I quickly pull the clothes that I have bought out of the shopping bags, and I start to get changed. I have to say though that putting on a skin-tight pencil skirt in a car is quite challenging. The skirt has a slit up the back which stops just below my ass. I put on stockings and suspenders and a tight-fitting white shirt. I finish the look off with a tight blazer, red lipstick, and I put my hair up into a high ponytail.
As I am putting on the black stilettos that I purchased, we pull up outside Jake’s offices. I quickly put on the long coat that I bought in order to hide my outfit from anyone else’s eyes. I would be mortified if anyone other than Jake got a look at my outfit. Eric opens the limo door for me and I thank him. I go to pick up the bags with my original clothes in, but Eric stops me.
“It’s okay, Miss Stacey. You can leave that in here.”
“Oh, okay. Thank you.” I smile and give Eric a wave as I head inside the office building. Walking through the lobby, I get a few appreciative looks off of some men, but I ignore them and walk to the lifts. I select the relevant floor for Jake’s office and am relieved that I am alone in the lift to go over my plan.
The doors ping open moments later and I step out. To the left is a desk with an older lady sat behind it. She looks up at me and smiles. She introduces herself as Valerie and asks me if she can help. I inform her that I have an appointment under the name of Miss Green, which she checks on her computer. She then gestures for me to take a seat in the waiting area which is a cosy collection of plush chairs just outside of Jake’s office. I hear her telephone through to Jake, and then she is telling me to go on through. I nod, take a deep breath, and I walk to the doors of his office, opening them and walking in.
Jake doesn’t look up, so I close the door behind me and lock it. His head snaps up at the sound of the lock.
“Good afternoon, Mr Waters,” I say, putting on the sexiest voice that I possibly can. My hands start to undo the long coat that I am wearing, and Jake’s eyes go wide as I let the coat drop to the floor. I walk forward, slowly, until I reach the front of his desk. I want to laugh at the fact that his mouth has dropped open slightly, but I manage to suppress it. He eventually clears his throat and manages to speak.
“Please take a seat, Miss Green.” He motions for me to sit in the chair which is just behind me.
“Why thank you.” I sit down, cross my legs and provocatively sit back in the chair. Jake smirks.
“Would you like a drink?”
“I don’t have time for a drink, I’m afraid. I am a very busy woman and I have other things that I need to attend to.”
“Is that so?” He raises one eyebrow at me.
“It is indeed. So, shall I get to the point of why I asked for this meeting?”
“Please do,” Jake says, never taking his eyes off of mine. He then sits back in his chair and awaits my answer.
“Well, I was hoping that you would provide me with a service that is going to satisfy my needs,” I purr at him. Where this inner vixen is coming from I have no idea, but it is doing exactly what I want it to. Jake’s eyes look hungry. Hungry for me. I resist the urge to do a little jig in excitement.
“I’m sure that we could come to some sort of arrangement. What did you have in mind?” Jake asks, licking his lips.
I slowly stand up and walk over to a sofa that is to the right of his desk. The sofa is plush, as is everything else that Jake owns.
“I think that we should get a bit more comfortable over here, don’t you?” I say as I sit down and pat the sofa next to me. Jake stands and starts to stalk his way over to me. My heart does a little flutter at the mere sight of him. His stance is dominating, and it is such a turn on.
I take off my blazer and throw it on the floor. My hands then start to undo the buttons on my shirt, and I let out a low groan as Jake gets closer. I bite my lip in anticipation of his hands touching me.
Jake takes off his suit jacket and then, before I know what is happening, he pounces on me. I squeal in delight and relish the feel of his hard body on top of mine. His lips devour me, and I run my hands through his hair. Jake kisses me passionately, and it is as if no one else exists. Jake pulls back from me slightly as we both try to catch our breath.
“I must say, Miss Green, I think this meeting is going extremely well.” I don’t get a chance to answer as Jake’s lips find mine again.
