“No, no it’s fine, I’m sure I’ll be all right.”
“Well then,” said Alison, “I’ll leave you to get settled in. You know where I am if you need me.”
“Thanks,” said Cat, taking in her surroundings as Alison walked off. She should have realised, they wouldn’t have put two desks in here after all if she was meant to be on her own and there’s no way they would give someone in admin their own room. She started to unpack her few belongings – a framed picture of her and Graham on their wedding day, a coffee mug and some home stationery – and decided to settle in.
****
The following week was one of the most boring she’d ever had to endure. She had no doubt that Alison meant well, but separated from the rest of the workforce like she was, it was difficult to ingratiate herself with her co-workers. She didn’t tend to drink more than two or three cups of coffee a day and the work she was completing was relatively straightforward so there were hardly any queries to bring up. All of which meant she had no reason other than boredom to leave the room and she didn’t want to make herself look work shy on her first week.
Consequently, each day crawled past at a snail’s pace and became increasingly tedious as the hours ticked by. When Friday finally came around, she felt as though she was losing brain cells with each second that went past and had seriously considered throwing in the towel, but when she vented her frustrations at Graham that night, he talked her out of it.
“Come on,” he said, “It’s only been a week. You can’t give up this early.”
“I know,” she said, “But it’s just so boring! I do nothing but file things all day and there’s no-one to talk to! I feel like I’m going to go mad.”
“It can’t be that bad,” he replied, looking at her with that sympathetic glimmer in his eyes that had first made her fall in love with him, “Besides, aren’t you getting a roommate next week?”
“Yes, the area manager,” she sighed, “The boss himself, I’m sure that’ll be loads of fun!”
“You never know,” he said, “they might be perfectly decent. Besides, even if they’re the most bookish, pedantic jobsworth in the world, it’ll be better than being on your own.”
“I guess you’re right,” she said considering his words, they did have bills to pay after all, “And if I don’t like him at least I’ll still be taking home a wage until I can find something better.”
“Exactly,” said Graham as he put his arm round her and pulled her close to him, “How bad can it be?”
She lay against his chest and listened to his heartbeat, how bad could it be?
****
When Monday came around she had dreaded going back into that cramped little room and squeezing herself behind that desk for five whole days. She was not looking forward to having to share the room with her new boss either and had mental images of a flashy, arrogant asshole to put up with, so when he stepped in to the room about ten minutes after her, she had to do a double take.
He was a huge man, standing at over six feet tall with broad shoulders and a barrel chest. Not only that, but she knew him, it was her friend Gemma’s father. And he recognised her too.
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