Chapter Twelve
The next two weeks saw a flurry of new staff activity at Simpsons Stationery. Emily was thrilled that every person they’d chosen had agreed to take up their roles. She’d expected at least one to call and say they got a better offer elsewhere, but all the new starts went smoothly, and for that she was grateful.
Her workload gradually decreased and she was able to return many of the reporting functions she’d taken on to their respective departments. She still needed to complete the work of the operations manager, since Cooper had been stalling on any more interviews for that role, but she finally had some time to herself each night.
Her new assistant was a godsend and Jenny was also able to return to many of the high-level tasks she’d been doing before their shakeup.
Ed had even called Emily to let her know that the regulator had advised they would likely face smaller fines as they’d taken such decisive action when they’d discovered the dishonest behaviour of their staff.
The only cloud on her horizon was Cooper. They’d had dinner two more times recently and he hadn’t let up with his insistence that they should date. He’d taken to touching her on the back whenever he was close, sending her funny emails, and had kept up his habit of nudging her foot under the table whenever something amused him in a meeting.
She liked the small touches—liked every moment they spent together. Her resolve was weakening day by day, and he knew it.
Today they’d closed the site and had instead organised a day at a hotel in the city. Cooper and Jenny had been in charge of all the details and Emily felt a thrill of excitement at the prospect of a relaxing day off. A whisper had spread through the office that massages were being provided for everyone, and last night Cooper had called a meeting to confirm the rumour.
“I just want to let you know some of the details for tomorrow,” he began as the chatter died down in the room. “Many of you have heard that there’ll be massages.” Several people murmured. “A couple of people have told me quietly that they do not want to have a massage with their workmates.” There was laughter throughout the small group. “I want to reassure you that you won’t have to do anything awkward. We have a lovely day planned for you. The hotel has brought in several local businesses to pamper you, we have an awesome guest speaker, lunch will be spectacular, and there’ll be prizes and fun all day.” He smiled around the room and waved his hand in Jenny’s direction. “Jenny has done an amazing job of organizing the details and I’ve squeezed Ed Simpson for all the cash he could spare.” A small cheer rippled through the room and Cooper put his hands up. “One last thing. You know we have invited all of your partners to the dinner tomorrow night. For some of you this might be the only time you escape from your children for a night out. So, it’s not mandatory to join in the group dinner. If you’d rather squirrel yourself away in a corner of the other restaurant on site and have a romantic dinner together, we totally understand and your meal will be covered. This is meant to be a reward, after all!” Another cheer had sounded as Cooper dismissed them and suggested they go home early.
As she’d passed him in the doorway on her way back to her office, Cooper had pulled her aside. “You don’t have a significant other that you’ll be dining with in the corner do you?”
“You know I don’t.”
“Just checking. I’d hate to get an awkward surprise tomorrow.”
She batted her eyelashes and said in a whisper. “It’s a bit late to ask if I’m seeing someone isn’t it? You should have asked that when you first arrived—before you set your sights on me, again.”
***
After speeches, awards, team building games and an enormous lunch, complete with stationery themed cupcakes, the workers from Simpsons were split into smaller groups and directed to various stores in the city. Emily didn’t think it was a coincidence that she and Cooper were allocated to a boutique spa several blocks away. As they walked there together she commented as much to him. “Just the two of us going to this particular place? Very convenient for you.”
He smirked and took her hand. “Oh, don’t be salty. You know I’m an evil genius.”
“How did you get this one past Jenny? What excuse did you use? Please don’t say it’s because we are management and should go somewhere separate.”
His laughter filled the street. “Are you serious? This was Jenny’s idea.”
“I’ll kill her.”
“No you won’t. You’ll thank her—trust me.”
“I don’t trust you. Not one bit.”
“Oh, come on, I’m completely trustworthy. I haven’t told a soul about your crime spree the other week. Not even my newest buddy Luke.”
“I’ve watched you carefully every time we’ve been with him and Jordan, just to make sure.”
“Really? What about last Thursday when he and I went out to play pool? Where were your spying eyes, then?” He grinned at the shocked look on her face.
“You went out with Luke? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Bro code.” He said mysteriously and stopped at a pink painted door. “This is us.” Soothing music played inside and the shop front smelled amazing. He approached the desk and announced their arrival to the beautifully groomed receptionist.
“Thanks for coming a few minutes early.” She stood and handed them each a clipboard. “Please fill these in.” She led them through a frosted door and indicated they should sit on two low chairs. “Our therapists will be with you shortly and explain your treatment. You’ll be having the couple’s massage last of all, today.” She closed the door behind her and Emily looked at Cooper.
“Couple’s massage? What the hell have you organised?”
“You’ll see.”
“This is a bad idea.”