Who knew that a bit of role play could be so much fun?
Chapter Thirty-Six
The next few days pass by in a blur and before I know it, it is Saturday. I have spent most of my time covering shifts for Lydia as she is still not in a good way. I have told her to speak to Paul, but she just says that she can’t do it. She seems to think that avoiding him is the best answer. All I can do is be there for her and support her as best as I can. Working the extra hours hasn’t been too bad seeing as Jake had to out of town to attend to some urgent business two days ago. I have missed seeing him, but he is due back tomorrow evening and I can’t wait.
I have spoken to him on the phone, but it’s not the same as having him here in person. I miss everything about him. His touch, his smell, his eyes, his laugh. I find myself daydreaming about him during every spare moment I get. Things have progressed between us so quickly, in such a short amount of time. Every fibre of my being craves him.
I know that I am in love with Jake. I haven’t told him that yet as I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but I do. If things don’t work out with us, I know that I am going to be left heartbroken.
Before Jake left, he made me promise that I would call Eric if I needed to go anywhere. I don’t like bothering Eric, but I also need to keep Jake from worrying about me whilst he is away. The sooner Caitlin leaves us alone, the better. I haven’t seen any trace of her for a few days now. Maybe she has finally seen that she isn’t going to get her own way? I am sure that some other woman would have run a mile when Caitlin threatened them, but not me. I don’t see why she should be able to dictate who Jake has in his life. And she sure as hell doesn’t get a say in who I choose to be with.
My shift at The Den tonight starts at five o’clock. I am starting earlier than normal due to needing to do some of Lydia’s paperwork for her. It’s a good job that not much has changed since I worked at The Den the first time, meaning that I understand what paperwork needs to be filled in and filed.
I make myself a cup of coffee and also make one for Lydia. I take it through to her bedroom and leave it on the bedside table for her. She is asleep which is all that she seems to be doing lately. I quietly leave the room, go back to the kitchen to get my coffee, and then I set up camp in the lounge with my laptop. I have the urge to do some more writing. I just want to finish the first draft so that I can then start editing my novel. I am so pleased with what I have written so far.
I settle down and begin to type. The day flies by as I do nothing but write and drink coffee. Lydia doesn’t emerge from her room at all. Nothing distracts me all day, and by four o’clock I have to force myself to stop writing, save my work, and turn off my laptop so that I can get ready for work. I put my laptop back in my bedroom and then go and take a quick shower.
I have forty-five minutes until Eric will be here to pick me up. I dry myself and dress in my usual skinny jeans which I team with a black vest top, black cardigan, and black sandals. I have come to realise that flats are the best type of shoes to wear for work, especially with all the extra hours that I have been doing. Plus, there is less risk of me falling on my ass whilst carrying a tray of glasses.
I tie my hair back into a loose ponytail, apply some mascara and lip gloss, and then I am ready to go. Lydia still hasn’t come out of her room, so I poke my head around the door to see if she is still asleep. She’s awake but is just staring blankly at the television in the corner of her room.
“I’m going to work now, Lyd,” I say. Lydia just waves her hand, not even moving her head to look at me. I close the door and let out a soft sigh. I need to get her out of this funk that she is in.
I also need to get her to leave the flat before she develops some kind of cabin fever. I hate seeing her so upset, even if it is for something that she has brought on herself.
I grab my keys and handbag and head out of the front door. Eric is waiting outside for me, just as I knew that he would be. It has to be said that Eric is extremely punctual. I wouldn’t be surprised if he had been waiting here for a while beforehand.
“Good evening, Eric.” I smile at him in greeting.
“Miss Stacey.” His usual greeting to me is paired with a nod of his head.
I enter the limo and sink into the luxurious seats for the short ride to The Den. I am the first one to arrive as the rest of the staff won’t be in until six. We would normally be open all day today, but due to staff shortages I had to put a sign up saying that we were closed for a couple of hours this afternoon. I could have used agency staff, but they aren’t that great and there wouldn’t have been any regular staff to come in and do the shift with them. I hope that I made the right choice.
