by Meg MacRose
“It’s fine Nina. I’m sure we are both professional enough to just get on with the job.” She’d just have to make sure that was the case.
“It is good exposure for us. I checked on the internet, Hudson is a big-time massive corporation. Your lover boy started it up all by himself and took the world by storm. We do a good job here, and there’s so many opportunities that could come our way.” Nina was visibly impressed, but at the same time, her brow furrowed, and her lips pursed in consternation. Elly sensed that Nina was concerned at what she had just accepted.
“Oh, Elly. This man wants you. He really wants you. But what do you want from him? I’ve no doubt you can combine work with pleasure. After his call, I searched him on the internet. I was so excited to share the news this morning with you that we’d gotten the attention of the CEO of Hudson, and then my tube was delayed.” Shaking her head, Nina continued “he’s a billionaire many times round.” She pulled out her phone and pointed to a webpage she had saved.
“Look, he owns private yachts, houses around the world, and he’s dated some of the biggest celebrities London has to offer.”
Elly was stunned. She knew that he was clever in business. That much had been evident when they had debated over different methodologies while lazing on the Greek Island beaches. But she hadn’t expected him to be that rich.
The worry in Nina’s face was evident. “I’m anxious for you El. I don’t want to see you suffer. I saw how hard you worked to turn your life and mend your heart last time he hurt you. I don’t want to see that happen again. Oh, but El. He’s dreamy, and he is lusting over you something bad. Have a think about it, you deserve to have some fun, and have a sexy man at the same time!”
“Nina, you did right, accepting the job. The more exposure DN gets, the more techies we can employ and expand. We can then move away from consulting services being our core offering and focus on investing in producing new technologies. That’s our strategy, right? I’m not planning on jumping into bed with Alex. I have a job to do at Hudson, and that’s what I’ll be doing. I’ll not deviate from that.”
Nina shook her head. “Elly dear, I don’t think it’s going to be that simple. In the office this morning, your chemistry sizzled. I mean sizzled with a capital S. Look, for starters, why don’t I liaise with that IT exec at Hudson while you and Ivan get started on the technical side of things. It’ll give you a breather, a chance to decide what you want to do. And you know that I’m on your side. Whatever you choose to do. I’m here for you. Gosh, who knows how many times you’ve picked me up from bad choices in relationships.”
Nina gave Elly another quick hug. Elly was glad that she had someone like Nina as her best friend and confidante. “Thanks Nina. I really mean it.”
“No problems.” With a conspiratorial smile now plastered on her face, Nina leaned forward and whispered “wear that purple suit of yours tomorrow morning when you go to Hudson. That’ll blow Alex away. You’ll look unbelievably sexy, while being the consummate professional. He’ll not know if he should look at your legs or your cleavage! And, that my dear is your battle-gear for dealing with men like Alex!”
Elly couldn’t help but smile at the mention of her purple suit. She had bought it a couple of years ago when she had joined Nina on one of her Saturday shopping sprees. She’d barely worn the suit since she’d bought it. It had been purchased for one of the very first IT conferences where she had ever been asked to be the only female keynote speaker. After much deliberation, Nina had recommended that she either play it conservative and dress down amongst all the men, or that she spice it up and show off her natural assets.
They’d stumbled across a cute little shop in Soho and she’d tried on so many different styles of clothes. When she tried the suit it, it had fitted to her body like a glove. Then she has stepped outside of the changing room and looked at her reflection in the shop mirror. Nina had called out from across the shop, “now that’s what I call a suit.”
Elly remembered how the knee-high pencil line tailored skirt accentuated her long legs, and that the high split up one thigh was much more suggestive than any of the other skirts she’d tried on. The contours of the skirt outlined the shape of her buttocks which had been a surprise, as she’d always seen herself as being so shapeless. But it was the collar that plunged that had been the main draw card. The jacket fitted snug right against her body, one collar followed a diagonal slant from her shoulders to her stomach and showed off the gentle curve of her breasts. It wasn’t a suit that one wore a shirt underneath. Needless to say, it wasn’t a suit that was appropriate to wear to their office or to the university where Elly sometimes gave special lectures!
