Chapter 1
Hayley
Damn the man! I was tired of his domineering attitude and his nitpicking of my work.
Why did I need a mentor anyway? And couldn't they have chosen someone else? Dean took pleasure in lording it over me. Sometimes I thought he was jealous of my popularity at work. He’s a loner, never joining in the gossip or going to the bar with the others, not even to watch a game of football with the other men.
He scowled when he noticed the ladies chatting over their coffee.
I was told, some women made eyes at him when he first started, but he soon deterred them with stiff retorts.
He’s tall and handsome with a military bearing, always formally dressed.
The long scar on his face did not distract from his good looks.
Rumours say he hates office gossip and mistrusts women.
The staff now call him Grim behind his back.
The only favourable thing the staff say about him is that he'd adopted a skinny, mangy cat that hung about the car park scrounging titbits people threw to him. Scared of its own shadow, it hissed and backed off if anyone approached it, scratching badly anyone who tried to stroke it. It took months, but Dean threw food to it each day and moved closer to it until it ate out of his hands. Finally, it let him stroke it and pick it up. A month later, he installed it in his condo, and he explained gruffly to colleagues that it was devoted to him. He seems reluctant to admit to owning any emotions; he’s a cold, detached, self-obsessed individual.
I walked in, my files and laptop in my hands.
'Please sit down, Hayley. The Marketing Director is asking for an update on the new project,' he explained.
'Certainly, Dean.' I briefed him quickly. His scowl vanished.
'That's fine. Please update me regularly.'
I would if you were more approachable. Stop interrogating me and treat me with more respect.
I rose and left as fast as possible, feeling his eyes spearing my back. I shivered. He gives me the creeps.
Dean
Somehow, I can't talk with Hayley without putting her back up.
Even innocent comments make her bristle.
I don't know why she’s so hostile to me, but our working relationship seemed to sour within twenty-four hours of meeting each other.
And it hasn't got better. My mentor role finishes in two months, but I don't know if we can collaborate effectively for that time.
It has been like this ever since we first set eyes on each other.
Mistrust glinted in her eyes, and she challenged every statement I made about her work.
It is a shame because if she smiled more often, she would be a beautiful woman.
Walking about with a permanent scowl makes her appear much older than her age and gives a bad impression to management.
Her work is sound, but my role requires me to review it before I can sign it off.
I think she could do better, but her mind often seems preoccupied with something or someone else.
She needs to focus on the project, or she'll miss something vital.
Her punctuality also needs to improve. She looks tired and yawns often.
I guess too much clubbing. 'I'd like to have a word with her about it, but she'd bite my head off. Who needs that much grief?'