by S M Mala
‘I think we’ll do it,’ said Pria nodding. ‘You checked the order list? We got more than usual this week. I don’t want to lose this job and I won’t let you down, innit.’
‘Why is Stephen such a prick?’ she said seeing them coming out of the meeting room.
‘Because he want to put prick in you,’ Dan said in his thick polish accent as Pria laughed and Sylvie grimaced.
‘And he’s never going to ever do that,’ she sighed before waiting for everyone to return to their posts.
As she looked up, she noticed Della standing really close to Finlay. Sylvie sighed for a moment before recalling what Marianne had said. She gulped then smiled, realising she had a small lapse that morning and all over Finlay. It could only be put down to the fact it was the first time in years she’d spent time in male company and was gullible, as well as not forgetting, very stupid.
Later on that afternoon, Finlay went down to the ground floor to see what was going on. There had been no impromptu visits and he soon realised they were being very off with him, since Marianne made her rightful assumptions.
‘Did I land you in it, Finlay?’ Marianne asked as he noticed Samina turn her back on him. ‘It all seems pretty obvious to me.’
‘No, you didn’t. At least they know.’
‘Not talk to him. He enemy,’ said Samina as she tied a bow around a package then shoved it into a brown box. ‘He want to see us on streets. Sheep in wolf clothing.’
‘We’re having a massive overhaul of the businesses and I have to look at what’s profitable and what’s not,’ he said gently, seeing the old Indian woman look very hurt as she glanced over. ‘I don’t know if it’s worth investing in and that’s the bottom line.’
‘Sylvie invest in it!’ Samina shouted and he noticed Marianne raise her eyebrows. ‘He need to know!’
‘Invest what?’ Finlay asked seeing Samina bite her lip and turn around.
‘Her time and talent,’ replied Marianne and he knew that wasn’t what Samina meant.
Finlay went back to his desk and then decided to see if Sylvie was picking up her messenger.
‘You’ve got until the end of August, next year to turn this business around. You’re not getting a penny investment. I’ll help as much as I can but you can’t go doing things behind my back. I’m deadly serious.’
He received the following.
‘Why only ten months? That’s not fair! I think you’re being unreasonable!’
‘Why that ungrateful cow,’ he mumbled and replied.
‘You could at least say ‘thank you’.’
Her reply even left him speechless for a moment.
‘‘Thank you?’ You must be joking! You’re making it harder for me and it’s not fair. I bet you don’t treat your other businesses like this.’
He smiled, knowing this was going to wind her up.
‘At least you admit it is my business.’
There was no reply as he wondered if she was having a strop like she’d done that morning. Finlay couldn’t help but laugh recalling her face get angrier by the second. He thought she looked so sweet then did an impromptu shiver.
She replied.
‘Can you at least please extend the probation period until the end of next year? Remember, if people want to leave then I have to let them and if I hire new people I will have to let them know the jobs are on a temporary contract.’
‘Interesting,’ he mumbled before typing his response.
‘And it gives you time to get your CV in ship shape, I take it?’
The reply was simple.
‘Who the hell is going to employ someone nearly half a century old?’
Finlay replied.
‘Let me sleep on it and I’ll talk to you tomorrow... anyway you’re only 12 so that’s against the law and we’ll get done for child abuse.’
He was in his mother’s living room as Piers bit the knuckle of his finger, while sat in an armchair. Alice was looking pensively at her husband, sitting on the arm of her husband’s chair, as Toby was next to Finlay on the sofa.
‘You can’t grow the business as you’re not making enough profit and that will inhibit you buying new supplies in the future. I can’t see you increasing your market share over night and I don’t think it’s a worthwhile investment.’ Finlay held his breath for a moment before continuing to speak. ‘The land is worth something and the out lay on the set up costs will be covered if we sell the premises. Piers, it’s a great idea but other companies are doing it better.’
His stepfather didn’t reply but looked away.
‘Darling, you’ve had it for over two and a half years. It hasn’t helped your health and you know Finlay’s right,’ his mother said gently.
‘What if we turn it around? What if we start making a shit load of money?’ Toby asked and Finlay could see his brother was genuinely upset. ‘Anything is possible.’
‘It is possible but not probable,’ Finlay said tapping his brother’s arm gently. ‘You still have an awful lot of stock so I’ve taken the decision to keep the place in operation until the end of next year. 31st December will be the closing date unless something radical happens.’
‘Like what?’ asked Piers, narrowing his eyes.
‘We change our mind and force it to shut.’
Piers got up and walked out the room as the others sat in silence. Toby then followed his father.
‘When did you decide the date?’ his mother asked. ‘I thought it might be spring. Why are you holding out?’
‘You want me to shut it without you being the bad guy, but Piers needs to be treated gently over this. It could turn around and-.’
‘There’s no place for it in our portfolio and we can sell it to a bigger company that does it better,’ she said quietly as he let out a massive sigh. ‘Oh my god, I wonder what Sylvie’s going to say. She’ll blame me, I know she will.’
‘Why don’t you like her?’ he asked bewildered for a moment. ‘What’s she done to you?’
