The NSC Boxset: Heart of Stone

by D H Sidebottom

Today I had chosen to wear a tight pin-striped pencil skirt that skimmed my knees and a white fitted shirt, accentuating my curvy figure; very professional.

  Gulping my coffee and whirling round the kitchen trying to clean around Matt, he took the cloth out of my hand and started wiping the worktop. “Sit and drink your cuppa in peace Mum before you have to go.”

  “Thanks, sweetheart.” I smiled widely at him. “Oh, and don’t forget your key when you go cos’ I won’t be back till about six.”

  “Yup,” he replied. “I’ll get a sarnie after school. You getting takeaway tonight?” he asked hopefully, looking at me. I laughed and told him I would pick Chinese up on the way home. “Will Erin be home when I get in?” he asked as he bent to pick up his bag off the floor and grabbed the toast off his plate.

  “I think she’s home about four but I think she’s seeing Brad tonight, so can you ask her to text me if she’s in for tea, please?”

  Nodding and smiling he bent to kiss me on the cheek. “Good luck, mom,” He gave me a wink. “Love you.”

  “Love you too,” I shouted to him as he pulled the front door closed behind him.

  Taking a deep breath, I picked up my bag, coat and keys and after checking my hair and make-up in the mirror, I also headed out the door and climbed into my beloved fifteen year old Mini. I had christened her Betty, although Matt always called her ‘Sweaty Betty’ because he claimed it was too small inside and there was no air conditioning, so everybody overheated in it.

  Heading into London’s centre and trying to manoeuvre around numerous bikes and busses, I quickly got worked up. The only trouble with working in the city was this reason. I couldn’t abide the tube with all the leering men as they tried to cop a feel when you boarded the damn train.

  As I turned into the car park of the huge building that was NSC Industries, my stomach slipped round my ankles and beads of sweat dotted my brow. I pulled into a parking bay then opened my door and stumbled out nervously.

  Wobbling towards the main reception area on my skyscraper heels, I peeled my head back and lifted my eyes all the way up the enormous, imposing building. I had a feeling of impending doom and pulled myself up to my full height, put my shoulders back and my chest out as I stuttered to myself, “This is it Liv, let’s go do it.”

  When I approached the huge building a big, burly bloke in a sharp black suit opened the immense glass doors for me. “Thank you.” I gaped at him in awe of his size. Intimidating was an understatement.

  “No problem, darlin.’” He winked at me as I scanned the entire mass of his enormous frame. With a sweep of his arms he gestured me into the building.

  I could feel his eyes following me through the startling, cool lobby as I advanced towards the large marble reception desk.

  A twenty something sour-faced woman behind the desk looked me up and down as I smiled at her. “Olivia Adams to see Mr Peterson. My first day.” I grinned at her but the smile slid off my face as she glowered at me.

  She picked up the phone mounted on her desk and punched a few numbers in. Looking like she’d been slapped in the face by a wet kipper with a deadly skin condition, she spoke into the handset. “Olivia Adams for Mr Peterson in reception,” she snapped and replaced the receiver.

  “Please take a seat and someone will be down for you in a short while,” she stated bluntly before turning on her seat to the computer monitor, dismissing me abruptly.

  As I sat on one of the plush, white leather couches situated in the foyer, I heard my phone’s text message alert and took it out of my bag. Swiping the screen, I saw it was a text from Beth.

  Beth:

  Hey babe, GL 2day, b at urs at 8 with wine

  Love ya xxx

  I smiled as I sent a short reply, thanking her and told her I needed Haribos too, lots of them.

  A middle aged woman dressed in a fitted black trouser suit sporting a sleek black bob came over to me. Smiling widely she held out her hand, “Miss Adams. Grace Harrison, one of Mr Peterson’s minions.” It was ‘Mrs Adams’ but I didn’t correct her, realising that it didn’t bother me, in fact it pleased me to think that people here had no knowledge of my past life.

  Deciding I already liked her hugely, I gave her a bright smile and extended my hand. “Good morning, Miss Harrison. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Call me Grace, please and welcome to NSC Industries. Do you want to follow me and I’ll give you a quick tour on the way up to Mr Peterson’s office?”