Eric says that he will be waiting for me when my shift finishes at two in the morning as I exit the limo. I politely thank him and unlock the front door of The Den so that I can go inside. I lock the door behind me as I will be in the office, and I won’t be able to hear if anyone comes in. Plus, I don’t fancy the idea of random customers coming in here when I am on my own.
I pour myself a glass of diet coke and walk into Lydia’s office so that I can get started. It takes me half an hour to go over the rota for the following week. I pencil Lydia in, but I have managed to sort the shifts so that if she is still unable to work then I can fill in whilst also leaving myself a break in-between shifts. I print off the rota and stick it onto the staff notice board which is just by Lydia’s office door.
As I am tidying up the desk, there is a knock on the office door. I freeze. My mind races as to who could be knocking on the door. Also, more importantly, it has to be someone else who has a set of keys.
Who the hell could it be?
I stand, looking at the door, trying to decide what to do. I become fidgety and very aware that I could be in danger.
Shit, what should I do?
I grab my phone and type out a quick message to Lydia.
Lyd, just remind me, does anyone else
have keys to The Den? xx
I get a short reply back a few seconds later.
Only the owner, but he never comes down.
Why? xxx
I fire off a quick reply, telling her not to worry as I try to calm my nerves.
Maybe it is the owner? But if it is, then why would he knock on the door?
Whoever is on the other side knocks again, making me jump. I need to remain calm. Everything is going to be fine.
I slowly walk over to the door and place my hand on the door handle. It feels like my heart is going to burst out of my chest. I close my eyes and take a couple of deep breaths.
I open my eyes at the same time as I open the door, and the sight before me is not one that I am pleased to see. It’s Caitlin.
Fuck. What is she doing here? More importantly, how did she get in here in the first place?
I stand as confidently as I can and straighten my back. Her eyes glare at me, but I will not look away. I am a strong woman and I need to show her that I mean business. She looks awful. Her blond hair is all in disarray, and her eyes look wild. She is dressed in jogging bottoms, a T-shirt and trainers. It’s almost as if she has given up on taking care of herself.
I wonder if she is high?
“What are you doing here, Caitlin?” I sound a hell of a lot more confident than I feel.
“I thought that we should have another little chat.” She walks towards me and brushes me out of the way, so that she can enter the office. I stumble slightly, but I soon regain my balance. I am a little taken aback by her brazen manner, but I shouldn’t be. She has so far proved that she doesn’t care how her actions are perceived.
She takes a seat on the small sofa and crosses her legs. She really does think that she is something special. I would love to give her a slap and wipe that evil grin off of her face. I make myself move, and I sit on Lydia’s office chair, behind her desk.
I need to act as casual as possible, so I lean back in the chair and wait to see how this scenario is going to play out. When a few minutes’ pass by and Caitlin still hasn’t said anything, I decide to get the ball rolling.
“So, what is it that we need to talk about, Caitlin? And you had better make it quick as I have staff arriving soon.”
“Well, considering what I said to you the last time we spoke has had no influence on your decisions whatsoever, I thought that I should make my intentions much clearer.” She leans forward, but keeps her legs crossed.
“What do you mean by that?” I ask her, urging her to get to the point. I want to get her out of here as quickly as possible.
“When I told you to stay away from Jake, I thought that I had made myself clear, but it turns out that I didn’t do a very good job of showing just how serious I was about it. So, I am here to reiterate that message.” I can’t help but roll my eyes at her.
“Listen, Caitlin, I have had enough of this. I understood you perfectly the last time, I just chose to ignore your empty threat. You have absolutely no right to dictate what Jake and I do. You two are finished. You really need to accept that in order to move on with your life.” She doesn’t move a muscle.
