by JD Nixon
“Quickly please,” he commanded, as if he couldn’t bear to spend one extra moment in the putrid surroundings. Thoroughly humiliated, I slipped into the bedroom I shared with Dixie. She was asleep, snoring lightly, windows wide open to catch a non-existent breeze with the bedclothes thrown back in the heat. A longish t-shirt barely kept her decent. This time I shut the door firmly, gloweringly daring Heller to object. He didn’t.
“Dix! Dix!” I said urgently. “Wake up.” I shook her shoulder, feeling guilty because she’d worked the red-eye shift at the fast food store the previous evening. She roused slowly and drowsily.
“What?” she grumbled, annoyed, sitting up and yawning. “What the fuck, Tilly? Why are you waking me up? You know I just got to sleep.” She rubbed her large black eyes, ran her fingers through her spiked hair and looked at me properly. “Shit! What happened to you?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. Had a small argument with an exploding window,” I said, brushing her query aside. “Dix, guess what? I’ve got the job! You know, the interview I went for today? I got the job! And guess what else? It comes with its own little flat. It’s adorable. And I get free styling. I’m so excited!”
I jumped up and down on the spot in a happy dance. The thing I love most about Dixie, despite her many flaws, is that she is emotionally generous. It doesn’t matter how terrible her life is or how awful her circumstances, she is always genuinely pleased when her friends catch a break.
“Awesome!” she cried, leaping out of bed to join the happy dance with me. We clung to each other and jumped up and down together for a moment laughing before she properly registered what I had said. “What? You’re moving out? No! You can’t leave me here alone with those two losers.”
“I have to. Heller said.”
“Who said?”
“Heller.”
“Who the fuck’s Heller?”
The door opened forcefully and Heller stepped into the room. Dixie’s eyes flew open and so did her mouth. Her nipples stood to attention.
“You’re taking a long time,” he said impatiently.
“Heller,” I said politely, “I’d like to introduce my best friend, Dixie. Dixie, this is Heller, my new boss.”
Heller nodded at Dixie and she simpered back at him. She has a thing for accents, especially European accents. And she definitely has a thing for hot men. Heller didn’t even have to try – she was hopelessly in lust with him from the second he opened the door. I looked on in exasperation.
“Dixie!” She reluctantly tore her eyes away from Heller’s face. “Help me pack, please?” I was hoping Heller would leave us, but he sat on the edge of Dixie’s rumpled bed and watched while I pulled my tattered backpack from the top of my wardrobe. Dixie helped me shove my clothes into it.
“You should fold your clothes before packing. That way they won’t become wrinkled,” he criticised.
“Yes, I know that, but I’m trying to hurry. As you requested,” I replied crossly. It was disturbing to have him watching me as I pushed my panties and bras into the backpack.
“Hey, that’s my top,” Dixie said, attempting to snatch a red shirt from my hands.
“No, it’s not. I bought it in that sale last year. Remember?”
“Yeah, but I’m the one who wears it all the time. It’s my favourite top,” Dixie complained.
“Yes, but I paid for it,” I replied hotly. “Therefore, it’s mine!”
“Leave the shirt,” Heller ordered. Dixie smiled at him and plucked it from my hands triumphantly.
“Thank you, Heller,” she said sweetly. I glared at them both and stomped into the bathroom to gather my toiletries and makeup. With those safely, though not tidily, stowed in my old backpack and sweeping the few books and CDs I owned in as well, my packing was complete.
“Is that all your belongings?” Heller asked in surprise. “I thought you’d have a few suitcases, not just one bag.”
“Yeah, well, I like to live lightly,” I said loftily, tossing my hair over my shoulders. “I want to be free, not encumbered by possessions.”
“She’s flat broke,” Dixie confided to Heller, who raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Last month she had to hock the camera her parents bought her for her birthday to pay the rent. I don’t know what she was going to do this month. She’s run out of things to sell. She was probably going to have to screw the landlord.”