She nodded back at her friend. Why not wear the purple suit? At least she’d not doubt how she looked. And besides, she quite liked the idea of flaunting herself in front Alex one more time to show him what he’d missed out on!
###
Elly looked up from her laptop and smiled over at Ivan. “My diagnostic code is ready to go. How about your system debugging code?” They had been working side by side since setting up their laptops. It was always easy and harmonious working with Ivan, they made a great team. Ivan was introverted, much like she could be, and he was thorough in his work. Besides she appreciated his honesty. Ivan could come across to their clients as hands-off or rude, as he preferred to work with large headphones on that screamed out a silent ‘do not disturb’. They tried to arrange it with their clients that when Nina wasn’t present, Elly was their contact point. Elly took comfort as she knew that she could trust Ivan’s discretion when they worked offsite at a customer’s office. He wasn’t prone to small talk with their clients. Amongst his colleagues at DN he was helpful, chatty and enjoyed all the social events that Bradley and Nina arranged for the team.
Elly was grateful that they had been allocated their own small office that was adjacent to Alex’s PA’s. Sometimes larger companies only offered a hot desk, which made it harder for them to concentrate and even more difficult to discuss their work. Most of their activities could be completed by creating a remote connection through the company servers, but Nina had long ago identified that their clients were more comfortable if DN operated from the host’s own office. So, for the first few days at least, they made an effort to be onsite and available. Anyway, it gave them a chance to have an opportunity to put names to faces.
“Maybe another half an hour, and then my initial code will also be finished.” Ivan picked up his headphones and placed them back on his head. Elly got the hint. She often did the same. In her circles, amongst techies, this was not a rude gesture. Just someone who wanted to get their work finished uninterrupted. She stood up, gave a stretch with her arms up high and looked down at her purple suit. Good suggestion Nina!
Elly flicked a piece of cotton off her trousers as she thought back to when they’d arrived earlier in the morning. Alex’s PA had come out to meet them in the foyer and introduced herself as Helen. His PA was dressed in a modest suit, had long shiny blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes that Elly had ever seen. Helen’s demeanour was outgoing and friendly, and straight away she offered to take them both on what she called, with a chuckle, a grand tour of the office building.
While they had been shown around the Hudson building, which was huge, Elly had been on a constant lookout for even just a glimpse of Alex. She had almost jumped out of her skin when she literally bumped right into him, as he walked out of a meeting room. He had been in deep discussions with another man who looked like a younger version of Alex, with the same dark hair and handsome looks. The men had been joined by a sassy confident-looking woman in her late twenties dressed in an expensive looking yellow coloured silk suit. Alex had put his arm out to steady Elly and absorbed the brunt of their collision so that she only tumbled forward into him, close enough to smell his masculine spicy cologne. One look at him and it was like her brain had turned off. She had been frozen to the spot, unable to tear herself away from him. Alex had stood in the doorway, w
ith his arm on her shoulder as he stared back at her. Elly had no idea how long it was until Helen had stepped in.
“Gosh, that was bad timing. Are you okay?” Helen completed the introductions. The other two people were Simon and Julia. Ivan and Elly had been introduced as two IT gurus helping Simon’s department out. After the introductions, Alex had removed his arm from her shoulder and gave her a smile that made her all gooey inside.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to trample into you. Good morning, Ivan. Good to see you both here. I have an important teleconference scheduled in a few minutes, but I’ll pop by later, and see how you’re both getting on. Any questions, and I’m sure Helen will be able to help.”
Elly was still frozen to the spot as she watched him walk away. He looked like a boss, like a lion who was sure of his territory.
