The Meant to Be Collection

by Claire Highton-Stevenson

  “Another round?” Amber asked, already turning towards the bar.

  ~FI~

  As with most bars nowadays, a lack of cubicles meant a queue. Brooke joined the back of it and waited her turn. There were friendly smiles and nods of acknowledgement as women leaving passed those queueing. Looking down the line, she could see Catherine at the front. She was about to call out when a tall woman in a suit stepped out and held the door for Catherine. Luckily for Brooke, the other three cubicles must have vacated at the same time because the queue suddenly moved forward quickly, and Brooke was able to take the end one.

  When she came out, she found Catherine at the sink applying lipstick. Their eyes locked through the mirror.

  “Having fun, I see?” Catherine said it with a smile, but Brooke could definitely detect an undercurrent of something else there. She just couldn’t work out what it was.

  “Yes, we’re having a great time, you too by the look of it.” She heard the slight tremor of her own voice and recognised that small thump of jealousy again.

  “Hmm well, needs must,” Catherine mumbled as she turned back around to face the mirror, checking her lipstick once more. Brooke narrowed her eyes, unsure what that meant. “So, Amber? All good now that you’ve been…reacquainted?” She looked away once she had finished the question.

  “Yeah, she’s uh…fun.” Brooke smiled. Reaching up, she rubbed her head where the stitches were. Catherine didn’t reply. Instead she just smiled and looked at her through the mirror, again re-checking her lipstick.

  “I’d prefer if my….” she said, turning back to Brooke and moving closer. “…private life remained so…” Their eyes locked onto one another. Catherine was barely a foot away. She placed her palms flat upon Brooke’s upper chest and let her gaze briefly drop to her mouth. “I’ll see you at work on Monday,” she said, smoothing the material of her shirt before walking out of the restroom.

  It was only then that Brooke realised she had been holding her breath.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Brooke didn’t know what she wanted, and for that reason alone, she didn’t take things any further with Amber. They spent the rest of the night dancing, even kissing, but that was it. Amber had been more fun than she had ever expected from an anonymous date, but it was a no-go for so many reasons.

  She did know, however, that she was very attracted to Catherine, and from what she remembered of their conversation in the bathroom, she had a feeling Catherine might feel the same way. But there was something that nagged at her and told her not to go there, and she didn’t quite understand why, because they had gotten on so well that – well, it would be easy to see Catherine as someone more…important?

  Amber met her downstairs. She wore her uniform and carried 4 cups of coffee in a take-out tray and a bag of pastries. Every now and then they passed a room and Brooke was sure she knew it, but then Amber would reel off the department name and Brooke would just shake her head in frustration. She concentrated hard on trying to remember the way, but it was a maze.

  “Well, here we are. Human Resources Department,” Amber announced from outside the door. “Now, I know you said that Ms Blake…I mean, Catherine, is this nice woman and that she looked after you. I still can’t believe she did that though, but Brooke, I have to tell you that that Catherine…she doesn’t…”

  Catherine was already in her office when Brooke strolled right up to the door, knocking without a thought.

  “Brooke, I wouldn’t—” Amber was saying, but it was too late. She’d already opened the door.

  “I don’t know about you, but I need this,” Brooke said, grinning as she waltzed in. She smiled brightly at Catherine, expecting a happy face in return. The look of anger that masked Catherine’s features was quickly replaced with confusion, but both threw Brooke.

  “I...uh.” The old Catherine still very much thought to react with disdain. She froze, not quite sure how to answer. Not to mention that the uniform was very distracting.

  “Sorry, were you busy? I should have waited, right? I just thought…” She held the two cups of coffee as evidence. “I’ll just…” She placed one cup down on the desk and began to retreat.

  Finally, Catherine got herself together. “I feel quite refreshed, actually.” She tried a smile and picked up the cup of coffee. “So, good weekend I take it?” she asked, the smile a little brighter on her face now, but the tone a little subdued.

  “The best,” Brooke said, grinning once more. “I really needed that, sometimes you just have to let loose. Know what I mean?” she asked as she opened the bag and pulled a pain au chocolat out before passing the bag back across to Catherine.

  “Yes, I think it is prudent to let one’s hair down occasionally,” Catherine said, and Brooke couldn’t help but notice the difference in ‘office’ Catherine to ‘out of office’ Catherine.

  “You seemed to be having fun with your friend.”

  “I was, yes,” Catherine said, declining the pastries and picking up her pile of files, moving them from one pile to another.

  “I didn’t think you were seeing anyone?” Brooke said. She wanted to take a seat, but had the impression that she wouldn’t be welcome to. Was Catherine nervous about something?

  “Sorry, what?” Catherine asked, her attention firmly on the file in hand.

  “I said.” She was enjoying this for some reason. “I thought you were single?”

  “Oh,” Catherine replied and finally looked up at Brooke. “Yes.” Now that was an answer Brooke hadn’t expected. “Uh, well it’s…Petra is just…”

  “Friends with benefits cos you can’t be with the one you really like?”

