Chapter 5
My head swivelled around, keen to establish who was interrupting us. The voice sounded rather familiar, and I had a sinking feeling I knew who it was. And I was right.
Standing in front of us was none other than Jocasta Jennings, the new Paralegal from the firm. All bouncy strawberry blonde hair and pouty lips. She was dressed in an alluring little number, top cut down to her navel, skirt up to her nether regions and smelling like she had taken a shower in Chanel.
It was fair to say she wasn’t my favourite person. She had only been at the firm for a few months, but we had never hit it off from the get-go.
It wasn’t the fact that at 34 she was 15 years younger than me that I disliked. OK, I wasn’t exactly thrilled by the fact; no woman likes to feel they’re getting older. But seeing Jocasta sashay around the boardroom handing out case notes like a modern-day Marilyn Monroe made me feel about as ancient as Methuselah’s mother.
It was more her faux doe-eyed innocence that really got my goat. She dressed like a 50s pin-up, oozing sex appeal in every outfit she wore. Without a doubt she dressed strictly for the male gaze. She was the type of woman who would purposely wear a wrap-around skirt on a windy day.
Yet she patently portrayed herself to be such a helpless innocent little soul. Fluttering her false eyelashes at all and sundry and coming across like butter wouldn’t melt. Wouldn’t melt? Hah, it would sodding well sizzle. She wasn’t fooling me for a minute. She was quite clearly pretending to be all sweetness and light. She was over thirty, not quite in the first flush of youth after all, recently divorced and already one ex-boyfriend under her belt.
She was now in a new career where she obviously wanted to make her mark; plus the fact that somehow feminism seemed to have completely passed her by.
I reckoned that Jocasta saw other women as a threat that had to be neutralised. I certainly didn’t think she had ever heard of “girl code”. I knew she was far cannier than she made out. This woman was my adversary, I was convinced of it. Not a girl’s girl by any means, and someone I needed to be extremely wary of.
“Jocasta, how absolutely lovely to see you.”
My lying voice was the embodiment of thrilled delight as I snapped my compact shut. Shit! The way I could fib, I really was a lawyer.
Jocasta’s green eyes narrowed slightly as they flicked between me and Seb. Her forehead furrowed as if she found something puzzling and not exactly to her liking. Maybe she was trying to add two plus two in her head; anyway, it was clear from her expression that something wasn’t adding up for her.
“Sebastian…Lila, are you two on a date?”
“Absolutely not.”
I jumped in quick before Seb could have a chance to answer. I was nipping that straight in the bud.
“We’ve just been at a work event, a fashion show in the hotel down the road and popped in here for a quick drink.”
Jocasta took in the arrangement of drained lipstick-stained martini glasses abandoned on the table with a knowing smile. Damn that waiter, the service really had been below par today. There was a twinkle in her beautifully made-up eyes, all bronze eyeshadow and sparkly highlighter.
“That’s interesting to know. Have fun and I’ll see you at the grindstone on Monday.”
Why on earth would she find that so interesting?
I watched as she sauntered, or rather slithered away to meet her date, a rather oily-looking chap in an expensive suit. Her skimpy outfit gave the whole bar a glimpse at next week’s washing.
I turned towards Seb, ready to make a witty remark about gold-diggers, but the words died in my mouth. He was staring at her departing form in the same way he had eyed up his chip butty. I felt a weird churning feeling in the pit of my stomach that I couldn’t quite put my finger on. Maybe I was still hungry? Or the alcohol wasn’t sitting well. I wasn’t sure what it was, but something had just made me feel very off indeed.