Page 4 of Stuck with the Hot Boss
Evie watched as Nicky came out of the bar carrying two large glasses of rosé. Her friend was six feet tall and reed slender, with long, wayward blonde curls shoved into a messy ponytail. She was at least a foot taller than Evie, whose own shoulder-length curls were dark brown to match her eyes. Whereas Nicky never wore makeup, Evie wouldn’t be seen dead without her winged eyeliner and rosy lip gloss. She’d offered to give Nicky a tutorial, but Nicky had replied that washing her hair was enough aggravation in her life.
Born in New Zealand, Nicky had grown up on a sheep farm, and her attitude to life was brutally practical. She’d once won a contest that required her, among other things, to take the cap off a beer bottle in one stroke with a fish slice. A short relationship with a British veterinary student had brought her to London, and now she worked at an urban riding school. Evie had met Nicky three years ago at a mutual friend’s party, where Nicky had given Evie complete shit about her job.
‘A social media manager?’ Nicky had said. ‘You mean you get paid to do what any idiot can do for free?’
Evie’s employer was a chain of plumbing supplies shops in North and East London, run by two blokes in their fifties.
‘Yes,’ she’d replied. ‘But I also have to explain what metadata is and why they must never, under any circumstances, post Minion memes.’
‘I take it back,’ Nicky had said. ‘You’re worth every penny.’
Nicky set the glass of rosé in front of Evie, who barely waited for her friend to resume her seat before speaking.
‘Am I weird? Am I defective?’ Evie demanded. ‘Why am I sabotaging my own relationships by picking men who are never going to stay? And why have I only just figured out that’s what I’m doing? Why didyouknow when I didn’t? Why didn’t youtellme?’
‘Whoa, back the truck up,’ said Nicky. ‘First, you’re no weirder than the next weirdo. We’re all a bit cray-cray, nothing to be ashamed of. And whywouldI say anything? First, it’s none of my beeswax, and second, you’re only twenty-eight. It’s not the 1950s where you’re on the shelf if you’re not married by age eleven or whatever. Why worry?’
Evie could see Nicky’s point. Even if she weren’t young, there was no pressure on her to settle down. Women weren’t defined by their relationships. Evidence suggested that they might actually be better off all round if they stayed single. Evie wasn’twedded to the idea of being wedded, and though she liked kids very much, she didn’t believe her life would be a waste if she didn’t have any.
But that wasn’t the problem. Her problem was that she’d not beenaware. Up until today, Evie had thought she’d been fully in control of her decisions. When in fact, it now looked like her subconscious had been at the wheel all the time, steering her around like that parasitic flatworm that turns ants into zombie slaves. Her subconscious had been keeping its motivations hidden from her. Time to bring that the treacherous sneak to heel.
‘I’m going on a journey of self-discovery,’ she announced. ‘I need to find out what’s going on in my brain.’
‘If that’s what you want,’ said Nicky. ‘But I’ll tell you now, mate, if you start buying cushions withLive, Laugh, Loveon them, I’m going to stage an intervention.’
Evie lifted her glass and clinked it against her friend’s. ‘Agreed.’
Chapter Three
Double K Plumbing Supplies was named after its founders and owners, Keith and Kev. Keith was a bald, genial giant, while Kev was coiled and wiry as a whippet. As lads, they’d both worked for the same plumbing firm until, as Keith put it, ‘we got tired of the turds’ and set up a business where they could make a tidy profit on u-bends that they didn’t have to stick their arms down. Double K had retail outlets across North and East London, and its head office was in Hoxton, where Keith had grown up. The biggest crisis of Keith’s life to date had been when the local eel-pie-and-mash shop closed down, to be replaced by a swanky eyewear boutique. Evie, while a fan of a good pie, would not miss the distinctive sound of Keith enjoying his jellied eels in the staffroom.
First Monday of the month, Double K HQ had a full team meeting in the boardroom. Accounts, sales, procurement, customer service, and Kev’s 85-year-old mum, Janice, who’d been a tea lady all her life and wasn’t about to stop now. The meetings were led by Keith, because Kev spoke only when necessary, which made him the most terrifying person in the room. People who’d been spoken to by Kev usually left straight afterwards, carrying their belongings in a box.
‘Morning all,’ said Keith. ‘Anyone get arrested over the weekend?’
This was his standard opening. It had been answered in the affirmative once in the four years Evie had worked there, and that was by Janice. ‘She ’ad it coming,’ were the only details given. That and the fact she’d been barred for life from her local Bingo club.
‘Right then,’ Keith continued, waving a piece of paper. ‘Two items on the agenda. Item one: we’re on track to make a tidy profit this month. Because, as we all know–’
‘Where there’s muck there’s brass,’ chanted the team.
Keith grinned like a great white shark. ‘And don’t you forget it. Item two–’
He looked towards the boardroom door and beckoned. ‘We have a new team member. Come on in. Don’t be shy …’
Oh no.
The young man who entered didn’t look at all shy. He didn’t swagger, exactly, but it was close. He had artfully messed blond hair, tanned skin, hazel eyes. Double K didn’t go in for formality, so he wore a blue polo shirt and slim-fit pants in a shade of brown that should not have worked with the blue but absolutely did. His shirtsleeves were stretched over well-toned biceps. It did not take a huge feat of imagination to picture the rest of his unclad body.
He is just my type,thought Evie.Which is bad. Very bad.
‘Everyone, this is Leo Hurst,’ said Keith. ‘He’s our new marketing manager.’
Evie dragged her mind away from biceps.Hello, he’s what?
‘Leo’s been brought on to deliver us–’ Keith squinted at the paper he was holding. ‘–a strategic marketing function to develop new initiatives that drive the business forward and achieve its objectives.’
Keith looked directly at Evie. Who, up until right now, had been the entire marketing team. It had been a big leap for Double K to get a website, let alone venture into social media.
