A Safe Pair of Hands

by Ann Corbett

  He could see that she would not have it any other way, and so in the end he nodded. “Okay I'm a big shot business man... now let's go and eat!”

  Sadie looked around her, and realised that he had parked in the car park of a rather nice looking pub, that advertised meals all day long.

  Her stomach gave a loud grumble and the colour flood her cheeks again, as she looked at Nick in embarrassment.

  He laughed, and his brown eyes twinkled at her in delight, so that Sadie found herself giggling.

  “Okay, let's eat.”

  **

  “Did you ever hear from your uncle again?” Sadie asked suddenly as they sat waiting for their food. “The one who helped you – sort of.”

  “Yes, we have talked a few times, he looks me up when he's in the country, and we exchange Christmas and birthday cards as well.”

  “And the other uncles?”

  His voice had been quite warm when speaking of the first uncle, but now he scowled and his tone cooled as well.

  “One of them got in touch a couple of years ago, his eldest child was looking at going to university and since they had heard that my business was doing well; they were wondering if I would be willing to help finance him...”

  “What did you say?” she squeaked, it just seemed so... presumptuous, of them to approach a person for help, when they had turned their backs on that very same person, when he had needed someone.

  He smiled bitterly. “I said that I would have to meet with his son, and talk to him about his plans, before I could make a decision.”

  “And?” Sadie prompted breathlessly

  Nick sighed, as he slumped down in his seat. “It was a mistake of course; I should just have said no and be done with it!”

  “Why?”

  “Well they arranged a time for me to go over and speak with Phillip – the son; but when I go there, the whole family was there as well, and each and every one of them, had something that they wanted, needed or 'absolutely could not live without'. They all saw my willingness to discuss it as a sign of potential weakness; and they were all set to exploit it – and me.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I refused their offer of tea, told them that I was there to talk to Phillip – and only Phillip, and if we could not do that in private then I would just have to leave and – regretfully, refuse my help.”

  “And?”

  He sighed again. “Phillip as it turned out was a nice pleasant young man... but not very bright, I'm afraid. He never wanted nor intended to go to University – it had just been a ploy to get me involved with the family.”

  She was just about to ask what happened next, when their food arrived.

  “So?” she prompted him after he'd begun to eat.

  He swallowed the mouthful of food, and smiled.

  “I liked Phillip; I suspect that he was the best of the bunch. He wanted to do gardening, he was a big strong young man, and he loved being outdoors, and getting his hands dirty.”

  “You helped him, didn't you?” Sadie demanded excitedly.

  “I didn't give him – or any other them, any money. But one of my clients was a landscape gardening firm, and the director of the company was a friend. I had a word with him, and he arranged for Phillip to go on an apprenticeship with him... that was about a year ago and he's doing really well, he moved out of his home, and into a small bedsit, and he's just about to move into a flat.”

  “Do you keep in touch with him?”

  “Not as much as I should – I suppose, but I do pop in from time to time, and look him up occasionally to make sure that he is still okay – that's how I knew about the flat.”

  “You should get him something?” Sadie said thoughtfully, “You know as a housewarming present kind of thing.”

  “Yes I was thinking about it... any suggestions?”

  “Well, what does he need?”

  Nick chuckled suddenly. “You sound just like a wife should sound, telling me what to do and how to do it.”

  He laughed as he spoke but his laughter faded when he realised that not only was she not laughing with him, she looked positively unhappy. And then it dawned on him.

  She had already been a wife – and that had been an awful experience for her. Perhaps she was soured against the whole idea of marriage now.

  He swallowed the bitter taste that had come to his mouth, because he knew that he wanted Sadie to be his wife – and right up until this moment he had never once doubted that that was where they would end up.

  Now not only did he doubt it – he was almost certain that she would never agree to be his, or anyone else’s wife!

  Chapter Eighteen

  Sadie went back to work on the Monday morning, eager to see Nick again.

  She knew that she had reacted badly to his little joke on the previous day, and after they had enjoyed such a lovely weekend together too.

  He had sat there laughing at the idea that she could be his wife, and Sadie realised that more than anything else that was exactly what she wanted. Unfortunately she had been so taken aback at the realisation that she had frozen for a minute, and Nick’s laughter had sounded almost mocking to her ears.

  She was not so sure about Nick’s affection, she realised. He seemed to take pleasure in being with her, but there was never any talk of a future together... maybe he thought that she was just too damaged? Or she had too much baggage.

  Or maybe any feelings that he might have, were just not as strong as hers, that he was attracted to her was obvious, and she thought that he liked her as well. But maybe the rest was more about his feelings of guilt, for the way he had responded three years ago, and for the way he had treated her since.

  Sadie just did not know how Nick felt about her, and as she marched into work, on that grey Monday morning, she felt determined to find out.

  She wanted to know where their relationship was heading – if anywhere.

  Unfortunately she suffered through the entire morning, unable to come up with any sort of excuse to invade his office, and he did not seem to want to come out of it at all.

