Auctioned to Him 7: The Contract

by Charlotte Byrd

  “And so,” Jane was saying, “that’s my vision for the company. I’m sure it will change somewhat as time goes by, as it always does, but that is the general idea for now.”

  She smiled at everyone, although I noticed that she barely looked my way, and the whole office burst into applause. That was a surprise. I don’t think I’d ever seen the team clap for anyone before. I think it had something to do with Jane’s confidence up there but also her ability to come across as someone that they could all relate to. Someone genuine. It was clear that she had great ideas but that she wasn’t going to come in and try to change anything. She seemed almost respectful of everyone.

  “Ah, you’re a keeper.” Abbie said and patted her on the back. It was easy to see that the two of them were going to be friends. Abbie looked so grateful to have a girl working in the team with her that I thought she was going to burst with happiness. I looked over at David and tilted my head as if to say, “And you? Are you happy?”

  David smiled. “Great work. I’m sure you’ll do just fine Jane.” It wasn’t like David to be so nice, so that was unusual. I noticed Jane beaming at him.

  “Okay, thank you Jane. That was great. We are all very excited to have you here. Now, let’s brainstorm some ideas. Kevin, Michael, do you guys want to start? Let’s go through the ideas first and then work on a plan. Then Jane, from tomorrow, you’ll be able to get started on your ideas.” I looked over to Jane but she wasn’t looking at me. She was just nodding and writing some notes down.

  Kevin and Michael launched into a big discussion about what they wanted to happen, throwing ideas around left right and centre. This started a huge debate because David’s ideas were different to theirs – which was not at all unusual. This always happened in meetings. And, as usual too, it was Abbie who managed to put their ideas together and make them work. I kept trying to catch Jane’s eye throughout the conversation but she didn’t once look at me. Instead, she furiously wrote down ideas and had her say whenever it was necessary. She already looked as if she fit into the team and I was fascinated when I saw her and David get into a big discussion about one of her ideas. She had no problem with airing her views. But when I signalled the end of the meeting and we all walked out I quickly walked up to her and told that she had done a great job. She looked at me briefly and then looked down again, mumbling a thank you. And just like that the old coffee-spilling Jane was back.

  Chapter 14 - Jane

  And just like that, my first day at my new job was finished. It felt more like I had been there for a full week considering everything that had happened and the amount of varying emotions that I had experienced. Rather strange that one of those emotions had been lust at one stage – followed immediately by embarrassment. I wasn’t quite sure when I’d be able to leave and despite the ticking clock I still stayed at my desk and waited until someone told me otherwise. It was Abbie who noticed that I was still there and she rushed over to speak to me.

  “Oh Jane, you’re still here! I’m so sorry, I didn’t notice the time. There is no reason for you to stay late. The only reason I’m still here is because I have a quick meeting with David before I go. But your day is done and you’re welcome to go home. Don’t get into the habit of staying late because then they’ll expect that of you. Trust me, I made that mistake when I first started. So… how was day one? You rocked it in that meeting this afternoon. I wish I had half your confidence. I was so impressed by you, as was everyone it seemed.”

  “Seriously? You thought I looked confident? I was actually so nervous. I could literally feel my hands shaking. Thankfully I’m quite confident when it comes to social media so hopefully that came across more. But I wanted more than anything to sit back down and not have all these new faces staring at me.”

  “Well you hid it very well. Honestly I didn’t think you were nervous at all. And I think everyone was impressed by you. Even David, and it’s very hard to impress him.”

  That made me smile. She had been right about David, his presence was quite daunting. He never once asked me how my day was or asked any personal questions about myself. But when it came to the actual work, he was easy to talk to. “That’s a huge relief. My morning started off quite shaky so I’m glad I was able to redeem myself. Listen, thanks for lunch and for everything today. You made the whole day a lot easier for me. First days can be quite tough.”

  Abbie smiled easily at me. “No problem at all. Like I said, I like you and I’m glad you’re here. You’ll see… the next few days will get easier and easier. Go home, and a big glass of wine and put your feet up. I’ll see you in the morning!”

  “Thanks Abbie. And good luck with your meeting. I hope you don’t stay too late.”

