Angel (NSC Industries) (31 page)

I
was so relaxed I drifted into a deep sleep, still curled up in his arms on the
rug in front of the roaring fire… heaven!

“More?”
Nate asked me as I finished the fruit salad he had lovingly prepared for my
breakfast whilst I returned Jay’s text he had eventually replied last night.

Shaking
my head I sunk back into my chair and drained my juice. “Nope, gotta get to
work,” I grumbled “You coming with me?”

He
shook his head as he rose and filled my coffee mug “No, I’m working from home
and coming in about 12ish.”

I
pouted. “That’s not fair. I want flexi-hours” I demanded with a wink. “Do you
think my boss’s, boss’s, boss would oblige if I give him some personal
favours?” I asked with a sly smile.

 “I’m
sure he’d give you a fucking pay rise to go with it” he grinned and winked
back.

I
laughed and drained my coffee. “I shall see you later then, my lover” I said as
I leant in to kiss him.

Brushing
my lips over his he mumbled, “How about lunch in my office, 12:30?” he asked
kissing me back.

I
nodded. “Sure, see you then.” I smiled over my shoulder and blew him a kiss
“Love you.”

 “Love
you, Angel” he shouted after me as I walked through the front door to be
greeted by Neo’s huge smile.

“Good
Morning, Miss Adams” he sang, opening the rear door.

I
raised my eyebrows at him and he winked, “Good morning, Olivia” he rephrased
and I beamed at him.

“Thank
you and good morning to you, Neo” I replied as I slipped into the rear seat.

Neo
slid into the driver’s seat and didn’t start the engine straight away; he
seemed hesitant and nervous for some reason. “Everything okay, Neo?” I asked,
glancing at him through the rear-view mirror.

He
swallowed and licked his lips “I’m not sure how to say this.”

He
swallowed again and I frowned deeply, “Just say it Neo, I’m not gonna bite you”
I laughed nervously and he shifted slightly so he could turn to look at me.

 “Please
don’t go anywhere without me today” he cringed marginally and I blushed.

“I’m
sorry about Friday, Neo but there was nothing else I could do.”

 He
smiled sympathetically, “I know but I could have helped and I don’t mean to
interfere. It just gave us all a fright to see you like that, that’s all.”

He
smiled again but lowered his eyes, aware of my embarrassment. “Please don’t be
embarrassed Olivia, I was more concerned with getting that arsehole than taking
in the state of your dress” he reassured me and his honesty set me at ease.

“Thank
you Neo, it means a lot. And I promise to inform you of any more secret
missions.”

I
grinned and he saluted me through the mirror as my door opened and Nate stuck
his head in the car. “Everything okay? You seem to be sat here a while” he
asked, narrowing his eyes on Neo and making him squirm a little.

I
placed my hand on Nate’s arm. “Neo was just advising me not to do any more
runners” I told him and Nate’s eyes widened.

 “Oh!”
he nodded at Neo, “Good, listen to him baby” he grinned at me and leaned in
further to place a kiss on my cheek, “See you later, Liv” he smiled as he
closed the door.

Rolling
my eyes at Neo I chuckled. “A bit possessive, ignore him” I winked and he
sniggered, “I think he thought we were getting down and dirty in here.” I
laughed at his brazenness and he pulled off towards the gates, my Monday
morning blues lifting as I relaxed into the comfort of the Jag, staring out of
the window and wondering what Nate’s lunch date would entail, hopefully
something other than food!

Arriving
at NSC, Neo insisted on escorting me to my floor, his eyes alert to our
surroundings and I felt safe in his care.

Bert
was on duty and I stopped for a quick chat before I entered the main foyer and
Samantha shouted me over. “I have a parcel for you, Miss Adams” she said to me
but her eyes never left Neo.

 
Did
this woman hit on every male?

“Thank
you, Samantha” I sighed as she gave him her sexiest smile.

“Hi”
she purred to him, holding out her hand and actually giving him an eyelash
flutter.

Did
women still do that?

I
sniggered under my breath as Neo stared at her out-stretched hand as though it
contained a disease and he turned, placed his hand on the small of my back.
“Ready Olivia?” he queried.

I
was gobsmacked at his bluntness with her and I walked towards the elevator
stunned. He leaned in and whispered “I can’t stand uninhibited women. I like
the chase” he smirked and I scoffed, “There would definitely be no chase
involved with Samantha, only a run to the clap clinic after” I snickered.

His
head flung back with a huge laugh, “Ooh God, I think I actually shivered at
that” he grimaced as we entered the lift.

“I
think I better open that, if you don’t mind?” he nodded towards the package in
my hand, “You never know” he said sheepishly.

I
passed it to him. “Sure, go ahead” I shrugged as we exited the elevator onto my
floor.

He
walked over to my desk with me, both of us waving a hello to Leah as we passed
her desk, and he unwrapped the brown paper from the box, revealing a small,
white square box and an enveloped card.

After
taking off the lid, he peeled back the tissue paper and gasped, blushing
furiously with wide eyes. “Oh uhh, I think I better see who this is from before
I give it you” he grimaced, still red faced.

I
was starting to get nervous, my chest pounding. It was obviously something very
personal for him to be so embarrassed so I passed him the card, carefully
watching his reaction as he read it.

He
grew even redder and coughed slightly as he handed me the card.

Angel

Something
for lunch ;-)

Love
you Baby

Nate
xxx

I
cringed, an awful embarrassment rising from neck to my cheeks as I glimpsed
into the box.

Inside
was a deep red, glass dildo with 2 small egg shaped balls tied together with a
little cord. It was true that money could get you anything you wanted and fast.

 
Oh
shit, poor Neo!

