Time for a Change Read online

  Time for a change

  Diane Collier

  Copyright 2012

  Copyright © 2012 Diane Collier - All rights reserved.This Kindle book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited.

  Sally sighed and rolled her eyes as she dropped the phone back into its cradle. This is a disaster, she thought to herself. A calamity! She tapped her short fingernails against the desk in frustration and sighed again. She couldn’t see a solution to her current problem and it was frustrating the heck out of her. If only she had a magic wand. And knew how to use it.Flicking her dark hair over her shoulders she let out a loud groan and stood up, almost toppling her chair over in the process. Coffee. She needed coffee and some time to think. And a holiday. She probably needed a long holiday somewhere exotic and exciting. She was almost completely over this crap job and her currently crap life and a break was called for.

  As she walked to the nearby coffee station she tried to work out how much leave was due to her and came up with a disappointingly small number. She automatically greeted her co-workers with smiles, nods and small waves as she walked past them, but she was so deep in thought that she didn’t really register any of it.

  Her mother was right.

  As this thought crossed her mind, she came to a complete stop in the narrow passageway, almost causing an accident with her manager, Andrea, who had been following closely, also on a coffee mission. After apologizing several times, Sally went back to her coffee task.

  Working in a call center wasn’t the most ideal job for her. She was mostly bored with smatterings of frustration and often fantasized about a more exciting career, day dreaming instead of capturing data. Her talents were wasted in what she fondly referred to as Hell With Fluorescent Lighting. She really needed to find a new career path, something that challenged and stimulated her mind.

  Settling back at her desk, Sally narrowly escaped tipping her mug of coffee over her keyboard and decided to celebrate this small achievement by checking her emails again.

  An email popped up and when she saw who the sender was, Sally groaned out loud making her neighbors glance her way in surprise.

  She loved her mother, really she did, but the woman kept setting her up on blind dates. She was deeply upset at the fact that Sally had reached the ancient age of twenty-eight without finding a suitable husband and producing a string of grandchildren for her. A woman’s place was in the home, she told Sally frequently, not gallivanting around and working in an office.

  The blind dates her mother dug up for her were mostly horrible. Sally thought back. There was the man, apparently wealthy, who’d declared his deep, deep feelings for her on the first and only date. He’d wanted to start discussing their future before they’d even ordered dessert. That had creeped Sally out immediately.

  Then there was the guy who’d had such deep social issues that he’d only been able to speak to her through a sock puppet which he’d brought to dinner. Dessert? She hadn’t gotten past a starter. When his sock puppet had leered down the waitress’s top, Sally had walked out. No words were sufficient to cover that experience.

  Another date had been with an accountant (smart and financially sound, according to mom) who had used a calculator to work out their dinner bill, informing Sally that she needed to pay for the whole bottle of wine since he’d only had water with his dinner. There had been no dessert. Unimpressive to say the least.

  In the past five years or so, she’d dated dozens of men at her mother’s insistence and not one had made her want a second date. She was now officially done. She’d dated more than her fair share of freaks, losers and chauvinists. It was time to stand up for herself and say No! It was past time that she let her mother know that she wasn’t going on any more dodgy dates.

  Brought out of her daydream by a small commotion nearby, she peered over her partition to see what was going on. A man was standing near the photocopier, talking to her Andrea. He was glancing around the office with a frown on his face, apparently very unhappy about something. This was not what was causing the commotion however. It was the fact that he could be a double for Robert Downy Junior.

  He was gorgeous!

  The female hormones in the room tripled as most of her co-workers suddenly became aware of him and went into mating mode. Sally sighed and sat back down. There was no point in looking because he’d never even notice her. Not that she was unattractive. She’d been told by many people that she was, in fact, quite pretty. One memorable date had even pointed out to her that if she simply skipped dessert she could even attain the slim body that he just knew she dreamed about. The date had ended soon after that. There was no dessert offered.

  Yes, she was a little plump, but far from over weight. She had curves, dammit. She liked not being skinny. She had a narrow waist, curvy hips and very nice breasts. Heads turned when she walked past, if only to admire her rear.

  No, Sally thought to herself, he was just not the kind of man that would be interested in her. He was beautiful, standing there looking all powerful in his dark suit and white shirt. The red tie screamed confidence and power all the way across the room.

  Unable to resist what may very well be her last look at him, she pushed her chair back again to peer over the partition at him. As she stood, the chair hooked on a bump in the carpet tile and her knees buckled sending her forward onto her desk. Coffee quickly coated the desk and flowed over her keyboard and mouse. Her favorite mug rolled onto the floor, breaking into many pieces, sending a sharp shard into the arch of her foot.

  “Ouch!” The sharp pain startled her and as she looked down the little trickle of blood caught her eye. She quickly forgot about the coffee stain on the front of her skirt and the computer equipment she’d just destroyed and focused on the thin line of red that was sliding down her foot into her strappy shoe. Blood! She couldn’t stand it. Her head felt like it was spinning and the sudden dizzy spell sent her tipping backwards onto her chair.

  As she landed on her backside on the chair, it dislodged from the little bump on the mat and rolled backwards into the passageway, straight into him.

