be the embodiment of Gigi or a young Sophia, and I’m not sure that would’ve been enough to induce him to bring me here. Not the way he looked at me when I bumped into him yesterday.’
If our first meeting had been in the office, I might’ve thought differently. But the way he looked at me in that hallway . . . eesh.
‘First of all, this happened yesterday, and you didn’t call? And what do you mean the way he looked at you?’
‘He didn’t seem pleased to see me. In fact, he looked mightily pissed.’
‘Okay. I can buy that. He’s probably still having nightmares about purple dildos.’ She doesn’t bother to hide how hilarious she finds this, even going as far as making herself go cross-eyed as she mimes hitting herself on the head with an invisible dong.
‘And that’s not even a little bit funny.’ I pinch my forefinger and thumb to show exactly how unfunny I find her suggestion, even as I smile at her ridiculousness. ‘I didn’t cause his concussion.’
‘I’m sure you didn’t help it, babe. But anyway, it sounds like your new job isn’t an elaborate ploy. So that’s good, right?’
‘I don’t know. Something is off about the whole thing.’ I don’t mean my panties yesterday. Much.
‘Maybe he was embarrassed to see you? You know, after the whole smash and dash.’
‘The smash and . . .?’ Got it. ‘Never mind.’
‘Yep, you saved his life, and he repaid you by ejaculating before evacuating,’ she continues unnecessarily. ‘The old hit and quit.’ She throws her thumb over her shoulder.
‘I wouldn’t have put it quite like that.’
‘Even if it made you smile?’
‘I’m not smiling,’ I protest, doing exactly just that. ‘And I’m not sure he was embarrassed,’ I add as our exchange in the hallway flashes in my mind. The dark suit jacket that hugged his broad shoulders, the leather belt around his trim waist. His stupid pocket square and the fact that I’d noticed his hair is a little shorter than it was back in March. Alice’s reaction as she’d stood next to me, her words breathy and her cheeks coloured pink. He didn’t look like a man who felt any kind of remorse for his actions; for leaving me that night. Neither did he look like his nefarious plan had come together seeing me there. ‘But he was definitely annoyed.’
‘So maybe seeing you tweaked his conscience? Made him feel bad. But I agree, if MB looked angry, rather than whipping out his saucisson, at first sight, the chances of you being sexed and hired by the same man have to be slim. Hired on purpose, I mean.’
‘Maybe.’ My response sounds unconvinced. But really, what do I know? Except that baguette is a better descriptive; saucisson, or sausage, really is selling him a little short, pardon the pun.
‘It sounds as though you’re communicating with your clothes on this time.’ Amber’s eyebrows wiggle suggestively on the screen, but I’m not in the right frame of mind to be cheered.
‘Communication is not an issue. It turns out, the man speaks perfect English.’
‘Oh. Bad Monsieur Baguette. Did you ask him why?’
‘Not yet. I’m still smarting over here. I feel like a total idiot!’
‘Come on, Rose. No one could take you for an idiot. Don’t pull that face. The man sent you flowers—expensive gifts! That doesn’t sound like a man who thought you were just a piece of ass. He sounds like a man who maybe felt a little bad about not being one hundred percent truthful with you.’
I frown back, unconvinced, also realising how mad this makes me right now. He completely bamboozled me. Why? To what end?
‘I’m reserving my judgment until I ask him.’ Probably on the twelfth of never.
‘See, every cloud has a silver lining. Now at least you’ll get the opportunity to ask him why. A chance to speak with him, right?’ she adds optimistically.
‘I liked him better when I didn’t think he could speak English.’
‘Of course you did. Because there was no future in it. The truth is, the fact that he wasn’t there when you woke back in March makes no difference. It just saved you from throwing him out.’
‘So?’
‘So, now here he is again, in your face. And I think you’ve been crying because the rich man kissed you.’
‘I didn’t say that.’ My protest is immediate. Maybe a little too immediate. But how could she know? It’s my eyes that are a little swollen, not my lips!