by S M Mala
He was speechless as she shook her head and focussed on her screen.
‘I’ll move offices then,’ he said, waiting for a response. ‘Seeing me obviously upsets you.’
‘It hurts me Finlay,’ she said, gulping harder and looking up. He saw the tears coming to her eyes and felt a build-up of guilt, longing to hold her. ‘And if you like me, even a little, you wouldn’t want to hurt me though I know, deep down, you don’t really give a shit and I thought you did. Your texts and pictures confirmed how much of a throw away I was… am.’
Finlay stared at her for a moment feeling desperate to find something to say but he couldn’t, then he heard a noise coming from outside.
To his horror Aunt Rosalind was climbing the stairs with Toby in tow.
‘What the fuck,’ he mumbled before standing up and walking to the door. Finlay glanced at Sylvie as she sat there staring at the table swallowing hard. ‘We need to talk Sylvie, you and I, alone.’ He turned to open the door. ‘Hello! What are you doing here?’
‘Oh I just wanted to see where you were hanging out,’ the woman said cheerfully as Toby shrugged. She marched straight in and put her hand out. ‘You must be Sylvie? Toby’s been talking non-stop about you for years.’
‘I never heard,’ Finlay grumbled and walked towards his aunt.
‘You don’t listen, that’s your problem,’ she replied, happily looking around. ‘How wonderful this place is! Full of exciting toys and things!’
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Sylvie said, taking her book and standing up. ‘Can I get you a cup of tea?’
‘I wouldn’t mind one of those,’ she said, pointing to Sylvie’s half eaten samosa.
‘I’ll see if there are any left,’ she replied and walked to the door.
Finlay wanted to grab Sylvie and shake her by the shoulders, take her to the hotel room, show her how he truly felt as they made love, all the things he knew he couldn’t and wouldn’t say. He also felt like shouting at her for being overly sensitive and not understanding the shit he was going through.
Then he realised she had a point about him not even trying to woe her, taking it all for granted. Any other woman he would have done it differently and maybe he’d have to start again, but he didn’t think somehow she’d let him.
‘Gosh, she’s a beauty,’ smiled Rosalind as Toby sighed for a moment. ‘I can see why you’re crazy about her.’
‘Unrequited but one day, when she’s too old, she won’t be able to run away from me while I change her catheter,’ he grinned. ‘Plus I’ve got woman problem at the moment and I need Sylvie’s help.’
‘Seriously Rosalind, what are you doing here?’ Finlay asked, sitting back down behind his desk knowing the woman was up to something. ‘Not even mother comes in.’
‘Is this why you’re here? You like the view?’ Rosalind said, glancing at Sylvie’s desk.
‘He doesn’t fancy Sylvie!’ laughed Toby shaking his head from side to side. ‘He only goes for women who’ve been pictured in ‘Tatler’ or ‘Horse and Hound’!’
‘That’s not true!’
‘Julie Lefuck was never in ‘Tatler’,’ grinned Rosalind as Toby started to laugh. ‘‘Readers Wives’ I expect.’
‘I’m not in the mood,’ said Finlay, agitated by his aunt and brother.
The door opened and he did a double take seeing Sylvie walk back in, wishing they were alone and feeling his insides twist for her.
‘Samina’s just coming with a samosa and a cup of tea,’ Sylvie said, taking her mobile off the desk.
‘So you hire the people who work here? So Toby says,’ Rosalind said cheerfully.
‘I do,’ Sylvie replied and Finlay then noticed the filthy stare she shot him before smiling at his aunt. ‘Which side are you related to on ‘Chambers Caplin’?’
‘Oh, I’m the Chambers side. Finlay’s father, James, was my brother but don’t hold it against me as I’m rather nice.’
The door was thrown open and Samina walked in with a tray, holding two cups of tea and two samosas.
‘Finlay, I delay. Sorry. Checking vibrator return over Christmas. Sylvie, they use and not even wash! Disgusting! I had to disintegrate in Dettol.’
‘Disinfect?’ Toby said gently as Samina glared at him.
‘What do you do with the returned products?’ Rosalind asked eagerly, which made Finlay flinch before he noticed Toby was doing the same thing as him.