“No, it isn’t. Fill in your form and stop worrying. You’re here to be pampered.”
“I kind of thought it would be in private.”
“The first part is. Don’t worry, you’ll love it.”
She pursed her lips and filled in her form as her heart beat a million miles an hour. A couple’s massage was the last thing she’d expected. Keeping her clothes on around Cooper was high on her list of priorities.
Two therapists appeared, offered them water and showed them where to change. Emily scurried into the bathroom and quickly slipped into the robe she’d been supplied. Her eyes were round in the mirror and she resisted the urge for a quick pep talk before she returned to the hallway.
Stop being childish. You probably won’t run into him out there anyway.
A basket had been supplied for her belongings and she carried it in front of her as she returned to the room where she’d been asked to wait. Cooper was already there and he leaned against the wall, waiting for her.
He took her basket and placed it on the ground. When he straightened up, he was way too close. His fingers tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear and he smiled his trademark surfer grin. If she hadn’t already been on edge, her knees might have gone weak at the sight of that smile. Knowing he was naked under that robe wasn’t helping.
“Ready?”
“As I’ll ever be.”
“This is your room.” He pointed to a door on the left, then leaned in close, “Just remember, our massage is last.” She watched him almost skip down the hallway, whistling as he went.
Damn him. Now I’ll spend the whole time thinking about what will happen once we’re in there together.
An hour later she found herself in the shower, rinsing off the mud exfoliant that had been expertly applied all over her body. The shower gel had a citrus scent and she rubbed it liberally across her skin, creating bubbles as her hands moved. Eyes closed, she enjoyed the hot water cascading down her back as she washed the last of the mud away.
When she reappeared in the hallway, wrapped in a clean robe, the therapist directed her toward the couple’s room.
Emily held her breath. With no idea what to expect, she allowed herself to be led into the room. A sigh escaped her lips as her fears were put to rest—the two massage tables were a good distance apart. Her visions of him holding her hand or something equally corny, fled. The giant hot tub in the corner did not escape her notice, though, and panic slithered up her spine.
Please, please, don’t ask us to get in there together.
Cooper arrived next and the therapist excused herself for a few minutes. He wasted no time pulling Emily toward him. “How was it?”
“Amazing. You?”
“Really great. It’s been a very long time since I’ve had a massage.”
She bit her lip. “This is my first one.”
“What? You’ve never had a massage before?”
“Never. I’ve been kind of shy about taking off my clothes.”
He grinned and tipped her chin up. Their eyes met before he spoke, “You were never shy in front of me.”
“That’s different.” Her breath caught in her throat as their thick robes touched and his warm hand caressed her cheek. “I don’t know what I’m meant to do here,” she whispered. His fingers tickled the wet tendrils of hair on the back of her neck and she resisted the urge to close her eyes. “You really have to stop that.”
His answering groan made her smile as he took a small step back. “You’re right. Ignore me. I get carried away whenever you are close.”
A giggle escaped her lips. Part discomfort; part awkwardness. “Please tell me we’re not getting in the hot tub.”
“I wish I could say we were,” he laughed as her eyes widened, “but I told them we weren’t actually a couple and it would be wildly inappropriate.” As the door opened and two therapists appeared he threw a sidelong glance at Emily. “Next time, though. Promise.”
The blush that crept up her neck added to the warmth in the room but the staff didn’t seem to notice. They set about getting their towels ready and soon indicated it was time to start. After some quick instructions to lie face down on the bed and cover themselves with the towels, they left the room again.
Emily stared at Cooper, not daring to move toward the massage table. He rolled his eyes and turned to face the wall without her having to demand it. His laughter made her feel childish as she quickly dropped the robe and covered herself with the towel. When it was his turn to lie down, she turned her face to the wall, grinding her teeth as he continued to laugh. “Why are you laughing? This is so awkward!”
“The look on your face is priceless,” he said, as she listened to him settling himself on the table. “You can turn around now.” She turned and groaned. The towels were pink and where she had covered her entire body with hers, he’d slung his loosely over his bottom. She kept her eyes on his face, not daring to let them glide over his naked back. A muscled back she’d once run her hands over in a hotel bed. “Did you really think I’d insist on watching?”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“You can relax. I’ve just been teasing you—we’re not having a couple’s massage.”
“Why are we in the same room then?”
“They’re going to put a divider between us, that’s why the beds are so far apart. I’ll be able to hear you groan if she digs her fingers into your back, but that’s about it.”
“I truly don’t understand.” She glared at him from her side of the room.
“We’re at this place because there weren’t enough spaces at the other ones. This room was the only one available for this last hour and I thought it would be better, rather than us cutting the afternoon short.”
“You’re a devil. You had me panicking!”
