Hidden Within Read online

  Thankfully, Amanda paused and suggested we should take a break, almost everyone rose from the table and drifted over to a water cooler. Once the crowd had diminished slightly, I filled my plastic cup, turned and almost immediately was faced with a tall, well-built man with sandy hair that flicked just slightly over the collar of his shirt.

  “I’m so sorry,” I apologised, glancing down at his broad chest, hoping not to see any watermarks.

  He smiled , it was a friendly, genial smile,

  “No need to apologise, I’m Matt, and you are...” he peered at the badge Amanda had forcibly placed on the lapel of my blouse earlier,” Carrie....good to meet you,” he stretched out his hand, which I shook warmly.

  “Shall we ?” he said, indicating towards a large bay window where there were two leather chairs either side of a small, round glass table, I followed him, after carefully pulling out one seat for me, he sat down on the other. He took a long drink from his cup, as I watched, I couldn’t help but notice just how attractive he was, his tanned, smooth skin, his dark blue eyes had a hint of a sparkle when he smiled, which he did a great deal. He leaned back in his chair,

  “So what do you think of all this ?” he asked, pointing at the small heap of handouts Amanda had issued us all with at the beginning of the session.

  “Well, it’s not especially gripping, is it ?” I replied.

  “Something of an understatement,” he agreed firmly. He leant forward and was about to speak again, when a younger man seemed to come out of nowhere and perch on the arm of my chair, making me glance up. He had dark, wavy hair and equally dark eyes, there was a definite hint of mischief in his expression which would have been very attractive, had it not been for his obvious arrogance,

  “Now Matt, don’t dominate this lovely lady’s time, she’s probably bored already without you making it worse, isn’t that right darling ? You should be with a man who’s capable of brightening your day and your night,” he winked, attempting charm, it undoubtedly worked for him usually, but not today, not with me, I had seen that show too often and I knew how it ended,

  “Oh I get what you mean, that’s why I’m sitting here with Matt” I replied drily, ”Now , if you don’t mind........” then turning back to Matt,

  “You were saying ?”

  The younger man snorted but didn’t immediately move, clearly he thought I was being cute,

  “Now don’t be like that you don’t know what you’re missing,” he continued, but I did know, so I quickly resolved to try and ignore him, but it turned out he was as persistent as he was arrogant, because within seconds, I felt his hand land on my leg, I looked up at him,

  “I promise you won’t regret it,” he grinned, flashing a row of almost perfectly-white teeth, I took the edge of his open shirt and pulled him towards my face, he glanced across smugly at an increasingly-uncomfortable Matt,

  “There’s only one thing I want you to promise me..” I began, as suggestively as I could manage through gritted teeth,

  “Anything,” he slimed back, expectantly.

  “That you will never attempt to touch me again,” I replied decisively, glancing down at his hand, which he instantly removed.

  “I’m relieved we now understand each other,” I added politely.

  “Stuck up cow,” he muttered as he got up, I watched as he slid through the crowd effortlessly, with all the cool efficiency of an animal moving in on prey. Within seconds, he was poised at Amanda’s elbow, he whispered something in her ear which resulted in her giggling wildly – obnoxious as he undoubtedly was, I had to admire his tenacity.

  “That’s Alex, we work together,” Matt explained, “Bit of a hit with the ladies.....er usually,” he smiled again.

  “So I see,” I replied, by now, Alex had his hand firmly clamped on Amanda’s rear, he leant in and licked the edge of her ear, she pulled away and playfully hit his chest,

  “You’re terrible,” she said girlishly, “ What am I going to do with you ?”

  Alex muttered something which reduced the hapless Amanda to an almost gibbering wreck.

  “You didn’t seem as impressed with Alex as she is ,” Matt commented wryly.

  I shook my head,

  “Perhaps I’m harder to impress...it comes with age,” I laughed.

  Matt leant forward,

  “Look, this may seem a bit quick, but how would you like to join me for dinner later ?”

  “Well....” I hesitated.

