The Meant to Be Collection

by Claire Highton-Stevenson

  The youngster took it and tossed it on the table. “It’s fine, I made sandwiches.”

  ~FI~

  At least Amber had been fun. Spending the morning reading through more SOPs and getting the lowdown on more of the goings-on at Pollards was somewhat entertaining and helped to take her mind off of the icy blonde in the next room.

  Even line manager Paul Stone seemed pleasant enough now he wasn’t interviewing her. He ran a tight ship, but she was used to that. Taking orders was fine by her.

  He kitted her out in a full uniform, which wasn’t that bad as uniforms went. It consisted of a black shirt with epaulettes and breast pockets. It had the Pollards logo sewn into the left pocket flap, but it was barely visible. With the shirt went black slacks with a workable utility belt and black steel toe-capped boots that made her army boots look totally inferior. Thankfully, there was a bomber jacket too. The word “security” was printed across the back in bold white lettering, and it had silver hi-vis stripping, but it was warm. It could have been a lot worse. The entire ensemble was topped off with a peaked cap that was probably a little over the top. In truth, she looked pretty smart. She knew how to pull off a uniform, though the clip-on tie was pretty naff, but she could suck it up.

  Getting back to the office from her foray downstairs, Brooke walked in and almost bumped straight into Catherine. She stood just inside of the doorway, speaking to Amber.

  “Sorry,” Brooke mumbled, taking a step back. For a moment, Catherine just stared at her before finally stepping aside to let her pass. “Thanks.”

  Catherine’s gaze followed her in before she abruptly turned back to Amber to finish her instructions. “I found Adams next to Atkinson, and Jones was completely misfiled under N. Go through them all and please, this time make sure that alphabetical indeed means a, b, c.”

  “Yes, Miss Blake. I don’t know how that could have happened.”

  “I imagine it’s down to a lack of focus Amber, too much chit chat and not enough organising.” She hugged the files she held to her chest. “I will be gone for the rest of the afternoon, please ensure that Ms Chambers is not interrupted with office gossip.”

  Brooke’s gaze followed her as she left. “Is that what she’s always like?”

  Kim sighed. “Pretty much. She’s still an improvement on Malcolm. Cup of tea?”

  Brooke nodded. “I’ll make it while you two interrupt me with all the gossip.” She grinned.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Amber had the tea brewing when Brooke entered the office the following morning. Her back to the door, she heard rather than saw the new security guard enter. “Tea is made and I even brought bickies!” she said, smiling as she turned around holding up a packet of chocolate digestives. “Wow, you scrub up okay in that,” she said, indicating the uniform.

  “Yeah, figured that I might as well wear it in.” Brooke grinned and reached out for the mug of hot tea. She stood there warming her hands around it while waiting for Amber to finish her own drink. “So, we the first ones in?”

  Amber nodded. “Yep, though Frosty Knickers won’t be long. She is always here eight thirty on the dot,” she replied, glancing up at the large white clock on the wall. It read 8.28 a.m. Brooke watched as Amber set up her desk again, making space for Brooke to read through the rest of her paperwork. Brooke smiled in thanks and placed the mug down on the desktop to shrug off her jacket; it was suddenly stifling in the office. She hung it on the back of her chair, just in time to see the door opening. Glancing up, she saw that the clock did indeed read 8.30 a.m.

  “Morning, Ms Blake,” Amber said as chirpily as she could manage. Her blonde boss inclined her head to her assistant before bright eyes swept around to lay upon Brooke. Catherine felt her chest tighten as she took in the sight before her, eyes drawn to the black leather utility belt around Brooke’s waist, which was reminiscent of something quite similar that she had worn in a totally different situation between them. She snapped her eyes back to Amber. Safer territory.

  “Miss Simmons. Ms Chambers,” she acknowledged before slipping into her office, the door closed firmly behind her.

  With the coast now clear, Amber giggled. “Told you, you look good in that uniform, did you see the way she looked at you?” she whispered. “I always thought she was your average, straight, no nonsense, ice queen; maybe all she needs is a hot young security guard to thaw her out a bit. Go on, take one for the team,” she pleaded.

