I pick my phone back up and read the message:
“Can we meet up?”
Well that’s not what I was expecting. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I know it wasn’t that. I want so badly to reply saying yes. I could ask her to come over now. I’ve got some wine in the fridge and we could just relax and chat a bit.
I know I can’t do that though. Being with Kimberley changes me and makes me crazy. I’d be more likely to invite her over and act like a total dick and berate her until she left, angry with me.
Yeah, it’s fair to say I would only end up doing or saying something stupid. It’s better that we just leave things like we did. That was a nice goodbye. I debate ignoring the text, but then she’ll just assume that I haven’t gotten it yet and keep trying. What can I send back that’s not a cold, outright rejection but still gets the message across?
I think for a moment and then type out a reply.
“No need. Take whichever office you want.”
I look at it for a moment, trying to work out if the jokey tone comes across or if it sounds cold. I decide it sounds cold and I add a smiley face to the end of it. I don’t know if that really makes it any better, but it’s the best I’ve got in me right now and I hit send before I can change my mind.
I wait for a reply, my laptop still open on my knee but now ignored. I’m no longer even pretending I can concentrate on replying to my work messages. I wait and wait and after half an hour has passed, I start to relax. She’s not going to push for more.
Unless … No, she wouldn’t just come over unannounced. She would have no idea whether I was even in. I decide straight away that if my buzzer goes, I’m not answering the door. Then she’ll think I’m out and that’s why I’ve blew her off.
I spend the next half an hour with my palms sweating and my heart racing, just waiting for the bell to ring. Once half an hour has passed with no bell ringing, I begin to relax again. I’ve blown it out of all proportion. Kimberley isn’t some crazy stalker type who is just going to turn up at my door unannounced. She’s far too cool and in control of herself for that.
I switch off my laptop and decide to get an early night. I’m done over thinking everything. I reach out and put my laptop on the ground beside my bed and then I turn the lamp off. I’m so fucking sick of this. Kimberley is affecting my every waking thought and now I’ve got her out of my system, I need to get her out of my head, out of my life. I decide it will be a good thing if she is leaving.
“So as you can see, this really is the best all round solution for your business needs,” I finish.
I’ve just been talking to a new potential client, George Hayes, through the way our finance department handles expenditure account work and trying to explain to him why we’re the best fit for him. George is lapping it up because he knows I’m right. He admitted that he’s been to a few other firms and none of them could do exactly what he wanted. We can. It’s that simple.
He smiles at me and nods his head.
“I really think …” he starts.
He trails off as shouting fills my office.
“I’ve told you he’s with a client,” I hear Bernie yelling. “You can’t just barge in there.”
“And who exactly is going to stop me?” a voice replies.
Kimberley. Fuck. Obviously she didn’t get the hint last night.
“I am,” Bernie says.
I can picture her standing in front of the door, blocking Kimberley’s path.
“I’m pretty sure I’m your boss so I suggest you do as you’re told and move aside,” Kimberley snaps.
That does it. She can be a bitch to me all she likes; I probably deserve it. But Bernie doesn’t and I’m not just going to sit here and listen to Kimberley berate her.
“I’m sorry. Would you excuse me for just a moment?” I say to George.
He nods, an amused look on his face. I cross my office with my hands balled into fists at my sides. I can practically feel the steam coming out of my ears. I pull the door open and step outside, pulling it closed behind me.
“Kimberley, what the fuck are you playing at?” I hiss.
“I told you I needed to see you,” she says calmly.
Her calm manner only inflates my anger.
“So you thought you’d come here and have a go at Bernie? Who, for the record, is not your subordinate in any way, shape or form.”
Bernie beams beside me and moves back to sit behind her desk. She mouths thank you at me and then goes back to her computer, pretending she has no further interest in this exchange. Pretending being the operative word. I can practically see her ears twitching.
“She wouldn’t let me in,” Kimberley says as though that excuses her shitty behaviour.
I roll my eyes.
“So I heard. As
