Chapter 18
MOLLY
A few days pass after the board meeting disaster and my telling off.
The days are uneventful – I’m extra careful, and I haven’t made any mistakes.
Mind you, there hasn’t been any board meetings.
There have been several client meetings though and I have managed to give both the client and Joshua drinks without getting them wrong or spilling them so there’s that.
Still though, when Joshua calls my name through his open office door, I assume I’m in trouble.
I head into his office ready for a dressing down, but instead, Joshua glances up from his computer screen when I appear in his doorway.
“I know it’s short notice, but I need you to make me a lunch reservation. A table for two for today. Somewhere nice. I want to impress this guy. If we get his business, it’s going to be worth a lot of money for the firm,” he says.
“I’ll get on it now,” I tell him.
It's a simple enough task; one I can handle without issue, but the small problem I have is that I have no idea which local restaurants are classed as nice. I know the really exclusive places, but there’s no chance of getting a table at one of them with such short notice, so it’s going to have to be somewhere nice but not famous.
I think for a moment and then I make a decision and instead of going back to my desk as I leave Joshua’s office, my mind ticking over already, I head back to my old workstation.
I arrive to an enthusiastic greeting from Patty and Frieda and a cold smile that feels more like a threat than a greeting from Sarah.
“Can I ask a favor?” I ask.
Frieda and Patty both nod their heads. I don’t even bother looking at Sarah. I know she’s not exactly going to be in the line of people who will help me.
“I need to book a table for lunch time today, somewhere nice,” I say. “I don’t really know the places around here. Any suggestions?”
“Is it for a client meeting or a board thing?” Frieda asks.
“A potential new client,” I say. “Mr Redfern told me to book somewhere nice and that this is an important person.”
Frieda thinks for a moment.
“Arrici,” she says after a moment. “It’s nice and the food is lovely. It’s always fully booked for dinner, but it’s usually quiet at lunch time. Try there.”
“I will, thank you,” I say.
“Hang on a second,” she says.
She opens her top drawer and takes out a leather-bound organizer and from that, she takes a black and gold business card. She writes something down on a piece of paper and holds it out to me.
“That’s their number,” she says.
“Thank you. I owe you one,” I say, taking the paper from her.
As I leave the room, Sarah surprises me by smiling at me and this time, it looks like a real smile. Well as close as Sarah gets to a real smile at least.
“It’s really nice there,” she says. “My sister works there.”
“If I can’t get a table, I’ll come back for you then,” I say, returning her smile.
“Feel free,” she says.
I go back to my desk, feeling pretty good now that even Sarah seems to be getting over herself and being reasonably friendly.
I sit down and then I lift the receiver of my desk phone up.
I type in the number Frieda has given me and bring the receiver up to my face.
I listen to the phone ringing down the line.
It rings for a fairly long time, and I’m about to give up and try again later when my call is finally answered.
“Arrici, Melanie speaking, how can I help you,” the person who answers the phone says.
“Hi,” I say. “Is there any chance of a table for two for lunch today? I’m sorry for the short notice.”
“Hold on one moment please,” Melanie says, and the line goes quiet. After a few seconds, Melanie speaks again. “I can get you in for a one o’clock sitting. Is that ok for you?”
“That’s perfect, thank you,” I say.
“Table for two at one o’clock,” Melanie reiterates. “And what name should I put the reservation under?”
“Redfern,” I say.
“Got it,” Melissa says. “So that’s a table for two at one o’clock, name of Redfern.”
“Yes,” I say. “Thank you.”
We say our goodbyes and I put the receiver back down and I get up and go to Joshua’s office door. It’s still open and he looks up when I reach the doorway.
“I got you a one o’clock booking at Arrici,” I say. “The reservation is under Redfern.”
“Great. Thank you, Molly,” he says, and I go back to my desk, trying to pretend I don’t feel a tingle go through my body when he says my name.
By the time Joshua’s lunch with the potential client rolls around, I’m feeling pretty pleased with myself. I’m not far from sorting out a pile of old files and digitizing them. I reckon another half an hour or so and I’ll be done.
I get the job finished and I have moved onto another task when I see Joshua coming along the hallway after his lunch. I’m still feeling good, and I smile widely at him as he reaches my desk.
He not only doesn’t return my smile, but he looks absolutely livid when he looks at me.
"Molly. My office. Now," he says and again, he sounds absolutely livid too.
I barely have time to set down my pen before I’m following him into his office, my stomach knotting with nerves. I have no idea what I’ve done wrong, and I can only hope it’s some sort of misunderstanding.
Joshua tells me to close the door behind me, which I do.
He goes to his desk, but he doesn’t sit down.
Instead, he leans his ass against the desk and folds his arms. He looks at me and his face is still full of thunder.
His eyes seem darker when he’s angry, and it reminds me of how dark they go when he’s turned on.
God, Molly, don’t be thinking about that now, I think to myself.
"Do you still think your little joke was funny?" Joshua demands and I’m pulled rudely back into the moment.
Maybe this is going to be a misunderstanding after all, because I know I haven’t played any jokes on Joshua. I’m not that stupid. I blink at him.
"What joke?" I ask.
He exhales sharply, clearly frustrated, like he thinks I know exactly what he’s talking about and I’m just choosing to drag this out. When he sees that I’m waiting for an answer with a blank expression on my face, he rolls his eyes.
“You’re going to make me say it I see,” he says.
“I thought we might have been able to do this the easy way, but it seems you’ve chosen the hard way.
I’m talking about the reservation you made for lunch.
You booked it under the name Redfart. Now to be clear, I wouldn’t have found that funny anyway, but what made it worse is that the potential client overheard the hostess say it when they arrived. "
I feel my face drain of color. There’s absolutely no way I said that.
"What? No. I didn’t say that I swear. I would never think that was funny,” I say. “The person I spoke to on the phone must have made a mistake when they put the name in the system.”
“Really?” Joshua says, looking even more pissed off, something I would have said was impossible a few seconds ago. “You’re seriously going to try and blame the restaurant staff?”
I stop, realizing I’m just annoying him more and that I’m going to have to just take this on the chin and not let him think it wasn’t me, even though I don’t think it was.
But it could have been, I guess. I mean I could have misspoken just as easily as the person on the phone could have made a mistake entering the name on the system.
It’s not like she was going to question the name because that would have sounded rude if it was that.
"Oh my God,” I say finally. “I swear if I said that, it was a total accident. I would never do that on purpose. I agree it’s not in the least bit funny."
His jaw tightens.
"Do you expect me to believe that?" he says.
"Yes," I say desperately. "I must have said it wrong without realizing. It wasn’t a joke, I promise."
Joshua studies me for a long moment before sighing. He runs a hand through his hair, looking more exasperated than furious now.
"Fine. I believe you. Although it’s almost worse that this wasn’t a joke. You realize why this is a problem?" he says.
I swallow hard and nod my head.
"Yes. I know,” I say. “I'm so sorry."
“Don’t let it happen again. I’m only being lenient this time because it didn’t stop the client signing with us. If it had, then we would be having a very different conversation,” Joshua says.
“You got the client?” I say, risking a small smile. He nods his head. “Congratulations.”
"Thank you,” he says rather gruffly. “Now make sure no one hears about this latest incident. If that nickname somehow spreads around the office, you’re fired."
I nod frantically.
"I understand," I say quickly.
He watches me for a second longer before shaking his head and muttering to himself.
"Redfart. Jesus Christ."
I fight the urge to groan. I’m never going to live this down.