Page 20 of Just Like You
She laughed. Inappropriately perhaps, but then she pinned her eyes on me. “Kieron, you’re an only child. No parents. No family.”
“Perhaps I have people…” I cocked my head. I was lying through my teeth but on occasion? Maura had been known to bend the truth for her own gain. She was also the master of not so subtle blackmail.
“Gina?”
“No,” I said sternly.
“And what’s in it for me?”
“Thomas and Beckett go live on Friday afternoon, I’m aiming to be online with them for that.”
“And?”
“I won’t be here. As I said, I will definitely be here on Tuesday for the meeting with Averil Walsh.”
“Does Juliet know, or will I have to run around like a headless chicken, pretending you’re in meetings that don’t exist?”
“Something like that?” I admitted with a guilty grimace, as she just laughed out loud.
“Child,” she said, shaking her head. “Your mother, rest her soul, would no doubt have given you a right telling off if she heard you make ridiculous demands like that. But I ask again. What’s in it for me here? Another week of doing your dirty work whilst you gallivant around the world pretending you don’t need to file your accounts and back up your hard drive?”
“I was in New York and spent two days trying to convince a bunch of idiots that they actually need to offer their customers options. They can’t just force everyone to sign up for the same plan.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she huffed, and crossed her arms.
“Maura, you can have Friday off. And I will pay for your…” I stopped right there on purpose, waiting for her to finish off my sentence.
“You already pay off my coffee account, monthly, which is much appreciated, and my parking tickets were a welcome gesture of kindness.”
“This is very unconventional,” I smirked as she just smiled.
“Child. I will gladly hold the fort here, but you need to start sorting yourself out. These little escapades are ruining a perfectly organised working week, and it’s making me all muddled. This week is fine. Do your thing. But from next week? You sit at your desk, Monday to Friday, like the good boy you are.”
“Maura.” I laughed. “I’m forty-one.”
“And you still can’t keep your sandbox tidy.”
“True,” I admitted. “And I’ll get you theatre tickets.Wicked. Next Friday.”
“They’d better be good seats,” she warned.
“And my schedule had better be lenient next week.”
“Well, you are the boss?”
“I thought I was, but I seem to have to ask permission even to go to the conveniences.”
“Nonsense.” She laughed. “But if you’re going to run off early today again, I am going to go grab that coffee now, so I can sit at my desk and sip it, pretending to be awfully busy.”
“You will be.” I smiled as she got back up and left me sat there like the absolute idiot I was.
I was good at my job. Confident in my skills and achievements. I just…tended to overschedule and under plan, and without Maura keeping me in check? I did exactly what I was doing now, loading up the airline site and making a last-minute booking…to the…Maldives.
Which was a ridiculous amount of money, but I stuck to a sensible economy ticket, and then I had to send a text to Julian to confirm I’d be on his return flight. I had no idea how these things worked, but I wasn’t going to waste a second of the time I was paying handsomely for…just to spend time with him.
And yes, I was ridiculous. Unhinged. Pick a word, that was probably me right now, but there was something here I had been working on for years, and I’d finally put my finger on something, physically and mentally. Something new.
There was no going back. No hope of actually stepping back and compartmentalising this little part of my life.