  Catherine sighed. She was starting to feel uncomfortable. “I don’t think it is really an appropriate work discussion. If you don’t mind, I have work to do.” And just like that, the shutters were up.

  “Right, so what do you want me to do while I am here?”

  Catherine chastised herself. The time spent with Brooke had been eye-opening. She wanted to try and be a little more open and friendlier at work. She had taken on this persona in order to avoid being the workplace gossip, and instead had still become the person they all talked about behind her back, just for different reasons. She wanted to change that, but knowing how to do it was not something she had worked out yet.

  “You can sit here and help me with these files if you like?”

  Brooke looked at the pile of files and frowned. “You don’t want me to start with my training?”

  “Well, if you want to go and sit with Amber and do that then that’s fine, I just thought…” What did she think? That if you stayed in here with me, you’d realise how much you used to like me and maybe you’ll forget all about Amber instead? “If you just got into the swing of things, maybe your memory will come back and you won’t need to redo all the SOPs.” She mentally high-fived herself for coming up with that. “Oh, and there’s no need to wear the uniform while you’re in the office.”

  “Alright.” Brooke pulled over the swivel chair from the corner and sat herself down on the opposite side of the desk to Catherine. The blonde smiled and pushed the pile of files into the middle of the desk.

  “Each file needs to be organised into the right order internally, and then all the files need to be placed in alphabetical order back into the cabinet in the other office.” She pulled a sheet of paper from her drawer and handed it to Brooke. “That’s the list order for each file.”

  “Okay, sounds simple enough.”

  A comfortable silence existed between them as they worked on their own. It wasn’t long, however, before Brooke began to fidget. These files were boring.

  Brooke and boring didn’t mix well.

  “You should take a break, Brooke,” Catherine said without looking up from her computer.

  Brooke stared at her. “I’m okay, thanks Catherine.” It might be boring work, but she was determined to get it done.

  Catherine sat back in her chair, pushed her glasses back up her
nose, and observed her. “It wasn’t a choice, Brooke. I am to make sure you take a break every couple of hours.”

  Brooke checked her watch; almost 11 a.m. “Oh, right. I’ll go get some coffee. Would you like one?” she asked, rising from her chair.

  “Yes, thank you, that would be nice.” She reached down and into her bag. Pulling her purse from it, she opened it and took out a £20 note. “Please get something for Kim and Amber too. And make sure you take the full fifteen minutes.”

  “What if I got some lunch but ate it here and we got to know each other some more?” Brooke asked, sitting back in her chair and spinning around.

  “Why would we do that?” Catherine asked, frowning at her antics. She might be trying to be a little warmer, but this was still the workplace.

  “Cos it’s fun?” Brooke grinned, spinning again.

  “Is it?” Catherine replied, watching her closely now and considering whether she should insist she stop spinning on the chair.

  “You don’t think so?”

  “I think that you need to take a break away from the office, and I need a break from you and your spinning.”

  Catherine smirked at her, and it looked more familiar than any other time. She sighed when the memory wouldn’t come. “Does anyone here know anything about you, Catherine?” When the older woman remained quiet, Brooke tried again. “It’s just…I think you’re great, you know? I just wanted you to know that.”

  “Thank you, that’s…I appreciate that. Now, you still need to take a break.”

  “Okay, but I will be back,” she said, standing to leave again. “And spinning is fun, you should try it,” she added over her shoulder as she left the room.

  Catherine shook her head and smiled to herself. Spinning? She suddenly felt silly when the thought popped into her head. Looking up to check nobody could see, she spun in her chair. Feeling instantly giddy, she grabbed hold of the edge of the desk to stop herself and laughed.

  Brooke was right; it was fun.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  Catherine wore her hair up, and Brooke found herself mesmerised by the join of her neck and shoulder. She was due another break, but had been deliberately keeping quiet, hoping that Catherine wouldn’t notice and she could just sit here and continue staring at her while she pretended to peruse a file. Which was fine, because she had already sorted it into order.

  She had been noticing things like that a lot over the last couple of days. Mainly she had put it down to two things. One, she had spent a lot of time with Catherine recently, so it was obvious that she was going to notice things about her, but two, she had realised that she was more than attracted to her. Every time Catherine looked over at her and pushed those glasses back into place, it sent a little thrill through Brooke.

  For almost 40 minutes, Catherine had been busy with her emails and had barely spoken. Brooke wondered if she knew just how adorable she was when she chewed on a pen and thought too hard. The tip of her tongue would poke out between her lips and would leave Brooke wondering what it would feel like to have that tongue explore parts of her body in such an attentive way.

  “It’s 10.43, Brooke. Shouldn’t you have gone on a break by now?” Catherine asked without looking up.

  Brooke sighed, audibly. “I just have these last…”

  “You’re bored. You’ve been reading that same file for 8 minutes now,” she said, finally looking up and straight at Brooke. “Take a break.” An email pinged and took her attention back to work.

  Brooke put the file on the finished pile. “Why don’t you join me?”

  “I’d love to,” she said. “However, I have 43 emails to read. Why don’t you ask Amber?”

