up there bet me a hundred dollars, a hundred dollars each might I add, that I couldn’t get you both to kiss me,” Adrian said.
Krystal laughed and handed Jesse to Verity, “Better be with a closed mouth, only because I’m married, but take all the time you need, honey.”
Adrian laughed and took her in his arms. He bent her backwards and kissed her on the lips for ten seconds moving his lips against hers. The men further up the sand whistled and yelled out, “That’s one!”
Verity and Krystal laughed, and Krystal took Jesse back. “That was hot. Damn baby. You take care of your body. Phew. I might need to jump in the ocean.”
Running Rings Page 17