“I understand that he hurt you and he is sorry that he ever did that. I can’t begin to imagine what you are going through. I am not a horrible person, Caitlin, and I do have compassion for you, but the time has come for you to take a good look at yourself. You need to move on, Caitlin, and start living your life.” I sound so calm and collected. I mentally clap for myself as I realise that I could be handling this situation completely differently.
“You don’t understand anything,” Caitlin screams at me. “You have no idea what Jake and I have been through. You don’t understand anything. You are the reason that we aren’t together, which means that I need to remove you from this situation.”
Fuck, calm Stacey is no more. Remove? What is she talking about?
My heart starts to pump faster, and I can feel adrenaline surge through me.
“What do you mean by, ‘I need to be removed?’” I manage to keep my voice steady as I speak. Caitlin’s lips turn up into a smirk, and she lowers her eyes. I follow where she has lowered her eyes to. Her hand reaches inside the pocket of her jogging bottoms, and she pulls out a knife.
Holy shit! I need to get the hell out of here!
“Caitlin, what the fuck are you doing with that?” I ask as I point a shaky finger at the knife that is clutched in her hand.
“I thought that this may be a little bit more persuasive than just words.” I lower my hand and try to rack my brains for a way to diffuse this situation. I pray to God that the bar staff show up early. “It certainly seems to be having the desired effect.”
Caitlin gets up off of the sofa and stalks towards the desk. I push myself back on the chair until I hit the wall. I don’t move that far back as the office isn’t very big. Caitlin stands in front of the desk, so there is still a barrier between us.
Oh God, I need to keep her talking. Just until someone else arrives, and then I can alert them to what is happening.
“Caitlin, I think you need to put the knife away. We can just talk about things. I will listen this time. Just put the knife away before things get out of hand,” I say in a shaky voice. I can no longer hide my fear from her. She is a crazy bitch and I curse myself silently for getting involved in the issues that she has with Jake. She doesn’t move. She just stands there with the knife in front of her, and her eyes are glaring at me. “Caitlin… Please? You need to think this through.”
“Oh, I have thought it through. I have thought about how nothing would satisfy me more than ruining that pretty little face of yours.” I gulp loudly at Caitlin’s words. “Maybe if you didn’t
look like that, then Jake would come back to me.”
I can feel myself start to sweat. I look to the door and then back at Caitlin. I can’t get out of here unless I run right past her.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I try to calm my breathing, and I can feel the blood pounding in my ears. I can’t even phone anybody because, like an idiot, I left my phone on the bloody desk when Caitlin got up and walked over. If I try to grab it then she will be able to reach me.
Before I have time to think about anything else, Caitlin lunges over the desk. I let out a loud shriek and force my legs to make me move from the chair. Caitlin has obviously misjudged my position as she lands on the floor, just to the left of my chair.
As she makes contact with the floor, I run.
If the situation wasn’t so scary, I think that I would be laughing at her attempt to lunge over the desk. As she is sprawled on the floor, I realise that this is my chance.
This is my chance to escape.
I run around the desk as fast as I can, and head for the door. I just think that I am about to make it safely out of the door, when Caitlin grabs my foot. I yell and fall to the ground, smacking my head on the floor in the process. I block out the pain from hitting my head and I furiously kick at Caitlin. She manages to dodge each kick, but I don’t stop. She still has a knife in her hand, and there is a chance that I will kick her and put a stop to her psychotic plan.
I don’t want to know what the end game is, but I have a fairly good idea of what she may have planned to do. I need to get away from her. I need to get her off of me.
I try to struggle but she still has a vice like grip on my foot. I am screaming to alert anybody to my whereabouts.
Why has no one else arrived here yet? Surely someone should be here by now?
As I try to scramble away, I hear Caitlin let out an evil cackle. I feel her release my foot and I am about to get up when I feel a sharp, piercing pain in my side.
The Complete Perfect Series Page 21