‘We can’t sell them on so we have to check them out. If they’re from a bad batch bought in, we try and get a credit note from the supplier but if they’ve been used and nothing is wrong, then we try to get them sterilised and give them to guys who work here to give to friends. It’s not like food where we can distribute it easily,’ Sylvie replied and let out a little laugh.
Finlay realised he missed hearing it.
‘Give them to marriage counsellors! I’m sure they’d come in handy! Taken any home for the wife, Finlay?’ the woman grinned before taking a bite of her samosa.
Finlay caught his aunt examining Sylvie and felt uneasy.
‘Rosalind, why the surprise visit?’ he asked as his aunt continued to stare at Sylvie.
‘Oh my word! They are delicious!’ Rosalind said as Samina nodded with true authority, without a hint of a smile, as if aware of the fact.
‘I please you like but I have to look at underwear ripped. They say it quality, I think it excitement,’ Samina replied deadpan and walked out of the office.
‘I need a job, Sylvie,’ Rosalind said, halfway through eating. ‘Piers told me to come and ask you.’
‘You want to work here?’ Finlay said in surprise and then realised Sylvie would think he sounded disgusted. ‘Are you short of money? I’m sure we can sort-.’
‘I need a job. I need some focus. I’m an elderly woman without children or grandchildren. The closest I have is you two boys and well… I thought working here would be jolly good fun!’ she said cheerfully.
‘Aren’t you too old?’ continued Finlay. ‘At your age-.’
‘You’re not too old as employers aren’t allowed to discriminate over age, colour, sex, which Finlay should understand as he’s so knowledgeable about business,’ Sylvie said, giving one of her false smiles. ‘There is minor lifting but mostly packaging. You’ll be working within a team so it’s a case of getting on with people and doing the best you can. We don’t offer major wages, just over the minimum as we’re not successful but I am looking for an extra pair of hands for part time work.’
‘When can I start?’
‘Hey no!’ Finlay said, not wanting another member of his family to work there. ‘And we need to discuss who-.’
‘You just said I should do what I have to do and I’m doing it!’ Sylvie snapped at him and he noticed Rosalind’s eyes light up. ‘I work three days a week and Tuesday and Thursdays I come in the morning. If you start on Thursday I can come and do your induction. I need you to complete an application form and we can start. I have to get some other details from you so if you have an email address I’ll get in contact or give the documents to Toby.’
‘That’s truly wonderful!’ the woman said, standing up and clapping her hands. ‘My first job in my seventies! What a job!’
Finlay glared at Sylvie, who was smiling, then noticed his aunt was grinning at him before glancing back as Sylvie.
‘I think working here might be a lot of fun!’ said Rosalind. ‘A lot of fun indeed!’
‘Are you sure Auntie Rosalind?’ asked Toby anxiously. ‘The girls, well they’re a bit raucous and can be shocking.’
‘Oh child,’ she said, letting out a small sigh. ‘I know all about fucking so how shocking could they be?’
Finlay noticed Sylvie was laughing and he didn’t want to smile at his aunt, but he did. Toby looked shocked before standing up.
‘I better leave you to it,’ Rosalind said, radiating happiness. ‘Excellent food and drink! I look forward to seeing you on Thursday.’ She put out her hand to Sylvie and shook it. ‘Lo
vely to meet you.’
‘Good to meet you. I’ll see you at nine. We can talk about the hours. There’s some flexibility but we can work around your needs.’
‘How wonderful!’ Rosalind said and Finlay watched her examine Sylvie. ‘You’re simply a delight!’
‘Some would say ‘simple’,’ Sylvie replied and sat down at her desk.
He watched his aunt and brother walk away then turned to Sylvie.
‘Don’t start a quarrel with me,’ she said quietly. ‘I’m not in the mood and I’m really busy.’
‘I’m sorry,’ he said putting his hands on his head. ‘Sylvie, look at me?’
She got up and walked out as Finlay realised he was desperate to make it up to her.
He just didn’t know how.
