Inspired by Night: - a sexy new age romance (24 page)

Chris

X

I was so disappointed. It hadn’t even occurred to me that he might go home for Christmas or that he wouldn’t be able to communicate with me in the same way from his home. I had always thought of him as being online, his physical location was irrelevant. I flushed with shame as I imagined his mum walking in on us, seeing me on the computer screen half-naked. I was relieved he had warned me otherwise I might have called him and who knows who would have seen me. January felt far away.

I thought about what Ruth had said to me on our shopping trip. She’d gently reminded me that in reality Chris wasn’t a real person, he was a name on a computer terminal. I should think about spending my time with someone real. Perhaps a bit of space from Chris would be good for me, give me a chance to return to the real world a bit more. But I still had a few days before he left.

Steven appeared in my doorway. His red and black shirt hung over the top of his loose-fitting jeans, his sleeves were rolled up just below his elbow exposing the olive skin of his forearms. His hair was spiked and he wore a lazy smile on his face. He knocked lightly on the wood of the door frame.

‘Hey. I’m just getting myself together for this conference in Manchester tomorrow. Just wanted to check you had everything sorted for the testers coming in on Wednesday.’

We had interviewed several testers last week and had hired three. I also had a part-time assistant hired. I was planning to wait until after Christmas before anyone started, but they were all keen to work right away, I guessed they needed the Christmas cash. I nodded.

‘I have your notes plus James is up to speed.’

‘I can’t believe you used to do all this yourself,’ he grinned at me, I smiled.

‘Never was very good at sharing my toys, but this way is much more productive. I can’t believe how quickly all this has come together.’

‘Well it has to now; we’ve had jobs lining up since Birmingham.’ Steven looked pleased with himself as he said it. ‘Hopefully more to come after tomorrow too.’ He looked at me thoughtfully. ‘You should come next time; you’d enjoy it, you know.’ I shrugged and promised I’d think about it.

Steven turned to leave and then, remembering something, he turned back. ‘By the way, Ols, are we doing something for Christmas?’

I looked at him in horror, I hadn’t even thought about Christmas, it was going to be way too late to book somewhere for a staff night out.

‘What can we do?’ I asked helplessly. Steven smiled indulgently.

‘Leave it with me, I’ll sort something. Next Friday, yeah?

I returned Steven’s smile gratefully and nodded.

When is our last day?’ he asked, still smiling.

‘December 23
^rd
?’ I cringed at the question in my voice. He must think I was an idiot. The truth was that I hadn’t really thought about that either, I was so used to just working all the time it hadn’t occurred to me that my staff needed to know what their Christmas holiday period was. Being an employer was much more complicated than I had realised.

Steven nodded smiling.

‘Cool, we get Christmas Eve off? I was going to book it off anyway to drive up to my folks.’

I grinned back at his smiling face, relieved I had got something right. Then I remembered Melissa.

‘Are you OK? About Melissa?’ I watched as he sighed and moved into the office, closing the door behind him. He smiled sadly.

‘I was sort of hoping to just brush that whole chapter under the carpet and forget it happened.’

‘You seemed quite content to become a dad.’ I said, remembering his conversation with Steph last week. He had seemed almost proud that he was going to be a father. I expected him to be relieved that this episode was behind him but I couldn’t help wondering if he might also feel a little bit sad too.

Steven began to fidget under my gaze.

‘Ols, you’re doing that thing again, you know, where you stare at me.’ His face cracked with a mocking smile. ‘I know I look particularly handsome today but really, you’re embarrassing me,’ he teased.

I shook my head to clear it and smiled.

‘You’ve had a rough couple of weeks, I just wanted to know you were OK and if you wanted to talk about it, you know I’m here, right?’

Steven smiled, but his expression was bemused. He stood up to leave.

‘Cheers, Ols, I’m fine. I’m free! I’m going to head off to Manchester. See you Wednesday afternoon.’ 