They’d settled into their new temporary office and set up their own equipment. Simon joined them to talk through his own observations. Elly remained on tenterhooks, as she waited for Alex to reappear. She needn’t have worried, as by late morning, he still had not popped by. By then, Ivan, Simon and herself were immersed in discussions as they scrutinised some of Simon’s reports that identified basic security issues in the Hudson system. As she concentrated on what Simon had to say, her brain whizzed into action as it whirred around a number of possible approaches to look at. She didn’t hear Alex open the door, and only became aware that Alex was present when he gave a gentle cough. They all turned around at the interruption.
Elly’s eyes glued on the familiar frame in the doorway. How on earth could someone look this sexy at work? His tailored suit showed off his lean and tall body. She guessed that he must work out at the gym.
“How about we go out for lunch? Harrison’s is just around the corner.”
Nina had spoken about Harrison’s before. She’d been there on a date with some previous conquest. It was supposed to be very impressive and expensive. Part of Elly really wanted to accept the invitation, but the reality was that long lunch breaks were not conducive to their work. It would be an interruption to their progress, and she was sure that Ivan was as keen to get in and write up some bespoke code to run through their own software systems to analyse the Hudson infrastructure. Besides, Ivan would detest a long working lunch. In Elly’s experience, clients often wanted to impress and offered working lunches that took two or three hours, with no actual work being done.
“No thanks, that’s fine. We’d prefer to eat in. We often eat while we work.”
With immediate effect, Ivan’s expression changed to one of relief.
“Okay. We all need to eat. I’ll get Helen to organise lunch to be brought in. We can eat together in the meeting room up the corridor and use the time to ask questions and bring me up to speed.”
No sooner had Alex slipped back out of the room than Helen pushed open the door. “Any specific meal requests?” Ivan surprised Elly by answering direct to Helen, “anything with spicy seafood would be good, but no rice.” Elly was surprised, as it wasn’t typical of him to speak up like this.
“Right.” Helen answered straight away. “There’s a really good Malaysian restaurant that does a delicious seafood laksa; or if you don’t feel like noodles, there’s a bakery around the corner that does a wonderful spicy seafood baguette. Any preferences?”
“Baguette sounds great, thanks.”
“Great choice. That’s what I’m ordering too. What about you guys? Elly? Simon?”
Simon lazed back in his office chair with his fingers laced together, as if he was making the most important decision in his life. After a few moments, he gave Helen a grin, “I’ll just have my usual order from the bakery. Thanks, Helen.”
“Surprise, surprise. Need I have asked?” Helen retorted with a smile.
It was easy to see from their body language that Helen and Simon had an easy rapport. In Elly’s experience working from client’s offices, the PAs or Executive Assistants, as they sometimes called themselves, often didn’t have much of a relationship with the other executives and were quite defensive with them. Helen was not like that at all. In fact, she was very likeable. She’d gone out of her way this morning to make herself and Ivan feel welcomed but hadn’t intruded on them. Plus, she never looked bothered when either Ivan or herself had gone to Helen to ask for details, or directions to specific computer servers.
“Honestly, I eat anything. I’m happy to have whatever you recommend.” Apart from pizza, she didn’t have any preferences. And she had the best pizza parlour in London directly opposite her terraced house.
“Fine, I’ll find out if they have a daily special on today and will order you that. I’ll set up the meeting room shortly.”
“How about we take a break anyway?” Elly grabbed her bag and stood up and noticed that Simon’s eyes were fixed on her as he both watched and appraised her. Not in a creepy kind of way, but as if he was intrigued or puzzled by her.
Elly slipped out of the office and made her way to the ladies’ bathrooms. She wanted to run her brush through her unruly hair, as she was sure Alex would join them. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and flicked a long auburn ringlet back behind her ears. Just for once, she wished that her hair would stay in its clasp. Her collar needed the minutest readjustment. It didn’t actually need to be fixed, but she needed her hands to be doing something.
