Undercover Alice (5 page)

That reminded me; I rummaged in my bag and retrieved
my own notebook. ‘Angus’ I wrote, and underlined it.

Sarah left the office without a word to me, and
shortly after, Matt came out of his office, carrying the bags of shopping he’d
bought at lunchtime. I was slightly disappointed to note that his suit jacket
was on again. And then slightly disappointed in myself for thinking it.

‘Well, that’s me done for the day, I think. Leaving
on time for once, I should give you a lift more often! Are you ready to go?’

I nodded and quickly packed up my things. As we
headed past Sarah’s office, he waved through the doorway.

 ‘See you tomorrow, Sarah!’

She waved back at him, but didn’t even catch my eye.

We got into Matt’s car and he turned the radio on to
listen to the traffic news as I buckled myself in.

‘Oh bollocks, there’s been a huge pile-up. The
road’s closed and they’re saying the diversion will take more than an hour.’ He
sighed.

‘I guess we could go back into the office and wait?’
I suggested.

‘Maybe. Or perhaps…’ he trailed off, suddenly looking
a bit shy.

‘Perhaps what?’ I prompted.

‘Well, you don’t fancy going for a drink, do you?
There’s a great pub just down the road, and we could sit it out there with a
nice beer until the traffic’s cleared. Obviously if you’d rather just try to
get home –’

‘That sounds great,’ I said. This would be a good
chance to find out a bit more about him, and those missing three years. I
ignored the little thrill of pleasure inside me that he’d invited me out. It
wasn’t a date, for god’s sake, it was purely professional.

The pub
was
nice. It was set on the banks of
the river and had an outside beer garden. Fat ducks swam past and waddled their
way along the verge, gently quacking. It was sunny, for once, so we sat outside
under a big umbrella. I ordered a sparkling white wine and Matt, a beer. He
insisted on paying, and, after a small but fierce debate, which made the
barmaid laugh, I put my purse away, insisting that I paid for the next round. I
was a firm believer in equal opportunities, and I didn’t like to be a kept
woman.

I took a sip of my wine, which was cool and
refreshing, and just what the doctor ordered after a slightly stressful day
what with Sarah Elliot’s antics. Matt took a long draught of his beer, and some
of the foam clung to his upper lip. I idly imagined myself licking it off, and
then stopped myself, horrified. Where had that come from? I couldn’t even blame
the wine, I’d only had one sip. Maybe my blood sugar was low or something. It
was time to try to be professional.

‘I was reading your biography in the welcome pack,’
I said, watching him carefully. He showed no sign of discomfort and I
continued. ‘You’ve had an interesting life so far. I was talking to Angus at
lunch, though, and I told him they’ve missed three years of your life.’ I
shrugged, apologetically. ‘Once a reporter, always a reporter, I guess.’ And
still a reporter, I thought, feeling a bit uncomfortable at my deception.

‘Did they?’ he said, casually. ‘I doubt anything
interesting happened. They probably decided it would send new starts to sleep.’

I wasn’t going to be put off that easily, though. I
had my scoop of the year to think about.

 ‘It was about six years ago,’ I said. ‘You must
have done something interesting in three years, the rest of your life seems to
have had loads going on.’

He really had. He’d left school with good grades,
and taken a year off to travel through the Middle East. He’d then studied
information technology at university, graduating with a first class degree. A
couple of years later, he’d gone back to do a post-graduate course in business
management. He’d worked for a small IT firm for a while and then, the three
years of nothingness. His biography picked up again with him going back to the
small IT firm he had been at before and then starting his own company. Of which
I was now an employee, of sorts.

Matt looked at me and seemed to be having an
internal debate with himself. I felt guilty, suddenly, that I was pushing him.
Then I remembered what had supposedly happened in those lost years and I felt a
bit better. If he’d been in prison for three years or so, it must have been
pretty bad, after all.

‘I was in Spain,’ he said eventually. ‘My parents
and sister lived out there, and I joined them for a few years. I spent most of
it on the beach drinking sangria.’

