By ten-thirty I had moved my desk around to be sideways on to the window, straightened out some files on a shelf, opened and closed the drawers of a tall filing cabinet in the corner and painted my fingernails Devil Red. There was no sign of Anthony and I’d been in and out of his office only to find it empty each time. There was a computer on a side table in my room and I’d managed to log into it and get the website for Ikea to see if I could source some reasonably priced office furnishings. I thought Cassandra would baulk at me considering Harrods so I’d already made the company a saving.
It got to eleven-thirty and I noticed online that Harvey Nichols were doing Mind Wellness Smoothies in their fifth-floor restaurant and wondered if I could take a long lunch break and meet Anya there. All of a sudden I heard a bit of a commotion on the ground floor. I went over to my door and leaned over the banister to listen. I heard Anthony’s voice. At last. I popped back into the office and got my compact mirror out. I scrunched my waves into life again, flicked up my eyelashes with my finger before rubbing it over my teeth to bring out the shine of the recent whitening job.
Then I began to look into various poses I should assume for when Anthony first saw me at work. I picked up a notepad and pencil and stood in front of my desk ready to take notes. No. I didn’t know shorthand and my spelling was atrocious. I sat at my desk with my chin on my hands, elbows on the table. No. I’d look like I was bored. I went over to the computer to look as if I’d been trying to get to grips with the systems but the computer screen had frozen on the lingerie section of Harvey Nichols website so I quickly hit ‘Ctrl Alt Delete’ to leave the program. Next, I ran over to the filing cabinet and started looking through files but I broke a fingernail and slammed the drawer shut.
Maybe I should start by asking Anthony if he wanted coffee or tea. Perfect. You couldn’t get a better icebreaker for starting a strong PA/boss relationship.
I sat on the edge of my seat waiting for Anthony to walk up the stairs and when that didn’t happen I began to panic. Maybe Cassandra was holding him by the lapels and convincing him that I should be fired. No way was I going to let that uptight secretary lose me my job before the day was through.
I went downstairs and as I did I heard laughter. It was a woman’s laugh and I was convinced that Cassandra didn’t know how to laugh. Someone else was downstairs with Anthony so I skipped into reception merrily to find out who.
‘Ah, Magenta,’ Anthony said turning to me with a smile. ‘You’re here.’
I tried not to look puzzled by that comment but I was.
‘You did say Monday didn’t you, Anthony?’ I said with a smile.
All of a sudden my gaze was drawn away from Anthony and fell on the person whose laugh I’d heard from upstairs. I tried not to gasp at her beauty, but the woman who was now gripping Anthony’s arm was truly beautiful. She was tall and had a delicate poise. She was classy but in a down-to-earth sort of way. She wore a long summer dress with a low front and her tanned breasts were perfectly formed – not too big and not too small and needing no support from a bra whatsoever.
A quick glance at Cassandra and I could see she was smirking at my open mouth. Cassandra must have clocked that I had a crush on Anthony and she had obviously been waiting for the day I’d come to find out that Anthony was taken. And not only taken but well and truly so, judging by the enormous stone on the platinum ring on the third finger of the beautiful woman’s left hand. Anthony was engaged.
I tried not to let my shoulders sag. I knew from the off that falling for him would have been a no-no anyway … but still.
‘Yes, I think I did say Monday,’ Anthony said. ‘I’m sorry, I forgot about our weekend in Tuscany.’ As he said this, the woman gripping his arm gripped even tighter and smiled a gooey smile that spoke volumes.
‘Should I not have come today then?’ I asked trying to ignore the evils this woman was giving me and the slimy grin plastered on Cassandra’s face.
‘I’ll be in tomorrow,’ said Anthony with a reassuring nod. ‘And we can officially start then.’
‘Silly, Ant,’ said the beautiful woman as she smooshed her right boob closer to Anthony’s body.
‘Oh, Magenta, may I introduce Inez, my fiancée?’ said Anthony.
I walked over with an extended hand to shake hers. She took an agonisingly long time to detach herself from Anthony before reaching out her hand as I stood there like a prize plum. Her hand was slim and very cool, despite the hot August morning in central London.
‘I hope you can keep Ant organised,’ she said, barely looking at me. ‘He can be a bit of a scatterbrain. But he’s my scatterbrain.’ Emphasis on the ‘my’. She squeezed his cheek between her finger and thumb then tiptoed up to kiss the pink mark she’d left there. ‘But one day this place will be an empire and he’ll be in charge of it all. Won’t you, Ant?’
Anthony nodded, embarrassed, and tried to step away from Inez whose boob closed in even tighter than before.
‘Magenta, you must forgive me for calling you in here a day early,’ said Anthony, red-faced. ‘Yes, as you can tell I am a bit of a scatterbrain but as long as you’re not, we’ll do just fine.’
I noticed Inez look at me from top to toe in a quick sweep. She seemed to decide I was no threat to her Mediterranean beauty and dismissed me by turning her back on me, gathering Anthony by his arm again and walking him out of reception.
‘See you tomorrow,’ Cassandra called as they went to leave.
‘Yes, see you,’ I repeated, waving as if I was seeing them off at a train platform.
Anthony gave us a quick ‘See you’ over his shoulder and Inez whipped him out of the building and away.
I turned to look at Cassandra who was looking down at her desk and shaking her head.
‘What?’ I said. ‘What is it now?’
‘Oh nothing,’ she said, moving papers around on her desk.
‘No come on, out with it.’ I stood my ground, hands on hips.
‘Well I was just comparing the starry-eyed look you gave Anthony when he showed you out last week after your interview. You had no idea he and his fiancée were about to spend a weekend at their cottage hideaway in Italy. Funny.’
‘You could have reminded him that he wasn’t going to be here until Tuesday when you heard him say Monday to me.’
‘What and miss all the fun? Besides, you’re the PA. You’re supposed to know everything about him.’
I didn’t answer. I stormed up the stairs to Anthony’s office and sat at his desk. I started looking around for anything that might give away what my boss was likely to be doing for the week to come. He obviously had no idea. I knew at the interview Anthony wasn’t cut out for the job he’d taken on so I’d have to get him ready. Because let’s face it, if Anthony failed, I’d have to find a new job and start all over again from day one.
I found a desk diary and began to read through it. Next, I looked at all the paperwork on his desk and switched on his computer. There were no passwords to worry about and instead of surfing the web for fashion shows and designer outlet sales, as I had been earlier, I went into the reports and files and tried to get myself acquainted with the ins and outs of the company I hoped to help run for the next year.
At about two o’clock in the afternoon Cassandra came up to Anthony’s office.
‘Still here?’ she said.
‘Looks like it.’ I didn’t look up.
‘I’m off to lunch. Can