With a slight blush, Amanda conceded to Rowanne’s point. ‘Well, the last two days have been a real eye opener, an education, one might say.’ Her eyes held a look of amusement, while the rest of her face appeared serious.
‘Now that, I can believe. So, welcome to the paper.’ They laughed, having both gone through an initiation of sorts. ‘What’s the program for today? Is everyone coming in? And I assume there’s still a paper to run?’ asked Rowanne.
‘The last time I checked, which by the way was five minutes ago, there still was. Unless a major catastrophe has occurred and David is suddenly in charge. Other than that, everyone has come in, and you are the last person, well minus one other that everyone has been eagerly awaiting. That’s where you have to go,’ Amanda indicated the last door in the corridor with an incline of her head. ‘I’ll take you there now, if you’re ready?’
‘I’m ready. It feels like aeons since I last saw the gang, but it must just have been a week ago. You know before...’
‘Before the disappearance of Thomas?’
Rowanne saw compassion in the young woman’s eyes, and liked her the more for it.
‘Yes, that’s right.’ Rowanne felt as if she could not talk about him any further.
Amanda noticed how uncomfortable the subject was making her and moved on to other topics to distract her, while she led Rowanne down the corridor to the office.
The room had glass walls, and two large doors opened inwards. Rowanne’s first impression was that she’d stepped into the past. There were high arches and columns she noticed as they passed a security area, walking past the rows of tables sectioned by glass cubicles. As they neared the back of the room, Rowanne noticed a huge mahogany boardroom table, enough to seat everyone twice over.
My goodness that’s massive, and to top it off the chairs were all made from mahogany as well with wooden scrolled arm rests, and cushioned tapestries as back rests. Though by far, the best piece was the awe-inspiring chandelier that hung directly above the board table. It was in the replica of their historic building, and so precisely detailed, that one might assume a laser printer had created it, not to mention its immense size. It was more than beautiful, but she could not think of the word that would do it justice.
Continuing on through the office, Rowanne passed by computers that had the latest flat touch screens, replacing their old chunky desktops that frankly had belonged in a museum. She could not help but think about how much money must have been spent on the renovations of their offices as well as all this new up market tech. They’d certainly outdone themselves.
Rowanne approached her colleagues sitting at the board table; they looked as lost as she felt. Maybe I’m projecting my own emotions onto them, I don’t know.
They looked up at Rowanne and smiled. She momentarily felt intimidated when they all approached her as a group.
Eileen came over and patted her on the shoulder, giving her a genuinely warm smile (as opposed to the formal ones, that were a polite but distant acknowledgement).
‘Well, Eileen, what’s brought on this sudden caring side of you?’ asked Rowanne.
‘Rowanne, I could easily have you fired,’ replied Eileen sweetly with a look of slight annoyance. ‘But on a serious note, you had me worried there for a bit. And we will talk more later,’ she whispered, moving away to allow the others to have their chance.
‘There’s the Eileen I know and love,’ replied Rowanne in an equally sincere manner.
Eileen raised an eyebrow, before making her way back to the head of the table.
‘So, Rowanne, how have you been? Awfully sorry to hear about the business with the guard. But where have you been?’ asked David.
David was a man in his early thirties, who had sparkling blue eyes and short blond hair. He behaved as a man far older, than himself; somewhat closer to the Victorian period. Rowanne knew that she was being unfair and childish. He was actually a well spoken and smart man, who was genuinely decent.
However, his problem was that his efficiency coupled badly with his cheery demeanour; he was always ready to volunteer to pick up everyone else’s slack, as well as requesting extra work, and this irked his colleagues. All of whom were equally hard working and dedicated, but rather more relaxed.
‘Have there been any leads yet on Thomas’s case?’ asked Rowanne, completely veering off the topic.
David raised his eyebrows at Rowanne’s blatant refusal to talk about her absence. Smoothly done, Knight. He did not let his slight irritation at having his question unanswered show; his expression calm.
‘The paper has been helping the police with what little information it has. But to be frank, it’s worth tuppence, nothing to point us in any real direction, apart from that alleged skirmish outside. No one else has come forward with anything new.’
‘It is puzzling. And that reminds me, I’m due to go down to the police station later on today.’ Keep your face expressionless, Rowanne told herself.
‘That’s right, you were the last one in the office Thursday night. I remember leaving before you. By the way, how did that story shape up then?’
‘Just fine... Eileen liked it well enough.’
‘I do beg your pardon. I was genuinely interested in knowing how it turned out. It was meant with the best of intentions,’ said David, with an awkward smile.
Rowanne noticed that he suddenly had his hands clasped behind his back. Oh no, he’s got a weird expression on his face as if he’s about to do something foolish.
With a pained look of forced cheerfulness, David gave her shoulder a pat, and then proceeded to walk past her to the board table, where he took his seat.
Voila! just as I expected. What was that? She had thought that he would have come out with something on the lines of: ‘There, there, dear,’ or ‘chin up,’ or some other peculiar quip that she had come to associate with him. Rowanne was mildly amused, if somewhat puzzled.