  “Sadie does this purchase order need to be signed off by Mr Hargreaves – do you think?” Marcy asked suddenly. “It's for that jeweller's potential advertisement campaign, and it's for more than three thousand pounds.”

  Sadie looked up from the paperwork that she was reading through, and frowned thoughtfully. “Well the general rule is any single purchase over five thousand, needs his signature, but maybe it's worth popping in and just checking with him – I think that there has been some concern that Jason is in danger of running away with himself on that particular client.”

  Marcy nodded with a sigh as she pushed back her chair. “I was supposed to be meeting my mum for lunch – she was at the hospital this morning for a consult, and I'm already running late!”

  Sadie stood up as well. “You get yourself off then, and I will sort this out for you.”

  Marcy's face lit up with relief. “Oh would you! You really are an angel!”

  She handed the order over and turned to bundle on her coat, and before Sadie could even say, “See you in a bit.” Marcy had grabbed her bag and swept out of the room.

  Sadie had been looking for an excuse all morning to go and talk to Nick, but now that she had one, she hesitated.

  She wanted Nick to know how she felt about him, and their blossoming relationship, but she was not sure that this was the time or the place for such a conversation. They had both agreed that they would keep their private life out of the work place, and here she was about to break that agreement.

  “Oh well,” she sighed. “I still need for him to look at this.”

  She knocked on his door and walked in, with the sheets held up almost in defence of her invasion.

  “What can I do for you, Sadie?” he murmured vaguely as he continued to read something on his computer screen.

  “We... Marcy and I thought that you might want to look at this purchase order, before we send it down to
the buyers department.”

  “What is it?” he asked curiously as his gaze flickered over her quickly.

  She held it out to him, and waited while he read it quickly.

  He gave a little sigh as he placed it thoughtfully on his desk. “Leave this with me for the moment please, Sadie, and could you ask Jason to come and see me, as soon as he has a moment.”

  “Yes, very well... of course...”

  She stood uncertainly for a moment, and it seemed as though Nick had already dismissed her, as he frowned when he realised she was still standing there.

  “Was there something else, Sadie?”

  She blushed uncomfortably. “I... just wanted to thank you again for my weekend treat,” she said hesitantly, “And I really hope that it did not inconvenience you too much?”

  He looked at her sharply. “It was a treat for me too,” he said guardedly. She was just so stiff and proper all of a sudden, just the way that she had been when he had thought her to be someone – not nice.

  “I wanted to do something nice for you after the way that I treated you before, but I did enjoy it too.”

  So he did feel guilty!

  She smiled sadly. “Well thank you, and please don't worry about me, anymore – I mean I am a big girl now, and can handle a couple of cross words thrown at me.”

  She turned as though to leave, but Nick’s hand on her shoulder stopped her.

  She hadn’t even seen him move!

  “I want to worry about you, Sadie,” he said as he gently turned her around. “I don’t think that I can stop from worrying about you.”

  His hands cupped her face, as he stared into her eyes.

  “But it is not your place to worry about me, I mean you are only my boss, and...”

  “Your lover.”

  “Well yes that too, I suppose... but...”

  “And don’t forget that you are going to be introducing me to your parents on Friday,” he smiled as he tried to lighten the atmosphere.

  Her eyes widened in surprise for a moment. “Well it is just dinner with the family, you don’t have to make it more than it is,” she blushed uncomfortably, as his eyes continued to lock on to hers.

  “It is very important... to me.” his voice was warm and there was meaning to everything that he said to her.

  The conversation was taking a delightful turn, and she knew that he was going to kiss her.

  But then his telephone began to ring, and with a regretful sigh, Nick turned to answer it.

  “Hello, yes... okay I will be down in a moment... ask him to wait, will you?”

  He turned back to Sadie and smiled a little smile. “I have to see to this,” he told her shortly. “But could you get Jason to come and see me in, say... an hour.”

  They were back on business footing, and Sadie nodded. “Yes, of course.”

  She turned around and would have left the room, but once again Nick was right behind her. “Have dinner with me tonight, and we can finish our talk... I will pick you up at seven thirty... and wear something pretty, please.”

  She nodded as she looked up at him hopefully. “Will we be eating out then?”

  “Yes, there is that new restaurant that opened up recently, and we are going to be promoting them in the New Year.”

  “So it will be business then?” she could not keep the regret out of her voice.

  “No this will be strictly personal... other than the fact that I will be shamelessly pulling strings to get us booked in there at such short notice!”

  *

  Sadie felt that she would have liked to leave work early – or at the very least on time, and spent a leisurely amount of time getting ready for her date with Nick.

  She thought that if she worked hard for the next hour or so, then she could pretty much clear her desk, leaving her free to finish early without feeling guilty. She knew that anything that might be sent down at the last minute, then Marcy would be able to handle it.

  Unfortunately that was not to be.

  Marcy came back from her lunch looking upset, and fretful.

  “Mums got to go and have some tests done,” she said worriedly. “They – the people at the hospital, they say that some of them are quite invasive; and will be very distressing for her, but they need to do them!”