  Brooke stood up and pushed her chair in. “Okay.” She lingered in place a moment longer until Catherine looked up again. There was a heavy moment of something unspoken between them. “I’ll bring you some tea back then?”

  “That would be nice, thank you.”

  “Alright then.” She smiled. Brooke didn’t seem to want to leave. “Are you sure you don’t want to?” She pointed her thumb over her shoulder towards the canteen.

  God, yes. All I want to do is join you, but you have Amber. “Another time, maybe.”

  ~FI~

  Each break she took, Brooke would invite Catherine to join her, and each time, Catherine would politely decline. It confused Brooke no end. She thought they were friends and that as such, they should spend time together, but since being back to work, Catherine had almost put an invisible block up between them.

  The end of the week came rapidly, and by Friday both Catherine and Brooke had pretty much managed to get through everything Catherine needed doing. Still her memory hadn’t returned.

  Over the week, the office had become a lot more relaxed where Catherine was concerned. Kim and Amber had both noticed the change in their boss, but neither had voiced it any louder than a raise of a brow or a grin at each other across the desks. They didn’t want to jinx it. Catherine’s office door had even remained open most of the time. There was an easier, more natural back-and-forth between the two offices and it was clear that it had something to do with Brooke.

  Catherine had some emails she was going through and Brooke was finishing organising the last few files when Amber popped her head around the door.

  “Hey you, I am nearly finished. Do you wanna grab a beer and something to eat later?” Amber said to Brooke. Catherine didn’t look up.

  “Yes! That would be great. Robin is out with friends. We should be done here in 30 minutes. Do you want me to meet you there?” Brooke replied, glancing at Catherine as she spoke. Catherine still hadn’t moved, like literally hadn’t moved. She was as still as a statue, and it intrigued Brooke. “Would you like to join us, Catherine?”

  She watched as Catherine swallowed before she slowly looked up from her screen, first at Amber and then at Brooke.

  “Oh, thank you, but no, I have somewhere else I need to be.” And that somewhere else was anywhere she didn’t have to watch Brooke canoodling with Amber. She wished Brooke happiness, but that didn’t mean she had to endure watching it play out in front of her.

  Brooke shrugged and turned her attention back to Amber. “So, I’ll meet you in Roosters then? Get a good table and have my beer waiting, woman!” she called out, smiling. As Amber turned to leave, she gave Brooke the finger.

  “You two seem to have hit it off,” Catherine said, continuing to type her reply to the email she had just read.

  “Yeah, Amber is really cool. I like hanging out with her. We have a lot of fun,” Brooke answered honestly, because it was true. They had lunch together most days, and Brooke was enjoying having a girl for a friend. In the army most of her colleagues were men, which was fine, but there were times when all she wanted was another female to bitch about periods and girl stuff.

  “Oh, not now,” Catherine said, suddenly flinging her pen on her desk in annoyance. She sat back in her chair and took a deep and frustrated breath.

  “Sorry?”

  “Oh Brooke, not you. I just received an email from head office. We have an audit to do due to some discrepancies at several other branches.”

  “Oh ok, what does that mean?”

  “It means that by the end of next week I have to go through every file, and make sure every I is dotted, every T is crossed, because someone, somewhere, cocked something up, and there will be another someone coming down from Manchester to go through it all, and not just in this department, but in every department, and I just don’t know how they expect me to have everything organised in a week!” She leant forward, elbows resting on the table as she propped her head up in her palms.

  “Alright, breathe!” Brooke was concerned that Catherine might combust. “I can help,” she said, hesitantly. “If that would be okay?” Amber and Kim were already busy; an extra pair of hands would surely help spread the load, and it wasn’t like she had anything better to do right now.

  Catherine looked up. Brooke, sitting opposite her w
ith a crooked smile on her face, looking all cute and wonderful. She felt like crying. She closed her eyes and composed herself with several deep breaths.

  “Thank you, yes that would help greatly.” Her voice was breathy and stuttering. Brooke frowned in frustration for her.

  “Okay then, so it’s Friday and we’re almost done. There is no point sitting here all night worrying about it. Go and enjoy the weekend, and Monday we will get stuck in. Those auditors will be amazed at how brilliant you are.”

  Catherine smiled at the compliment. “You really are special. Have a great time with Amber,” she offered sincerely.

  ~FI~

  Amber had a beer waiting and menus ready to order. Roosters was a typical bar eatery. It served chicken mainly – the clue was in the name of the place after all – but it was clean and friendly, and they had a great seat away from the door that chucked a bucket of cold over anyone in its vicinity every time someone new entered.

  “I thought you had forgotten me!” Amber complained half-heartedly as Brooke slid into the booth opposite her.

  “Never. How could that ever happen? Nobody body-slammed me today!” Brooke grinned at her own joke. “I was just talking to Catherine, that’s all.”

  “Oh yes, Catherine.” Amber winked.

  Brooke tilted her head quizzically. “What is that supposed to mean?” She took a quick swig of her beer.

  Leaning across the table, Amber whispered, “You want to fuck her?”

  Brooke almost choked on her beer as she spluttered and coughed, causing Amber to burst out laughing.