Soul Protector (17 page)

“Okay, okay. I’ll fix it.
Where’s the old article?”

“We’re erm, we’re scrapping
that subject now. You’ll have to do a filler instead. Don suggested
something about making a living from eBay.”

“And you need it by when?”

“Lunchtime. Go on, go do
it.”

Shell-shocked, I disappeared
out of her office, and quickly sat down at my own desk, turning on
my PC.

Arthur’s head popped up over
the privacy board again. “Everything alright, love?”

I looked up at him and shook my
head slowly. “No, it’s not. I’ve made a mess of things, Arthur. The
article that’s not fit to be published is one of mine.”

“Oh, ouch,” he said, gritting
his teeth.

“So, the reason Donald blew a
fuse this morning is down to me.” I inhaled a deep breath. “Oh God,
I think I can kiss goodbye to any chance of getting that
promotion.”

I looked forwards as my PC
screen flashed to life.

“You don’t know that love.
You’ve knocked out some of the best articles in this place, that’s
got to count for something. Don’t you give up, you’re not beaten
yet.”

I puffed out all the air in my
cheeks. He was right. I had to give the promotion my best shot. If
I was going to salvage the situation, I had to perform a small
miracle. The eBay article had to be head and shoulders above all
the rest.

The morning passed in a blur. I
scanned eBay’s website and got in touch with some of their power
sellers, managing to persuade a few of them to part with their tips
for success. One middle-aged lady had packed up her cleaning job
and was making a fortune buying china tea sets and selling them on
to the US market. She was so inspiring, I made a mental note to try
it myself when I had more time.

Not everyone was willing to
pass on their secrets of success. A couple hung up on me and one
man told me where I could shove my article.

Undeterred, I carried on
researching as much as I could and managed to get a decent feature
pulled together in record time. After a bit of polishing, I was
quite proud of the finished article and handed it to Camille
feeling quietly confident. She grabbed it off me without comment
and after the morning’s debacle, I was surprised to see her rush it
straight into Donald’s office without double-checking it herself. I
sagged into my chair, praying Donald was going to approve.

I decided to have lunch at my
desk, and try to clear the increasing workload. I checked my emails
first, and saw one from Kerry asking if I fancied a few drinks at
the usual haunt, with her and Joe on Thursday night. I stuck my
tongue in my cheek. That was two nights away. I thought about
asking Dan to join us. I was dying to tell Kerry about him. I knew
I could actually tell her about our walk round the lake the
previous day, seeing as how it was all quite innocent, but I really
needed to think through the finer details first so I didn’t let
anything slip about the whole Soul Protector business.

It would be great if she could
meet Dan in person, because he would know how to handle any awkward
questions. Was it too soon though? Dare I contact him or should I
wait for him to ring me first?

I replied to Kerry to say yes I
would join them, and decided not to mention Dan. If he couldn’t
come, she’d be none the wiser, and if he could come, he could do
some of the explaining. I added a note asking if Lydia would be
going, and clicked ‘send.’

Feeling brave, I took Dan’s
business card out of my purse where I had put it the previous night
after I got in. I twirled it around my fingers before stroking the
blue embossed letters of his name, trying to pluck up the courage
to ring him.

My fingers hovered over the
numbers. It’s now or never, I thought. Hardly daring to breathe, I
tapped out his number. He picked up after two rings.

“Dan Sullivan.”
That smooth,
deep voice
.

“Oh, hi Dan, it’s Gracie here,”
I said, trying to sound casual. Thank God he couldn’t see the
grimace I was pulling.

“Hey, Gracie, how are you?”

Phew.
He sounded
genuinely pleased to hear from me.

“I’m good thanks. Listen, are
you free Thursday night. My friends have invited me down the pub,
and I thought maybe you could join us?”

He paused.
Damn, I’ve been
too hasty.
I steeled myself, waiting for his
rejection
.

“Um, yeah, that’ll be good. I’m
on call though, so I might have to disappear. Can I meet you
there?”

I let out the breath I didn’t
know I was holding. Small bubbles of happiness were popping inside
me.

“Great. Well, we’re going to
the Smuggler’s Tavern at 8 o’clock. Do you know where it is?”

