Page 34 of Love Among the Ruins
CHAPTERTEN
ELENI
The malaise had set in yesterday during her birthday lunch and continued when Eleni returned to Athens the next day.
It followed her into work and stayed with her when she went into the office and Agnes and Isidora gave her that sneaky side eye again.
She stared at the screen trying to make sense of the computer system she was supposed to use. Agnes’ tour of it had been so brief and so fast, that Eleni felt she’d been left with whiplash and a feeling of inadequacy that squashed her spirits.
She wasn’t stupid, or slow, but the rapid-fire tutorial Agnes had given her had confused her further. She’d tried to get to grips with the system, and to make a dent in her workload but she was lamentably behind.
And today, after the bombshell her mother had dropped on her birthday, Eleni’s mind wasn’t at its best. She felt slow, and foggy, her actions like wading through glue.
Desperate to leave the claustrophobic office atmosphere, she went to lunch earlier than usual, and sat at a cafe, needing time alone. She’d finally found out something about her father, but it was something she would rather have not known. There was always something going wrong, her life seemed to be perpetually in ruin, and she’d had to become adept at picking herself up and getting on with things.
The one good thing she had going for her was this job, and the opportunity that Dominic Steele had given her.
He’d seemed like such a jerk at first, a typical wealthy man, entitled and privileged, but she had seen a softer side to him, and he’d been more approachable.
Things weren’t so bad, she told herself in an effort to see the good in her situation.
She returned to work, determined to be more upbeat instead of drowning in sadness, but her uplifted spirits soon sank. She’d heard Agnes and Isidor talking as she’d approached the door, but they fell silent as soon as they saw her.
Smiling at them weakly, she averted her eyes, and with focused determination, sat down and stared at her screen, struggling to make sense of it. She wasn’t going to make any friends here sitting in an office all day long with two women who hated her. It was so different to the pace and rhythm of the taverna where everyone knew everyone else. And the customers: every day, every hour, every minute, she would see a new and fresh face. Some people were nice, some exceptionally lovely, some picky and petty and nasty. She had become accustomed to meeting a vast array of people from all walks of life and all over the world. In a small way, it made her hanker even more for the mountain trip.
* * *
DOMINIC
Dominic stepped out of his office. It was late. Nearly everyone on this floor went home at five thirty and he was often the last one out.
He walked towards the water cooler then stopped when he saw her. Her hair was down, cascading over her shoulders. She was in heels, wearing a pinafore dress with a white shirt underneath. As she bent over, refilling her plastic water bottle, he presumed, he couldn’t drag his eyes away from her shapely thighs.
“What are you still doing here?”
He’d startled her. Her body jerked and she spun around. “You scared me.”
“I didn’t mean to. It’s nearly eight o’clock.” Didn’t she have a home to go to? A girl like her shouldn’t have to be working late. Not doing the temporary work he’d managed to carve out for her.
“I was trying to get caught up.”
“Caught up?”
“On the system.”
“What system?”
“Your computer system, the one we all use—”
That pile of shit. “That’s not my system, I assure you. If I had anything to with it, it wouldn’t be as shit as it is.” He could see by the look on her face that he’d shocked her. “Didn’t Agnes show you?” he asked. “She was supposed to.”
The woman had a penchant for doing things in her own time and in her own way. He’d judged it wrong, asking her to train Eleni. That was the problem with walking into an office for a few months and taking charge. He didn’t know all the people as well as he should have. He had no interest in getting to know them because this was Nikolaos’ office, and he would be back soon enough. Dominic had bigger goals to accomplish than ensuring a temporary worker had work that was significant.
He suppressed a smile.
Maybe Miranda could help. Nikolaos’ shy but efficient PA was someone he trusted. Someone who was honest and down to earth, and he didn’t feel that way about most people.
She would be the right person to train Eleni.
