Chapter 21
I cast a disinterested look at Adam as he entered the kitchen. The July heat was becoming unbearable, and I was fanning myself with my hand. The technician who’d come to fix the air con had just made things worse, and it had now completely stopped working. Upstairs and in the meeting room, we were using desk fans, but we hadn’t put any in the kitchen. Not that they made much of a difference, but I decided to go out and buy some more later. The technician wasn’t expected back until next week.
In planned maintenance, summer months tended to be the quietest due to the residents being on holiday themselves. So I’d had no qualms about letting Ritha leave for India to visit family and Ricardo take a few weeks of paternity leave. But then Jordan had called in sick again, and with three team members away, there was simply too much work – I couldn’t leave it all to Jake. This week, I’d even gone out on site to do some measures myself to keep on top of everything.
I’d come downstairs as I was in desperate need of some caffeine to keep me going for the rest of the day. In this melting weather, I craved iced coffee instead of a hot brew, but we didn’t keep such fancy drinks in the staff fridge. Deflated, I turned to the kettle.
‘Why are you here?’ I asked Adam while preparing my drink. ‘Aren’t you off this week? You’re the one who keeps saying you have a life outside work.’
‘I do – that’s exactly why I’m here.’
‘I don’t get it.’
‘I’m waiting for the boys to finish their end-of-day checks. We’re going to hit the pub to watch football. The World Cup starts at six.’
‘Good for you,’ I said and turned back to pour milk into my coffee. ‘But aren’t you early? It’s only four.’
‘I just popped in to say hi.’
I suspected it had more to do with trying to avoid commuter rush hours and being squashed on the Tube. If they were going to drink and Adam was sensible, he’d be using public transport rather than driving today.
‘I’ll go and wait for them at the bar,’ he added. ‘So which team did you get?’
‘Excuse me?’
‘Which football team did you get?’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
‘Everyone in the office has been randomly allocated two teams – Selena picked them blind,’ he explained. ‘And we all put a pound in the pot, and the one with the winning team gets the money.’
‘Well, I don’t have one.’
‘Did they leave you out? How naughty of them,’ he said, sounding like a strict school principal. ‘They must have thought you weren’t interested.’
‘I’m not interested.’
He put a tiny paper slip with a black, yellow, and red flag next to my mug. ‘Here you go,’ he told me. ‘I had two of the better ones. You can have Germany; I’ve still got Brazil.’
‘I don’t need it.’
‘Come on – it’s just some fun.’
I sighed. ‘Fine, I’ll give you a pound.’
‘It’s okay.’
‘I don’t want to owe you anything.’
‘No, I like the idea of you owing me again,’ he said, and his usual wink followed.
‘But only to the value of a pound,’ I pointed out. ‘Or technically just 50p as I only have one team.’
‘Better than nothing… Do you want to come and watch some football with us? ’
‘I think I’ll pass. I’ve got a lot to catch up on. Ricardo and Ritha are off…’
I expected a fight with him about me working too hard, but surprisingly, he didn’t put one up this time.
‘Well, if you change your mind, we’ll be at the Three Kings, just down the road. Can you let the guys know I’ll wait for them there?’ he asked, but he was out the door before I could reply.
*
I’d barely been at my desk for twenty minutes when the internal line used for visitors reporting their arrival rang. By the time I realised Jenny wasn’t at her desk, and Ardas, the only other person upstairs, was unlikely to answer the phone, the ringing had stopped. I tried to dial back, but there was no answer.
I quickly went downstairs to see who’d called (passing the kitchen, where Jenny was chatting to Selena), but I found the lobby empty.
As I turned to head back upstairs, a tall young brunette with olive skin exited the bathroom. She looked like a fricking Victoria’s Secret model, and her robust floral perfume filled the air, as if making a grand entrance on its own.
‘Can I help?’ I asked. ‘Are you looking for someone?’
She smiled at me with bright eyes. ‘Yes, David. David White.’ Her voice carried a slight accent.
‘And may I ask who you are?’
‘Paloma, his fiancée.’