Thirty nine
‘And that’s the final story,’ Sylvie said, letting out a painful laugh. ‘Old and not important. He’s so honest it’s … refreshing like the grim reaper!’
Nalini started to laugh as she sipped her glass of sparkling wine.
‘I mean, he’s not in a good place and his wife. God, he even filmed her being screwed by the man. What’s sort of sanity is that?’ sighed Sylvie and gulped back the rest of her drink. ‘He’s a mess and he’s making a mess out of my head.’
‘You know what? You’re doing the right thing by leaving him alone. He’s on a mission to close the company, get some control while his own life is spiralling out of it. The man obviously wanted some mother figure to sort it out for him.’
‘Thanks. He thinks I’m a substitute mother? He’s only ten years younger and remember hubby was seven years junior to me and never did he think I was his mother… oh god, never would he dare to even tell me I resembled that cow Freya!’
‘And in all this, what are you thinking right now about your husband?’
‘I want him back.’ She said immediately, then swallowed hard. ‘At least I knew where I stood with him. He was pretty straight down the line with how he felt, though sometimes a little thick considering how bright he was supposed to be.’ Sylvie started to laugh. ‘He’d be telling me that Finlay is a nice guy. But as his wife had done the dirty on him, he’d probably think it was okay for him to react in the way he has. Old Roo had firm moral values on that.’
‘If that man of mine even tried it, I’d chop his bollocks off!’ Nalini looked at the watch. ‘What time do you have to pick Daisy up?’
‘Fit club finishes at four thirty so we have an hour left.’ She reached over and touched her friend’s hand. ‘Thank you for schlepping all the way here to see me. I know I’m not acting normally.’
‘You were getting sex so that’s normal though, you know, it takes five years to come to terms with grief and, thank god, at least you didn’t try and meet someone straight off,’ her friend said gently. ‘And this Finlay bloke, well he’s a rebound, or an experiment, before you meet someone who’s really caring.’
‘I never thought I’d be single at this age. I just thought…’ She closed her eyes for a moment. ‘I thought he was a nice guy, you know. I really did.’ Sylvie watched Nalini check her watch again then call the waiter over. ‘I have to pick her up in one hour and sober.’
‘Yes, you will be. You can get a coffee,’ her friend said, before ordering two more glasses. Nalini then smiled at her for a moment before frowning. ‘Do you want to tell me something else?’
‘Like what?’ she asked, watching people walk past the window. ‘He’s in a lot of pain and I know he’s being honest in his horrible sort of way. But you can see it, in his eyes, the hurt. I can relate to that feeling, god I went through it long enough.’
There was silence for a moment as she stared at the pavement outside and realised she was hurting for him.
‘What do you really think about this Finlay bloke? I know you and you’re holding something back,’ Nalini said quietly, touching her hand.
She looked at her best friend and grimaced for a moment.
‘Don’t go reading anything into this because I know what you’re like and you have to understand I’m old,’ she began.
‘Yes, yes,’ said Nalini, eagerly sitting forward. ‘Go on, what?’
‘Every time I see him something happens in my stomach, something weird. Like the twingy twangies.’
‘No!’ she said alarmed and Sylvie knew her friend’s eyebrows couldn’t get any higher. ‘That’s serious.’
‘I told you it’s probably because I’m getting old and it’s a sort of indigestion,’ she said, excusing herself.
‘The twingy twangies are worse than butterflies. Every time you’ve had them… well you remember when you used to fancy the monkey boy at school and-.’
‘He had long arms! He didn’t look like a monkey!’
‘Minkey! White boy, blonde hair and long arms!’ she laughed.
‘At least I didn’t fancy all the old ugly teachers!’ Sylvie retorted as Nalini started to laugh before noticing a message on her phone. ‘Oh god! It’s from Andy Simmonds. You know that one that owns the manufacturing company.’
‘The one who tried to kiss you before that accountant mutant got in the way,’ said Nalini with a sneer as the glasses of wine turned up. ‘You could have snogged that man.’
‘Yes, that’s the one but I don’t fancy him,’ she replied and opened the message. ‘Oh!’
‘What?’
‘I need my glasses,’ Sylvie replied and handed the phone over to her friend.
