King (2 page)

 
Most of the pieces looked imported, hints of
East Africa, Spain and
 
Italy, and a huge
cabinet that wouldn’t have looked out of place in an old French chateau. The
artwork complimented the pieces perfectly and as I looked closely, I recognised
some of it from the cities art houses, and considered the fact that they may
well be originals. It shouldn’t have gone together, but somehow it did. No
doubt he had paid someone a small fortune to design it, he could certainly
afford it. As CEO of King Marketing, the largest and most successful agency in
London, he wouldn’t be lacking the finances.

He
returned with a large glass of chilled water, two
paracetamol
and an icepack, which he wrapped around my swollen ankle, looking up to smile
at me. Despite his kindness I couldn’t bring myself to smile back. The touch of
his hands on my bare skin was firm and I found myself imagining how I’d feel if
his hands explored further. What on earth was wrong with me? I hated this man.
I pushed the thoughts quickly from my mind and sipped at the cool refreshing
water, swallowing the pain killers and hoped they’d kick in quickly. “You don’t
like me much, do you?” he half laughed as I met his gaze and I couldn’t stifle
the small giggle that burst from my lips. “I don’t really know you” I answered
calmly as he grinned down at me, rubbing his hands across the dark stubble on
his strong jaw, assessing me closely with mischievous blue eyes.

“I
wasn’t happy about not winning the Castle account yesterday” I said, in an
attempt to justify my prior rudeness. He nodded. “Yeah, I guessed as much, you
were in a vile mood in the bar last night. It’s the worst I’ve seen you Smith.
You weren’t that bad when I won the
Pharma
account
last week or even when I got Rolex.” I frowned at him, trying to recall if I’d
even seen him after I’d lost those accounts. “How the hell would you know what
kind of mood I was in?” I shot back, any hints of friendliness deserting me, as
he stood there laughing. “I make it my business to know” he grinned as I raised
my eyebrows.

“Why?”
I asked, my curiosity piqued by his strange statement. “I like to keep ahead of
the competition” he smiled. “I like to know when I’ve got you rattled Smith”.
Arrogant, arrogant prick I screamed inwardly, shoving off the ice pack and
wincing in pain as I stood. “You might like to think you’ve got me rattled
King, but the truth of the matter is I give you very little thought at all”.

I
gasped as he picked me up with strong muscular arms, laying me gently back on
the soft couch, elevating my ankle and securing the icepack once again. “I
don’t think that’s true” he winked “now be a good girl and stay there”. God
this man knew which buttons to press to rile me. His patronising comments had
fuelled my irritation up to epic levels, not helped by the fact that I realised
he was partly right. I pushed the icepack off and stood again, biting my lip
against the initial sting of pain and looking him squarely in the eyes as he
chuckled gently. “Thank you for your assistance King, I’ll be leaving now”. I
struggled towards the door, trying to remain calm as he rounded me, stopping me
in my tracks and moving in, way too close for comfort. I stood my ground. “See
you on Monday at the best buddy pitch Smith” he smiled. Great, that was all I
needed I thought, hobbling back excruciatingly slowly to my apartment.

I
was hoping Katie might pop in to save me from a dull weekend of elevating my
leg and watching old movies, but she was visiting home for her sisters 21st
birthday, and despite the kind invitation, I hadn’t fancied a weekend bar
hopping around Chesterfield, which in my case, would actually have been quite
literal. We’d held each other up many times, but it usually only occurred at
the end of the night. God knows what carnage would have ensued with a group of
feisty twenty
somethings
if we’d actually started out
that way. So I stayed at home, utterly bored and gorging on cake, brightening
slightly as I watched a re-run of Annie the musical and thinking how I was not
surprised it had been banned in my childhood.

Thirty
lonely children praying for a Daddy
Warbuck’s
to end
their misery would not have been an easy thing for our carers to contend with,
I laughed inwardly. I omitted the fact that I’d bumped into King, and she
hadn’t been forthcoming about any details regarding last night so I hadn’t
pushed it, kicking myself now as my curiosity was fuelled. I felt sure she’d
tell me eventually, and sat back reliving the strange events of the morning and
my second run in with Jason in as many days. Why did I even care? I mused
inwardly, telling myself I wasn’t that curious after all, it could wait until
Monday.