  Brooke felt her cheeks burn, picturing Catherine naked in her bed. “Pretty sure that I am the last person Ms Blake is interested in,” she said. Plonking down and picking up the first form, she began reading, aware that Amber was staring at her. She gave in and finally looked up. “What?”

  Amber raised an eye, pursing her lips. “Are you always so self-deprecating?”

  Brooke shrugged and found a piece of lint stuck to her jumper to fixate on. Amber walked over to the filing cabinet and flicked through a few files, her eyes still on Brooke.

  “I’ve never seen Ms Blake blush before,” Kim piped up as she too took in the scene being played out.

  “Do you think she has a boyfriend?” Amber queried, picking out a file and moving it to its correct position. “I can’t imagine it, she’s so…” She stopped what she was doing and searched for the word.

  “Private?” Brooke suggested, feeling the need to try and protect Catherine still.

  “Well, yeah. But if she’s this cold at work, she must be an iceberg in bed.”

  “Maybe she’s right,” Brooke huffed. “We should be concentrating on work?” Catherine Blake was anything but cold in the bedroom. It would have been easier if she had been. That would have made sense to Brooke now as she tried to fathom it out. An unconnected, uninterested Catherine Blake in bed would be so much easier to get over.

  “Of course, she’s right, one can never accuse Ms Blake of being wrong, just a little chilly and reserved.” Amber shrugged. “Anyway, doesn’t matter to any of us what she’s like outside of work, does it?”

  Silence filled the space as everyone returned back to their tasks.

  Only Brooke struggled to concentrate.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Pollards was a large store. In addition to top quality food items, they sold everything from clothing to electrical goods and even had a small cafeteria. It was nicer than the tiny canteen for staff that was upstairs, hidden away from public view. There were no rules on staff having to eat there as opposed to the nicer café, but many of the shop floor staff preferred it as they could escape the public for a little while.

  Amber, however, liked to get out from behind the desk and immerse herself in humanity. So, Brooke joined her. She figured it was as good a place as any to start getting a feel for the place. They joined the short queue and made their orders. Brooke chose a bean burger and chips, only feeling slightly guilty that she had ordered the very thing she told Robin not to eat.

  There were several empty tables, and Amber led the way towards one that looked over a balustrade, right across the store. She nabbed a chip off of Brooke’s plate.

  “Hey, get ya own.” She laughed, looking down at the quinoa salad Amber was having. It didn’t look like much, and she wondered how anyone survived on such measly rations.

  “They always taste better when they are someone else’s.” Amber grinned in return.

  “Yeah, well that might be a lot safer when the someone else isn’t someone trained to kill,” Brooke deadpanned back in response.

  Amber sat back in her chair and studied Brooke. “Trained to kill, huh? You don’t look too scary to me.”

  Brooke smirked and chomped down on a chip. “Well, looks can be deceiving.”

  As they chatted amiably about less important matters, Brooke caught the flick of blonde hair in her periphery. Still listening to Amber, she turned her head slightly and found her eyes locked with those of Catherine Blake. The older woman looked away instantly and back to her newspaper, but Brooke kept staring. Catherine’s face was almos
t hidden now by the paper. She looked good though, and that thought alone sent Brooke’s stomach into somersaults. Everything about Catherine screamed leave me alone: the way she sat, legs crossed and turned away from everyone else, elbows pulled into her side. She looked compact and confined.

  Brooke just couldn’t fathom out how the Catherine she had met at Art and invited to her bed was the same Catherine sitting by herself across the room acting all cool as ice. She turned back to Amber and smiled at what she was saying. Her ex-boyfriend was sniffing around, and she was enjoying the attention but had no intention of getting back with him. “Once a cheat, always a cheat, that’s what my mum says, and she’s right.”

  “I guess so. Trust is a very important factor in any relationship, isn’t it?” Brooke replied, glancing back towards Catherine.

  “Indeed, and anyway I’ve got my eye on someone else.”