 I
swallowed heavily and gave Neo an uncomfortable grin. “Sorry, Neo” I winced and
he looked at me.

His
lips twitched and he started laughing. “Well that was different than what I was
expecting, I thought it might have been a bomb” he laughed some more and I
started to giggle with him and before long we were both snorting loudly as
Grace entered the room giving us both a quirk of her eyebrow.

 “Well
this makes a refreshing change to the usual miserable Monday mornings” she
grinned at us “Care to share?” she asked.

I
held my stomach, “You’re definitely not sharing” I exclaimed and Neo creased
up, tears rolling down his cheeks as he made his way back to the lift.

“Enjoy
your lunch, Olivia” he shouted as he disappeared round the corner, still
laughing hard.

Grace
lifted an eyebrow as I filled her in on Neo’s embarrassing discovery and soon
she was laughing with me.

 “God,
why can’t Paul send me toys?” she pouted as she picked up the eggs and flipped
them in her fingers, “These look fun” she grinned and I snatched them back and
replaced them in the box, popping the lid back on.

 “Work!”
I told her as she stuck out her tongue.

“Boring”
she giggled as she entered her office but shouted loudly “Let me know what
they’re like and I might invest” she laughed at my embarrassment as she shut
her door.

The
morning dragged by and at lunch time I made my way up to Nate’s office,
embracing my little white box.

I
entered the 50
^th
floor main reception and the male receptionist
waved me through whilst he spoke on the phone, his brow deeply furrowed.

As
I entered Nate’s personal reception area Rachel was also on the phone,
flustered.

Her
head flipped up at my arrival and she frowned at me, covering the mouth piece
on the phone “Miss Adams?”

I
returned her frown “Okay if I go through, Rachel? He’s expecting me.”

Her
frown deepened and she cocked her head “I was hoping you would know where Mr
Carter was, he hasn’t come in yet.”

 “Oh!”
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as my heart skipped a beat; it
wasn’t like Nate not to inform me of any change to our day.

 “Oh,”
I repeated “he’s probably just stuck in traffic. Have you tried ringing him,
Rachel?”

She
narrowed her eyes and glanced at the box I was spinning in my hands. “You want
me to give him that for you?” she asked and I looked down at it.

“Oh…
No, I’m good thanks” I gave her a tight smile, still fiddling with the box.

I
swallowed and shook my head, a sense of dread rippling through my body and my
hands had started sweating.

She
cocked her head and raised her eyebrows in a silent query. “Oh” I said again,
still rooted in place.

 “Miss
Adams, I will get Mr Carter to let you know when he gets in. If you’ll excuse
me I’m rather busy this morning” and with that she carried on with her phone
call, ignoring me and dismissing me.

I
turned and walked slowly back to the elevator, retrieving my phone from my bag.
Scrolling and selecting Nate’s number I connected the call and after five rings
it switched to voicemail. Waiting for the beep I left him a message, “Nate? Babe?
Where are you? We’re supposed to be meeting for lunch, remember? I got your
present and I was really looking forward to trying it out, babe. Uhh… I’m a
little worried here, ring me.”

I
disconnected and dialled his house number. It rang and the answering machine
clicked in “Baby? Where are you? Ring me when you can. Love you.”

I
slipped the phone back into my bag and tapped my fingers on the lift wall.
“Think Liv, goddam it.” I took my phone back out of my bag and dialled Ollie’s
number, he answered after the third ring.

“Olivia,
Hi” I could sense his smile down the line and it relaxed me a little.

“Hey
Ollie, is Nate with you?” I asked, trying to keep my tone level.

“No,
should he be?”

He
was a little apprehensive as he answered me and I tried to take a quiet breath
“No, no everything’s fine, he’s just late in for work and was wondering where
he was… that’s all, it’s fine.”

I
was starting to panic as an awful feeling of doom filtered through me. “Olivia?
Do you need me? Do you need me to help look for him?” I could hear the concern
in his voice.

“Has
Nate…” I was having trouble trying to ask him how much he knew but he cut me
off, “Olivia! Nate filled me in, love. If you need me… I’m here, okay?”

He
was now talking in a hushed calming voice. All through the years after James I
had found it hard to open up to anybody, frightened they would judge me and
think of me differently but I was oddly relieved that Nate had opened up to Ollie.
I now had Nate to talk to, but at the end of the day, he also needed someone to
thrash things out with.

I
knew he had been struggling with things and the things I had been through had
cut him, hurt him and I was glad he could talk to Ollie about it, the relief of
this out-weighing the need to keep it a secret.

“It’s
okay Ollie, really. I’ll text you when I find him, if you can let me know if he
turns up at yours” I heard his relieved sigh, “Sure. I’m sure he’s just stuck
in traffic or… something. Take care, Olivia.”

“And
you Ollie, bye.”

I
ended the call as I exited the lift on my floor and slumped in my chair, once
again ringing Nate but getting no joy.

I
popped my head around Grace’s door, “Grace, do you need me for the rest of the
day?” I asked, swallowing hard and she frowned at my panic.

 “Everything
okay, sweetie?” she rose from her chair and walked round to me.

“I
don’t know Grace, I can’t get hold of Nate and I’m getting a bit worried and
just wanted to, just go check on him.”

She
placed her hand on my arm, slipping her thumb up and down my skin softly,
“Olivia, calm down. It’s fine, I don’t need you this afternoon. Go on.”

 I
smiled and rushed to pack up my things, running to the elevator and banging the
ground floor button, “Come on, come on dammit.”

I
had texted Blake but he informed me it was his day off and he hadn’t seen Nate
since yesterday. I was really starting to worry now and I was constantly ringing
Nate’s mobile and house number and still getting no answer.