Accounting was the least favourite part of my job and I was currently wading through invoices, fortified by a huge cup of tea and far too many Bourbon biscuits when my phone rang.
‘Stone Organisation.’ I answered the phone on speaker, concentrating on the screen in front of me, rather than the one on the phone.
‘You should have woken me.’ The deep, melodic tones filled the quietness of the tiny office.
I immediately sat up straighter and switched the phone off speaker. Opposite me, Bernice’s mouth dropped open and her eyes grew wide. I waved my hand frantically at her to signal that it wasn’t anything like what she was clearly imagining. By the fact that she was now grinning inanely, I guessed my message wasn’t getting through.
‘Erm, hi!’ I said, temporarily thrown off guard by the greeting, delivered in Michael’s admittedly sexy voice. (I’d had to eventually concede to that point, no matter how annoying he could be). Bernice’s reaction wasn’t helping.
Bernice grinned even wider. Ugh. I really wasn’t helping my own case here.
‘Hi.’
‘How are you?’
‘Good, thanks. If a little embarrassed.’
‘Oh, don’t be silly. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.’
Bernice now looked just about ready to implode with curiosity so I spun my chair away from her.
‘I think it’s fair to say that I’ve hardly made a good impression on you and then I leave you so I can go and take a nap?’
‘You’d been awake for hours. And you didn’t leave to take a nap, you left to do yet more work. Unless that whole phone call was a set-up?
‘No,’ he laughed, ‘it wasn’t. I promise.’
‘There you are then.’
‘The dining room looks amazing. Thank you. Your idea of having those bookshelves in there is brilliant. I love it.’
‘You do?’ I said, unable to stop a huge smile forming on my face.
‘I really do,’ he replied, his voice softer this time.
‘Oh, I’m so pleased.’
‘And thank you for the blanket…and stuff. That was very sweet of you.’
‘You almost sound surprised,’ I said, unable to stop myself, and wondering why I cared as to whether Michael O’Farrell thought I was a nice person or not.
‘No! No, not at all. It’s just that…well, it’s no secret that you and I don’t always see eye to eye. And before you say anything, don’t worry, I’m perfectly aware that a lot of that is down to me. I just…it was very thoughtful of you. Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome. I was glad to see the office still looked nice and tidy.’
He let out that tantalising laugh again. ‘Yes. I don’t think I could risk your wrath at letting it go back to how it was quite so soon.’
‘Golly. You really do think I’m a dragon!’
‘No, I don’t. But tell me honestly, if you’d have come in there and it was a state, would you have been calm and collected or would you have just smothered me with that blanket instead?’
He had a point.
‘Your silence says so much.’
I smiled, despite myself. ‘Are you still happy to proceed with your next appointment?’
‘Absolutely. And I’ll even stay awake this time.’
‘That would probably add to our productivity.’
He laughed and I couldn’t help but smile at the sound. ‘I’ll see you soon.’
I hung up and made a point of not looking at Bernice, pretending to be immediately absorbed in my invoicing again.
‘Oh, no no no!’ she said, scooting her feet along the floor in order to propel her chair around the desk and park it next to me.
‘No, what?’ I asked, doing my best to feign innocence. It didn’t work.
‘You know exactly what. “You should have woken me?” Er, hello! You can’t just put that out there and then not say anything about it!’
‘I didn’t put it out there and there is nothing to say about it.’
‘So why’s he embarrassed? Couldn’t he…you know…’
I frowned, not understanding. Bernice huffed at me, then held her forefinger out straight before letting it slowly droop down. I watched her mime, confused. Then it dawned.
‘No! I mean, I don’t know! I mean…Oh God. He’d been working straight through the night and got a call to do something else so had to disappear off to his office shortly after I got there, and never came back. I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye, so I poked my head in and he was asleep with his head on the desk. I put a blanket over him and switched off the light. That’s all!’
Bernice raised one expertly shaped and tinted eyebrow. ‘That’s all?’
‘That’s all.’
She sat back in her chair. ‘You like him.’
‘I do not like him. I mean…’
The other eyebrow came up.
‘I don’t entirely dislike him as much as I did initially. Most of the time. But I don’t like him like you’re suggesting I like him. Definitely not.’
‘Definitely not?’
‘Most definitely not. Besides, I’m already seeing Calum, who I do like in the way you’re suggesting.’
Bernice made to start scooting her chair back, but I caught her expression as she did so.
‘What was that look about?’
She turned back to me. ‘Honestly?’
‘Of course.’
‘I think “seeing Calum” is a bit of an overstatement. You hardly ever do see him!’
‘He’s – ’
‘Busy. I know.’
‘Why does everyone have it in for him?’
‘We don’t. But the fact that several people have made the same observation should tell you something.’
I