“Dixie! Will you shut up? You know I’d never do that!” I shrieked in embarrassment. She shrugged as if it was no big deal to screw the landlord, which only made me wonder if she had ever done so before. Frankly, it wouldn’t have surprised me.
Heller’s eyes rested on me in cool contemplation, but he refrained from commenting. “Let’s go,” he said instead, standing up to tower over both of us. He leant over to pick up my backpack and I caught Dixie ogling his butt. I couldn’t blame her; it was well worth ogling. I gave myself a mental slap. Be professional! He’s your boss now.
Dixie and I shared a quick hug and I promised to be in touch. I felt like a louse leaving her in that dump while I waltzed off to start my lovely new life. Heller promised to cover my share of the rent until a new flatmate could be found. Knowing Dixie, she wouldn’t be hurrying to replace me and Heller could come to regret that generous offer. As I climbed into his Mercedes, I saw Dixie waving sadly from the bedroom window. I bit down hard on my bottom lip to stop the tears coming. Heller didn’t strike me as someone who would be particularly empathetic in emotional times like this.
No sooner had we driven off, then my phone beeped. I took it from my handbag and saw a text message from Dixie.
It read: that man is sizzling HOT HOT HOT!!!!
truth! I texted back.
omg! his accent! his body! im in lurv
i noticed!
hes a bilf
wtf???
boss id like 2 fuk! I snorted out loud with laughter. Heller flicked his cold eyes to me.
I wrote: norty girl!
ooh! does he like norty asian girls? Another involuntary snort from me.
“Ms Chalmers,” he warned.
gotta go. my new daddys strict, I texted.
spankz for u 2nite!
lolz! only if im lucky! c u soon xx
I put my phone away and stared out of the window the rest of the way back to the Warehouse.
Chapter 6
When we returned, we went upstairs back to the office and I was surprised to see the cleaning team and glazier that Daniel had organised already busy at work repairing the damage in Heller’s office. My new boss handed me over to Daniel and left for parts unknown.
“So, what do you think of Heller?” Daniel asked as we started our tour, his intelligent eyes betraying more than just a casual interest in the response.
“He’s a very interesting man. Quite demanding and more than a little terrifying,” I answered honestly, deciding not to say any more. After all, I had no idea about office loyalties yet.
Daniel laughed. “Oh, you’ve got that right, Tilly. He’s not the easiest person to get along with. And he can be very intimidating.”
“How long have you known him?” I asked curiously.
“About ten years,” he replied.
I thought for a moment. “I’m sure Heller told me during the interview that he’d been in his own business for only five years. You worked for him before now?” I sensed Daniel stiffen beside me, but his response was mild enough.
“Something like that,” he said simply. “Let’s start the tour here in the middle of the building. This is the main office area and Heller’s office is over there in the corner, as you’ve seen. This is my desk, and Niq’s is that one near the kitchen, across from mine. Your space will be that desk in the corner there.”
It was the desk directly facing Heller’s office. Oh great! I’d get to look at him all day. I wasn’t sure if that would be a good thing or not.
Daniel continued. “The rest of the office staff are situated off-base for logistical reasons. That includes our
legal, IT and HR sections. It’s my job to supervise their activities, take care of the accounts and try to keep the place running as smoothly as possible.”
“Wow! That’s a lot of responsibility for someone so young,” I admired. “You must be super-efficient.”
He unsuccessfully tried to suppress the modest smile that forced itself across his face at my praise, which I thought was sweet.
“And what about Niq?” I enquired.
“Niq’s still at school, but he’ll eventually work here too when he’s finished.”
So Niq IS a boy! I thought, glad to have that finally clarified.
“Is he a relative of Heller’s?” I asked innocently, curious again.
“Not really,” Daniel said vaguely and it seemed as if that that line of questioning would lead to a dead-end. I scrabbled about for acceptable conversation topics.
“Who else lives in the building?”
“Sid and Clive share a flat on the third floor. You share the fourth floor with me, and Heller, Niq and Victor live on the fifth floor. It’s quite preferable in some ways, because Heller really does expect you to be on call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. That’s one of the reasons why looks after us all so well.”