  Nodding, I stood and followed her with a nervous wobble as I took in all the areas she was revealing on our way up.

  On entering the elevator she pressed for the 44th floor. “Good Lord,” I squeaked in horror. “How many floors does this building have?” I’d never learn to navigate my way round alone. I knew I’d get lost and end up crying down my phone for Grace to come and rescue me from an unknown location on an unknown floor.

  Because I’d hastily taken the job, and everything had moved so fast once I’d applied, I’d not had time to research NSC Industries, which I was now beginning to regret.

  “Fifty,” she replied, smirking at my white, dismayed face. “Don’t worry sweetie, we’re all a little intimidated on the first day here, you’ll get used to it.”

  As we stepped out of the elevator on our floor, I took in the huge reception area, another formal stiff expanse of white leather and abstract art.

  A woman about the same age as me was situated behind a large, marble desk in the centre. She was a little hippy-ish with flowing curly blonde hair and a sweeping floral dress but she looked like she was made for the fashion statement, which I doubted many females could carry off like she did.

  She looked up and gave me a small wave. “Hi, I’m Leah” she declared. “I’m looking forward to coffee, gossip and lots of calorie consuming with you,” she beamed.

  I grinned back, amused by her eagerness. “Absolutely!” I returned, “I have a passion for all three.”

  “Good girl, you’re gonna fit in fine here,” she giggled back.

  I turned back to look at the room and noticed it was a hexagonal shape with other equally large areas branching out on each wall.

  Grace pointed to each of the regions, informing me what each branch was. “Wages, general administration, server rooms, conference rooms and in the fourth area there’s the restrooms, showers and what we call the snap room . . . kettle, fridge, microwave and so on.” She grinned. “But we’re through here.” she gestured towards the fifth zone.

  She walked across to the other reception room that I was going to be working in; there were two large desks, a waiting area and an enclosed office at the back of the room.

  “This is your work space, Olivia.” She pointed at one of the two desks, “and I’m just over there, so if you’ve any worries or questions just bellow at me. Let’s get you through to Mr Peterson now,” she pronounced somewhat glumly as she approached the office and knocked lightly.

  “Come in, Grace,” a voice sang through the door. “I hope you’ve brought our new recruit with you, I’m sooo looking forward to meeting her again.”

  Grace opened the door and as soon as she entered the office I noticed her disposition alter slightly. Her back straightened, her chin elevated and unease poured out of her in masses.

  Frowning at her slightly I followed her in and was greeted by Mr Peterson striding towards me with his hand outstretched and what looked like a sneer across his lips. His eyes travelled from my hair all the way down to my shoes and back up slowly, pausing at my chest. The glint in them told me exactly what he thought of my appearance. Jesus, another one!

  I hoped I could handle him and keep him at a distance. He grabbed my hand in his and placed a rather wet, inappropriate kiss on my cheek. Eugh.

  “Miss Adams, I have been eagerly awaiting working with you.” I, on the other hand, was really NOT eagerly awaiting working with this man. He was slimy, self-important and gave me the jitters.

  His phone shrilled on his desk, making me and
Grace jump. Snatching it from its cradle, Peterson hollered into it. “WHAT?!” he barked, making me flinch as I desperately felt sorry for whoever was on the other end. “Mmm. Yes. See to it,” he stated sharply to the unseen caller. He slammed the receiver back down then turned back to me, giving me another leer. “Well Olivia, shall we make a start?” He glanced at Grace. “You can leave us.”

  I turned to look at her. She gave me a slight shake of her head as Peterson paced over to his cabinet, opening some drawers and retrieving some documents. She gave me a reassuring smile and exited the office, quietly closing the door behind her.

  I stood staring at her retreating figure through the glass window in the door, silently praying that I would get out of this room alive with all my female parts intact . . . and him all his male parts.

  A cough resounded behind me and I spun round. “I’m so sorry Mr Peterson, I didn’t catch that, I’m a little nervous.” I shyly smiled.

  He sneered at me before he came up to me and set his hand on my shoulder. “I’m sure it won’t take us long to get better acquainted Olivia, in fact I’m looking forward to getting to know you a lot better.”