‘You’ll find it’s what she thinks I did to her. I understand why but two wrongs don’t make a right and…’ Alice rubbed her forehead for a moment. ‘It’s all still so raw and Sylviana is such a stubborn woman and still hurting. She doesn’t give up without a fight.’
‘You can say that again. But you’re not telling me what happened.’
‘What does she say about me?’
‘She doesn’t say anything bad but she doesn’t say anything nice. I gauge by her tone of voice you pissed her off.’
‘On the rare occasions I see her, she just looks at me like I’m a piece of dirt and that hurts because I know she has every right to but… I’m convinced Piers employed Sylvie to remind me of what happened, my misjudgement.’
‘What did happen?’ he asked, none the wiser.
‘She came to me for help and I refused. I had no idea how bad that decision would be.’
‘For money?’
‘She wanted me to speak to someone on her behalf but I didn’t want to get involved as I it would be difficult. I made a mistake and Sylviana took the brunt of it.’
‘Why won’t you tell me what happened? I’ll ask Sylvie and-.’
‘No don’t ask her!’ his mother said sharply. ‘She’ll get angry and … oh dear god I dread to think what she’ll do next.’
‘Is she that bad?’
Finlay was hearing a description of someone who was nothing like the woman he was starting to get to know.
‘She’s like most women when they’ve been hurt. She bears a grudge for a long time.’
The following morning he was in early and was shocked to see Sylvie there, checking the goods on the shelves and making a note against a checklist. Finlay observed she was moving her feet to a rhythm but there was no music. He thought it was another one of her quirks.
It was six thirty and she hadn’t noticed he walked in. Then he watched as she climbed the racks, got something and jumped down.
‘You’re in early,’ he said as she turn
ed and looked at him, slightly stunned. ‘And you’re not supposed to walk on the racking. I always hear you telling people off.’
‘Lots to do if we’re to prove you wrong plus with bloody fireworks going off left right and centre, it was hard to sleep,’ she said with a smile. ‘Piers told me we have to the end of next year. Thank you, sort of.’
‘You can’t hire any more staff without my permission, you do realise that?’ He hesitated for a moment. ‘You don’t think this is all unfair then?’
‘I think it’s wonderful,’ she sighed before walking across the floor and up to the offices. ‘I’m very grateful you listened and extended the deadline. That’s something I didn’t expect and I understand you wanting final say on hiring.’
‘You know if things go wrong we can shut you down at any time? So the December finale won’t necessarily last that long.’
‘I know.’
Finlay followed her up and noticed she went into Toby’s room. He waited for a few minutes before going in and sitting down. It looked like she was editing something then noticed she was amending the packaged footage. He remembered this was another one of her professional aptitudes.
‘Are you trying to show me you’re good at multitasking?’ he smiled as she was playing something through. ‘Was Mr Mather impressed by your skills?’
‘What my dad?’
‘Your husband.’
‘He wasn’t called ‘Mather’. That’s my maiden name,’ she quietly replied. ‘And don’t ask as that’s another complicated story. Talking of complicated, you should see the texts I got from Stephen yesterday. I’ve a good mind to blacklist his number from my phone.’
She handed her mobile over to him as he saw a photo of a very pretty little girl, realising it was her daughter. He went into her inbox and there were lots of texts from the man.
‘He keeps repeating he wants to make it up to me,’ she said shaking her head. ‘Why can’t he get it into his thick skull I don’t want to know?’
‘You’re not being clear enough as you don’t want to hurt his feelings.’
‘And now everyone thinks I shagged you last Friday!’ Sylvie exclaimed turning to look at him, her eyes full of surprise. ‘Why the hell are they so interested in my sex life? I have no sex. End of!’
Finlay examined her face closely and he couldn’t put his finger on it.
He liked what he saw.
‘And Samina? She says things like ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ purposely, knowing it will distract everyone in the meeting.’
‘She called me a sheep in wolf clothing,’ he laughed. ‘She’s funny.’
‘‘Funny’ at winding everyone up!’ she laughed out before turning to her screen and then looking back at him.
It happened very quickly.
Finlay leaned over and kissed her on the lips.
Something jolted inside him.
They were looking at each other as their mouths were stuck.
He pulled away as she double blinked.
‘Got a thing for pensioners going through the menopause, have you?’ she quietly asked before smiling at him. ‘This place does make you loopy.’
Then it happened again but this time they were kissing passionately as he felt his tongue against hers and immediately knew he was having an involuntary hard on in his jeans. Her lips and tongue were soft.
He couldn’t breathe.
The pair pulled away and this time he knew the shocked expression on her face was mirroring his.
‘I have to go,’ he said getting up and nearly tripping over the chair as he walked out of the room and left Sylvie sitting there.
She couldn’t move. Her heart was beating so fast she thought she was going to pass out and the kiss was unexpected but explosive. Sylvie touched her lips and realised maybe it didn’t happen and it was in her mind. Putting a hand to her chest she tried to compose herself as she stood up and saved the work.
Now she was in two minds whether to leave the room and if she should apologise then realised he started it but she wasn’t fighting him off the second time. Her legs had turned to jelly as she tried to walk but couldn’t.