  Through a haze, she looked up at him, unable to speak for fear of being ill. Behind him, Sally could see Andrea glaring at her, gesturing wildly and she was still helpless to move. Her head felt woozy and she had a sharp pain in her foot. And she felt quite sick.

  People were speaking, clamoring around her, wanting to see what the fuss was about and someone else was shooing them all back to their desk. Sally heard the man, as if from a mile away, asking her if she was okay and she shook her head to say no. She managed to lean forward enough to grab her waste paper bin and to her extreme embarrassment was sick.

  The upside was that she no longer felt dizzy or faint. The downside was that she was sitting holding a bucket that smelled bad while the most beautiful man she’d ever seen knelt at her feet. She glanced up at him through her eyelashes and grimaced.

  “Much better thanks,” she replied to his earlier question, taking a deep breath to fortify herself. He was examining her foot, to see how bad the injury was and turned to Andrea and demanded to know where the first aid kit was. When Andrea, who wasn’t exactly Boss Of The Year, stammered and looked around the room, unable to answer, the man got to his feet and turned to her.

  He spoke so quietly that not even Sally could hear, but Andrea’s response was instant. Her spine stiffened and she walked quickly to find some paper towels. Several minutes later, Sally was still sitting in her chair with her foot propped on his bended knee feeling like Cinderella. He’d dabbed and examined the small wound for remaining glass and had smiled ruefully up at her when he’d recommended seeing a doctor a
bout cleaning and possibly one small stitch.

  “No. Thank you but no. I don’t do stitches. As you can see, I don’t do the whole blood thing either. This will be fine. I’ll get some sticking plasters and antiseptic and do it at lunch time. I’ll be fine, really I will. You’ve been marvelous. So very helpful. Much appreciated, I can assure you. No doctor. No stitches.”

  She wondered if she sounded as hysterical as she felt at that moment.

  “Geeze, you’ve gone pale again. Are you planning to faint or get sick again?” He looked genuinely concerned. He looked relieved when she shook her head and gently pressed the paper towel against her foot again. Why was he still holding her foot, she thought to herself. Also, who the hell was he? He was speaking to Andrea again. Sally saw Andrea nodding in agreement, clearly very concerned about this man’s opinion and suggestions.

  Andrea smiled at her coldly.

  “Well, it seems that you’ll be leaving for the day. Do get better soon.” Her voice was dripping with sarcasm and meanness as she picked up Sally’s handbag and put it in her hands.

  “I am?” Sally asked, more confused than ever.

  “Yes you are,” replied her new friend. “I’m taking you to have this looked at,” he sounded like he wasn’t taking any arguments about it either. Then his voice changed, became kinder. “I’ll make sure they don’t hurt you.” She felt like a small child.

  He helped her to her feet. “Are you able to walk properly?”

  “Yes,” she answered, annoyed. Just who was this man who was taking control of her and forcing her to go places she didn’t want to go? As he helped her to the elevator, gently holding her elbow and guiding her as if she were infirm, Sally couldn’t help but enjoy the moment. She was getting glares from all directions as her co-workers clearly thought she’d staged the whole thing. As if she could! Not even with months of planning could she have pulled that off, she thought. But how well did it work out?

  Not only did he look delectable, he smelled fantastic too, she thought to herself. It was impossible not to smell him considering that he was still holding on to her and they were confined in the elevator.

  “Excuse me,” she said turning to him. “I don’t mean to appear rude, but just who are you and where are you taking me?” Polite to the end, her mom would be proud.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry.” He sounded genuinely contrite. “I’m Tony. I thought it best to get your foot checked out by a doctor so I’m taking you to the closest emergency room.” They both glanced down at her foot. It didn’t look as bad as he’d made it seem.

  “Maybe the emergency room is a bit extreme?” Sally wondered out loud.

  “Maybe a bit. But I’d still like you to get it looked at. I know you expressed some concerns earlier.” They’d reached the underground parking and he was guiding her towards a sleek black car. He pressed his key and the car beeped. Tony helped her into the car and closed the door. As he got into the driver’s seat, her turned to her. “How about we compromise. I’ll take you to your family doctor instead of the E.R. and I’ll stay with you and make sure he doesn’t hurt you.”

  Sally sighed at the inevitable. He wasn’t giving up. There wasn’t a chance in hell that she was letting him take her to the family doctor. The doctor was family. Her father. No way, no how was she going in there with this stranger. She knew it would only take moments after the visit for her mother to hear every detail from her father and it wouldn’t be long before she’d get the phone call.

  She wanted to avoid that phone call at any cost.

  “The hospital is close by. Just take me to the E.R.” Sounding less than grateful, she folded her arms across her chest and winced at a painful twinge in her foot. “Bossy,” she mumbled under her breath. There was small snort from the driver’s side of the car.

  Forms filled in and waiting, Sally sat beside Tony in the waiting room in silence. Before long her name was called and he stood up with her.

  “Where are you going?” she asked in an urgent whisper.

  “I’m coming with you, remember? I promised not to leave you.” He flashed her a grin that made her knees weak and walked beside her, holding her elbow gently as she limped forward. When she was perched on the exam table and she’d taken off her shoe, he held it for her, hooking the strap over a finger.