Chapter
2

By
the time Monday morning came, my ankle was slightly better but I would still
have to wear flats which wouldn’t go with the killer power outfit I’d bought
specifically for the presentation. My stomach was churning in anticipation. I
needed to nail this pitch and win this account, to placate my boss and even
more importantly, to wipe the smug grin from the face of the competition. I
spent an age getting ready, keen to look my best, confident and in control despite
the fact that I didn’t feel it, and the thought of seeing Jason King this
morning sent butterflies erupting through my stomach in a strange display of
nerves that was disturbingly unfamiliar.

I
checked with the receptionist and from the way she flushed and giggled, I knew
instantly that he was ahead of me. I sipped at the glass of water I’d been
offered, taking deep breaths, reviewing the key points of the presentation, and
trying to calm myself down. The boardroom door was closed and the blinds were shut,
revealing nothing of what was going on inside, but as I heard the laughter when
the door opened, my heart sank. If he’d done it again, my professional ego
would find it pretty hard to recover. The thick solid oak closed behind him as
he walked over, grinning broadly, which served only to earn me an envious glare
from the pretty, young, red haired receptionist.
 
He sat next to me silently on the white
leather couch, lifting my leg over his knee and running strong hands under the
fabric of my trousers and over my damaged ankle, as I gasped audibly. “What the
hell do you think you’re doing?” I all but shouted, firm hands continuing to
stroke my skin, sending delicious shivers through me and igniting the nerves
beneath them, as I stared at him slack jawed.

 
He held my gaze, his soft touch still
exploring the tender flesh, running his tongue lightly over his full bottom lip
before speaking in a tone that was the absolute opposite of my own. “I’m seeing
how the ankle is Smith” he smiled, finally removing his hand from my leg,
before picking it up gently and placing it on the floor. My wicked side was
screaming at me to get my caressed leg right back up there. My logical brain
slapped the thought down, in no uncertain terms. It was a long time since I’d
been touched like that and it wasn’t entirely unpleasant, but this was Jason
King for God’s sake.

“Good
luck with the pitch” he rose, smiling down at me as I glared at him, irritated,
frustrated and utterly rattled. He was doing this on purpose. My eyes followed
him to the elevator, trying to regain my composure and focus on the job in
hand. As he turned, staring at me through the open metal doors, I noticed the
small smirk playing around his mouth that grew into a huge blazing grin as I
angrily flipped him the bird. Two can play at this game I thought, as the
receptionist called me into the boardroom.

“Best
buddy called, you’ve got the account” Katie squealed as soon as I hobbled into
the office. The pitch had been great and they’d loved my ideas. My heart soared
as I grinned broadly , hoping that I’d see Jason King at some point today, just
so he could see exactly how good a mood I was in. She high fived me as I walked
past her to my office. “I take it we’re celebrating tonight” she laughed
brightly, as I nodded, hoping that a certain someone would be in the wine bar
after work. I wrote up the pitch and sent the outcomes through to my boss,
delighted that I had some good news after the debacle of the Castle account on
Friday. A solitary pet food commercial may not quite make up for a big budget,
multi-media campaign to launch a new range of vodkas, but it was a welcome
start. I was looking through some upcoming presentation requests when the
flowers arrived. A beautiful bouquet of two dozen white roses, perfect, natural
and elegant, wrapped in a soft pink bow and when I read the card my stomach
flipped.

‘Congratulations. King’

It said
simply, and I couldn’t stop the strange grin that swept across my face. Well he
knew then, I smiled to myself, unable to help the wave of satisfaction that
spread through me. “Who are they from
Lotty
?” Katie
asked as she popped into my office after her lunch break, quizzing me as I
handed her the card, typing some notes on the computer in an effort to avoid an
interrogation, and appear as nonchalant as possible while stifling my
involuntary smile. She gasped, eyeing me suspiciously “Oh my God” she laughed
“I would never have expected that”. “You and me both” I quipped, looking up at
her.

They
seemed to be leaving the bar together on Friday and I couldn’t stave off my
curiosity any longer. I was eager to know and wasn’t entirely sure what I
wanted her answer to be. “What happened when you left on Friday?” I asked as
casually as I could manage. “Why? Have you got a little crush?” she grinned
mischievously as I frowned at her shaking my head. “God no, I hate Jason King”
I said more firmly than I intended as she raised her eyebrows. “Nothing
happened. He left on his own when you walked away. I don’t even know why he put
his arm around me to be honest. I got the feeling it was probably just to wind
you up” she smiled. “Not that I was complaining, that man is an absolute God”
she winked as I rolled my eyes.