Chapter Twenty-nine

The following evening I was playing
Wii Fit
when my laptop started ringing, I turned down the volume of the TV and made my way to the sofa and I stopped in my tracks. The familiar black square had been replaced by a living room. I saw movement as the bright room was obscured and a figure sat down in front of the camera. He was difficult to see with the light behind him, the faint glow from his computer monitor not really casting much light on his face but I could see him well enough. My heart beat loudly in my chest. This was Chris Knight. He looked different to his photos; he was wearing a baseball cap and dark-framed glasses, and his stubble was almost long enough to be classed as a beard. He looked mature but handsome. Distinguished.

‘Notice anything different about me?’ he asked, smiling.

‘You’re actually human?’ I grinned.

‘The camera finally arrived, just as I’m getting ready to leave. Typical.’

‘Oh well, better late than never. It’s nice to see you finally.’

‘So how do I compare to your imagination?’ His voice had that teasing tone but sounded slightly uncertain.

‘Different, you look much nerdier than I expected. I know you’re not a nerd.’ He laughed. ‘So you must be quite fashionable then, the nerdy look is in at the moment.’ I concluded.

‘Not really, although I am in the business of making people look and feel good, it makes sense for me to follow fashion, but not when I’m sat at home on my computer.’

‘I wasn’t expecting a beard.’

‘Ah that’s because for the last few weeks I’ve done nothing but write my dissertation and hang out with you. Don’t even ask to see my hair, it’s disgusting.’

‘I like it, it suits you.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah, I mean I wouldn’t want it on my face so feel free to shave before I visit, but it looks good on you.’

He chuckled. ‘You still want to visit me?’ He sounded surprised, ‘this is probably our last chance to chat this year, I’ve got end-of-term parties to go to and packing to do.’

I closed my eyes and sighed sadly. I was going to miss him. ‘Best make the most of it then.’ I smiled, running my finger across my bottom lip. I saw him smile and stopped, frowning.

‘What is it?’

‘I don’t know. I think I feel strange now that I can see you watching me.’

‘Are you having performance anxieties, Liv?’ He teased.

‘I feel self-conscious, it was different when you weren’t visible, I could hear your voice but it didn’t feel as though you were watching me, you were more like a self-help recording or something.’

‘Would you prefer it if I turned my camera off?’ He seemed amused when I nodded shyly, but in an instant my screen went black and he was gone. ‘How will you cope if you come visit me and see me in the flesh, Liv?’ His voice sounded stronger somehow without the visual.

‘That’ll be different. You won’t be watching me, you’ll be pleasuring me.’ I grinned.

Steven was true to his word and sorted out a fabulous Christmas meal for the team on the last Friday before the holiday. We closed Inspired at noon on the 18
^th
and made our way to a restaurant his friend Callum had recently opened in Kentish Town. We had a private room to ourselves and had the chance to get to know each other over a full turkey dinner. The new staff were working out brilliantly. Maria was a godsend; she had spent the first three days creating a logical filing system and had installed a finance package to keep track of the accounts. I’d felt a bit guilty handing all the invoices and receipts over to her but she took them all and handed me a report of the month’s finances an hour later. Far more efficient than I ever was and worth every penny.

Colin, Mike, and Chloe had spent the first morning getting to know their way around, filling out personnel paper work, sorting out their salaries, and choosing their desk space in the testing room. In the afternoon Steven arrived, took them through the app they would be testing, and got them straight into work. I was proud of Steven, he had proven to be an efficient projects manager, with great people skills – he got the best out of the staff.

The restaurant was modern and clean, there was a decorated Christmas tree in the corner of our room and Steven and I had been out and bought presents for all the staff, which were now wrapped and waiting under the tree until after dinner. Steven had even convinced Callum to dress up as Santa to give out the presents. I’d really struggled with what to buy for Steven but had managed to get an advanced copy of
Dark Void
for the PlayStation 3, which wasn’t due for release until January.

While we were waiting for dessert, I ordered a bottle of champagne and after everyone had been given a flute I made a toast.

‘I’m not really into speeches or anything but I just wanted to say that this year has been a really big year for Inspired expanding from just one member of staff –’ I paused and pointed at myself ‘– to a team of seven.’ I opened my hands, indicating everyone sitting around the table.

‘And to be completely honest with you all, I never imagined I would ever have a team working with me, but it’s been a blast, I’m really glad you all joined me.’