‘Pull yourself together woman,’ she mumbled and then as she opened the door Finlay was standing on the other side looking at her.
‘I’m sorry,’ he gulped.
‘I’m sorry too.’
Then he stepped forward and within seconds he’d pushed her into the room, shut the door and Sylvie was up against the wall as they kissed again. His tongue was whirling in her head and he had his arms wrapped around her as she stood on her tip toes and he bent down.
Quickly he manoeuvred her up against the wall and wrapped her legs around his hips as they were mouth level and she couldn’t stop kissing him for what seemed like ages. He was most definitely shoving his hard on into her crotch, as well as copping a good feel of her boobs through her top, and she wasn’t sure what was going to happen next.
Then they heard footsteps outside and stopped.
It was the closest she’d been to his face as he smiled, so did she. Sylvie wiped the saliva away from his mouth as he gently put her down and she sat back at the desk, playing the footage she’d just edited.
Finlay sat next to her and looked at the screen as the door was flung open and Stephen was standing there.
‘Hello,’ Sylvie said turning to look at him. ‘You’re early and it’s not even seven!’
‘I wanted to talk to you.’
She noticed Stephen was looking at Finlay, who Sylvie couldn’t look at due to the rapid heart flutters and inability to breathe properly.
‘I’ve got to show him this,’ she smiled and noticed Finlay was staring at her, which put her off for a moment. ‘Is there a problem Stephen?’
‘No,’ he replied and she swore he flashed Finlay a dirty look before shutting the door.
‘Thank fuck he’s gone, my hard on has got caught up in my boxers,’ Finlay said standing up and readjusting himself before he bent down and kissed her on the lips. ‘Thanks for breakfast.’
Then he walked out of the room.
Ten minutes later she got up, managing to pull herself together now she was more composed. Her heart rate was less than one hundred and seventy beats a minute. Carefully she walked to her office and noticed Stephen was talking to Finlay. Taking the opportunity, she went down to the main floor and stood behind a shelf. Her hands were shaking and she didn’t know what was going on.
‘Calm,’ she mumbled and turned on the computers to make sure everything was ready, before looking at the orders again, realising they would be short staffed as Dan had taken Thursday and Friday off.
An hour later, when she thought she could handle it, Sylvie returned to the office and noticed it was empty before looking up and seeing Finlay speaking to Della.
Then it dawned on her the unhappily married man was having a bit of fun and she just happened to be there at the right time.
‘Right time, wrong person,’ she mumbled before looking at the stock order and feeling instantly deflated.
It was after nine before Finlay returned to his desk and sat back down. In all the time he was away, she waited anxiously for him to come back then had a fight in her head about being stupid, knowing he wasn’t really interested in her.
‘I was just helping the guys downstairs,’ he said.
She glanced up and noticed he wasn’t looking at her.
Toby walked past and waved then blew her a kiss. She felt the full thump of guilt knowing she’d kissed his brother.
‘Oh no,’ she mumbled and put her head in her hands, realising the mistake she’d just made.
‘‘Oh no’ what?’ Finlay asked as she felt her face burn with shame, unable to look at him while composing an email that was full of spelling mistakes.
Then he sent her a message.
‘For a pensioner you’re pretty hot.’
‘Stop,’ she said quietly.
Another one appeared.
‘It is legal for elderly peop
le to kiss like that?’
Sylvie ignored it then he sent something else.
‘You’re fucking sexy, do you know that?’
‘Stop it Finlay, you’re on the rebound,’ she said firmly as he didn’t look at her and smiled to himself.
He sent another one of his thoughts over.
‘I can’t concentrate now. I keep thinking if that twat hadn’t walked in what would have happened if I was rebounding on you.’
Sylvie sent him a message.
‘Necrophilia?’ was her response.
‘That’s very funny!’ he laughed out loudly as she smiled.
‘Stop this flirting and get on with your work,’ she said watching to see who was walking outside. It was Stephen. ‘Oh great, he’s coming in.’
‘And I’d have been making you come if he hadn’t turned up.’
‘You think?’ she laughed out, shaking her head at his unbelievable comment.
‘I know.’
‘Really?’
‘Definitely!’
‘That was a bit of a full on comment.’
‘And I’d really like to get full on with you. It’d be uncomplicated, no strings, other than the G-string I know you’re wearing.’
‘They’re actually large granny knickers.’
‘You see,’ he laughed. ‘You’re trying to turn me on.’
‘Enough!’ she hissed, feeling her face was getting shiny through embarrassment. ‘You’re on the rebound and what easier way than to use someone dispensable, like me, to bounce off.’
‘That’s not true about the rebound and I’d love to bounce off you,’ he replied, giving her a very seductive grin.
‘Sylvie, can we talk?’ Stephen said walking into the office as Finlay stared at her for a moment and continued to grin.
He sent her a message.
‘I’m effectively separated. You’re a widow. We both need sex so why don’t we just do it. No personal stuff, just a good old fashioned bonk. It’ll be good for you to get the old body back in working order. And I realised there’s a lot of passion underneath that layer of black clothing.’
