Draco (Coded for Love 2)

He looked at Draco expectantly. “Lara’s done you a big favor.”

Draco bristled. “Can I ask the nature of the database?”

“The Human Resources backbone. We need something a bit more tidy and usable than we currently have.”

Tidying up a Human Resources database. Riveting. Draco forced a smile. He’d been hoping for IT, something that might cover his tracks as he scouted.

Compton Senior gestured at the door. “Okay, Princess. Take Steven down to get a security pass. I’ve had two desks set up in the human resources division for you.”

The meeting was over.

After a detour to security, where he was issued a temporary access pass, they went to the HR area, a quiet corner of the ninth floor.

Susanna, the human resources manager, was warm and friendly. She explained how the division worked and informed them the current database had been outsourced and she didn’t like using it. She showed them their desks and told them to shout if they needed anything.

“Great,” Lara said, depositing her bag on the desk. “Doesn’t look like she’ll be looking over our shoulders.”

She was a good twenty feet away, well outside eavesdropping distance.

Draco eased into the chair, eagerly checking out all the

kit on the desk. State of the art, set up for hot-desking. As well as the deskbound work station a shiny new tablet—still in its box—sat on each of the chairs. Feeling like a kid at Christmas, he enjoyed unwrapping the goodies while the work station fired up. He logged on and gave the password he’d been issued. Then he realized Lara was sitting in the chair next to him, anxiously looking around the room. She hadn’t logged on to her computer and looked tense. “What’s the matter?”

“I feel as if everybody knows, as if everybody’s watching us.”

“Chill out, the hardest part is done.”

She looked back at him with anxious eyes. “Now that we’re here, it feels really heavy.”

Heavy? Draco was amused but there was a serious side too, something he hadn’t anticipated. Had she bitten off more than she could chew? Did she want to go back on the plan? “And there was me thinking you were in charge of everything, you in your fancy office armor and all.”

She forced a smile.

“Hey.” He tried to speak reassuringly, and moved nearer to her, clasping her hand in his. “You’re not having a change of heart, are you?”

She shook her head, her shoulders relaxing bit. “No. Sorry. I just didn’t expect to feel like this…like I’m sticking out like a sore thumb.”

Draco peered over the edge of the cube, glancing around the vast open plan offices. “Yeah well, we’re new. They looked at us when we walked in here, but they’ve gone back to work now.” Again he squeezed her hand. “We’ll soon be part of the furniture.”

She seemed to appreciate that, and squeezed his hand back. “Thanks, it’s supposed to be me assuring you we’re safely undercover.”

“Hey moll, we’re in this together now.” He gave her his most gangster voice.

It did the trick. She had to cover her mouth as she giggled.

It was good to see her laughing.

He looked around, trying to gain his bearings. “So how do we get a coffee around here?”

“Good call. I’ll show you where the kitchenette and the bathrooms are.” She rose to her feet.

Draco followed. Scanning the room as they passed through it, he noticed a couple of the workers glanced at them with curiosity, but only momentarily. He figured the only reason they were interested was because Lara was Compton’s daughter. Otherwise they were student placements and they’d be gone in a couple of weeks. They’d been given a mundane project. It represented ticking the boxes for Human Resources, giving students the chance to have a go in the workplace.

The kitchen area was pretty impressive, housing three microwaves, a hob, an instant hot drinks machine offering a vast array of options, and an instant hot water machine on the wall. Four refuse containers were lined up, designating what sort of goods could be put in each, as well as polite notices encouraging recycling and cleaning up after yourself.

Lara grabbed two tall mugs from one of the cupboards and went over to a machine, tapping on the touch sensitive screen. “The coffee’s not great, but it’s not awful, and it’s free.”

“Perks of the job, huh?” Draco followed behind her to investigate.