‘He’s asking you out on Friday night!’ she said with a smirk. ‘He says ‘sorry I didn’t see you more at the party, you left early’, and don’t we know why.’ Nalini winked at her and Sylvie felt as if that had been years ago. ‘And then he says ‘If you’re free on Friday evening would you like to meet up for a drink and something to eat. Don’t worry if you can’t.’ Men are still asking you out so it’s not that bad, is it?’
‘That’s because we give him a lot of money for his products,’ she sniffed, rummaging in her bag for her glasses then noticed Nalini was typing into her phone. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Just replying, ‘Would love to.’’
‘You bloody well didn’t!’
‘Bloody well did!’
‘No!’ Sylvie grabbed the phone and realised she had. ‘I can’t go! I need to get a baby sitter!’
‘Ask your mother, for god’s sake!’
‘I don’t want to go out with him for dinner,’ she said, getting scared.
‘That Finlay never took you out so this one wants to. Come on Sylvie, you can’t be falling for that posh bloke. He’s had his fun so move on.’
‘You’re right.’
‘I know I’m right.’
‘But I’m seeing Andy as a friend.’
‘Just as a friend.’
‘And I don’t want anyone to know about it,’ she said, realising how gossip would work.
‘I won’t say a word.’
‘Not you divvy, at work.’
‘Why not?’ asked Nalini suspiciously. ‘You don’t want to upset Finlay?’
‘He wouldn’t give a shit!’
‘Who told you that?’ asked Finlay while going through the new product orders with Marianne, shocked by the piece of gossip he’d just heard.
‘He did, this morning,’ she replied, as Finlay glanced over at Sylvie giving his aunt her induction. ‘Andy said he would hand over the paperwork on Friday night when he was meeting Sylvie for dinner. You know he always asks about her and maybe something happened over Christmas. And he is drop dead gorgeous! I wouldn’t mind copping a feel of him!’ Marianne clapped her hands in delight. ‘She deserves to meet a nice man, she really does.’
‘He’s not nice!’ said Finlay, getting wound up and wondering if that explained why Sylvie hadn’t been contacting him. She had someone else on the go. Andy Simmonds. ‘He’s got women left right and centre, plus she can’t get involved with him as he’s a supplier and, well, it would complicate things.’
‘No!’ laughed out Marianne. �
��It might mean we get a bigger discount but what she’ll have to do for that is anyone’s guess. Ya think he uses his own products?’
‘She better not compromise the business,’ he said and realised his face was getting redder by the second.
Finlay knew he was so jealous, he could burst, and it shocked him to have these feelings. He drank a glass of water and realised his hands were trembling as he forced a smile.
‘Finlay, you feeling alright?’ the tall Scottish woman asked as he forced a smile.
‘I’m a bit pressurised. Shall we call Sylvie in to go through these figures? I know she thinks I’m the enemy at the moment.’
‘I’ll get her,’ Marianne replied and got to her feet, leaving him in the meeting room as he stared at Sylvie, who was laughing with Rosalind.
She smiled at Marianne and then nodded saying something before taking his aunt down the stairs. As she came back up, she went into the meeting room followed by Marianne. He knew they’d hardly said two words to each other that morning as he’d been late in and she was busy doing anything to stay away from the office.
‘Sylvie,’ he said and pushed forward the spread sheet on his tablet. ‘We’re going through the orders and Marianne has done a splendid job of getting some of the items cost prices reduced.’
‘That’s brilliant,’ Sylvie said, looking down the list and smiling. ‘You’re far better at this than me, Marianne.’
‘She even managed to get some items reduced from Simmonds Products,’ he said, staring at Sylvie as Marianne immediately frowned. ‘Andy said he’d hand the paperwork to you tomorrow so you can look through.’
‘Why can’t he email it over?’ Sylvie replied and he noticed she was fiddling with her hair.
‘Maybe he was happy you eventually agreed to meet him for dinner,’ Finlay mumbled as Sylvie sat up straight and stared at him for a second.
‘I’ve met him for dinner before.’
‘Even though you really shouldn’t be putting the company in a compromising position because he might take advantage.’