  I walked out and breathed in the fresh air. I hadn’t had a job in a few months and I wasn’t used to a full day without sunlight. It felt strange being outside, as if I had almost forgotten that an outside world even existed – I had been so wrapped up in casino life. I got into my car and drove back to Danielle’s place, making sure to dump out my old sandwich as I did so. It was going to be hard not to go to that restaurant every day for dinner. Abbie had been right about the pasta – it was incredible.

  When I got back I noticed that Danielle wasn’t home yet so I quickly sent her a message.

  I’m home. Will you back in time for dinner?

  She replied immediately, Yes, I’ll be home in about half an hour hopefully. Should I pick up some pizza? I’m starving.

  No, I responded, I’ll make us something.

  I knew she’d be surprised at that. I wasn’t the best in the kitchen. But I felt desperate to keep busy. I peered into the fridge to see what I could make but only found mostly disjointed items that didn’t seem to make a full meal. I took a few things out and stared at them, wondering how I could make then into a somewhat decent meal. I couldn’t think of a single meal but I started frying the bacon, figuring that was a good place to start and then spent some time grating cheese. Within ten minutes I had a pile of bacon stacked and another big stack of grated cheese. Then, I cut up some tomato and placed those on another place. I stood back and stared at what I had done – what was I doing?

  “What you making? Smells good in here.” I hadn’t even heard the door open and I jumped up in surprise to see Danielle standing in the kitchen.

  “You almost gave me a heart attack,” I told her, clutching my chest, “Has it been half an hour already?” I looked up at the big clock.

  “No, there was very little traffic so it didn’t take me as long as it normally did. What are you making? I didn’t know you could cook.” She reached forward and sampled a piece of bacon.

  I examined the food in front of me and looked sheepishly looked up at her, “Uh… I can’t cook really. So far I have bacon, cheese and tomato. But that’s as far as it’s gone.”

  “So, let me get this straight. You decided that you were going to cook us a meal without knowing what we even had in the fridge. Then you just decided to randomly fry some bacon, grate some cheese and slice some tomatoes in the hope that inspiration would hit you?”

  “Uh… yeah, that’s pretty much what happened. I figured it didn’t really matter what I made as long as there was cheese and bacon involved. I’m not sure where I was going with the tomatoes. Before you got here I was standing here trying to figure out where to go next with this. I was hoping to have it a bit more figured out before you got home.”

  She started laughing, then tried to speak and then laughed even harder – doubling over herself. “Jane, I love you. You know that? You’re so completely bonkers all time. But I’ll give it to you – you can’t go wrong with bacon and cheese. Well, why don’t we just make toasted sandwiches? I was going to get pizza remember so I’m not looking for anything fancy.”

  I chuckled, “Toasted Sandwiches a la Greiner, coming right up.”

  “Okay, I’m running upstairs for a quick shower. When I come back we can eat and you can tell me ALL about your first day at work. I’m dying to
hear how it went.”

  I finished up the food and placed everything on the table. The end result was hilarious – a very smart looking table, with candles and glasses of wine. Then, on each of our plates – toasted sandwiches. When Danielle came down she giggled, “Oh we are just so fancy,” then she picked up her glass of wine and we clinked in cheers. “Now,” she said after a big gulp, “tell me everything.”

  “Danielle, you’ll be happy to know that I have plenty of stories to tell you. Let’s just say that some are good and some are mortifying.” I said with an air of mystery.

  “Oh no! Did you do something to embarrass yourself?” She asked, clearly aware that this was not an uncommon thing for me to do.

  “I did indeed.”

  “Okay, tell me everything! Oh, this sandwich is great by the way.”

  “Yeah, I’m not so shabby in the kitchen after all. So anyway, as you know I went to the casino early to scope out the place. You were right; it’s massive and absolutely beautiful. The amount of detail they’ve put into the place is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. They obviously had a lot of money to throw around. They don’t really need my help to be honest; they seem to be doing just fine without social media. Not that I told them that, of course. I’ll let them rather think that having me there is imperative. Anyway, I still had a bit of time to kill before I started and I noticed a big cappuccino machine behind the bar. So I decided to get a cup and wait it out. The place was already filled with people and you know how much I enjoy people watching. I ordered a coffee and then swivelled round to watch the world go by, but the moment I did this cute guy had come to the bar too and I spilled my entire cup of coffee down his shirt.”