  Brooke raised an eyebrow in interest. “Oh, who?”

  Amber blushed a little. “He works in the clothing department.” She looked over the balcony and pointed. “Over there, with the short dark hair, Brian.”

  “Brian?”

  “Don’t laugh, he can’t help what his parents called him.” She giggled. “He’s cute and he is nice, which is more than can be said for a lot of people around here.” She glanced quickly towards Catherine now too.

  Brooke’s brow furrowed as she considered this new information. “So, it’s not frowned upon to be seeing someone you work with in store?”

  Amber shook her head. “Nope, nothing in the SOPs bans fraternisation. All it says is that in the event of two people being romantically linked, they should not work in the same department.”

  Remembering Catherine’s words, she asked, “Wait, so, if someone was head of a department, could they date anyone else, there must be rules in place for that, surely?”

  Again, Amber shook her head. “No, so long as they do not work together. So, for instance, old Frosty Knickers wouldn’t be allowed to date me or Kim, because we work directly under her. In that instance, I or Kim.” She scrunched up her face at the idea. “Let’s say Kim, Kim would have to be moved to a different department. Payroll maybe or, anyway it doesn’t matter, cos Old Frosty Knickers and Kim? That’s hilarious.”

  Brooke tried to smile at the joke, but failed miserably. Instead, she picked up her drink and hid her disappointment behind the white china. Catherine had lied to her.

  ~FI~

  They were barely back into the office when Catherine’s door opened. “Ms Chambers, may I see you, please?” She didn’t wait for an answer before closing the door behind her.

  Brooke and Amber shared a look, raised eyebrows on both faces. “If you’re not out in 5, I’ll rescue you.” Amber giggled in hushed tones.

  Standing, Brooke straightened out her clothing and walked towards the office, her mind awash with ideas. Some of them were not appropriate for an office. She smirked as she entered the room that housed Catherine Blake for eight to ten hours a day. Maybe Catherine had finally come to her senses and realised that there could be something more between them.

  Catherine sat behind her desk. Her hair was now held in place by a rather complicated-looking hairclip. Being this close to her again brought a shiver down Brooke’s spine. Her perfume permeated the air and once again, images that Brooke didn’t want right now reared their head.

  She waited, thumb tucked into her belt as she leant all of her weight to one side and tried to appear casual and not bothered. Catherine was reading something and hadn’t looked up, nor did it appear that she would, so Brooke almost jumped when she spoke. “Please, take a seat,” she said, her voice not quite so confident either.

  Brooke did as she was asked and got herself comfortable in the chair, her line of vision now right on Catherine’s face. She studied her for a moment. Her glasses magnified the tiny lines around her eyes just a little. She had done a good job covering them with make-up, not that they bothered Brooke. She liked a woman with experience of life. She looked a little tired to Brooke, dark circles under her eyes again covered with make-up. Brooke wondered what kept her up at night. Or who?

  Catherine looked up, doing a quick sweep of the woman opposite before her eyes settled rather firmly on Brooke’s face.

  “I think this afternoon you can shadow Mr Stone,” she announced rather abruptly.

  “Okay.”

  Brooke waited for further information, instructions or just a hello, how have you been, which would have been nice. But nothing further came. She shifted in her seat, the movement gaining Catherine’s attention.

  She barely looked up from her paperwork again. “You may go.”

  Brooke half stood. “Is this how it’s going to be?”

  Catherine raised her head and squinted at her. “I’m sorry, what?”

  Brooke sat back down again and looked at her. “I get it, I’m a big girl. I’ve had knockbacks before; honest ones, mind you.” Catherine frowned and looked at her as though she had spoken a foreign language. “You didn’t have to make up the whole ‘fraternising at work’ thing just to dump me. And this whole ice queen routine,” she waved her hand around, “it’s not necessary.”

  Catherine sat back, she wasn’t shocked that Brooke would speak so honestly, or call her out on the little white lie she had told, and she probably did deserve an apology for that. “You’re right, I shouldn’t have lied and for that, I am sorry.”

