Page 1 of Need Him
Chapter 1
Gareth
“We’d like to offer you the position if you’re still interested?”
The words Gareth Tremain had needed to hear were music to his ears, and he tried not to grin like a lunatic as his shoulders relaxed. “Yes, I am. Thank you. I appreciate you taking the chance on me, regardless of my work history.”
The blonde-haired woman smiled, collating the paperwork in front of her. “We believe in giving people as many chances as they’re willing to use. Your extensive, though short-term, past workplaces gave high recommendations. In my experience as a recruiter, employees will stay at a company when they find what they’re looking for.”
Gareth raised his eyebrows. “That’s…”
The woman, Ruby, laughed. “Not how everyone else thinks? Yeah, I know. It’s caused several…fraught meetings between the manager and me over the years.”
“I can imagine.” He rested his hand on his chest. “I appreciate it, though. I won’t let you down.”
“Shall we take a look around, and you can familiarise yourself with the building before you start next week?”
“Sure.”
They wandered down the stairs, chatting about the job and the company itself. Gareth didn’t care what job he did as long as he had money coming in to pay the bills. There was nothing wrong with his past jobs. It was just his need to control things he struggled to let go of. He had hoped, when he applied for this job as a supermarket assistant, it would give him the freedom to do the job but under his own steam. He’d have to wait and see if that happened. He was too set in his ways after too many years of keeping his own head above water.
Ruby showed him through the store, pointing out the major areas he needed to be aware of. He would be mainly stocking shelves and keeping the warehouse in order, though he would be called to the checkouts when it was busy.
“Ah, here’s someone I’d like to introduce you to. Ben, can I borrow you for a moment, please?”
“I do only have a moment, Ruby.”
The voice was low and had a rumble as if the interruption annoyed him and he was restraining a growl. As he faced them, Gareth curbed his need to get closer. The man had black hair, shaved on the sides and longer on the top, showing several grey strands. His black-rimmed glasses, resting on a Roman nose, highlighted the green of his eyes, though did little to hide the bags underneath them. He was clean-shaven, and Gareth found himself wanting to test whether there were prickles coming through at that time of the day.
“Gareth, may I introduce Ben Mycroft, the manager of Market Foods? Ben, this is our newest recruit. Gareth starts next week.”
Definitely not testing those prickles.
“Nice to meet you, Gareth.” Ben gave a perfunctory smile and refocused on Ruby. “I need to get to a meeting, but please send over the current list of new employees as soon as you can. And let me know which staff are due their annual appraisal.”
“Of course.”
He nodded and strode off, Gareth watching his back until he disappeared around a corner.
“He’s not always so abrupt. He’s got a lot on his plate at the moment,” Ruby said with a small smile. “Let me show you the staff areas, and I’ll let you get back to your day.”
The rest of the visit went by quickly, and he said his goodbyes before escaping into the heat of the summer lunchtime rush of the high street. He wore a white shirt, which he unbuttoned and removed, leaving him in a white T-shirt he’d worn for this reason. It had been warm in the meeting with Ruby, but he’d known being outside would be worse in a constricting shirt. He slung the shirt over his shoulder and made his way down the street towards The Pub—an ideal name for a pub, in Gareth’s opinion—where he was meeting Preston.
Preston Miller was a forty-two-year-old man who worked in the same company he’d joined when he left school at sixteen. The car salesman might’ve had different roles within the company, but he had never felt the need to find somewhere new. Gareth gave him plenty of flack for it, but to be honest, it amazed him that anyone could stay in one place that long. Saying that, what Ruby had said made sense. When an employee was happy, they’d be willing to stay where they were. Why rock the sex swing when they didn’t need to?
He passed by the black cast iron tables and chairs sat outside waiting for customers and pushed through the dark wooden door, the light catching against the gold trim around the frosted glass windows. The noise increased a fraction inside, conversation levels higher in the smaller area, but they were manageable.
He strode straight for the table they always tried to sit at and found Preston waiting for him.
“Hey, man. How are you?” he asked, leaning in for a back-slapping hug before sitting opposite him.
“Good, good. Did you get the job?” Preston’s bushy black eyebrows raised as his deep blue eyes bore into him.
Gareth grinned. “I did. Start Monday.” He laid his shirt over the back of the chair next to him.
“Nice one. I don’t know how you charm all these companies to take you on. You’re a menace.” Preston chuckled, swiping his beer from the table and gulping the frothy brew.
Gareth shrugged. “They must know they can’t survive without me.”
