Authors: Charlotte Swanpol
Chapter 2
There was no containing the jittery nervousness that began to afflict me on the bus ride and while I wasn’t surprised by it, I wished I could shake it off. It only grew worse when I stepped down to the sidewalk and walked the rest of the way to my workplace for the next four weeks. I stopped in front of the gleaming tower block in which the offices of Reed Commerce were located. A glance up at the impressive building brought a prickle of anticipation.
“Do your best,” I mouthed quietly before stepping forward to join the others walking through the entrance of the building.
I glanced around the large lobby space to see a huge wooden reception desk to my left and a bank of elevators to my right. Reed Commerce occupied the top ten floors of the building and I already knew where I was going, so simply walked across to join the crowd on my right. I shuffled forward when the first elevator arrived, but didn’t manage to get inside and needed to wait for the next one. The button for the twentieth floor was already lit up when I walked in it, so I just turned to face the front and waited.
When the elevator doors opened at the floor I wanted, I stepped forward to get out and looked around. The door at the far end of the hallway was emblazoned with the words Reed Commerce in large blue letters, so I walked along to it and stepped inside. The pretty receptionist sitting at a polished oval counter smiled at me as I approached.
“Good morning,” she started in a pleasant voice. “Can I help you?”
“Umm…, I hope so,” I said hesitantly. “I’m here to start an internship today and was told to report to Mrs. Samuels.”
The woman looked down at the papers on the counter.
“Are you Melissa Braithwaite?” she asked when she looked up.
“Yes,” I replied and nodded my head.
The woman then checked a list on the counter before speaking.
“Mrs. Samuels hasn’t arrived yet, so just take a seat. When she arrives, I’ll let her know you’re here.”
“Thanks,” I said and walked over to the small area of seating.
The coffee table in the middle of the chairs was stacked with a few magazines and I picked one up to give myself something to do. I glanced up whenever I heard the door of the office opening, but the first few people that came in passed me by without so much as a glance. There was a lull of a few minutes when no one came in and an article I found in one of the magazines caught my attention. It meant I missed the door opening and it was only when a figure loomed over me that I glanced up.
The surprise of seeing Conrad looking down at me made me react and I cracked my knee on the edge of the coffee table as I sprang to my feet. I screwed up my face as the flare of sharp pain exploded then died away, but it was embarrassment that burned on my face. The faintly amused expression on his handsome face didn’t help and I silently cursed for making a fool of myself.
“You made it then,” he said and smiled.
“Y…, yes,” I answered as I tried to shake off the pain in my knee and the nerves of being so close to him.
“Well, it’s nice to see you,” he went on and leaned in closer as he lowered his voice. “You look perfect in the sharp suit. We should keep in touch more.”
My eyes opened wide as I stared at him, but I couldn’t think of a response and simply watched as he walked away from the reception area. I glanced across at the woman behind the counter, but she was busy answering a call and obviously hadn’t seen the brief meeting. Sitting down, I rubbed at my knee and cursed myself again.
“Way to go making a good impression,” I let out under my breath and shook my head.
The warmth slowly drained from my face, but I couldn’t get Conrad’s last words out of my head. Keeping in touch with him was something I would be only too happy to do. I already knew that and my reaction to seeing him was all the proof I needed of my feelings. My heartbeat was still pumping, but it calmed down as the wait for Mrs. Samuels went on. It was around five minutes before I saw an older woman come in and knew it was her as soon as the receptionist pointed me out. I prepared myself and put a smile on my face as I got to my feet.
“Hi Melissa,” the woman said then confirmed who she was. “I’m Mrs. Samuels. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” I said as I shook her hand.
“If you come this way,” she went on.
I nodded my head and followed as she walked off. The open plan space we walked in to appeared huge and many of the desks were occupied by people already starting their day’s work. A row of small rooms was set out along one wall, with the huge glass windows in them allowing the occupants a view of the rest of the office. Mrs. Samuels moved to one of them and ushered me inside before closing the door.
“So.., how did your exams go?” she asked as she removed her coat and went to sit at her desk.
“I think I did fine,” I replied as I dropped on the seat opposite her.
“And you’re ready to get started with work,” Mrs. Samuels went on.
“Definitely,” I told her.
“Well, I’m guessing you probably already know about the company,” she said. “But let me just give you a few details to get you started.”
Over the next forty five minutes, she went over some of the history of the company and the work it did. Some of it I knew from the case study taught at college, but there was plenty of information I was unfamiliar with and it was interesting to hear of how the company grew to become such a powerhouse in the media industry.
“I should let you know that Mr. Reed was impressed with you,” Mrs. Samuels told me. “So I can only assume that your interview with him went well.”
The comment flustered me as my thoughts immediately returned to the night in the hotel and I knew there was something I could tell the woman opposite about her boss that she didn’t know. His fetish for bigger girls got me an unforgettable experience, but I tried to control the rush of emotions that the images flashing through my head brought out.
“It was fine,” was all I said in reply and hoped that the warmth on my cheeks wasn’t showing as too red.
“He asked me to bring you along to see him this morning, so we’ll do that now,” Mrs. Samuels went on. “Then I’ll take you up to see Jane Hartman. She’s one of the rising stars in the company and we know she’ll give you an excellent grounding in the advertising work she is responsible for.”
“I’m not working on this floor?” I asked.
“No,” the woman opposite replied. “Most of the employees are based on the upper floors. Jane’s team works on the twenty fifth floor, so you’ll be up there during your time working with us.”