“I was hoping that he was joking about the being on call bit,” I said. Daniel shook his head with a smile.
“Heller’s not one for jokes, I’m afraid. Anyway, back to the tour. The building has two basement floors. I won’t take you down there. The lowest is the carpark for the business vehicle fleet and the other holds the armoury and equipment store, and Heller’s own vehicles, which Sid, Clive and I all drive as well.”
My eyebrows lifted when he mentioned an armoury. I had a sudden mental image of me bursting into a room full of baddies, a gigantic gun in my hands, a smart-arse comment on my lips, Charlie’s fourth angel. I secretly smiled to myself in delight – I’d always wanted to be a tough chick.
“On the ground floor is the security section. They have their own kitchen, eating area and gym down there because Heller insists that they be in top shape. In fact, he insists that we all be very fit. You’ll find out all about that soon enough,” he said dryly, then continued. “The first floor is for the surveillance guys. Top secret stuff going on there. I don’t have a clue what they’re doing and even I have to get permission to go in there. It’s strictly off-limits.” I nodded to show that I understood, burning with instant curiosity. “The second floor is the office here and some storage space. The third floor houses Sid and Clive’s flat and the gym for the those of us who live here to use. Let’s go look.”
We climbed to the next floor and Daniel showed me a compact but well-equipped gym with a large plasma screen hanging on one wall. It smelt like sweat and agony. To me all gym equipment looked like medieval torture devices.
“If you’re like the rest of us, you’re going to experience some pain here,” Daniel said, smiling wryly.
“Oh, I can guarantee it.” I pulled a face. “According to Heller, I need a lot of toning.”
“Ouch! That’s cruel. Guess you’re in for a world of pain then,” Daniel sympathised.
“Always good to know what’s ahead,” I replied bravely. Apparently, lots of suffering for me.
We climbed up to the fourth floor. There were only two doors in the hallway.
“This is my place,” said Daniel, opening the door on the right. I could see a very neat and modern flat from the brief glimpse I was allowed. “And you already know that yours is on the left.” I had a warm feeling all over when I glanced at my door.
We kept climbing up to the fifth floor. “Heller and Niq live there,” Daniel pointed to a door, “and his valet, Victor, lives in those rooms. The rest is more storage. A word of advice, Tilly. Don’t come up to this floor unless you’re invited. Heller takes his privacy very seriously.” I made a mental note not to ever do that and we climbed up to the sixth floor.
“Here’s the store.” Daniel opened a door and again I was completely gobsmacked. Inside was a large pantry, its shelves and fridges stocked with a colourful riot of different foods – fresh, canned, frozen. I turned and looked at Daniel, my eyes wide open. He smiled at my astonishment. “It’s true. We get to choose all our food from here. Whatever you want, whenever you want it. Heller keeps it well-stocked. And it’s all free.”
I walked around the small room, marvelling at the variety of food available. It all looked very healthy. “You mean that I just come up here to do my grocery shopping from now on?” I said in amazement.
“Yep!” said Daniel smiling. “Isn’t it wonderful? Heller is a health-nut though, so it’s all salmon, tofu and alfalfa sprouts.” I crinkled my nose. “Mind you, he does keep a decent cellar that is through there,” pointing to a door at the far end of the panty, locked with a swipe-card mechanism. “Your staff card will open the cellar as well as your flat. We only keep the wine cellar locked because Niq has access to this store too. But I have to warn you, Tilly, that Heller is very strict about us not drinking when we are on duty. Which is all the time, basically.” Daniel shrugged apologetically. “Heller doesn’t drink himself and doesn’t like it when other people drink. I think he’d prefer us all to be teetotallers, but the twins and I like a tipple now and then and he reluctantly lets us.”
An unpleasant thought started to wind its delicate way through my mind. “Daniel, am I going to be the only woman living here?”
He nodded. “Not just the only woman living here, but the only female, the first female, employee ever! You’re a pioneer of sorts.”
