I read it out loud.
We look at each other. “Is that a threat?” Cat shrieks. “What does that mean?”
I save his contact in my phone, not that I needed it to know it was him. No one else speaks so bluntly. No ‘Hi.’ No ‘It’s Danny, by the way.’ No kisses.
“Look at this.” I hand them my phone to show them the contact picture. He’s in the front seat of a plane with pilot headphones on. There’s a glimpse of a smile.
“He’s a pilot?” Cat shrieks, grabbing the phone for a closer look. “Can the guy get anymore orgasm-inducing?”
“Every woman’s wet dream.” I screw my face into a grimace. “He’s got a license for small aircraft. I think he even owns a plane up in Scotland.”
“What do I reply?” I ask, looking around them for advice.
“NOTHING,” Julie emphasizes, snatching the phone from Cat. “If you reply, he knows he’s got you. Just leave it. Remember, he’s with Jen right now texting you. What an asshole.”
My heart drops. I didn’t need the reminder. There is one thing I know for certain. Danny Walker will never be fully mine.
“Forget Danny Walker.” Cat lifts out her laptop from under the coffee table. “So what if he’s a pilot and a millionaire and has a body like satan. You are going to be a superstar.” She beams, turning her screen to face me. It’s got OpenMic launched on it.
“I’m not sure about this Cat.” I chew up my bottom lip. “Haven’t I had enough humiliation for one week?”
“Just one song as a tester,” She pleads. “Something to add to Danny Walker’s wank bank.” “Fine,” I sigh. “But that is not the reason I’m agreeing to this.”
Charlie
It’s Wednesday morning, and I’m staring at the email from Julie rather than the mountain of support calls.
Danny Walker has ignored me all week, acting like I don’t exist. Clearly, Jen sufficiently serviced him, so he had no further need for me.
There have been zero messages after I failed to reply to the ‘don’t play games with me’ message. Who does he think he is, for christ’s sake, Al Capone? Who talks like that?
I hate that he affects me so profoundly that he consumes most of my thoughts. Such wasted effort.
Everyone else in the office gets a nod of recognition or even a hint of a smile. Me?
The one time we walked past each other, getting in and out of the lift, he looked straight through me like I was a ghost. I’m starting to think the guy is a sociopath.
Julie was spot on. I can’t trust him.
I’m paranoid every time I hear someone whispering in the office, and I swear Michelle, his PA, is laughing at me when I walk past her.
It doesn’t help that everyone else in the office is as pathetic as me. People are tripping over themselves to be in his eye line like he’s some sort of god. Jackie’s skirts are so tight now it takes her ages to shuffle anywhere.
Even the men are flirting with him. Pathetic.
To make matters worse, Mike has been raving to anyone that will listen about his ‘night out with the big boys’ leadership team’ this evening. Danny is treating them to an all-expenses-paid night at the swanky new bar in the hotel beside the office. I have visions of them laughing as Danny regales tales of his Friday bed-hopping activities.
A small part of my head knows he’s better than that.
I scan the email again and flinch. Julie doesn’t mince her words.
I am writing to express my concern over your inappropriate use of nudity in the work area and inability to follow your own company’s code of conduct….
…My misconduct concern is related directly to you, as CEO….
…. Your lewd, inappropriate sexual act has brought on unwanted anxiety for me in the workplace. Please confirm how you intend to rectify the situation.
I chuckle to myself, imagining Danny’s face when this pops up in his inbox.
No, I’m not sending that.
Please note that I will not accept bribery or payout to be silenced for your sexual indiscretions.
I quickly close the email. Danny Walker would hit the roof if he caught wind of this.
I get my phone out, ready to text Julie to cool it when I see 5 missed calls from Mum. Great. If I didn’t call back, the calls would continue all day.
I dial the number for home.
“Well, I wouldn’t like to imagine what would happen if someone passed away, Charlie. We would have the funeral before you picked up your phone!” Not a ‘hello’ or a ‘how are you.’ “Has anyone died?”
“Of course not!”
“Well then, is there any need to call me so many times when you know I’m working?” I snap. I don’t have patience for this today.
“If you answered the first time, I wouldn’t have to call the other 4!” She bleats back.
“Charlie, I’m not well,” she continues at great speed.
I wasn’t alarmed. “What’s wrong?” “Janey Davidson is stressing me out.” Poor Janey Davidson.
Ever since Mum moved into the new house Tristan brought her in St Albans, she hasn’t been able to acclimatize to the hip neighbours. “What has she done now?”
“What has she done?” Mum squawks so loudly I flinch. “I’ll tell you what she has done. She has taken up piloting in her front garden! She has been strutting around in a bra with her fat arse and these great big jugs bouncing around, trying to do the splits. Right in front of me! I can’t even enjoy my own garden without her getting naked. It is a complete disgrace on the street!”
“Do you mean Pilates?” I question incredulously,
“Sure, isn’t that what I said? She’s driving down the bloody value of the properties in the street.
You wouldn’t get that in Cork, I tell you what, this country……..”