I noticed big grins breaking out across everyone’s face and feeling a boost of confidence I continued, ‘but I also have to say that I had completely forgotten about things like Christmas break and Christmas parties, so the fact we are all here right now is down to Steven, so I want you all to raise your glass to Steven because actually, it’s not just the Christmas meal he’s sorted, Steven is actually the reason you all work for Inspired.’

Steven stood up, his eyes never leaving mine as he took a mock bow.

‘What she isn’t telling you is that she found me so annoying she had to bring more people in so she wouldn’t have to deal with me!’ He raised his eyebrows inviting me to deny the statement.

Everyone laughed loudly, watching me for a response as they gradually quietened down. I smiled and nodded.

‘That’s completely true, he’s also the reason I have my own office now!’

I caught Steven winking at me, the corners of his mouth twitching with amusement, ‘but regardless of how annoying he is, he has had an absolutely amazing impact on Inspired and I am truly thankful to him for choosing to join me.’ I raised my glass, ‘So to Steven and to you guys, I couldn’t wish for a better team of people to work with. Merry Christmas!’

‘Merry Christmas,’ the whole team chorused. I sat down as the table cheered loudly. I looked round and saw Santa burst into the room.

Callum was a great Santa; he waddled into the room under a ton of padding and danced around the room to Slade, dragging Chloe up as he waltzed her around the room before returning her to her seat and pulling me up, I dragged my heels but there was no denying him, he was strong and quick on his feet and he spun me around until I was dizzy, and holding me in his arms he lowered me towards the floor until my head fell back and I saw my team upside down clapping along to the music and grinning at us. He set me back upright and walked me to the Christmas tree as the music came to an end.

‘Ho ho ho!’ he bellowed, his voice was filled with laughter and I could tell he was having fun in his role. I looked round at Steven who was laughing hard at his friend. He caught my eye and grinned, it was the happiest I’d seen him since the Melissa debacle, and it was great to see him back to his old self.

‘Right, I have presents here, but only for all the people who have worked hard and been good for Mother Inspired here.’ He reached for a present. ‘Mike,’ he said loudly handing the gift to me to deliver. He called each name out one by one until everyone had a present.

‘Steven …’ As I handed over his gift, Steven frowned, confused. Apparently, he hadn’t been expecting anything. I gave him a kiss on the cheek, pulling away as I felt his arm snake around my waist. I’d had just enough to drink to get carried away and at that moment, I was reminded of our earlier days together. I returned to my seat as Callum walked over to me holding out a gift, I glanced around the table frowning, certain that everyone had a present.

‘Olivia,’ he said kindly, I looked at the present in surprise but, sure enough, there was my name written on the tag. I caught Steven’s eye and he smiled nodding imperceptibly. He’d done the same for me as I had for him.

We both opened our presents at the same time. I gasped when I saw mine. It was perfect; a Tardis USB hub. Steven grinned at my reaction before gasping when he glanced down at his gift.

‘How did you get this? It’s not out until next month.’ I shrugged nonchalantly, closing my eyes.

‘I know people.’ I squealed as he picked me up and spun me around hugging me tightly.

‘Well I know what I’m doing over Christmas!’

‘Thank you for my gift, it’s brilliant.’

Steven clapped his hands together.

‘Right everyone, I don’t know what you guys want to do, and there’s no pressure to stay out if you have places to be, but I’m going to The World’s End to catch up with the other guys from our building, who’s with me?’

Everyone in the room raised their hand. Steven looked at me imploring me to say yes. I nodded, grinning.

The World’s End was heaving with Christmas drinkers. We fought our way through the crowd and found Steph and Dave and the rest of the tenants around a large table in the back of the pub. I pressed some money into Steven’s hand and asked him to buy drinks for everyone. James joined him at the bar to help him.

I introduced everyone as Mike, Colin, Chloe, and Maria squeezed around the table. Dave slid along the bench to join me.

‘So here it is then, a full staff team at Inspired.’ He nudged me. ‘You did it, kid.’ I grinned at him. I still couldn’t quite believe I employed six people.