  She laughed at that, “I’m laughing because it’s a funny image to have in my head, but I know it must’ve been embarrassing. So, how cute are we talking?”

  “Like off the scales cute. Like model or movie star good looking. The smouldering type. But don’t worry… the story gets worse.”

  “It does?” She leaned in closer, her eyes gleaming with the gossip.

  “Yes, unfortunately it does. So I apologised profusely and watched as he walked off. But then he came back, in a new shirt, and said that he was not upset at me. So I offered to buy him a drink and he agreed. We sat drinking our coffee and flirting a bit – don’t give me that look, I do know how to flirt – anyway, and after a little while I started to relax in front of him. Then the barmen said he was going off his shift and asked me to pay – and that’s when my card decided it would be the perfect time to get declined. I tried again – but still, it didn’t work. So not only had I spilled coffee all over this cute guy but I practically told him that I didn’t have any money.”

  “Oh no! Did he have to pay for you?”

  “Yeah. Well, kind of.”

  “Jane, that’s awful.”

  “Oh don’t worry – that’s not the half of it.”

  “What? There’s more?”

  “Oh yes, there’s more. We parted ways and I eventually made my way to the boss’ office. I tried to shake off what had just happened and concentrate on the day ahead. But when the secretary let me into his office I almost died with shock. As it turns out the cute man is not just any man – he’s my boss.”

  “What? Oh Jane! This sounds like a movie! Oh no, you must have been horrified!”

  “It was like a nightmare coming true. I wanted the whole earth to swallow me whole. We acknowledged what had happened and quickly moved onto work matters and I spent the whole day pretending it hadn’t happened. Thankfully I only saw him again later that day in a meeting with the whole team. I swear he kept looking at me and I kept looking away. I don’t know if he found the whole thing funny or if he just felt bad for me but I just couldn’t meet his eye.

  “What’s he like?” She asked.

  “Other than exceptionally cute? Well, he seems like a good boss. Very cocky and probably thinks that every female likes him – but other than that he’s nice.”

  “Ah, listen, don’t worry. One day you guys will be able to laugh at the whole thing. Sounds like you might not even have to deal with him that often. I know that where I work hardly anyone deals with the actual big guy. I’m sure he found the whole thing funny too. Just do your job and try to look him in the eye next time. But… you definitely gave me a good laugh. So thank you.”

  “My pleasure. It’s what I’m here for.”

  I spent the rest of the evening telling her about the job and pushing aside the thoughts of Sebastian out of my head. But as I lay in bed that night I couldn’t stop thinking of him. His eyes and that damn smile that looked like he was constantly up to know good. I tried to remember what Abbie had told me and thought about her warning to stay clear of him. It annoyed me that I was attracted to a man that was such an obvious womanizer. I think I was still just trying to get over Justin. I don’t think my head was completely clear yet. I was sure that within a few days I would look at Sebastian as nothing more than my boss.

  Chapter 15 - Jane

  I had strange dreams in the night – an eclectic mix of people and events that didn’t at all make sense. There was a great deal of coffee involved in each snippet that I remembered which made me think that my mind was still trying to comprehend what had happened the day before with Sebastian. I also remembered one dream where I was kissing Justin and then it turned out to be Sebastian and then changed back into Justin. It was all a bit confusing and disturbing and I wished that I had rather just slept through the night without dreams. I woke up far earlier than was necessary and I felt slightly groggy. I never felt good in the morning when I had dreamt so much. I hopped into the shower and tried to wake myself up. Scrubbing away every memory from the day before. When I came out I felt better and I was determined to start afresh today. I would look Sebastian in the eye and greet him, without an ounce of embarrassment from the day before. Perhaps I would even be able to crack a joke about it and the two of us could move on and start all over.