“Uh-huh. I’ll see you
there.”

“Great.”
Stop saying
great
. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“I’ll look forward to it. See
you Thursday, Gracie.”

I hung up, smiling. Nothing
ventured nothing gained was my new motto. My bad start to the day
was behind me.

My PC chimed to indicate I had
mail. I opened up the inbox to see another message from Kerry.

‘
Gracie, it’s fantastic
you’re actually going to come out with us, but Lydia said she’s not
coming if you’re going. Something you need to tell me? Never mind,
we’ll be there. Do you need a lift? Kxx’

Wow, Lydia really was holding a
grudge. It was definitely a rollercoaster of a day. I replied to
Kerry to say I’d tell her about it later, making a mental note to
think up a good story as to why I shut the door in Lydia’s
face.

I stayed late at work as usual,
and caught up with all the stuff in my in-tray. I knew in order to
secure the promotion; I had to give one hundred and ten percent
effort.

~~~

CHAPTER 13

.

Trouble with the Ex

.

I woke up buzzing before the
alarm clock had a chance. As I munched on buttery toast and sipped
my coffee, I thought about my upcoming night out with Kerry, Joe
and Dan. I’d already sorted out my clothes, trying on about ten
different combinations when I’d got home from work on the
Tuesday.

I’d finally decided on my
favourite top, it was a deep red sheer fabric, and I was going to
wear a little vest underneath, so as not to give too much away. I
thought jeans would be a good idea, to play it down a bit, and I’d
decided to brave my skyscraper boots again. At least I was getting
a lift to the pub, so in theory I only had to walk to the bar. I
had another big beauty routine planned for after work, including
curling my hair, as Dan had liked it.

With all the effort I was
putting in, I was praying he didn’t get called off on another
shout. I couldn’t wait to get close to him again and fantasised
about the perfect scenario, him giving me a lift home at the end of
the night. Every time I thought about seeing him, my belly did a
somersault. I still hadn’t worked out if it was through excitement
or sheer terror.

Of course, I didn’t know then
that things were about to go rapidly downhill.

I jumped as the intercom
buzzed. I pressed the button and Kerry’s voice boomed out through
the speaker. “Come on, Gracie, get a wriggle on.”

I ran down the stairs two at a
time and walked with her to the car. I was secretly flattered that
Joe did a wolf-whistle when I opened the door.

“Cor, you scrub up well,
Gracie,” he said.

Kerry thumped him playfully on
the arm.

“What he’s trying to say is you
look amazing,” she added. “Are you on the pull?”

“Erm, no, not really,” I
answered.

Kerry looked at me for a few
seconds, narrowing her eyes. I squeezed my lips trying to hide an
involuntary smile.

“Not
really.
Hmm, why
d’you say it like that? Have you already pulled then?”

She knew me too well.

“I might have,” I said, trying
to adopt an air of mystery.

“Oh yes,” she shouted, punching
the air. “Do I know him?”

“Not yet, but I’m sure you’ll
like him.”

“See, I knew you wouldn’t be
spare for long,” said Joe.

“Thanks, I think,” I said,
laughing.

~

We pulled into the familiar car
park of the Smuggler’s Tavern. It was near to the part of town
where our school had been, and since the age we could drink, this
had been Kerry’s, Lydia’s and my regular haunt. Thinking about it,
it was our favourite haunt way before we were legal.

There was a faded picture of
some pirates on the sign, and the letter R was missing from the pub
name. All the locals had referred to this place as ‘Smuggles’ for
years.

The car park was a huge
gravelled area, but the grass and weeds were winding their way
through, gradually winning the fight for supremacy. There was
plenty of space for a beer garden but Mark, the Landlord, protested
he wasn’t an ‘outdoors’ type of person. In the past he had made
some effort to jazz up the outside area and there were several
hanging baskets swinging in the breeze to pay testimony. But the
few flowers that survived were long gone, and all that remained
were blackened twigs and straw-like remnants hanging on for grim
death.

Mark said the shabby outside
was deliberate, part of the image he tried to create. But what
Smuggles lacked on the exterior, it more than made up for inside.
It was large too, and the bar was always buzzing with customers.