Instead of letting the blood drain from my face, I returned her smile. ‘If you can just sign in that visitor book on the table first please, then I’ll show you to the meeting room where you can wait for him.’ This sentence came automatically to me; I didn’t need to think about it. Not that I was able to think. For a long minute, it felt like the Earth had stood still, along with my brain functions.
I’d managed to recover from my daze and noticed a small baby bump underneath her elegant, knee-length summer dress. Her legs were still slim though. She was likely one of those women who could lose the extra weight quickly after giving birth – Isabel would have hated her for that.
Paloma seemed charming, which only angered me because I had no reason to feel animosity towards her.
Heading upstairs to fetch David, I found my middle-aged female colleagues still conversing in the kitchen. I realised I’d forgotten to ask Paloma if she’d like a drink, so I sent Jenny to find out.
Then I went to knock on David’s door, and he almost immediately replied with a ‘Come in’.
When he saw me, he smiled. It was the smile I knew so intimately from our mornings together. Those mornings seemed like such a long time ago now.
The warm shine in his eyes did still induce a slight tremor in my stomach, but my mind was too preoccupied to let that feeling take me over as it used to in the past.
‘You have a visitor waiting for you in the meeting room,’ I said.
‘I’m busy. Who is it?’
‘Your fiancée.’
My announcement froze the smile on his face, as if the sentence had just opened up a crater between us. Neither of us needed to say anything. We both knew this meant the end of an era…
No more innocent or teasing glances at each other, no more implied interest, and no more inside jokes. That just wouldn’t have been right or fair. At least, not fair to me, as David was already committed to raising a family with someone else. And I wasn’t one for pursuing unavailable men. Also, it wouldn’t have been fair on that charming young woman downstairs…
*
‘Hey, you came,’ exclaimed Adam as I joined the group in the sports bar. ‘What can I get you? ’
‘I won’t be staying long,’ I said. ‘I’ll just have a shandy thanks, but I’ll get it.’
Today had indeed been a long day for me, and I felt in need of a drink.
I bought a round for my other colleagues too. Joel, Dean, Katie, Chrissy, and Jake had likely arrived a good hour before me and were all squeezed around a tall rectangular table that was more likely designed to accommodate four rather than seven, but none of them seemed to mind.
The place was extremely busy, and it was a struggle to hear each other with the stereo blaring. There were three large screens placed around the seating area, all connected to the same sound system.
I didn’t expect to see every one of my co-workers, but as all the other site managers were there, I found it strange the Lithuanian one was missing.
‘Where’s Ardas?’ I shouted to Adam, who stood across the table from me.
‘He’s not into female football. He says it’s not real football,’ Adam replied, trying to talk over the noise, but I had to lip-read half of what he said.
Chrissy was watching the screen with great interest, and I followed her gaze. Of course it was the first match of the women’s World Cup. I’d read about it in the news earlier in the week, so I don’t know why I’d expected sweaty men running around the field. Unlike Chrissy, I found them more fascinating to watch – preferably shirtless.
Faking interest for a few minutes, I alternated between glancing at the screen and watching the others’ reactions. As I was finishing my drink, I saw Katie rest a hand on Adam’s shoulder and whisper something into his ear. In response, he smiled and nodded politely but gently broke away from her touch.
During half-time, the sound of the surround system was lowered, and Adam offered to get a round for everyone.
‘Will you get me a glass of Shiraz, foxy?’ asked Katie in an endearing voice, leaning towards Adam and fluttering her false eyelashes at him. Then for emphasis, she put her hand on his chest while giving me a knowing side glance.
Oblivious to my exchange with the TLO, Adam nodded at her then took a step back, letting her fingers, with their brightly polished nails, fall away.
The others didn’t bat an eyelid at the nickname but quickly provided their orders also. Perhaps my first impressions about Adam had been right, and there was some slyness about him that everyone acknowledged by using that nickname.
When he looked at me and waited, I shook my head. Then I grabbed my bag, quickly said goodbye to the team, and left the bar before anyone could stop me.