  Did he realise how inappropriate he was being, or was it me reading too much into the way he communicated with people? Whichever, I did not like him at all and my internal alarms were blaring at me to ‘Get the Hell out of there’ but he was my boss, so I had to grin and bear him.

  “Take a seat Olivia and we’ll go over your roles and expectations.” He was all politeness again and I wondered if I had read the situation wrong. Being a person that saw the worst in everybody, I knew I could sometimes misconstrue certain elements of life.

  Taking a seat, I listened to him tell me what he expected of me, the company benefits and how things worked round there.

  An hour later he finally stated we were finished and that I was to start reviewing his diary and getting accustomed to things. I stood to leave and as I walked towards the door I felt his hand rest on my lower back. I recoiled and spun around to face him. He didn’t seem to notice my apprehensive reaction and informed me that he would like a coffee making before I made a start.

  I quickly escaped from the room and hurried down to the snap room.

  I grabbed the edge of the counter and inhaled some hard breaths. “Fuck me! The man is an egotistical, creepy twat!” I exclaimed to myself.

  A huge laugh broke out behind me. I spun around and saw Grace sat in a chair with a very camp looking man. He had a perfect blonde quiff, a huge white-toothed smile decorated his face and he was wearing a light, baby blue suit with a pink shirt. He was still laughing as he leapt out of his chair and bounded over to me. Hugging me to him he declared, “I take it you’ve met Mr Simon Peterson then or ‘Pervertson’ as all us minions call him?”

  Shocked that I had been overheard, I smiled shyly. “I’m sooo sorry, I didn’t realise anybody was in here. I should really learn to keep my voice in my head.”

  “Hey sweetie, don’t worry about it. We all feel exactly the same about him,” he said, holding me away from his body to observe me. “I’m Josh, the runner around here. If you need anything transporting around the building then I’m your man.” He smiled genuinely at me.

  Grace guffawed loudly. “Did you just say ‘I’m your man’ Josh?”

  Imitating shock, Josh lowered his eyelashes and pouted at Grace. “Oh sweetie, you’re only distraught at the thought of missing out on this gorgeous body,” he responded with a sweep of his hands over his frame. “It’s all hard and lean you know.” He grinned at me waggling his eyebrows.

  “Coffee, Darling?” Grace asked me as she lifted a mug in my direction.

  “Oh shit, I’m supposed to making Mr Peterson one, how long have we been stood here?” I worried.

  “Not long enough for his erection to subside, sweetie,” Josh countered.

  Open mouthed I turned to him, “Oh God! Really?” Now I was certainly worried.

  Shrugging her shoulders, Grace explained that Mr Peterson had a thing for his secretaries. “Why do you think the last one ran out before her contract was up? He’s a slimy bastard that feels his employee’s up.”

  “Bollocks!” I uttered, absolutely terrified of how I would manage in that position. There had been a few leering men since James, but none that had actually groped me.

  Sweating slightly, I felt a bit faint and sat on one of the plush chairs in the room. “I’m not very good with those situations,” I explained to my colleagues, turning a tad white.

  Grace came and sat next to me, putting her hand gently on my knee. “You okay, sweetie?” she asked softly.

  I gulped and nodded before I lifted myself up and walked over to the kettle. I plastered a smile on my face before I looked over my shoulder to them. “I’m fine, who’s for coffee?”

  * * *

  The day turned out to be very pleasantly surprising. I enjoyed my work, got on really well with everybody else and Peterson wasn’t offensive again.

  At 5 o’clock, I shut my computer off, stood and stretched my aching arms above my head. I heard a slight groan and spun around to see Peterson leaning on the wall, watching me intently. “I’m off home now Mr Peterson, is there anything you need me to do before I go?”

  A smile played on his lips as he sauntered over to me, putting me on edge immediately. Grace had already gone and I was sure we were alone. I started retreating stealthily. Placing his hands on the edge of my desk, he leaned towards me. “There are some things I need you to do for me Olivia, but unfortunately they are not in your job description.”

  Gasping, I picked up my bag from under my desk and quickly made for the main reception area.