Pushing the incident from her mind, she greeted the rest of the team. About ten minutes must have passed before Eileen indicated for everyone to take their seats, and they rapidly began to fill up. Eileen began the discussion on the direction that she would like to take the newspaper in.
There were papers piled in front of everyone, including a pile directly opposite Rowanne in front of a vacant seat. She wondered who they could be expecting. A guest maybe, or a new employee. Everyone else seemed to be accounted for as she looked around.
‘First, I want to welcome everyone back. I’m glad you’re all in one piece.’ The staff responded with nervous laughter and coughing in the face of this slightly crass statement.
It was as if nothing could affect Eileen, she always gave off a wave of steely energy, Rowanne observed.
‘Of course, we are deeply concerned with the disappearance of our most beloved security guard Thomas,’ said Eileen, in the same formal manner with a neutral expression, belying no emotion whatsoever.
Eileen was one of the strongest women Rowanne knew, but even she thought the title of ‘Ice Queen’ was apt here. She had expected her to show genuine concern as she was close to Thomas and his family. He’d always escorted Eileen out when she was the last person to leave and lock up the office.
‘As you know there is a police investigation going on into Thomas’s disappearance. I would be extremely grateful if you could all assist the police with any information you think may be pertinent to the case. I will of course keep you all up to date.’
‘When will we shift back to our old place?’ asked a colleague.
‘Well, I don’t suppose you saw the police coverage... Been away have you?’ asked Eileen in disgust of the fool who had apparently missed the recent events. ‘The office is in no condition for us to work in right now. The wiring has been ripped out in certain places and it’s a wreck. It’s going to take some time to sort out. Time, I might remind each and every one of you, that we as a paper do not have the luxury of! I personally felt it was the right time to move into a better space. I am more tha
n pleased with what we have been compensated with.’
‘Yes, on this point, I’m slightly confused. How were we able to suddenly afford all of these new upgrades, not to mention this exclusive space?’ asked Rowanne, more than curious to know where the money had come from. Even though they were one of the top newspapers, they’d had to make do for so long, partially to do with Eileen’s frugality. It was bizarre to say the least, this move up for them. The journalist in her never slept.
‘Well, I’m not at liberty to discuss the finer points of our new arrangements, but suffice to say it was a private benefactor,’ replied Eileen.
This statement caused several conversations to break out as everyone began to speak at once, speculating as to the identity of their benevolent benefactor. There were murmurs of dissent, and one man went so far as to stand up and dramatically slam his fist into the table; talk about passion!
‘Look, Eileen. I signed up to be a journalist, investigating and getting to the truth, not to work for some snotty rich bloke. Are we now to write what this new guy tells us to? Because, if that’s the case, then I’ll walk away today!’ he said.
‘Hold on.’ Eileen put her hands out to stop the discussion from getting any more out of control than it already was. ‘First of all, I made no reference to the gender of our benefactor. Secondly, the last time I checked, I am your manager, and you are answerable to me!’
Gruffly, the man acceded to her point and sat down. A slight blush highlighted his cheeks, as he thought of the folly of taking on Eileen; a fine manger and woman in her own right.
‘Though we are indebted to this individual, we by no means have an obligation to them. Let me make it clear,’ said Eileen, as she pointedly looked around the room, and continued, ‘they have not asked for anything in return. When they approached me in a meeting, I clearly stipulated that they were more than welcome to make a generous donation, and that of course their name would be mentioned, and put on a plaque to honour them!’
The team broke out in laughter.
Eileen waited for them to quiet down, as she continued, ‘But they wanted their anonymity. That was one of the demands that they made. So, I’m not at liberty to disclose further information with anyone in the office as to their identity. Moving back to our original subject, I’d like to remind you all that the offices on the first floor are out of bounds, and if there’s anything you need, then tough. You’ll just have to wait until the investigation is over, so unless it is urgent, I’d like to ask for your patience.’
Looking around, Eileen could tell that this news, had not gone down too well. If she could handle this slight hitch, then surely the rest of them could manage.
‘I’ve highlighted the information I want you to focus on in each of your files, that should update all of you. Also, you may have noticed there’s a vacant seat, reserved for our newest member of staff who will be joining our award winning team today!’
Conjecture immediately broke out as to who the new individual might be. There were helpful suggestions as to what the newcomer could do in terms of important tasks: such as locating the photocopier, as well as the all important coffee machine.
‘Newbie could start by bringing us all a welcome back coffee, followed by the elegant welcome back drink. I’m sure he or she will be happy to pay.’
‘Yeah, they’re probably just grateful to get this position!’
‘Hey, Eileen, you’re not firing one of us now, are you?’
Finally, Eileen brought everyone under control. ‘Just give me a reason, any reason will do, and I’ll be happy to oblige!’ She looked at the team malignantly, then broke out in a genuine smile.
The atmosphere returned back to normal, and Rowanne got caught up in a conversation with her colleagues, and failed to notice that the seat directly across from her was now occupied.
The lights in the room briefly flickered and looking up Rowanne suddenly found herself captured in the gaze of the stranger opposite her. The room seemed to darken, and the only source of illumination that she could find was in the twin pools of sapphire fire that were his eyes. It was only for a moment, but it felt longer, and she felt slightly unnerved; it was like déjà vu. Have I met him before? He’s certainly not someone that I’d likely forget... Only when the stranger released her gaze could she look away.
