Bring Him Home Chapter 3
The chatter is really loud. Really, how is it possible such a small group of women could make so much noise? We were having a company celebration and I had taken everyone out for the day, all nine of us. We had taken over a small spa so my staff could be pampered; I told them they could have whatever treatments they wanted and to just relax. We had talked about what they wanted to do today and this had been the choice of most of them. As busy working women they used the spa when they could but usually for a flying visit, this way they could relax, be pampered and just enjoy being together. I had arranged for lunch to be catered as well as goody bags and a surprise gift of another visit for them, on work time, so they could fit it into their day without any worry.
As I sat back listening to them all laugh and joke about several different topics I couldn't help but be thankful to them because in the five years from conception my business was already one of the industry recognised top ten recommended ‘go to' companies. Turnover has tripled each year, with profits doubling and we have just moved into our own dedicated floor in a prestige building in the city centre. The rent is astronomical but the address just what is expected of us. I couldn't have done it without them and I try to show them that at every opportunity.
It was incredibly difficult for me to open up and enjoy the chatter and gossip of friends. Put me in front of a client and I come alive, I can charm anyone and convince them to trust me but in a situation like this I am so far out of my comfort zone.
Alice was very open about her marriage and her relationship with the lovely Jasper. Once we got over the awkwardness of our initial meeting I had met him a couple of times and I really liked him. He was a welcome addition to our little group of male consumers. He loved Alice with every fibre of his being. I could tell that from listening to Alice and just watching their body language when I'd been in their company. Alice though loved to make me blush, something she did on numerous occasions by enlightening the whole office on her and Jaspers apparently very varied and very busy sex life. It was a topic that I couldn't comment on, my whole life so far had been so focused I had never even been out on a date never mind taken part in any sort of sex. I think Alice suspected as much, she was incessant in her questions on my love life both past and present. I managed to avoid her a lot of the time, turning the questions back on her, something I knew she couldn't resist, talking about her and her' Jazzie's' exploits.
Esme was finally starting to come out of her shell. Dr Banner was right to send her my way, she was an excellent administrator and within a month of her arrival the office was running like a well-oiled machine. I couldn't believe how the office seemed to change every day, mounds of filing disappeared, bookcases were sorted and indexed and she devised a new filing system that made it a lot easier to find anything. It took me about a fortnight to realise that to do all this work she must have been putting in stupidly long hours, so I came back late one night and found her bedding down in her office.
"Esme what on earth, don't you have anywhere to live?" I asked.
"Yes of course I do, I just don't like staying there because I don't feel safe. Here I know I'm surrounded by several other offices, a security guard outside in reception and I have personally locked every door" she explained.
I knew she was coming out of a bad relationship, but I hadn't pried, if she wanted to talk she had plenty of sets of ears willing to listen. That night we sat and talked until the sun came up, she opened up about her abusive marriage and how her husband had nearly beaten her to death. It was the neighbour hearing he screams who had called the police, they had rushed her to hospital and arrested her husband. She got her revenge in court, he was absolutely sure she wouldn't testify against him, but she did and not only did she relive the night he was arrested, she was able to produce photographic evidence she had been storing of all the other injuries she had sustained. Most was backed up with hospital visits she made when her husband was at work. The judge had no hesitation in giving him the maximum sentence of 60 years with no parole, she had started divorce proceeding instantly and sold everything including their house. She was finally free of everything to do with him, and having moved across country she was also sure he had no idea where she was now.
The following day I had a quick conversation with Judy our part time book keeper, she was in her 60's but still very on the ball, her husband had died a few years ago and as she hadn't had children she was alone in the world. She had a spare room and was in need of the company so after explaining to Esme she would be helping her by renting the spare room, Esme moved in with her. It gave Esme that little bit of support she needed while she found her feet in a new city.
Rose was a different character altogether, she was adamant she was never settling down and that she didn't need a man. Her stories made my hair stand on end as she regaled us with her exploits, she was a love em and leave em girl, her weekends filled with flirting, dates and one night stands. She had accounts on several different dating websites, some of which I had never even heard of as well as some that were specifically for people who lived their lives a little differently. I knew I was innocent in the ways of actual sex and love making, but I wasn't stupid. I read trashy erotic novels just like anyone else, I loved erotica both in print and on canvas but I was out of my depth with Miss Hale. She made no attempt to hide the fact she was bisexual, something she hadn't been able to be honest about at her last job and I had met both a girlfriend and a boyfriend and I ‘m sure they were all in a relationship together but I hadn't quite been brave enough to ask her outright.
As I sat listening to them all talking about their sex lives and their families I had a moment of sadness that I quickly pushed away, I had chosen my path and I wasn't going to regret it and my Dad would have been proud of me, I'm sure of it.