  Sadie took one look at her colleague and just knew that Marcy was not going to be fit to do anything constructive that afternoon; she realised that her attention would all be on her mum.

  Sadie knew that if it had been her own mum, then she would have felt exactly the same.

  “Why don’t you take the afternoon off, go and get your mum and take her shopping or something, to take hers and your mind of things for a bit,” Sadie suggested sympathetically.

  Marcy looked at the small pile of paperwork on her desk, and the slightly bigger pile on Sadie’s desk.

  “I can’t leave my work and yours to do all this on your own,” she argued glumly as she began to unfasten her coat.

  “Nonsense; most of these papers are bits of ‘read me and forward me on’, which will take a few minutes each – at most.”

  “Oh well, I suppose if it won’t be too much for you...”

  “No, it won't – I promise I can handle it all, without too much trouble – and anything else that might appear.”

  Marcy nodded her head, as she refastened her coat. “I promise that I will make it up to you,” she said as she strode out of the office, digging her mobile out as she went.

  Sadie sat listening, as Marcy's voice carried back to her. “Mum... yes, I know love... look I was thinking that we should go and do some shopping, and I have the afternoon free... yes now if you've not got on your bus yet... good, if you walk back into the town centre, I will meet you in – five minutes... okay, see you in a bit.”

  Her voice became muffled and then died off all together as she obviously stepped into the elevator.

  Sadie gave a little sigh, as she walked across and picked up the small pile of paperwork.

  As the more qualified, and the faster worker of the two of them, more paperwork tended to land on Sadie's desk, and certainly Nick had almost always given his paperwork to Sadie... in fact he had always treated Sadie as though she was his personal assistant. She had always been the one to liaise with him over almost everything. She was confident that she could handle all of the work, but she knew that it would more than likely take her the rest of the afternoon to finish it.

  She worked the next hour thankfully with no interruptions, and was able to wipe out all of Marcy's paperwork.

  She was just starting on her own, when Jason walked in. “I've just been to Mr Hargreaves's office, but he's not answering, and his door is locked?”

  “Well, he did have to pop out earlier, and so maybe he's running late?”

  “You said that he wanted to see me, I'm guessing it's about the Jewellers account again.” he said almost nervously.

  “It is rather an important client,” Sadie said calmly. “And it is the first time that you have been given a free rein on one... and so he probably just wants to keep an eye on you, make sure that you are coping okay.”

  “Well, when you put it like that... I guess that it's not something that I should worry about then?”

  “Worrying never really did achieve much – but sometimes we just can't help ourselves – can we?” she sympathised with a little smile.

  Jason leaned over a little and his blue eyes lit up with interest. “Maybe I could take you out sometime...” he began awkwardly.

  “Ah there you are Jason,” Nick cut in sharply. “Sorry to have kept you waiting, if you want to come to my office – now.”

  The dull colour flooded Jason's face and he looked positively guilty.

  Sadie smiled at him in reassurance, and her gaze swept past him to fix almost accusingly on Nick.

  He smiled tightly at her as he stepped away from the door to allow Jason to walk ahead of him. But as soon as Jason was out of the room, and out of earshot, Nick leaned
in and murmured in a low voice, so quiet that she only just heard him. “I am looking forward to tonight, the table is all booked, for seven thirty, so be ready for me to pick you up at about seven.

  Sadie gave a little sigh as she found herself once again alone, but still with a lot of paperwork to sort through.

  She dismissed the other two men from her mind, and set to with a sense of determination.

  She might not be able to finish early but she was damned well going to leave on time!

  Chapter Nineteen

  Sadie rushed into her house, having left work only five minutes later than her usual time, that afternoon. She had been right in thinking that a lot of her paperwork would be a quick peruse and forward on; and she had cleared her desk with half an hour to spare and a throat that was dry from lack of fluids.

  Jason had left Nick's office with a positive spring to his step and a bright cheerful grin, but he had not stopped by her office to tell her the outcome of their meeting, nor to follow up on his surprising invitation.

  Although she was naturally curious, she was relieved as well, she would have refused his invitation, of that there was no question, and she really did not want things to become awkward between the two of them.

  She sat back with a little sigh of relief and arched her back to loosen it after sitting in the same position for a couple of hours.

  The phone had only rung a couple of times, and on both occasions, they had been about querying something, or notifying her of something, and neither times did it divert her attention for any length of time.

  It also seemed like the guys up on the top floor, were also slowing down as Christmas fast approached, since none of them sent anything down either.

  And even Nick did not produce anything for her to do at the last minute.

  And so for once in a very long time, the work that Sadie started the afternoon with was the work that she finished the afternoon with.

  “What happened to Marcy?” Nick asked from the doorway.

  “What? Oh, she had some personal things that she had to deal with, so I told her that I would cover for her,” she looked at him a little anxiously. “It was the first time, and because there wasn't too much paperwork, I was able to finish all of her work – and mine as well, with time to spare.” She waved her hands across her empty desk as if to emphasise the point.