The
afternoon went quickly. As a result of this morning’s success I’d been handed
an account which was as terrifying as it was thrilling. It was a late request
for a summer collection from an up and coming fashion designer which would be
utterly wonderful to win. It was the kind of account dreams were made of for a
girl like me and my head was already spinning with ideas. Three meetings with
the creative team and we had the seed of our campaign and six o’ clock rolled
around much faster than I’d anticipated. “You ready?” Katie smiled, pulling on
a cropped denim jacket over what appeared to be a brand new outfit and
refreshing her lipstick as I did a quick check in my hand held mirror. “As
ready as I’ll ever be” I grinned, trying to ignore the strange sensations in my
stomach at the thought of seeing King. Whether I liked it or not, that irritating
bastard was under my skin.

“Are
you going to thank him for the flowers if he’s in?” Katie nudged my arm
playfully as we walked through the striking main doors of Grayson International
Media onto the bustling London
street
, dodging the red
buses that were brimming with tourists, and headed across to the bar. “It’s the
polite thing to do” I said simply, catching sight of him immediately on entry.
The man was impossible to miss. He was jacketless and looked relaxed, leaning
casually against the curved mahogany bar at the far end of the room, and I did
my best to ignore his presence as I ordered my wine. “He’s over there” Katie
whispered, giggling and winking at me as I rolled my eyes at her, again.
 
Whatever she thought was going on here, she
was quite wrong.

“Give
me a minute” I said quickly, picking up my glass as she followed me with her
bright amber eyes. He hadn’t noticed me yet and was deep in conversation with a
stunning blonde who I recognised from a lingerie billboard campaign he’d won,
and who looked me over with disdain as I interrupted. “I just wanted to say
thank you for the flowers King, it was very thoughtful”. I smiled a half smile
that didn’t meet my eyes, and turned to walk away as quickly as my still
injured ankle would allow. “Not so fast” he grinned, grabbing my arm and
halting me unexpectedly, just as the Chardonnay sloshed out of its glass and
down the front of my white silk blouse, highlighting the delicate lace of my
bra beneath. I
tutted
loudly, prompting a hugely
irritating laugh from King, whose six foot frame towered above me in my flats.
“My apologies” he said simply, gazing at the stain for a little too long and
then at me, releasing my arm and trying unsuccessfully to stifle his grin.
Something about this man really brought out the worst in me and the good mood I
had enjoyed all afternoon evaporated immediately.

“Let
me buy you another, Smith” he said firmly, a statement, not a question, before
I turned and stomped off to join Katie. “What happened to you?” she laughed,
from the corner of the booth. “King happened” I sighed, patting my blouse as he
approached with a new glass of wine, putting it on the table in front of me. I
neither thanked him nor acknowledged his presence and he left swiftly, tucking
the beautiful blonde under his arm and striding out of the bar. It was fair to
say that my mood did not improve for the rest of the evening.

“What
is it with you two?” Katie smiled, trying to cheer me up. “You are always so
off around him and you’re just not like that with anyone else Charlotte”. “He
really gets under my skin, he is arrogant and patronising and...” “
and
fucking gorgeous” she cut me off, grinning broadly. “He
always appears in control and seems to like infuriating you. Maybe you
shouldn’t let it be quite so obvious that he’s getting to you Charlotte”. I
nodded, smiling at her insight. “You’re right, I’m going to play him at his own
game” I grinned. Anything would be better than my permanent state of annoyance,
and the plan cheered me up no end. I called into the off license on the way
home and bought a bottle of Castle vodka and a presentation box, it was time to
put my little plan into action. I pulled on my scruffiest pair of tartan
pyjamas, melting back into the comfort of my huge L-shaped couch and tried to
think of something suitable to write on the card which would accompany my
gift.
 
Humorous?
Cutting?
Sincere?
After an hour of flicking through
the TV and unable to get my creative side as engaged as I’d like, I settled on
‘King of the Castle. Enjoy the account.
Smith’.