Somehow it still managed to retain the warm, cosy, atmosphere of a
country pub and you could usually find somewhere to sit down if you
wanted to rest and have a good old natter. We usually plonked
ourselves somewhere near the roaring fire.

As we got out of Joe’s car, I
scanned the car park and my heart leapt when I saw Dan’s Jag pulled
up near the entrance.

“He’s here,” I said, pointing
to the midnight blue car ahead of us.

“What, the Jaguar XF?” Joe
asked. I wasn’t sure if it was an XF or not, but he was looking in
the right direction, so I nodded.

Joe wolf-whistled again, with
more meaning this time. “Sweet motor,” he cooed.

I felt excitement ripple
through me as we entered the pub. In spite of all the customers, I
saw him straight away. He was directly in front of us, sitting
sideways on a barstool, chatting to one of the barmen. He had on
dark grey trousers and a crisp white shirt with the sleeves rolled
up revealing strong, tanned arms. They were amazing arms, I
thought, lost in my fantasies for a moment, perfect for chopping
wood and dragging me into his cave. I couldn’t believe that someone
as gorgeous as Dan, could be sat waiting just for me. I tried not
to notice that half the women in the pub were ogling him as
well.

I nudged Kerry. “Over there,” I
said, looking ahead.

Kerry followed my gaze, and I
saw her eyes widen when they settled on Dan.

“Him?”

I nodded.

“Gracie, he’s gorgeous!”

“Oi, I’m still here you know,”
said Joe, pulling a wounded expression.

We made our way over and Dan
turned towards us, a big smile forming on his lips. I tried to hold
it together and took a deep breath.

“Hi, Dan, these are my friends,
Kerry and Joe.”

“Good to meet you,” Dan said,
shaking Joe’s hand, and giving Kerry a kiss on the cheek. Then he
leant forward to kiss me on the cheek and I inhaled the lovely
aroma of his spicy aftershave. It was my new favourite smell. He
rested his hand on the small of my back for a brief moment, sending
shivers up my spine.

“Sorry about my formal attire,
I’ve come straight from a meeting.” He grabbed his jacket off the
stool next to him.

I didn’t mind, the whole look
was working for me. Joe took Dan’s attention to see if he wanted
another drink. While their attention was diverted, Kerry looked
over at me and discreetly fanned her face. “He’s hot,” she
mouthed.

Introductions over and drink
orders in, we made our way to a spare table near the door. Dan held
out a chair for me and Kerry, before sitting down next to me. He
positioned himself so that my knee was resting against his leg, and
I stayed in that position for as long as possible, even when I was
leaning towards Kerry.

Dan seemed very relaxed despite
being the outsider, and that made me relax. After the second round
of drinks, Joe and Dan were like old friends. They were chatting
about a recent football match, while I was telling Kerry my
fabricated story about how I’d been on the phone and the dinner was
bubbling over when Lydia came round, and that was why I hadn’t been
able to see her. Kerry was cocking her head, as if she thought
there was more to it than that. She’d be right.

I was sitting with my back to
the door, so I couldn’t see the comings and goings, but I did
notice a draught every time someone entered the pub. One time when
I felt the familiar cool breeze, Kerry, who was facing the door,
nearly choked on her beer.

“Kerry, are you alright?”

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding.
Don’t look now, Gracie, just ignore him,” she said, groaning.

Intrigued, I spun round and saw
him. The object of my misery until a week ago was large as life in
my favourite pub, with a group of his dodgy mates. I was about to
turn away discreetly, but Mike saw me and his face lit up.

“Hello, Gracie. How’s things?”
he said, walking over to our table. He gave Joe and Kerry the
courtesy of a nod, but eyed Dan suspiciously.

I couldn’t get over how
ordinary he looked. Before, I’d thought he was something special,
but seeing him now, so close to Dan, he just looked like an average
guy off the street.

“Yes, I’m good thanks. How are
you, Mike?” I tried to keep my voice light.
God, this is
awkward
. What I really wanted was to stand up and tell him what
a jerk he was for sleeping with my little sister, but I knew his
group would probably enjoy it. Anyway, I didn’t want to drag the
whole sorry episode up in front of Dan.