  * * *

  The harsh morning light also brought about a sense of clarity for me. I thought about what Justin had done to me and how awful I had felt by the way that he cheated and lied to me. Then I thought about my supposed best friend Amy and how she had deceived me. All of this made me realize that I was not ready to be in another relationship for quite some time and that when I was ready it would be with someone that I could fully trust and believe. I couldn’t believe that I had even thought about Sebastian in that way. From the looks of it, he was even worse than Justin and certainly not someone I would ever want to associate with. I’d be nice and polite to him during office hours but I’d definitely be staying clear of him. And so what if he was so good looking – there were plenty of good looking people in the world. I thought of that poor girl that had bought him lunch and wondered how many other women had experienced the exact same treatment from him. I hated guys like that. I wondered if Abbie had ever had a thing with him. I was dying to ask her. She seemed almost not to see his good looks but I wondered whether that was because she had just gotten used to his looks or because something had happened which had turned her against him. If he was such a womanizer I would find it strange if he hadn’t tried something with her – especially as she was so cute and bubbly. Unless he didn’t mix work and pleasure.

  I could feel the sun shining through my curtains despite the early morning and I decided that it would be a good day to wear a dress. I had a lovely blue dress with tiny white birds dotted all over that was very summery while still being somewhat smart. I put on a small cardigan over it and some simple white heels. The dress code at work didn’t seem too strict and I had seen quite a few different outfits the day before so I figured the dress would be fine.

  “Ah, you look so lovely. I’m so glad I got you that spray tan the other day – it looks great against that colour. Which reminds me, I better book us in for another one soon. I don’t want that beautiful tan fading on you too quickly especially since you’re now going to be spending mos
t of your days indoors. I’ll set something up for the weekend. And before you say no… well you can’t. It’s happening. So, are you ready for day two?” Danielle asked me as I walked into the kitchen.

  “I actually wasn’t even going to say no, can you believe it! I quite like the way I look with the tan. Look how much you are rubbing off on me! And yeah, I am ready for day two. I still have your necklace on! I am determined to make today a better day than yesterday. I’m sure it will be. Surely nothing can be more embarrassing than what I already went through. Now I can soldier on. I think day two is going to be even better. Also, we went through all my work yesterday so I don’t think I’ll even need to be around Sebastian all that much.”

  “That’s my girl. You go out there and do your thing!”

  “Thanks Danielle. Ooh, is that a blueberry muffin?” I pointed to a plate of muffins next to her.

  “Yes indeed. Here take one and heat it up – it goes well with a cup of coffee. I have to get going so just put the rest in that container when you leave and pop them in the fridge. Have a great day Jane!”

  I did as she told, enjoying the delicious muffin and coffee before heading out to work. I would try and make an extra effort to eat a bit healthier in the morning but in that moment I simply didn’t have the time or energy to think about it. And stress usually helped keep my weight down so I was all good on that front. I got into my car and waited for it to heat up. I still had the same car that I’d had ten years ago and even though I would hate to see it go I knew that eventually I’d have to get a new one. Still this trusty old 2000 Honda had done me proud and I’d had very little issues with it in the past. Getting rid of it would be like getting rid of a bit of my past. Although most of the memories involved Justin so perhaps that wouldn’t be a bad thing. If I ever had to bump into him again I’d want him to see me getting into a brand new car so that he could see that I had moved on with my life. I would hate nothing more for him to take pity of me living the same life that I had when I was with him while he had clearly moved on with his. I shook my head in disbelief – why was I thinking about Justin so early in the morning and why did I even bother to think that he honestly cared what car I was driving. He didn’t even care about me so I doubt he had any interest in my car. It had been two days since I had last checked up on him and I was happy with my resolve. The new job had given me more important things to worry about. But then, all that crumbled when I opened up my Instagram and went straight to his feed. And there he was – smiling into the camera, a funny hat on his head and a guitar in his arms. The caption read: Just me and my guitar. We’d only been broken up for a few months and in all the years that I had known him I hadn’t known him once to play the guitar. I didn’t even know that he knew how to play and I certainly never saw a guitar in the house. I saw that the next post was a video of him playing and I quickly switched off my phone and threw it onto the seat next to me. I suddenly felt angry. How could I know so little about the guy that I had been with for so long? But mostly, why had he hidden so much of himself from me? Had he been going for secret guitar lessons? Or had he started the moment that we had broken up?