Deep Desire

Chapter Three

I headed straight to Carolines work, the heat engulfing my body and sweat pouring from my skin. The streets were busy, filled with your everyday London life; the heavy flow of traffic, a constant river of people walking, shopping, and exploring. Tourists taking photos of everything in sight and people gathering around groups of protesters. The city is lively, loud, and chaotic, but it is beautiful.

Finally, I make it to a huge glass building situated in the middle of London. When I reached the building, I walked through big revolving doors made of glass and entered a large empty foyer. The floors and walls were white marble, which made the place look immaculate. In front of me was a white marbled desk where a brunette woman was sitting talking on the phone, paying no attention to me. Behind the desk was a wall of mirrors, making the place look even bigger. To the right was a large staircase taking you up to the first floor, and to the left was a seating area with large cream sofas and a glass coffee table. Above me, hung the biggest chandelier I had ever seen. It was beautiful. Beyond the sofas were two elevators; I made my way over to them and pressed the button. It was eerily quiet down here. When the doors to the lift opened, I got in and pressed for the top floor. The doors closed, and I was alone in what looked like one of those mirror mazes. Looking at my reflection, I could see myself at least 10 times going further and further back getting smaller and smaller. After what seemed like forever to get to the top floor the doors finally opened and I was presented with another eerily quiet lobby, again full white marble, but this time there were 2 women sitting behind a desk on the left of the lifts. One was on the phone, and the other was staring at a computer screen. What was weird about these women was how very similar they looked; they both had light hair that was pinned back and not a hair out of place, wearing what looked like a grey pencil dress or skirt suit with a blazer. On either side of the wall situated behind the desk were large black stone panels with white lights shining from top to bottom, giving elegance to the room. Opposite the desk stood a massive wall of windows, with a black coloured sofa and coffee table, looking out at the skyline. Ahead of the lifts where I stood was a wall with a glass door in the middle, giving you a small look into the office beyond. This whole building was immaculate, including the people. The marbled floor was so clean that I could see my own reflection perfectly, like I was looking into a mirror.

"Can I help you?" One of the very pristine women sat behind the desk asked.

"Yes, I'm looking for Caroline." I said.

"Miss Woods?" She asked.

"Yep, that's the one."

“Regarding?” She pressed on.

“Lunch.” I said bluntly. Does this woman need to know my life story?

"She's in the main office, through the glass doors. I’ll let her know you’re here if you’d like to take a seat?" She said, gesturing with her hand.

"Thank you." I said, making my way over to the cream sofas and taking a seat facing the wall of windows, taking in the view. I was only sitting for about 30 seconds before one of the robot women cleared her throat,

“Excuse me ma’am,” she said, “Miss Woods is waiting for you through the glass doors.” She gestured with her hand again, prompting me to head through them.

The whole place was silent, apart from the constant tapping of keyboards and the occasional sound of a coffee mug being placed back down on the white wooden desks. The room was split by colour; on the desk side, white marbled flooring, a white ceiling with saucer lights, and a wall of windows made that half of the room look bright, open, and welcoming. The desks tucked up under the huge glass windows overlooked the river Thames and the London bridge. Each desk contained four Apple desktops with white keyboards and fancy looking black desk chairs. It all looked very expensive! Behind the desks on the furthest side was an enclosed meeting room that I could just about make out through the one panel of glass, with the rest hidden by drywall. It had light wooden brown flooring, a large white table, and white chairs tucked neatly underneath. Beyond that, another wall of glass windows with another spectacular view of London.

The other side of the room, however, was black marbled flooring with a black ceiling and saucer lights, darker compared to the lighter side but still had a welcoming feel. On the right, against the wall of the darker side of the room, stood a perfectly polished, black glass desk with the company logo lit up on the front, and another computer standing dormant on top. Behind the desk on the right, another glass door which looked to be “the bosses office”, from the way Caroline would describe her place of work in past conversations. The whole place looked like it was out of a magazine.

After taking in the quiet busyness of the room, I came to realise that everyone working here had attractive traits about them. No one was out of place. The majority of the women were blonde, tall, and slim with very subtle makeup, looking polished to perfection, like Barbie Dolls. The men were the same; tall, excellent frame, with short, clean cut hair and barely any facial hair. Everyone was also dressed in similar attire; grey dresses or pencil skirts, or grey suits for the men.

“Amelia!” I heard a familiar voice call. When I turned to look, I saw Caroline walking out of the room behind the shiny black desk.

