Chapter 8 Andrea
Andrea
“I’m okay, really.”
James, Kelly, and I were huddled in a corner of the kitchen near the coffee machine. I was far from okay. I’d sat on the sofa for two hours last night trying to find personal trainers in London called Liam.
Mainly so I could avoid him.
Why the hell had he run off like that? What kind of a dick behaved like that?
“Are you sure?” said Kelly.
“Yeah. I was just a bit shaken up. The fall was minor—a second, max. The paramedic said—”
“Fall?” James clapped both hands to his cheeks. “You didn’t mention that, or the paramedic. You just told me you’d got stuck!”
“James. I told you, I’m fine.”
Apart from my taste in men, which apparently was getting worse.
“Hmm.” He looked me up and down. “You know there are rules about things like this. Novexia rents those parking bays, so I’ll need to look into it. Get your arse into my office after the meeting. At the very least, I’ll need an incident report. Maybe an F2508 report too.”
“Sorry, James, I was too messed up to think about it yesterday.”
Too busy having sex, more like.
“Yes. Yesterday would have been better. But I can imagine you were distracted. Please tell me you weren’t actually injured when it fell, were you? I cannot believe you never told me.”
“No, I was fine. The guy I was stuck with in there sort of … cushioned my fall, anyway …”
“He what?” James’s mouth dropped open. “Do you mean the hot lift guy from the Fox & Filter?”
“Um … yeah. That one.”
“Are you fucking kidding me, Andy? Please tell me you’re seeing him again.”
“Nope.”
Not after the stunt he pulled.
“Oh my God, you’re blushing. What happened?” said James. “Did you shag him? You did, didn’t you?”
“There was a hot lift guy?” Kelly popped open the biscuit tin Gerald had hidden behind the bags of coffee beans. “Wow. I’m not even up to speed with the Rudy breakup, and you’ve already found a replacement?”
“I haven’t found a replacement,” I said. “Nor do I want one. I just happened to get stuck in the lift with someone James thought was quite—”
“He was a fucking thirst trap,” said James. “Some sort of gym instructor, right, Andy?”
“I don’t know. We didn’t get into details.”
“Well, you got into something, I can tell.” James raised a brow. “After he saved your goddamn life.”
Monish glided up. “What’s happening, bitches? Good weekend?”
“Andy broke up with Rudy, and now she’s dating a personal trainer,” Kelly announced. She slid the tin across the counter to Monish.
“I am not dating him,” I said.
Monish peered into the tin. “James, did you eat all the custard creams again?”
“Free pastries after the von Roth speech, don’t worry,” said James.
“I also almost died in a lift disaster,” I said. “But by all means, focus on my dating life.”
“Sorry, what?” said Monish.
“The paramedics said she’s fine, Monish.” James waved me away. “What’s important here is the gym guy who cushioned her fall.”
“Paramedics … and a lift disaster? This is a lot to process, Andy.” Monish pulled out a stool. “What happened with Rudy? Was he the one with the crow tattoo that made his Adam’s apple look deformed?”
“It was a bird of prey, actually,” I said. “But yes. Turns out, he was cheating on me.”
Although at least Rudy waited a couple of months before he disappeared.
“He was cheating on you?” said Monish. “Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.”
“Ancient history,” said James. “Now get to the point. The lift guy. I want it all. Name, age, star sign, favorite sexual position. I could see how you were looking at him over lunch. Don’t deny it.”
“There’s nothing to tell,” I said. I really didn’t need my friends cheerleading for Liam after the way he’d behaved.
A guy like that probably plowed through women the way other people cleared their email.
Although he might have had the decency to hang around a bit longer before he made it so obvious.
Not the sort of man I needed in my life.
Shame the sex had been so hot, though.
My toes curled in my shoes.
“Andy, it’s quite clear there is something to tell,” said James. “You’ve got a sort of … angry knowing vibe about you today. Didn’t you like him just a little bit?”
God. What even was that yesterday? I’d always thought it was something women exaggerated and men lied about.
Rudy had never made me come. Not with his mouth, his dick, or anything else for that matter. Nobody had.
Except Liam.
Was this what all the fuss was about?
“He was okay,” I said.
“Okay?” said James. “He saved your life in a lift. Good Lord, woman.”
“What?” said Monish.
“When we got stuck, he kind of … took charge. Pulled me on top of him to cushion the fall.”
“Wow,” said Kelly, nibbling a rich tea biscuit. “That’s fucking hot.”
“Please tell me you got his number?” James was looking at me seriously. “You did, didn’t you?”
I shook my head.
