Chapter 2
The weekend flew by and, before she knew it, it was Monday morning. Emerging from the tube and making her way through the busy station, Elizabeth looked around in awe at the speed the commuters were traveling. They didn’t look left or right, they just single-mindedly headed to their desired destination. She was in slight bewilderment of the mechanics of living and working in London, which was very different to the slower pace of life back home.
With a spring in her step and with slightly nervous anticipation, she made her way out of the station and into the glorious sunshine, pulling on her sunglasses, momentarily dazzled by the bright light. Walking the short distance to her new place of work, she admired the sights of London en route, from the already forming queue to the London Dungeons to the recently renovated sight of the very modern looking London Bridge. The river Thames glistened in the morning sunlight and the sound of traffic consumed her senses.
Crossing the road, she finally came to the building, rechecking her paperwork to make sure she was in the correct place. She stepped through the revolving doors and gasped at the sight in front of her. The huge central fountain dominated the foyer and to the right, was the very impressive reception desk, surrounded by a wonderful array of plants and flowers, which made it feel like she was entering a hotel lobby instead of an office building.
She stepped forward, looking around and took into view the glass lifts whizzing up and down as well as the two large escalators. She was still looking up at the lifts and walking towards the reception desk, when she smacked hard against what felt like a brick wall. Winded and totally taken by surprise, she threw her arms out widely, trying to regain her balance. She tried to maintain some sort of dignity as her bright yellow satchel bag and sunglasses fell crashing to the floor.
“Oh my God,” she said, thoroughly mortified, heat flooding her cheeks, not daring to look up yet. “I’m so sorry.” She started to bend down to collect her belongings, when she saw a tanned male hand reach out to steady her.
“Whoa there, steady now.” A deep, American sounding voice had her looking up. She looked at his perfectly manicured nails as his hands lightly gripped her forearms. Her eyes followed the path of his hands up to the outline of hard muscles not quite concealed behind the crisp grey suit he was wearing and then finally traveling up to his face.
Oh my goodness.
She was close enough to take in the woody scent of his expensive smelling cologne, her breath catching in her throat as she looked into his brilliant blue eyes – she had never seen such a handsome man in her life. Her heart hammered so loudly in her chest, she was surprised he couldn’t hear it. She couldn’t get her words out, her face was on fire and her legs suddenly felt unsteady.
She took in his thick dark wavy hair and imagined herself running her hands through it. Just reaching his chest, he was tall compared to her petite frame. Suddenly, he broke her trance by dropping his arms and abruptly letting her go, bending down to help her collect her belongings.
He frowned slightly. “Do you normally walk around with your head in the clouds?” he asked, his eyes flicking to her thighs which were now exposed in her crouched position. She heard his mobile phone beep and he pulled it out of his pocket. He glanced at it, looking irritated. “Bumbling idiots,” he muttered. Her face stung from the rebuttal, and she tried to regain her composure while he was distracted.
“No actually, I don’t make a habit of it. It’s my first day and I’m just looking around,” she retorted, taking a deep breath. She stood. “I’m sorry I bumped into you, it was an accident.”
Head high, she swung her satchel onto her shoulder and walked off towards the reception without a backwards glance. How rude, she thought, feeling quite unsettled. Okay, yes he was obscenely handsome, and probably had girls falling over themselves, but how totally arrogant was he? And hurtful.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts and then announced herself at the reception. Still, as she rode up the glass lift to the marketing department on the fifteenth floor, she couldn’t help wondering where in the building he was based. A small part of her wished she could see him again, or even know his name... if only to prove to him that she wasn’t an idiot. There was another reason she wanted to see him. She wanted to look at him again. Wow. He might be rude, but he’d left her trembling in a way she’d never experienced. Just thinking about him started to make her heart speed up as she felt a faint fluttering low down in her pelvis. Too bad he was an arrogant, pompous dick.
The doors beeped open onto her floor, shaking her out of her thoughts of her embarrassing run in with the mystery guy. By the time she introduced herself to the receptionist, she was herself again.
“Hi, I’m Elizabeth Morgan,” she said, smiling at the young receptionist.
“Oh, yes, hello Elizabeth,” she said warmly, extending her hand. “I’ll buzz Miranda to let her know you’re here. Please have a seat, she’ll be out in a minute.”
Elizabeth went and sat on the brown leather sofa, glancing at the company brochures on the coffee table. She was just about to pick one up, when the door behind the reception desk burst open and an older lady with a mass of red curls, glasses absentmindedly placed on top, came through. She was wearing a fitted beige suit with a bright and colorful scarf tied around her neck. She smiled as she approached Elizabeth, hand outstretched.
“Elizabeth, lovely to meet you,” she shook the younger girl’s hand, taking in her neatly tied hair, minimal make up and basic black suit.