  Matt sat back almost instantly,

  “I shouldn’t have asked..” he said obviously slightly embarrassed..

  “Of course you should,” I replied quickly, as it had not been my intention to hurt his feelings. Matt smiled at me nervously, clearly feeling a little uneasy and I suddenly felt incredibly awkward knowing I was the cause, especially as I had no real idea why I had not jumped at his invitation.

  Fortunately, Amanda restarted the training, which meant returning to our allotted places around the table. Much as I tried to concentrate, every so often, I found myself glancing across the table at Matt. There was no question he was attractive, maybe not in the most obvious way, but there was something undoubtedly good about him, a calm strength, and he did have amazing eyes....so why wasn’t I sitting here imagining being with him ? Why was it, however hard I tried, I couldn’t even begin to fantasise about him ? Suddenly he looked at me, I could feel myself blush slightly, as he now would know I had been looking at him.

  ‘Enough is enough,’ I admonished myself, ‘Get a grip.’

  When we broke for lunch, Amanda recommended the cafe within the building so ‘we didn’t get lost and miss the afternoon session’,

  “That would be just awful,” Matt whispered as we left the room, I chuckled.We found a quiet corner of the bustling cafe and continued with our conversation. He talked about his job, the house he was renovating and a recent trip to Dubai, I sat back and listened, carefully noting he had yet to mention a wife or a girlfriend. He carefully wiped the corner his mouth, after consuming the last mouthful of an over-stuffed Panini,

  “I’m sorry, I haven’t stopped talking, I’ll shut up and you tell me about yourself,” he apologised.

  “There’s nothing very exciting to say really ,” I answered dismissively.

  “Married ?” he asked, staring at me intently.

  I shook my head,

  “No..not anymore,” I replied.

  Despite his self-control, I couldn’t help but notice a slight smile cross his lips at this news.

  “What about you ?” I retorted curiously.

  “No, never found the right woman...” he answered, “Although there have been a few....” he added hurriedly.

  “Only a few ? You surprise me,” I teased gently.

  He laughed again, then took a sip of coffee, suddenly his phone rang,

  “I’d better answer this,” he said, having glanced at the caller ID on the screen. It was then I realised I had left my phone upstairs on the table, supposing Lainie had tried to get in touch, I leapt up, causing the table to rock slightly,

  “Something I said ?” Matt asked anxiously, still holding the unanswered phone in his hand.

  “No, it’s my phone, I’ve left it behind, I’ll be back.”

  I raced to the elevator, inwardly cursing myself for my carelessness, after all, I had delivered a stern lecture about looking after property to Lainie more times than I could remember. As I left the elevator, I looked down the corridor and noted the training room door was shut,

  ‘Dammit,” I muttered, but despite deciding the room was probably locked, I opted to try the door anyway. As I turned the handle, I was sure I heard a voice from inside the room, it was Amanda, relieved, I entered,

  “Sorry to disturb you..I left my....” my voice trailed off, Amanda was perched on the table, her skirt hitched up around her hips, as soon as she saw me, she began desperately buttoning her blouse, Alex was standing between her sprawled legs, his trousers round his ankles, our eyes met, he grinned and
made no attempt to move. However, Amanda was clearly mortified, when it quickly became obvious he was not, she deftly whipped one leg over his head and slipped off the table, still trying to cover herself.

  “Oh my God ! Oh my God ! “ she gasped.

  Alex casually pulled up his trousers, while still staring at me,

  “Don’t stress, Carrie’s a woman of the world, she’s seen it all before,” he oozed, he turned to face me and slowly zipped his fly , briefly pausing to rub his crotch suggestively. Amanda was now almost hysterical, she grabbed her bag to retrieve something only for all the contents to spill all over the floor. She fell on to her knees and scrabbled around trying to stop her belongings from rolling under the filing cabinets that lined one side of the room. Alex seemed oblivious to her distress, he sauntered over to the door, he paused next to me and leant forward,

  “Bet you wish it had been you,” he whispered.

  I just looked at him for a moment,

  “Go away,” I said shortly.