  Certain he was stalking after me, I increased my speed and as I entered the reception, Leah raised from her chair. “You off now, Olivia? Hope you had a good first day.”

  “Yes,” I spluttered at her as I made a run for the elevator, waving and smiling as I passed her. “Got to run, kids! You know how it is? See you tomorrow.” She must have thought I was crazy but she didn’t say anything to me as I shot past her.

  As I punched the call button at the elevator, I silently cursed at the damn thing to hurry up when I heard Leah talking and then giggling with Peterson.

  “God does she actually like him?” I thought but silently thanked her for occupying him as I hurtled into the lift when the doors swung open.

  As it started to descend I grabbed the walls and took steadying breaths. “For Christ’s sake Liv, he’s not gonna attack you, you stupid cow!”

  For ten long years I’d dreaded these moments when men came onto me. I’d started kick boxing and self-defence classes and was pretty damned good at kicking ass, but the thought of been pursued by a man made me physically tremble.

  As the lift touched the ground floor I trampled out and rushed out to the car park, only feeling safe the moment I clambered into my beloved Betty.

  I pulled out of NSC building and made my way to Hot Woks, the local Chinese takeaway. Whilst I quickly picked out a few of the dishes, I offered them an extra tenner tip if they rushed the order; amazed to say it worked and as I left the restaurant I got a few choice words flung at me from other customers.

  Arriving home twenty minutes later, I dumped the food on the table, kissed Erin and Matt on their heads and swiftly grabbed the wine from the fridge.

  As I poured a large glass I heard the text alert on my phone.

  Lexi:

  Hey sweetie, hope your day was a good 1

  Xxx

  Hitting the reply button, I texted back:

  Me:

  Yh, creepy boss tho,

  Beth & wine arriving at 8, u joining us?

  Xxx

  “Plates or out of the cartons, Mum?” Erin asked, holding up the Chinese.

  “Oooh cartons darling, can’t be bothered with pots tonight,” I said winking at her. “Good day? You off to Brad’s tonight?”

  She shifted slightly in her chair and put her head down, lowering her eyes
and wiping an imaginary piece of lint off her jeans.

  “What’s wrong, Erin?” I lifted her chin with my fingers and looked into her tear filled eyes. Shaking her head and turning away she proceeded to open all the Chinese cartons, trying desperately to occupy herself and ignore the question. “Come on, sweetheart, what’s happened?”

  Withdrawing from the table, Matt made an excuse and took his dinner upstairs, giving Erin a slight smile and tiny nod of his head as he exited the room.

  Erin looked at me with eyes full of unshed tears and sighed. “I think he’s seeing someone else, Mum.” Twiddling with her fingers in her lap, a single teardrop fell onto her t-shirt. That solitary tear broke my heart the moment it fell.

  Erin and Brad had been together for just over two years and I thought their relationship was rock solid. Brad seemed to dote on her and was always respectful to her wishes. I knew they were having sex. Erin had come to me the moment they were considering taking their relationship further and asked for my advice. Grateful for the knowledge that my sixteen year old daughter was mature enough to ask for my opinion, told me everything I needed to know that she was ready for it. She arranged an appointment with the family planning clinic herself and after my lecture about making sure she never missed a single pill or used extra protection when she had vomited, she had been tenacious with taking her pill regularly.

  All in all, I was proud of my children; each one.

  Taking her hand in mine, I delved for more information. “How do you know, Erin?” I asked, wiping a tear away from her cheek.

  “He’s been acting really weird, Mum.” Her choked voice broke my heart a little more. “He keeps looking at me weird, he’s always talking to his mates and when I enter the room, they all shut up quickly and today’s the third time in a fortnight that he’s cancelled on me. I sneaked a look at his mobile earlier and he’d removed all his texts, every single one. Now why would he do that unless he’s got something to hide?”

  Her tears were flowing freely now as she fought against the distraught little sobs. “Sweetheart, I don’t know the answer to why he’s being like this but I really think you need to talk to him,” I spoke softly. “It could be something really innocent or something trivial he’s done and thinks you’re gonna blow off at him.”