  “So, remind me again Tony, what is it exactly that you were doing at the lovely offices of Fincor this morning? I know you don’t work there, I think I’d have remembered seeing you around.” Another grin from him. It occurred to her then that she’d been in his company for about an hour or so and this was the first time she’d thought to find this out.

  “I’m the new financial manager for the Fincor group.” Her gasp was loud in the room. “Yes, technically I’m your boss. I’m Andrea’s boss too,” he said with a wry smile.

  “So…” A thought suddenly occurred to her. “You’re here to make sure I’m okay?”

  “That’s right.” He nodded and swung her shoe slowly from the end of his finger.

  “Right.” She was brusque now, the previous friendly banter forgotten. He’d come along to make sure she wasn’t going to take more time off than necessary, or drain the company medical aid (which she didn’t belong to anyway) or try and sue them for a work related injury. “Well, you can leave now. I’m fine, as you can see. Fincor needn’t worry, I will be back at work tomorrow and my insurance will cover this. Your money is safe.” She looked away feeling embarrassed. How stupid of her to think he could be there because he was concerned about her. He was there to protect his stupid company money.

  “Ah. Like that is it?” He raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. “I think I’ll just wait and see, decide for myself.”

  The doctor came in then and they fell silent.

  “So, let’s see what you’ve done to yourself,” he said to Sally, helping her to lift her foot to the table. As gentle as he was, she had to look away and was gripping the table tightly with both hands. As the doctor cleaned the area with something stinging, she felt tears spring to her eyes. It hurt, dammit! This is why she stayed away from doctors! “My dear,” the doctor was speaking to her again. “I’m happy to tell you that it’s not very serious. I’m going to clean it out properly and make sure there’s nothing left in that little hole you made. Then I’ll close it with tape, it will leave less of a scar on your pretty foot, and one quick tetanus injection and you’re done.”

  All Sally heard was injection. She felt her palms begin to sweat and her heart started racing. The sound of her blood was roaring in her ears and she let out a small whimper. Tony was instantly next to her.

  “Look at me,” he was saying. “Look at me, Sally. It will be fine. It will be over quickly. I’m here to take care of you remember.” His voice was soothing as he tried to calm her. She hated needles. The thought of someone jabbing something sharp into her flesh made her ill. Sally stared into his eyes.

  Chocolate, she thought. His eyes are the color of dark chocolate. He was standing so close to her that she could see each individual eyelash that framed his eyes. The smile that was supposed to reassure her only served to make him more attractive and for a moment she forgot what she was supposed to be unhappy about. It felt like a rainbow had exploded in the room. The sudden pain in her foot brought her crashing back to reality

  “Ouch!” she squealed.

  His gaze never left her face. “Sally. Focus on me.” She looked into his eyes again and without hearing his words, listened to the deep soothing sounds of his voice. The doctor was poking and dabbing at the little wound and Sally could see the concern on Tony’s face as he watched the expression of pain cross hers.

  “Ouch,” she whispered, tears filling her eyes.

  He said nothing, simply stepped closer and put his arms around her, drawing her close in a hug. Suddenly Sally forgot why she was there or what she was supposed to be doing. His arms felt strong and warm around her, shielding her from the outside. She could smell his aftershave or cologne even more now a
nd she closed her eyes and breathed deeply. Her ear rested against his chest and she could hear the steady thump of his heart beating, strong and sure.

  When she heard the doctor ask his nurse to pass him the syringe for the tetanus shot, she flinched. This wasn’t going to be pretty or easy for any of them.

  Tony leaned closer to her ear. “He’s going to give you a shot now.”

  “I know,” Sally mumbled and tensed her leg up, prepared for the jab in her foot.

  “Um, no. It doesn’t go in your foot. You may want to stand up for this. This one goes into your buttock.” Sally lifted her head in shock and glared at the doctor who smiled back at her smugly.

  “What?”

  Tony took her by the hand and helped her to stand facing him. Behind her back, he rolled his eyes at the doctor as if he was humoring her. “You can hold onto me while you get the shot, okay?”

  Sally nodded and leaned against him. The nurse helped her to unzip her skirt and pulled it aside far enough to reveal her lacy g-string. As the doctor swabbed with an alcohol wipe and then prepared to jab her, Sally looked up at him, grimacing in anticipation. Tony leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, taking her by complete surprise and distracting her enough that she was barely aware of the needle puncturing her flesh. She felt a jolt of electricity flow through her, like nothing she’d felt before and looked closely at him to see if he’d felt it too.

  A small frown furrowed his brow, as if he was confused by something.

  Five minutes later she was storming out of the hospital and looking for her phone in her bag. She’d have to call someone to come and fetch her but really! The absolute cheek of the man! He was so worried about his precious bottom line when he did his financial reports that he was prepared to compromise himself … and her!... and kiss her! Sally was fuming. She was so angry she could hardly speak so when she heard Tony behind her, calling her name, she didn’t turn around or reply. Seeing a cab, she climbed in and shut the door behind her.