Now we were getting somewhere, but I was pretty sure
it wasn’t the truth. My internal lie detector was blaring loudly. For starters,
he didn’t strike me as the kind of person who spent hours on a beach getting
drunk. Plus, he looked distinctly uncomfortable. I considered my next move and
decided I didn’t want to push too hard and make him clam up.

‘Ah, that sounds great,’ I said. ‘Do your sister and
parents still live out there?’

‘My parents do,’ he said, running his finger round
the rim of his glass.

‘Oh, is your sister back over here now?’

‘She’s dead. She died a few years ago.’

I was horrified. ‘Oh I’m so sorry-’ I began.

‘It’s ok,’ Matt waved a hand. ‘How about your
family?’

It was obvious he wanted to change the subject. I
was torn: a good journalist would keep on going, I was getting to the heart of
the matter, I thought. But I couldn’t bring myself to cause him pain, so I
backed off.

‘Oh all very boring, I’m afraid. My parents are
divorced. My mum remarried to a really great guy, and my dad has had a
succession of girlfriends. I’m an only child, too.’

Matt smiled. ‘Sometimes boring can the best,’ he
said, a slightly sad look in his eyes.

My remark about my dad’s succession of girlfriends
led us on the topic of past, doomed relationships, the wine loosening my tongue
slightly.

‘When was your last relationship?’ Matt asked,
curiously.

‘It ended a year or so ago,’ I said, sighing. ‘We
just weren’t compatible. He was a lawyer and he worked an insane amount. I
didn’t mind that, I was working crazy hours too, but he never made an effort to
see me.’ I shrugged. ‘Eventually I realised I hadn’t seen him in two weeks, and
I didn’t even care. So that was that.’

I laughed at Matt’s sympathetic face.

‘What about you?’

He shrugged. ‘Not for a few years.’

That surprised me. He was an incredibly good-looking
man, and I didn’t think he would be short of offers.

‘What happened?’

‘She cheated on me, with a guy she worked with. I
came home early from work to surprise her one day, and got a surprise of my
own.’

My mouth fell open. No matter what Matt may have
done, I felt awful.

‘That’s terrible!’ I exclaimed.

He shrugged. ‘It wasn’t the best day of my life, but
I don’t think we were right for each other, anyway. I just found out sooner rather
than later. Then my sister....’ He checked himself. ‘Then I’ve been busy
setting up my business and haven’t really had time for anything else.’

I nodded, understandingly.

‘It must be hard,’ I said, ‘trying to juggle your personal
life and run your own company.’

‘It is.’ Matt sighed. ‘Sometimes it feels like I’m
spread too thin, trying to please too many people at once. I love it, don’t get
me wrong; but some days, I wish I could just turn up at 9, do some programming,
and go home at 5.’

‘You’re obviously doing well, though. You seem
popular.’

‘I hope so. I try not to be
that
kind of
boss. I’ve always believed that shouting and bullying never gets the best out
of anyone.’

I agreed with that. Dave Barry was a prime example
of the wrong kind of management.

‘You’re right,’ I said, and he looked pleased that I
thought so.

‘You mentioned your best friend earlier today,’ he
said. ‘Jen, was it?’

‘Yes, Jen. We’ve been best friends since we were
kids. She
gets
me, you know? Although sometimes it feels like we’re in
each other’s heads a bit too much. I can be thinking about doing something
ridiculous, and I get a text from her telling me to stop being silly.’

 ‘She sounds like a good friend to have.’

‘Oh she’s brilliant,’ I said. ‘She’s so gorgeous,
too. Whenever we’re out, she’s always surrounded my men. I’m like the ugly
stepsister.’

Matt shook his head fervently and I felt a little glow.
It’s ok to be flattered, I told myself, you aren’t made of stone.

‘I don’t believe that at all,’ he said. ‘ I’m pretty
sure you attract your own swarm of eligible bachelors.’

I shrugged.

‘The kind of men I meet when I’m out, they’re not
anyone I could see myself with. Not really.’

I changed the subject, suddenly feeling a bit
uncomfortable. I was aware of how close together we were sitting, and I
rearranged myself a little bit.

