“My goodness,” he said, a smile coming easily to his face, “Is that you Catherine?”
“Hello Mr. Hembry,” she replied shyly.
“Please Catherine, we’re going to be working together, call me CJ,” he said effortlessly and suddenly, she was a sixteen year old again. She’d had a crush on Gemma’s dad as a schoolgirl, but hadn’t seen him since he drove both girls home from their graduation dance. She’d got herself doled up as glamorously as possible that night but he’d barely looked at her twice and now here he was, standing right in front of her. He had a few more grey hairs, but otherwise looked the same.
“Okay CJ, nice to see you again.”
“You too,” he replied, still smiling at her warmly.
Once they’d got over the initial pleasantries, Cat was pleased to find that she and CJ got on remarkably and they didn’t stop chatting for the entire day. She told him about her life since she’d last seen him, how she’d spent a year trekking through South America after she’d graduated from school and then gone to University when she returned home. She also told him about how she’d met Graham right at the end of her course, fallen in love and eventually married him, then pretty much everything that led to her putting in a job application. She found that he was easy to talk to, he listened attentively and seemed to value every word she said.
She was sad to hear about how his marriage had collapsed a few years ago. She knew about the divorce of course, Gemma had told her about it, but to hear first-hand how it unfolded and seeing the lingering traces of regret in him as he discussed it was tough. He still had a healthy relationship with his daughter though and also seemed very proud of the company he was in charge of.
He told her how he was one of the three senior partners, but had drawn the short straw when deciding which building they’d all be working out of and wound up here, although he did say that seeing her sat opposite him made it seem less like a bad position now. She’d laughed at that and called him an “old smoothie” which he seemed to like. They chatted so effortlessly that the hours flew by and for the first time, Cat left the office genuinely looking forward to work the next day.
The next couple of weeks followed just as easily. Graham couldn’t help but comment on how she seemed to be enjoying her new job and even teased her a little bit about the “lecherous old man perving over her,” which made them both laugh. What she didn’t tell him though was that their conversation had started getting a bit racy recently. She would never do anything of course, but as their friendship developed more innuendos and cheeky jokes worked their way into their everyday chats. It gave her a bit of a thrill actually, she’d fantasised about him more than once as a teenager, so to suddenly reconnect with him as an adult and flirt every day made her feel rather naughty. Sometimes she wondered if exchanging double-entendres with her friend’s dad was a bad idea but on the rare occasions she gave it a second thought, she brushed her doubts away. It was just harmless flirting after all, it was only fun to pass the time and no-one would ever know, what harm could it possibly do?
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