“Sorry.” He laughed. “It was too temping not to tease you. Just like the lights in the sky, though, when you give in I’ll take you for a real massage as a couple. Promise.”
“No more promises from you, Cooper Jackson. Every one of them is designed to get me into trouble!”
***
Emily sat at her desk the next morning, finishing a few small tasks before she and Cooper interviewed for the vacant warehouse roles. She was having trouble concentrating, thinking instead of their dinner conversation the night before. Their staff, chatting and laughing with each other had surrounded them, but in between they’d laughed together, reminiscing about their few weeks together last year. Every time he took her out she ended up laughing her way through dinner with him, and last night had been no exception.
They’d talked a lot about her friends…
“I know Jordan is with Luke, but did she ever hear from the guy from the baseball game that we joined her for? I think about that day a lot.”
“The bondage guy with the liquorice collar? I don’t know what happened to him, but I’m really glad they didn’t hit it off. I wouldn’t have been able to look at her quite the same after that.”
“I imagine not. He seemed to want to come home with us after she left, didn’t you think?”
“At the time I did think that’s what he wanted. When she rushed to her car and left us standing there I was so worried he’d want to explain why he’d made that collar and why he liked it. That was the last thing I wanted to know.”
“You know he contacted me a few weeks later?”
“No way?” her eyes widened. “What for?”
“It was the strangest call. You and I had broken up by then so I didn’t really want to talk to him, but he was following me up to see if I wanted to invest in some shares.”
“Really? It was work related?”
“Yep. Apparently he was not remotely ashamed that we’d met while he spent the day tied to a railing with a liquorice lead. He wanted to be my broker if I ever got into trading shares.”
She’d choked on her wine, wondering if Jordan knew her date had contacted her friends behind her back. As always, Cooper was full of interesting revelations and enormous belly laughs.
Her eyes refocussed on her laptop and as she snapped it closed and pulled it from the holder to take downstairs, she saw someone in a bright yellow suit walk past her door. She frowned as she stood up and went to see who it was.
She didn’t recognise the person so she followed them and soon found herself in the sales section. The gentleman in question sat at a desk and started typing while Emily continued into the sales manager’s office and closed the door. He took one look at her face and raised his hand.
“I’m already on it, Emily.”
“How can you even know what I’m going to say?” she laughed.
“I know because you have the same look that’s been on a couple of people’s faces today. The same look I saw on my own face when my newest staff member, Rodney Wolf out there, showed up in his prized canary yellow zoot suit.”
She laughed again and raised both her hands. “You got me. What the hell is a zoot suit, and which era does it come from?” She settled herself in his visitor chair.
“It’s the thing of beauty you just witnessed, made famous in the jazz era. They’re a collector’s item, young Rodney informs me. I took the opportunity to inform him that those baggy pants and wide lapels were not suitable work attire, even if they are a most fetching canary yellow.” He smiled at her across his desk. “He won’t wear it again, I promise. He’s not leaving the office today so none of our customers will have to endure the sight either.”
“That’s great Liam. Thanks for taking care of it before I even found out.”
“It’s a shame you didn’t see him earlier to get the full effect.” He smirked as she got up to leave. “He was wearing a matching yellow wide brimmed hat with a feather in it. I think he thinks he’s the guy from The Mask.”
***
“Cooper?” Emily called as she rounded the corner of his office. “Are you ready?”
His head poked up from under the desk. “I’m ready. Why are we doing this downstairs again?”
“I thought the guys coming for these interviews might feel a bit more comfortable in the small office downstairs.” She stood back as he pulled his computer cord from under the desk. “Going somewhere?”
“I’m just bringing my charger. Someone booked eight interviews on one day and my laptop won’t make it to the end.” He eyed her meaningfully and she grinned back at him.
“These will be shorter than the others, I promise. Anyway, we got out of doing the sales interviews now that we promoted Liam to the sales manager role. You should be happy about that. Sales people can be odd.”
“I’m happy about one aspect of that—the part where you delegated sitting in on those interviews to Jenny.”
They fell into step as they walked down the corridor toward the stairs. “Jenny is more than capable—she would have been with me if you hadn’t insisted you were spending every day of the last few weeks shadowing me.”
When they reached the conference room Sasha had already settled their first applicant at the table. Emily chuckled to herself as she heard a sharp intake of breath beside her. Clearly Cooper didn’t realise what he was in for.
“Hi there Noel.”
“Hello.” He shook both their hands and Cooper tried his best to hide his surprise. Noel was wearing a death metal t-shirt with a profanity printed in big red letters on the back. His greasy hair hung in thick sections around his face, hiding his pale skin. As they questioned him, he explained his background was as a welder and that he hadn’t been able to find work in his own field. Emily thought he had promise, but Cooper marked him a big no on his score sheet.