  He shrugged and left the room, I was about to follow, when Amanda, who was still on the floor, suddenly burst into tears,

  “I’m going to get sacked for this.....oh my God !” she sobbed.

  I sighed heavily, knowing there was no way I could leave her in this state, I started helping her collect her belongings from their various hiding places. When I handed them to her, she looked up at me, her mascara had created thin, dark rivers down her peach-like cheeks and her eyes were red.

  “What must you think ?” she sobbed, “When you tell my boss, well, that’ll be it, I’ll be out, it will be goodbye Amanda...oh God what am I going to tell my Mum...” her voice trailed off.

  “For a start, I’m not going to tell anyone,” I began.

  “Why would you do that ?” she asked doubtfully.

  “You made a mistake, Amanda, we all do, believe me, I know...” I said as reassuringly as possible.

  “But Alex ? “ she continued desperately.

  “Alex won’t say anything, and even if he does, all you do, is deny everything..OK ?” I said, sounding like the Mum she had mentioned earlier.

  She sniffed loudly, I helped her up, then smoothed her hair out of her eyes,

  “Now, go and get yourself cleaned up, you’ve got a course to finish,” I said firmly, she was about to argue, but clearly my expression showed it would be futile, so she obediently followed my instruction, only pausing in the doorway to thank me. I picked up my phone, then went back downstairs to Matt in the cafe, almost as I stepped out of the elevator, I bumped into Alex, when he smirked I felt an overwhelming desire to punch him, despite my usual abhorrence of any kind of violence.

  “Hey Carrie,” he said cheerily.

  I took his sleeve and led him forcibly to the revolving door at the entrance,

  “You know, you look quite unwell, I think you should go home,” I said in a low voice.

  “Me ? I’m fine..” he complained, “Oh is this about that silly bitch upstairs ?” he asked grinning. Completely unable to contain my total disgust at this creep, I almost dragged him through the doors into the sunshine,

  “There you are, you’re on your way, now keep going, the station’s that way or get a cab...whichever’s quicker,” I ordered. He looked at me, then shrugged,

  “If you insist, although I will have to inform my boss when I get back about that stupid slapper...”

  “No, you’re not going to say a thing, otherwise, as God is my witness, I will say you sexually harassed not only Amanda but every other woman as well, not to mention the men ,am I making myself clear ?” the harsh tone in my voice taking us both by surprise,

  He raised his hands in surrender,

  “OK, OK...no need to get nasty, it was just a bit of fun,” he replied, clearly slightly unnerved, but he quickly regained his arrogance,

  “Today’s been a bloody bore anyway, glad to be out of it !”

  With that, he strolled away, pausing only to gawp at a pair of young women who were sitting on a bench, I watched him sidle up to them and begin a conversation. I took one last look then raced back into the building to find Matt. I dashed into the cafe, I saw him still sitting at the same table, he was looking completely lost in thought, when he saw me, he seemed relieved.

  “What happened to you ?” he asked.

  “Long story, I got kind of lost,” I answered vaguely.

  “Glad you came back,” he said earnestly, I just smiled,

  “We should be getting back,” I suggested quickly.

  When we returned to the boardroom, I was genuinely impressed to see Amanda had managed to restore herself almost to her former state. As we all filed in, I saw her glancing anxiously at the door, she was obviously waiting for Alex to appear,

  “Oh Amanda, Alex wasn’t feeling well, so he’s had to go home,” I announced trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. She looked vaguely quizzical for a moment, then a broad smile spread across her face,

  “Oh well, the rest of us had better get on then,” she busied herself distributing yet more handouts. I knew Matt was looking at me, I also knew he was far from convinced by Alex’s sudden illness, but clearly chose to say nothing.

