“I don’t know if there is any solution to my problem,” she sighs. “Because it’s all to do with my boss and unfortunately, there isn’t a damn thing that I can do about him. He and his attitude because the company isn’t doing as well as he wants it to.” She shakes her head sadly. “Unfortunately, as his PA, I get it in the neck all the time.”
“Why?” I demand instantly. “I mean, that doesn’t make any sense. Surely, you are the person who is in charge of his diary and I can’t imagine you losing him money that way… unless you’re terrible at making appointments.”
Her face cracks in to a smile. “Actually, I think you will find that I am excellent at that. But it always falls to me anyway. I think because he’s afraid to take it out on the people who are really in the wrong because they might be the ones who can point out his own errors, making him look at himself in the mirror for a change.”
I would suggest that she does the same but I only have to look at this poor broken down woman to know that she is beyond that. There’s no way she is in the right head space to stand up to this bully of a man. The only thing that I can really do at the moment is make her laugh and I know just how to make that happen.
“Sounds like a playground thing to me.” My tone is teasing, my eyes sparkling with jest. “He likes you, so he picks on you. He wants your attention so he pulls on your hair, that sort of thing…”
We both start laughing but a horrible realization quickly dawns on her. “God, you don’t think that it could really be that, do you? I just thought that he had an obsession with me because he hated me…”
“Well, I was only joking but I can’t picture anyone hating you so maybe…” I shrug one shoulder helplessly. “You might want to watch his behavior with that idea in mind, just see if that’s how it looks…”
She shudders. Poor Esme, clearly this is her problem and maybe now I have found a way that she can deal with it. I don’t know what she will do if she figures out I’m right, but she has the option now. She has the choice to consider things from a new angle and I’m pretty sure that she needs it more than anyone else.
“Ooh, dinner is made. Do you want to take a seat at the dining table and I will bring it over?”
She giggles and glugs back some more wine. “I don’t think that I have ever been served like this before. You better be careful or I might get used to it. I will be coming around for dinner all the time.”
The alcohol is definitely making her feel more at ease, which is exactly what we need to happen, so after I have put the plates down on the table, I bring the wine bottle as well, making sure to top up our glasses in the process. There is a smile playing in the corner of my lips as I do because this might not be exactly what I was dreaming, but it feels similar. I like Esme, the more that she talks, the more of her I like. This night is the start of a beautiful friendship I believe, and it might just be what the pair of us need to move us forwards. Maybe I can finally say goodbye to Jane at long last, and she can sort out her terrible work situation until she is happy. I can only hope…
Dinner ends much too quickly, but thankfully Esme is willing to stick around and drink some more with me so we can chat some more. I have told her about my dreadful divorce, which she helped me to really laugh at and not just in a lady banter way. She told me about her life as a single child with over protective parents who she just had to move away from the moment that she was old enough. We’ve talked about our friends, our social lives, or lack of since we both have jobs that don’t leave us my freedom, although I love mine, and our dreadful high school prom stories as well. I feel like I know her even better now, and I still like her a lot… maybe too much…
I don’t want to get captivated by the way that her hair shines or how beautiful she looks when she laughs. I keep trying not to swim in her deliciously soulful eyes, but she’s dragging me in regardless. It might be the wine, but something is definitely happening to my heart, to my body, I’m finding her increasingly irresistible with every passing second. Saliva keeps flooding my mouth as I can feel myself starting to lose control. I don’t know what will happen.