Had Alex given her a single thought that morning? The butterflies in her stomach were out in force just at the thought of lunch with Alex. How on earth would she survive Alex’s presence for the next few weeks?
###
The phone buzzed. Alex reached over to answer it.
“Yes.” It was Helen on the phone in the conference room.
“It’s just me. Lunch has arrived! We’re all here. So, when you’re ready.”
Alex’s attention had been side-tracked by thoughts of Elly and the very sexy suit that she wore. When they’d bumped into each other this morning, the collar of her suit had pushed across her cleavage, just enough for him to see that she had nothing other than a light purple brasserie on underneath. How he’d concentrated on his teleconference, he had no idea. Just as well Helen had also been on the call and made notes. He guessed he’d said the right things. How many more issues with Austin Steel would arise? Despite the time and cost that they had already invested in Austin Steel, it might be better to pull the pin and not pursue it. Alarm bells rang, as there seemed to him to be fanciful interpretation in some of their numbers.
The teleconference had taken longer than he anticipated, and as soon as it was over, he had headed over to Elly’s office. Only Simon had noticed him slip through the door. Simon had been in full spiel as he explained something technical and hadn’t paused to acknowledge his presence. Neither Elly nor Ivan had seen him, which gave him ample time to watch Elly at work. She had been totally engrossed with whatever it was that showed on Simon’s laptop screen and made insightful comments here and there for Ivan to follow up on. She had her wavy hair caught back in a nondescript clip, which showed off her nape.
Alex cleared his throat and tapped lightly on the open door. He’d enjoyed the opportunity to just watch Elly at work, until Simon’s eyes followed her cleavage as she leaned forward to point something out on the screen.
“How’s it going?” He asked brightly. Simon smirked back at him. His brother was sure to have guessed why Alex had chosen that exact moment to interrupt.
Elly turned in her chair. “Hello Alex.” She gasped back. She was in her own arena here, that much was obvious. Simon was a lucky guy, sitting next to her as they worked.
He wasn’t normally the jealous type, and he couldn’t blame him as Elly looked delectable in that suit. Besides, he was guilty of something similar this morning when they’d bumped into each other and he’d gawked at the gentle mound of her breasts against her jacket.
His stomach growled; it was time for lunch. He had gone to the gym this morning and trained for longer than normal in anticipation of Elly work
ing in his office. Since Saturday night, he’d had a lot of pent energy.
Chapter 5
Alex was perplexed. He stared out his office window, unable to focus on anything. Every effort to wine, dine and impress Elly had gotten him nowhere. Unlike his typical female companions, Elly had not sought him out, nor hounded Helen in a bid to arrange dates with him or clear his calendar. He was frustrated. Elly had not accepted any of his invitations. Not one. Not to the theatre. Not to dinner at prestigious restaurants that were almost impossible to secure a booking. Not anything. Every time he had seen Elly as she passed by in the office, she had remained aloof, and professional, just focused on her job. Yes, she was dedicated to her job, but really? Not. One. She infuriated him and excited him all at once.
Just this morning, they had entered the elevator at the same time.
“Good morning Alex. I believe that Simon is providing you with daily updates.” Her pitch remained professional and she stood on the opposite side to him. Before he was able to add any personal comment or ask her out, the lift had stopped to let more people on. Any chance for conversation was muted.
For the last two weeks, Elly and Ivan had been in and out of Hudson Pty, either hunched over their laptops in their office, or in the boardroom, meeting with Simon. Part of him regretted the delegation to Simon. But then, he rationalized that Simon was the obvious designated contact. He was the person who had first identified something was amiss, and this was his world – technology and coding. Besides, he had to admit, Simon has done a stellar job with Elly and Ivan. He reported back to Alex with regular updates. Based on Simon’s most recent prognosis, Elly and Ivan would wrap up their monitoring and it would not be long before they would be in a position to advise what was happening. Simon expected to receive a comprehensive written report sometime this afternoon.