Page 10 of Rivers of Ink
Aidy’s tone was measured as he began to speak, thanking her for taking the time to come in and meet them. As he went on, Alicia was sure he was about to let her down. She held her breath.
“We were hoping that you’d like to join us. Initially on a six-month, fixed-term basis, and after that permanently if everything works on both sides. What do you think?”
The breath escaped from her body. “I think I’d like that very much. Thank you!” She couldn’t get the words out quick enough. “When would you like me to start?”
“Is Monday too soon? I think you said you didn’t have to give notice anywhere.”
“That’s right. Yes, that would be great.” She didn’t think her smile could get any wider. “I’ll see you then.”
6
Monday came around far too quickly for Callan.
He’d ended up working late on Saturday, then headed out with some of his favourite clients for some drinks, which ended up with him getting home at five in the morning. As a result, Sunday had been a write off and he’d barely moved from the sofa. Drew had been trying to get hold of him all day, to the point where Callan had switched his phone to silent to stop the barrage of messages. Drew was still badgering him to talk to Isobel, which was not on Callan’s agenda.
When his alarm went off on Monday morning, the last thing he wanted to do was go to work. He contemplated calling Aidy to rearrange his appointments, then remembered that Alicia was starting. He’d cleared the morning in order to show her the ropes and get her acquainted with the systems, then take her to lunch.
Since she’d shown up for the interview last Thursday, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about her. Even though they’d been together for such a short time, he’d managed to push Isobel, Xander, and the dark thoughts from his mind. He wondered why she hadn’t waited for him to wake up before she left. Maybe he would ask her.
The thought of seeing her again propelled him out of bed and into the shower. He pulled on black jeans that were just that little bit tight and a close-fitting black shirt. Deciding it was more important to get to the shop rather than have breakfast, he grabbed his biker jacket and headed for Fosse Arcade.
He stopped into Books ’n’ Beans on the way, where he spotted Wren behind the counter.
“Hey, Cal,” she said, greeting him with a hug as she usually did. “How’s it going? Aidy tells me you’ve got a new girl starting today.”
“Nothing gets past you, does it?”
Wren grinned. “Not likely.” She turned her attention to the coffee machine, brewing him up a black Americano with an extra shot, exactly how he liked it.
“Put another shot in please, Wren. Could do with the caffeine this morning.”
Wren obliged and handed him the takeaway cup. “On the house, honey. Take it easy on the new girl, yeah?”
Callan raised it in salute. “You got it.”
Aidy and Miles were already there, midway through appointments and both of them waved. Callan’s eyes were drawn to the reception podium that was festooned with streamers, balloons, and glittery table decorations. Pearl came down the stairs, a massive grin on her face.
“Your idea?” he asked.
“Of course. Means I don’t have to do it anymore, so I’m celebrating.”
“You might need to help out a bit until Alicia gets used to it,” warned Callan.
“Whatever. I’m only doing it because you’re such a nice boss. I’ll stop at lunchtime.”
The door opened, and they both looked over to see Alicia standing there. She looked gorgeous, almost mirroring his outfit of skinny black jeans, but she wore hers with a black peasant top topped with a cropped denim jacket. Her dark chocolate brown hair was tousled as if she’d just got out of bed.
“I see you got the memo about the uniform,” said Callan, gesturing to his own clothes.
“I didn’t know there was one? Aidy didn’t say anything about it.” Alicia frowned.
“There isn’t. We seemed to have dressed the same this morning.” Callan floundered. “Hey, come on in.” He gestured to the podium. “As you can see, we’re ready for you.”
Her gaze swept over the decorations as she walked towards him. “That’s some welcome.”
Callan didn’t know whether to shake her hand, hug her, or kiss her on the cheek. Somewhere along the line it all got a bit messed up and he nearly kissed her on the lips. “Sorry, that was, I didn’t mean…”
“Don’t worry about it,” she said at the same time.