“Lovely to meet you too, Miranda,” she replied shyly. “Please, call me Beth. I’m so happy to be here, thank you for the opportunity.”
“We’re happy to have you, Beth. Amy from the agency was very complimentary about you.” She turned and walked back to the doors she came from. “We have a swipe card to enter our department; we’ll make sure you get your photo-card by lunchtime.” She swiped her card and the door released into the Marketing department.
After introductions to her colleagues, she was shown to her desk and given her first task of looking through the company marketing material, which was soon to be updated with new photos of projects that Steele Global Investments had recently completed. She enjoyed reading about the real estate investments across Europe and emerging markets and didn’t realise how quickly the time flew by as it was suddenly lunchtime. She looked up from her desk and peered into Miranda’s office, wanting to let her know that she was heading out. Miranda, still on the phone, caught her eye and held up her finger, signaling her to wait. She put the phone down back into the receiver and then motioned with her hands for Elizabeth to enter.
“Is everything alright?” Elizabeth asked.
“Beth, I was hoping to have you all day, but as you know, Mr Steele is over here for a while and it looks like he needs some help this afternoon, so you will be heading up to the executive floor after lunch.”
“Oh, okay, no problem at all,” Elizabeth smiled. “I’ll just grab a quick sandwich and head up there. Will I be back here tomorrow?”
“I hope so, Beth,” Miranda replied, taking off her glasses and perching them on her head again. “We could really do with the admin help here, but it depends on Mr Steele’s priorities. Come back here in the morning, if he doesn’t say otherwise.”
“Sure, will do. Thanks, Miranda.” She stepped out of her office and shut the door gently behind her. Having really enjoyed her morning and genuinely interested in her work, she hoped she would still feel the same way after the afternoon with the rumored ruthless owner and CEO.
* * *
A short while later, after a quick sandwich break, Elizabeth once again took the glass lift up to the executive sixteenth floor. From the minute she stepped out of the lift, she felt the serene atmosphere and heard soft classical music coming from the sound system. She stepped out onto the thick pile cream carpet, and approached the mahogany reception desk. Looking around, she saw a wall covered with awards the firm had won over the years as well as large canvas photos of their recently acquired developments. The glamorous receptionist, after introductions were made, asked Elizabeth to take a seat on the plush leather sofas whilst she waited for Mr Steele. Expecting to only wait for five or ten minutes, when half an hour passed by, Elizabeth frowned at her wristwatch and walked up to the receptionist, who earlier introduced herself as Suzanne.
“Excuse me, Suzanne.” The receptionist looked up from her screen. “I’ve been waiting for over half an hour now. Just checking that Mr Steel is expecting me?”
“Yes, he should be aware that you are waiting.” Suzanne tapped her keyboard to check his movements. “As far as I can see, he should be in his office.” She knitted her brows, squinting closer at the screen. “Oh I see, I think he is on a call with the office in the States.” She looked up at Elizabeth, apologetically. “Sorry, Beth, I can’t interrupt the call. Hopefully he shouldn’t be too much longer.”
“No worries.” Elizabeth smiled and returned to the sofa. Another ten minutes went by, then another fifteen. She’d been waiting for nearly an hour and feeling slightly restless, she wasn’t sure if she should just keep sitting there or return to the marketing department, seemingly forgotten about by Mr Steele. She had read through the latest brochure detailing the vast investments overseas, drank two glasses of water from the complimentary refreshment corner and checked her phone several times. Tapping her foot and unconsciously chewing her nail, she was beginning to feel quite irritated. She stood up and went to have a look outside the window. Up here, the view was beautiful, with a clear view of the River Thames below, spying a few passenger boats taking the tourists for rides up and down the river. It was still a lovely day outside in the warm June sunshine as she viewed the hustle and bustle down below.
“Beth?” Suzanne interrupted her thoughts. She spun around to look at the receptionist. “Mr Steele has just messaged through and said you could go in now.”
Finally, Elizabeth thought. She made her way around the large desk and knocked on the office door before pushing the handle and entering. She was immediately impressed with her surroundings. Mr Steele, with his back to her, was tapping out a message on his phone. She took a moment to look around his plush office, thinking how fortunate he was to occupy such a wonderful corner of the world from up here. The entire wall behind his desk was one big window, which gave an amazing view of London and the obscure blinds were slightly drawn to keep out the direct sunlight. His large uncluttered desk was constructed of glass and brushed aluminum and to the right of the room was a conference table, also made of the same material. A few cabinets were neatly lined against the wall, holding numerous files and to the left, a small, comfortable looking seating area.
She was about to say something when she felt the hairs rise up on her nape. Mr Steele spun around in his leather chair, placed his phone on the desk and then looked directly at her.
Her stomach lurched as her gaze widened in surprise. She inadvertently gasped. It was him.