‘I noticed a copy of
Catch 22
in your office.
Do you read much?’

‘I try to, when I have time. I’m trying to read the
classics, but I keep getting distracted by reading things I’ve already read.
When I get home and I’m tired, I can’t face starting anything new, so I just
pick up an old favourite.’

‘I’m the same,’ I said, laughing. ‘You don’t want to
know
how many times I’ve read
Pride and Prejudice.
’ I paused for
a second, seeing his face. ‘Oh, tell me you’ve read it.’

He shook his head, at least having the grace to look
a bit sheepish.

‘I can’t say I have. Isn’t it chick lit?’

‘Chick lit?!’ I spat, horrified. ‘It’s one of the
greatest books ever read. I’m tempted to end this discussion now; I’m clearly dealing
with a heathen.’

He laughed and held his hands up. He had a lovely
laugh, I thought, deep and infectious and genuine.

‘Alright, alright. I’ll look into it.’

‘Good,’ I glared at him and he laughed again.

‘I promise!’

I checked my phone and noticed a text from Simon,
Jen’s brother, asking when he should come round to look at the car.

‘Oh I’ve lost track of time.’ I said, waving my
phone. ‘My friendly mechanic wants to know when to come over.’

‘Traffic should have cleared by now,’ Matt said.
He’d moved on to soft drinks after his initial beer, and he drained his glass
of coke in one gulp. ‘Come on, let’s get you home before you turn into a
pumpkin.’

I’d kept on the wine, and, as I stood up, I realised
I was feeling a little bit tipsy. Great. I had to concentrate on walking as I
tottered to the car but, thankfully, I managed the endeavour successfully and
sank into the passenger seat with relief.

‘How are you finding it? Working here I mean.’

I glanced over at him, noting not entirely
dispassionately that his arms were muscly as they gripped the steering wheel.

‘I’m enjoying it,’ I said, and was surprised to find
I didn’t even have to lie. ‘I’m still finding my feet a little, so I’m not sure
I’m being entirely useful.’

Matt shook his head vehemently.

‘Oh no, you definitely are. You’ve been great.’

I was pleased; who doesn’t like to hear they’re
doing a good job? And such praise was rarely forthcoming from the lips of Dave
Barry. In fact, it was never forthcoming from the lips of Dave Barry.

The traffic had cleared, and in 20 minutes, Matt was
dropping me off outside my door. I was flattered and a tad embarrassed when he
parked up and whizzed round to my side of the car to open the door for me.

I did a little curtsy as I got out the car, and then
wished I hadn’t had so much wine.

‘Id invite you in,’ I said, ‘but I’m not sure
watching someone repair my car is very interesting.’

I blushed, then, as I realised I’d perhaps
overstepped a line – he was, technically, my boss, afterall.

Matt smiled and I thought I detected a faint note of
pleasure in his voice.

‘Thanks for the offer. Give me a shout to let me
know if your car is fixed; if not, I can pick you up again tomorrow. Goodnight,
Alice.’

He waved as he drove away, and I waved back,
standing on my doorstep for a second thinking for a second before I put the key
in the lock and went inside.

Simon arrived shortly after. I’d known him since we
were all children, so he could tell right away I was feeling a bit drunk.

‘You’ve been having a good time,’ he observed when I
answered the door. I glared at him and he laughed, holding up his hands. ‘Ok,
ok,’ he said. ‘Point me in the direction of your car.’

Luckily, it was just the battery that had gone, as
I’d suspected, and Simon easily replaced it for me. I thanked him and paid him
for the cost of the battery; he always refused any money for labour. I was
starving, and ferreted through the fridge and cupboards, finally creating some
sort of pasta concoction with leftover vegetables and cheese. The food made me
sober up a bit, and I was embarrassed I had invited Matt inside.

I picked up my phone and quickly wrote out a text.

‘Car fixed. Thanks for lift and for entertaining
chat. See you tomorrow. Alice.’

I wasn’t expecting a reply but my heart leapt a
little bit when my phone buzzed a minute or so later.

‘It was my pleasure. I had a great time. See you
tomorrow.’

Oh boy.