Finally, thought Alexander, we meet at last in the formal sense. He smiled with dark amusement, as he secretly congratulated Rowanne for her conscious state. She had now been a whole minute in his company and had not fainted or fallen, and had even managed to keep herself out of trouble.
Rowanne felt slightly flustered and chilled at the same time, and pointedly kept her eyes fixed on a point of the table which suddenly required her urgent attention as her heart re-entered her body.
‘I want us all to welcome our newest member to our organisation, Mr Alexander Black.’
As everyone’s attention turned to Alexander, Rowanne steeled herself for a second glance. This time however, she had no repeats of the incident, and put it down to fatigue.
Now that Rowanne was not directly in thrall to his eyes, if I ever was! she thought distractedly, she could make out more of his features. His age she put down to possibly around thirty years old. And as he stood up to say a few words, she realised he was tall and lithe, and there was more than a hint that he worked out; possibly every day. She thought of all this as dispassionately as a reporter gathering facts, with no hint of emotion attached. Although, she had to begrudgingly admit, that his face was all the more remarkable for those striking sapphire eyes.
Meanwhile, Alexander scanned the room, taking notice of everyone, and mentally filing away any information he could discern about them; after all, it could come in handy at just the right moment.
Eileen gathered the whole group for an informal get together, so that they could welcome Alexander for at least half an hour. This was considered quite generous by Eileen’s standards, mused Rowanne.
Rowanne grabbed an orange juice from the nearest table as she decided to explore the new offices to try and get a feel for the new place. She was admiring one of the tapestries on the wall when she felt a hand on her shoulder.
Rowanne turned around, it was Eileen, who felt it her solemn duty to introduce one of her rising stars to the new guy. She’d expected there to be a long speech, but for once Eileen was succinct.
‘Mr Alexander Black, let me introduce you to Ms Rowanne Knight,’ with a look of satisfaction, she continued, ‘I will leave the two of you to get acquainted,’ and with that rather short and momentous speech (well, momentous probably in her mind) Eileen walked back to the gathering, grabbing a glass of red on the way.
Thanks, Eileen. Great, she had just dumped another new guy on her. Am I supposed to be his babysitter or something? Rowanne was less than amused to continuously find herself in these situations — courtesy of Eileen.
Bloody Hell, babysitter indeed! thought an irate Alexander. I saved her miserable life countless times, granted she can’t recall this, but you’d think there’d be some sense of gratitude or at least courtesy; sadly lacking in this century.
Pulling himself together with an idiotic look of subtle puzzlement, he played the part of the new worker. Great, I’ve sunk to new lows that I thought I couldn’t possibly reach, but this woman seems to inadvertently find a plethora of ways to make my life wretched! There was no dearth to what she could do... He was no longer the Great Alexander, but a bloody human. If you only knew my real age... he thought smugly, as a point in his favour.
‘I apologise if I’ve interrupted you. Eileen took me by surprise, and voila! I find myself here in your charming company,’ said Alexander.
Rowanne tried to keep the irritation out of her voice, and put on a pretence of actually caring about a word he said. I’d rather bang my head on the wall. I cannot believe I am a mentor again! ‘Eileen can be quite direct, when she wants to be.’
‘I can see that perhaps this is not a good time. I’ll take your l
eave, Ms Knight.’ He bowed courteously from the waist, and turned away, intending to walk back to the reception.
‘Wait, Mr Black. Please forgive my rudeness. And you can call me Rowanne. Ms Knight sounds too formal for my liking, especially in the company of a fellow colleague.’
He walked back to Rowanne, and with a grave expression said, ‘Please, call me Alexander,’ and as he extended his hand, he broke out in his first genuine smile of the morning.
Rowanne knew it was stupid, but suddenly the thought of actually shaking his hand unnerved her. Smiling awkwardly, she slowly reached for his hand.
Alexander took one step towards her, and gently encased her smaller hand in his larger calloused one.
Rowanne was forced to look up as he was slightly taller than her. Again, an unpleasant sensation ran through her as soon as their hands and eyes met. She didn’t quite trust the peculiar look that had come into his eyes, nor could she read his expression, and she quickly stepped back, forcing him to release her hand abruptly. He appeared mildly amused by it. Damn you, she thought contemptuously; she did not appreciate anyone making her feel this way.
‘You’re welcome,’ he said, looking at her pointedly.
‘I beg your pardon, did you just say something?’ asked Rowanne.
Alexander shook his head in a perplexed manner.
‘Alexander, have you ever worked for a newspaper before?’ This was safer ground for her.
‘I have not as such worked at a newspaper, but I have been involved in the field of investigation, you might say.’
Rowanne wondered why he was so cryptic about his previous job, and speculated as to what it might have been. ‘Did you work for the police force?’
‘No, I have not worked in an official capacity with the police.’
What about in an unofficial capacity? ‘Hmm, you seem to be a man of mystery. Are you a spy then?!’ laughed Rowanne.
Alexander smiled coldly. ‘Do I look like a spy to you?’
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