  Brooke nodded, appreciating the apology. “So, I think it would be prudent to meet outside of work and discuss this so we can…put it to bed, so to speak.”

  Catherine was already shaking her head. “No, I don’t think… that wouldn’t be wise. We had a…flirtation, it was fun at the time and now it’s over.”

  “A flirtation, that’s an interesting word choice.” Brooke smiled sadly as she stared into those eyes that couldn’t hide their attraction. “So, you didn’t…there isn’t a connection for you? It was just sex?”

  The army taught Brooke many things, and reading people better was one of them. She could tell now that Catherine was thinking about something, a memory. From the look on her face, it was a sad memory. “Yes, it was.” She sat up straighter in her chair, as though that in itself would deflect Brooke’s unbelieving gaze.

  “I don’t believe you,” Brooke replied. People lied all the time; Brooke knew that. Some lies mattered and others, not so much, but this one, this lie that Catherine was prepared to tell, it mattered. “When you’re walking the streets of Kabul and you see someone, you need to rely on your instincts. It’s a gut thing. To be able to look at someone and know when they’re being truthful? It’s a matter of life or death, quite literally.”

  She spoke softly as Catherine listened, but said nothing. But then she laughed, catching Catherine by surprise, “I’m sorry,” Brooke chuckled wryly. “It’s just that this is farcical. I like you, you like me, and here we are doing nothing about it.” Still, Catherine remained silent, but her breathing grew more ragged.

  “Okay, I’m going to go downstairs and find Paul. I’ll get out of your hair for a bit, give you some breathing space to think this through.” She stood and walked to the door, and then she turned back.

  “Life is too short, Catherine.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Catherine’s office suddenly felt claustrophobic. The minute the door closed behind Brooke, she let go of the breath she was holding and gasped. She got up and moved quickly to the window, flinging it open and allowing the cold air inside. Her skin burned, with —embarrassment? Arousal? She didn’t know, but the heat she felt whenever Brooke Chambers was around was almost unbearable.

  She sucked in calming breaths. In through the nose, out through the mouth, until she felt back in control. It was ridiculous; she was a grown woman, not a teenager with rampant hormones. Shivering now, she closed the window and sat back down in her chair. How on earth had she underestimated the effect Brooke in a uniform would have on her?

  It had been the right thing to do,
sending her downstairs for the afternoon. Tomorrow, Catherine would instruct Amber to hurry Brooke through the last SOPs and then she would be Paul’s problem. So long as Catherine avoided the store as much as possible, then she wouldn’t keep bumping into Brooke and she could get over this, what was it? Infatuation? Fantasy? Whatever, one more day and she could get on with life as she had planned it and forget all about Brooke Chambers.

  ~FI~

  Rush hour traffic was never fun, but especially not when Brooke had a plan and she needed Robin’s help. Finally, the bus ploughed through and up the hill to where Brooke could jump off and run the rest of the way. As she rounded the gate and headed up the pathway that led to her flat, she passed a boy with his hood up. Tall with a cropped afro and beautiful caramel skin, he was handsome, but maybe a little shy as he dropped his head and kept walking. He had gained her attention enough, however, for her to take another look over her shoulder. He didn’t live here. Shrugging him off, she climbed the stairs two at a time till she reached the second floor and got her key out ready.

  She flew through the door at such a speed she almost knocked Robin over as she stood behind it, taking off her own jacket.

  “Oh, hey Brooke. You’re uh…early.”

  Brooke came to a halt. “Where have you been?”

  Wide-eyed innocence stared back at her.

  “Robin, we talked about this, unless you tell me where you’re going, then I assume you came straight home from school.” She took her own jacket off and hung it next to Robin’s

  “Oh Brooke, I was just outside,” she huffed, turning to walk away.

  “Outside?

  Robin recognised the questioning tone. Brooke was anything but stupid. “Uh, yes.”

  Brooke’s eyes squinted at her, reading the situation. Realisation sunk in. “The boy in the hood…” she said, as much to herself as Robin.