“OK,” I replied and followed Mrs. Samuel’s lead by getting to my feet.
Considering I saw Conrad arriving earlier, I assumed his office was on the twentieth floor and there was a slight disappointment that it wasn’t where I would be based. It likely meant there would be less chance of seeing him. I followed Mrs. Samuels to a hallway off the main open plan area and guessed it was where the company’s senior staff was located. We walked to the corner office right at the end.
She knocked on the door then opened it to enter and I stepped in after. The sight of Conrad got my pulse racing straight away and I fought to keep my emotions under control. He looked up and smiled as we approached the desk and it was enough to make my heartbeat run even faster. The buzz of being in his presence wasn’t lost on me and I returned his smile when his gaze came to me.
“Melissa starts with us today for her four week internship,” Mrs. Samuels said.
“Yes,” he replied. “I saw her earlier in the reception area waiting on your arrival.”
“I’ve penciled her in to work with Jane Hartman’s team,” Mrs. Samuels went on.
“Excellent,” he replied as he turned his attention to me again. “Are you looking forward to your time working for us?”
“Yes,” I replied. “I wanted to thank you for giving me the opportunity and I’ll try to do my best to provide you with what you need while I’m here.”
My words were said in a calm, even tone, but I saw the smirk that flashed across his face when he understood the cheeky nature of my comment
“Yes,” he replied. “I’m sure you will. Jane leads one of our best advertising teams, so I’m sure you’ll learn a lot from her and others in the office.”
“That’s just what I’m hoping for,” I replied.
Mrs. Samuels was oblivious to the messages that Conrad and I were sending each other, but it was her that broke the ensuing silence.
“I’ll take her up to see Jane now unless there is anything else you need to discuss.”
Conrad shook his head as he got to his feet.
“Go ahead and do that,” he said and reached out towards me.
I leaned across the desk to shake his hand and the flicker of anticipation was there as our eyes met. In that moment I was certain that the night in the hotel wouldn’t be the only occasion that we made love and it was a thrill. Mrs. Samuels led the way to the door and I glanced over my shoulder before leaving the room to see Conrad’s gaze fixed on my curvy butt. The sense that it was going to be some four weeks came over me, but I tried to put it out of my mind as I was taken to the elevators to ride one to the twenty fifth floor of the building. I saw the layout was similar as we walked to one of the offices and Mrs. Samuels knocked on the door.
“Hi Jane,” she said when she walked inside. “I’ve brought the new intern up, so I’ll leave her in your capable hands.”
“OK,” Jane replied and looked at me. “Come in and take a seat.”
I did as I was asked and was aware of the scrutiny of the woman sitting opposite. She looked to be in her early thirties and her face and figure were absolutely gorgeous. It slightly intimidated me and her curt, businesslike attitude didn’t help. Once the introductions were out of the way, she set about telling me what was expected of an intern. It came as no surprise that I would be at the beck and call of the others in the team to do menial tasks. However, Jane also made it clear that I would be involved in all the meetings about the advertising campaigns they were devising and that I would be treated on an equal basis when it came to putting forward thoughts and ideas.
She also made it clear that I would be expected to work hard and put in long hours. That didn’t particularly concern me and as I met the team and got to know them over the next couple of days, I could see that every one of them put in a full shift. With the college emptied of students and no one really around, there was only a quiet dorm room for me to return to in the evening and I made a point of being one of the last to leave every night.
It meant my working day usually started before nine in the morning and continued until after eight at night. The work turned out to be enjoyable and while it involved basic tasks, such as running around to get prints and photocopies, I was also encouraged to speak up at the creative meetings and was taken aside by the team members to be taught about the techniques and software used in producing adverts.
The first few days passed quickly and turned to weeks before I knew it. The anticipation of something more happening between Conrad and myself slowly faded and the five floors between us might as well have been hundreds of miles for all the chances I got to go down there and possibly see him. There was no way of even knowing if he was in the office, so when Jane was leaving one night and asked me to take a report down to Mrs. Samuels, I was thinking of nothing other than handing it over then going home.
I finished the work I was doing first then glanced around to see there was no one from the team still there. There was no point in coming back up afterwards and I put my jacket on then picked the report up to carry out my last task of that day. The twenty fifth floor always seemed slightly eerie late in the evening when it was practically empty and the twentieth was no different. The reception desk was unattended when I walked through the doors and there appeared to be no one left working when I stepped through to the main office.
I made my way to give the report to Mrs. Samuels, but a glance through the window of her office as I approached it showed it was empty. It didn’t stop me knocking on the door before entering, but there was no one there. Moving across to the desk, I found a pen and piece of paper to write a note and left it on top of the report so that Mrs. Samuels would find it when she arrived the following morning.
Closing the door when I walked out of the room, I stopped in my tracks as I saw Conrad coming out of the hallway where his office was located. He became aware that he wasn’t alone and the smile that spread across his face when he caught sight of me was a sign of things to come. The weeks between the night in the hotel and now seemed to have gone by in a flash and the feelings of that evening returned along with the certainty that I was about to succumb to his desires once more.
“Hi Mr. Reed,” I said when he approached.
“Working late?” he asked.
“I was asked to give Mrs. Samuels a report,” I answered. “all finished now.”
There was a pause as if he was contemplating his next comment, but the lure of getting me alone was obviously too much for him to resist.
“How are you getting on with the work?” he asked.
“Fine,” I replied in a hushed voice and knew where his comment was leading.
“We should have a chat about it,” he went on.