Their next applicant arrived in blue jeans and sneakers, with headphones dangling around his neck. He introduced himself as Jay, even though his resume listed his name as Thomas.
“What would you bring to this role?” Cooper asked and once again, Emily could tell by the tone of his voice that he was unimpressed.
“Well, I’m friendly.
“How much warehouse experience have you had?”
“Well, I haven’t worked in an actual warehouse. But I’ve taken care of the equipment for my band for a while now, which is kind of similar. You have to keep track of all the boxes and make sure everything is sent at your end, and received at the other end. I use a forklift to unload our bigger speakers but I don’t have my licence yet.” Cooper twitched beside her. “I probably can’t start for a month either, so I hope that’s okay.”
“You need to give a month’s notice to your employer?” Emily made a note on his resume.
“Nah, we’re touring with the band. We leave tonight and we’ll be back next month. I can start as soon as I get back, as long as we don’t get extended.” He grinned. “You know, if we’re successful.”
“Well, I think that’s all we need for now.” Cooper was quick to end the interview. “We’ll be in touch.”
When the door closed behind him Cooper blew out a long breath. “This is awful. I can’t believe people come to job interviews in jeans!”
“It’s pretty normal for warehouse or trade roles. They just don’t seem to dress up. The next guy was recommended by one of our current staff so fingers crossed he’s decent.”
Finger crossing didn’t help. The recommended applicant slouched in his chair and barely made eye contact. He grunted a few answers and looked around the room, like he had somewhere else to be. When he asked if he could have a break to get a cigarette after just five minutes with them, they told him they’d let him know.
And that’s how their day proceeded. Eight men, in attire that varied from high visibility work gear to jeans and hoodies made it through the conference room.
One of them tracked dirt from his workbooks right through the building, and another left his lunch box behind and had to return to pick it up. When he opened the door and they were interviewing someone else he reached in and grabbed his item without a word of apology.
The last applicant was a lot chattier than the rest and Emily and Cooper finally got some answers to their many questions. Greg Garrett was nothing, if not honest, when Emily asked him why he would be a good fit.
“I’ve only had two back injuries in the two years I’ve been working in my current job, so that’s good, right?”
“I guess.” Cooper’s tone said he didn’t quite agree. “How do you get along with the other staff at your current position?”
“I’m friends with everyone, except for this one guy. I’m not sure if he’s a bit crazy or if he just hates me, but at least once a month he reports me to management for something I haven’t done. Last month it was taking paper home from the stationery room. The month before he said I messed with the time clock. Another time he said I ate part of his lunch. I wasn’t even at work that day. I think he’s just evil.”
“That sounds like a hard situation to deal with. How are you managing?”
“Well, I’m not, which is why I’m looking for a new job. At my going away lunch I intend to punch that guy in the mouth.”
***
“Is it too late to change my mind and stop sitting in on interviews?”
“You big baby. We only have the ones you actually should be sitting in on to go. Operations manager and accounts manager both require your input, but not today. I’m done.” Emily slouched in her chair while Cooper leaned against her doorframe.
“Big plans for the weekend?”
“Not really. Dinner tonight at Luke’s house, then I’ll be trying to clear my inbox of some of the backlog. I have to pack for my trip next week, too.”
“Sounds like you’ll be busy.” He sounded wistful and she looked up to find him staring straight at her. His eyes raked over her face and for a moment a look of longing settled on his features, but it was quickly washed away and he shook himself with a short laugh. “I’m tired too. I guess I’ll think about going home.” He pushed away from the door and she suddenly couldn’t take it any more.
“Cooper,” she called as he turned away. “Do you want to come to Luke’s?”
“Would I be welcome?”
“Of course. You and Luke have the bro code, remember? Everyone likes you.”
“I wasn’t talking about everyone.” He stepped back into the room and closed the door behind him. “I’m talking specifically about you, Emily. Do you want me to come tonight?”
She hesitated for a moment, knowing that an honest answer could set her up for heartbreak all over again. A dishonest answer, however, would leave her wondering what might have been. Better to have tried and lost, than to have never tried at all. She was tired of keeping him at arm’s length. “Yes, I want you to come.”
“Why?”
“Does there have to be a reason?”
“Usually.” He watched her from the doorway, his blue eyes missing nothing.
“I don’t have a reason, Cooper. I enjoyed your company last time, I know Luke likes you and that’s all the explanation I can offer you right now.”
“I guess that will have to do. For now.” He searched her face again, satisfied with her answer. “Text me the address?”
“How about I just take you with me? How long until you can leave?”
“Ten minutes or so.”
“Okay. Come get me when you’re ready. I brought a change of clothes so I could go straight there. We’ll swing by your hotel and then we’ll go together.”