“So you lay on top of him in a life-and-death situation, and then you went out for lunch together, but you didn’t think you wanted to see him again?” James bit his fist. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize women rejected men for being too heroic.”
“I didn’t reject him, James,” I said. “I just didn’t get his number. I’m not ready to date again, anyway.”
“Sounds sensible,” said Monish. “Take your time. And you never know, maybe you’ll bump into him again. If it’s meant to be …”
Right. What was he going to do, show up on my doorstep with a bunch of flowers and an apology? Unlikely.
“Andy.” James turned to me urgently. “We have so much more to unpack here. Don’t think for a minute I’m letting this lie. I want to know—”
Monish turned to us both with a finger on his lips just as there was a murmur from the front of the room. The speeches were about to start.
“Oh fuck, here we go,” said James. “Death by von Roth.”
“I wish it was a cocktail name and not our lives,” murmured Kelly. “Monish, did James give you a card yet?”
“He did,” said Monish quietly. “Same rules as usual?”
“Five squares horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, yes,” said James, as if quoting some universal bullshit bingo law and not something he’d just made up.
“And it applies to all speeches until a winner is crowned. Although I expect Gerald’s fondness for corporate wank speak will have someone cleaning up long before Otto von Lederhosen gets the mic. ”
“We should’ve made it a drinking game.” Kelly sighed. “Missed opportunity there.”
“Shots at nine thirty, big fan.” I raised my brows at James. “Gerald will hand you your balls in a jar if he finds out about this.”
“Keep your cards close to your chest then. And remember, if you’re the first one to get it, for fuck’s sake, whisper.”
The room started to settle as Gerald walked to the front, six of the leadership squad flanking him like some sort of middle-aged sports team.
James nudged me. “I cannot believe you didn’t get his number.”
“Maybe I just didn’t want it, James, did you consider that?”
Gerald cleared his throat pointedly, and the floor hushed.
“Welcome, team. It’s so awesome to have all the Novexia family together today.” His voice boomed over the speakers.
“Gawd, he called us his family already.” Kelly cringed.
“Family and team. We must be amazing,” said James.
“If he starts speaking German, I’m going to kill myself,” I mumbled. Kelly’s body started to shake, and she held her lips together under her hands.
The droning from Gerald continued.
“Today marks a monumental milestone in the Novexia journey—a journey fueled by passion, powered by purpose, and underpinned by a relentless commitment to reimagining emergency healthcare from the ground up …”
I could already feel my eyes glazing over and scanned my card to see if I could cross off anything. A couple of grunts from Monish indicated that he was already building his line.
“As we stand together at this strategic crossroads, we are proud to be a patient-centric powerhouse—disrupting the emergency medicine space one paradigm-shifting molecule at a time …”
I crossed off patient-centric and looked around, trying to stifle a yawn. What was Liam doing now? Probably drinking a matcha smoothie with his client, Bonnie.
If that’s what she was.
Fuck. I’d forgotten about her. Of course. He was probably already involved with someone. Maybe he boned all his clients, as well as anyone he got stuck in a lift with?
Not that it mattered. It was just a hookup.
That was what people did.
Modern women. Single women.
“Novexia is not just a pharmaceutical company, it is a living, breathing organism that bristles with innovation, thrives on agility, and resonates with the very pulse of progress …”
Or—maybe Liam had just remembered something he had to do? Not like he’d just shagged me and disappeared because he’d got what he wanted.
Well. I’d got what I wanted too.
It was only sex.
He had seemed rather sweet though …
“Gerald’s on fire today,” snickered Kelly, scribbling out another box. “The motherfucking pulse of progress.”
I could still remember his scent and the feeling of his skin when I’d lain next to him in the bed afterward.
Had he really just used me for sex?
I mean, I guess, I’d used him, too. Perhaps we’d both needed that post-adrenaline fuck to accept what we’d survived.
Not exactly my usual style, though. I’d never done that before.
“Courage and integrity are our watchwords …”
God, this was boring. Glancing around the room, I saw most of my colleagues listening attentively to Gerald’s empty drivel—or at least, faking it well.
“Let us synergize our synergies, unafraid to pivot, poised to scale new heights. We are proud to walk the walk while talking the talk … every single day …”
Past the sea of nodding heads, I saw a dark figure hanging back by the elevator hallway. With the glare from the lights of the main floor behind him, his face wasn’t visible. I strained to see who it was.
Gerald continued, warming to his theme.
“Now, more than ever, we must lean into our purpose. Not yesterday’s purpose, but tomorrow’s. The future’s. A purpose rooted in radical empathy, sustainable excellence, and, yes, people-first pharmacodynamics.”