  “OK everyone, we’re now going to watch a short film about the correct ways of lifting, so enjoy and afterwards, we can have a lively Q & A, to iron out any of your concerns, OK ?” Amanda looked hopefully round the room for some kind of positive response when none was forth-coming, undaunted,

  “OK then,” she started her introduction to the film, as she walked over to the wall after plunging the room into semi-darkness, she finally stopped talking.Matt was staring intently at the screen, with his attention totally focussed elsewhere, I tried to make sense of how I was feeling, there was no question he was a good-looking guy, but, when I looked at him, there was just something missing.....perhaps he was just too good, after all, I was more used to guys who wanted nothing more from me than a quick grope and a blowjob when they had nothing better to do. I quickly dismissed that thought, it was just too self-pitying, no the truth was much simpler, when I looked at Matt, I saw a man who should be with someone decent like him, and that obviously was not me. I sighed so audibly, the intense woman next , paused momentarily from her scribbling and glanced at me with something resembling vague concern. Desperate to divert her attention, I reached for a drink, pointing at my throat, her sympathetic face changed instantly to an expression of annoyance at the now- seemingly pointless distraction and returned to her notepad.

  The rest of the afternoon drifted by, I even managed to reassure Amanda of Alex’s silence, during a break in the group discussion session. At the end of the day, we all started to disperse, I was now totally preoccupied with trying to decide what to say to Matt, so I was completely unprepared when Amanda grabbed my arm,

  “Can I have a moment ?” she asked urgently.

  Matt glanced first at me, then her,

  “I’ll meet you in the lobby,” he said resignedly.

  As soon as we were alone, Amanda hugged me,

  “I don’t know what to say, thank you so much for everything,” she gushed, then hugged me again. After a few moments, I pulled gently away,

  “That’s alright, and don’t worry, he won’t be saying anything, so no-one will ever know about today, alright,” I said quietly. Amanda hugged me again,

  “You’ve saved me, I don’t know what I was doing really...I didn’t even like him that much, it was just....,” her eyes starting to well with tears.

  “Now don’t start that,” again sounding like her mother, ”It’s all over and there’s no real harm done, OK ?”

  She nodded, I was about to leave when another thought occurred to me,

  “And Amanda, don’t allow a creep like that near you again, you’re worth so much better than him, don’t forget that.”

  She motioned to hug me again, then seeing my reluctant expression, stopped in her tracks, and just nodded. I left her in the boardroom and headed towards the elevator, as I rode d
own, I started to consider whether it was time I took my own advice, after all, maybe I should disregard my initial misgivings and just go to dinner with Matt. It was true, I reasoned, there was nothing like that moment when you’re with someone, just for a split second your eyes meet and it’s like 50,000 volts shooting through you,only a couple more minutes need to go by, before every cell is screaming at you just to touch them....but was that important ?

  “Oh God ! What is wrong with me ?” I groaned, causing the others in the lift to look at me warily, before returning to their own thoughts, probably deciding I was crazy.....and right now, they probably had a point, after all, there was a undeniably gorgeous guy waiting down there for me and, here I was, getting caught up with chemistry.

  Still not sure what to do, I stepped out of the lift, and almost immediately saw Matt, he was idly flicking through a magazine, when he saw me, he tossed it down and walked quickly towards me,

  “Is she alright ?” he asked, genuinely concerned, “I’m guessing Alex....”

  “She’ll be fine,” I answered, “Can we leave it there ? I promised Amanda...”

  Matt raised his hand,

  “Of course, I understand....anyway, about that dinner ?” he began hesitantly. I was just about to answer, when I heard a familiar, gravelly voice,

  “Hey Carrie.”

  It was Frank.

  Matt looked first at him then back to me, clearly hoping I was going to do or say something, to explain the presence of this huge, somewhat sinister-looking, man, in this place, at this time, who, clearly knew me.

  “Carrie ? “ was his only word, as he looked expectantly at me for some kind of explanation. Fortunately, Frank, saw my obviously-vacant expression, stepped forward, his bear-like hand outstretched towards Matt.

  “Hi, Frank Loomis,” he said, firmly shaking Matt’s hand.

  “Matt Croft,” he answered, still bemused, but able to return the greeting.

  “I’m sorry to turn up so unexpected, Carrie, I did try calling first, but there was no answer,” Frank explained apologetically.