“Hey. Are you ready for lunch?” I said.

“I just have to wait for Mr. Sinclair to get back from his meeting.” She said as she put some files down on. What I can only assume is her desk.

“Right.” I rolled my eyes.

“Did you drive in?” She asked, reminding me of the encounter I had this morning.

“Yes," I said with obvious irritation in my voice.

Caroline immediately picked up on it, that girl can read me like a book,

“Oh dear,” she said, “what happened?”

“Some arrogant arse stole the space I was pulling into, like he owned the whole car park or something. Not a care in the world for anyone else. Just pure selfishness and greed. Honestly, if I see that man again, I will…” I was cut off by the look on Caroline’s face telling me I needed to shut up right now. I turned around to follow her wide-eyed gaze. And there, stood directly behind me was the very man I was just rambling on about. My mouth turned dry, and I gulped. Hard.

He removed his sunglasses, revealing dark green eyes placed under two perfectly arched eyebrows. Now that I could see his face in full, he really was breathtaking. The kind of man any woman would dream of, but also the kind of man someone like me could never get. His physique was that of a stone statue. Perfect hard lines, like he was hand crafted into this perfect being. He was mouth watering. Snapping out of my trance, I tried to remember the whole reason I was pissed at this guy. And now I'm back to anger.

“You.” I said with an angry tone.

“Me,” He smirked.

I glared at him, infuriated with his snarky attitude. “What is your problem?” I demanded.

“Amelia.” Caroline spat.

I turned to her, and then realised the whole office was gawking at me, completely stunned that I was talking to this man the way I was, like no one ever had the guts to do it before.

“Miss Woods,” the mysterious man said.

“Yes Mr Sinclair?” Caroline said, glaring at me.

Shit. That’s her boss.

“I take it this is a friend of yours?” He said.

“Um, yes, sir. This is Amelia Logan.” Caroline was mortified and very angry, I could tell.

He looked me up and down, analysing me. I couldn’t tell if he was silently judging me or what was going through his head, but it made me uncomfortable. His dark eyes fixated on my breasts a little too long until he realised what he was staring at and quickly brought his attention back to my face. He cleared his throat.

“Did you get those files sent through?” He asked her, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Yes sir, they’re on your desk.” She said, focusing her attention back on her boss rather than me.

I looked to the floor while they continued to exchange quick but short words, keeping my mouth shut so I didn’t embarrass her anymore. She is going to give me a massive lecture when we’re alone. After they exchanged what sounded like very important information, the not so mysterious man left us and walked into his office. Caroline looked at me, silently telling me how much she hated me right now.

“So,” I said, “lunch?” I grinned awkwardly, trying to lighten the mood.

“He’s not going to let me go now he knows I’m involved with you!” She said in a loud whisper.

“Just say you’re going to lunch! Come on, I'm starving, " I said. Just then, her boss walks back out of his office and stares at me. The corner of his mouth twitched as he stifled a smile.

“Caroline, are you going on your lunch break?” He said, obviously pretending he didn’t hear our quiet exchange of words.

“I was waiting for you to get back, sir.” She said as she placed a strand of hair behind her ear, blushing.

Before he could respond to Caroline, a tall blonde girl interrupted, clearing her throat,

“Excuse me, sir,” she said.

She blushed when he looked at her, and her whole face lit up. She wasn’t afraid to hold back a flirtatious smile,

“ I have the documents from last week's takings that you asked for.”

I snorted loudly, immediately regretting not doing it quietly to myself.

“Is there a problem?” Mr Sinclair said, all three of them staring at me, waiting for an answer. Caroline gave me the death glare again.

“Oh nothing. Please,” I gestured with my hand for them to continue, spreading a fake smile across my face. He knew I was being funny, and he grinned at me in amusement.

“You were going to lunch?” He said to Caroline.

“Um, yes, sir,” She said, grabbing her bag from behind the desk, “I’ll be back soon. I'll have my phone on me if you need anything.”

Finally, we can go. Caroline grabs me by the elbow and yanks me ahead of her.

“Hey!” I remarked in protest, but she ignored me while pushing me towards the glass doors hurrying me out . We walked towards the elevators, and she presses the button eagerly for the doors to open. I walked in, holding my elbow where Caroline's firm grip had just been.

“Oh and Ms Logan?” Mr Sinclair called after us; I looked up, not realising that HE had followed us out,

“It was nice to meet you." He smiled a cheeky, devilish grin, mocking me, and then the doors to the lift closed.