I was incredulous. “Heller’s never employed a woman before? Not ever?”
“Nope, never. He says that women are too much of a distraction in the workplace, especially with all the security men we employ. So he’s certainly taking a chance with you.”
I tried to process this information, but wasn’t sure how I felt about it. The feminist in me wanted to rail against such Victorian-era nonsense, but a shameful part of me felt a bit pleased. What woman wouldn’t like the opportunity to work in a male-only environment for a while? I only hoped it would work out and Heller wouldn’t come to regret his decision. And neither would I.
We left the pantry and entered the other room on the sixth floor. “This is the library,” Daniel said ushering me in. It was a surprisingly bright and airy space, even though every square centimetre of its walls was shelving, filled with DVDs and books. My eyes widened again.
“There must be thousands of DVDs in here! And look at all of these books! It would take years to read them all.” I walked around in wonder. “What kind of books and DVDs are there mostly?”
“Mostly thrillers, mysteries, police procedurals, war, action, horror, some comedy, some supernatural. No relationship or romance stories,” he said apologetically.
“Good. I hate mushy stuff,” I returned with a smile. “And I love a good thriller. Do we just help ourselves here too?”
“Sure. There’s also a collection of games in that corner. For Niq’s Xbox, although I have to admit that the twins and I like to play occasionally too.”
“Not Heller?”
Daniel laughed. “No, not Heller. He doesn’t have much patience for wasting time on frivolous activities like that. He has, um, other interests. But he’s tolerant. To a point.”
Nothing I’d heard so far about Heller made me any more relaxed about accepting a position working for him. I started thinking that the next month was going to test me in ways that I probably wouldn’t be competent enough to face.
Unaware of my inner thoughts, Dan carried on the same conversational topic. “Niq’s only supposed to play once he’s finished his schoolwork though. Do you play?”
“Sometimes. Depends what you like to play.” A thought struck me. “Daniel, where does Niq go to school?”
“He doesn’t. He’s home-schooled, through distance education.”
“Why?”
Daniel sighed and sat down on the arm of one of the library’s lounge c
hairs. “Niq struggles to fit in with other kids. He missed a lot of school when he was younger and wasn’t well-socialised. He can’t adapt to the rigid routine and well, you’ve seen how individual he is. He’s not good at conforming.”
I nodded and parked my rear on the arm of another chair as he continued.
“When Heller first bought this building, not long after Niq . . . um . . . came to live with us, we enrolled him at the local primary school. He was badly bullied from the first day but didn’t tell any of us for ages. It was a very damaging experience for him, totally destroyed his self-confidence and when Heller found out, he became quite . . . ah . . . angry. I went with him to the school and there was a . . . hmm, um . . . an extremely unpleasant scene between him and the school principal that I suspect might have ended with . . . might have ended a lot worse for everyone if I hadn’t been there to calm things down. But the result was that Heller withdrew Niq from the school permanently. He wasn’t willing to risk the bullying happening again at another school so we enrolled Niq for distance education instead.” He shrugged. “Niq’s coping remarkably well now, so what we’re doing seems to be working for him. Everybody’s happy.”
I nodded again and didn’t push it any further, although I felt that Daniel had been choosing his words very carefully as he spoke. I was growing increasingly curious about their relationships with each other. Heller was undoubtedly the boss, but where did everyone else fit in?
We finished our tour by climbing up to the roof-top. I was pleasantly surprised to find it decked out as a leisure centre, with a couple of sun lounges, a sheltered area with a barbeque, picnic table, pool table and a hot tub. There was also a small herb garden off to one sheltered sunny corner.
“We come up here to relax,” Daniel smiled, “and to get some sunshine.”
“I like this place,” I said, looking around happily. “Heller’s a very generous boss.”
“Well, I suppose that’s because we are all more like family to him than staff,” Daniel considered. “The twins, Niq and I have all lived with Heller for a while now. To me, he’s more like an older brother than a boss. I guess it’s not like a normal office.”
