Tell That to My Heart Page 3

  A wayward ripple of desire travelled through her body.

  ‘Jemima, this is Caspar De Verre; he’s our new art director. Caspar, this is Jemima Dewberry, our marketing assistant.’

  ‘How do you do, Jemima Dewberry, though I do believe we’ve already met,’ he said.

  Oh, that smoky voice, how I’d love to hear it whispering sweet nothings in my ear!

  ‘You have?’ Catherine looked from Caspar to Mim. ‘There seems to be a pattern forming this morning.’

  ‘Yes, I, er, well, it was when I was rushing to work this morning…’

  Caspar tapped the coffee stain on his shirt and Catherine’s face darkened. ‘Don’t tell me you’re responsible for that, Jemima?’

  Mim was snapped back into the moment. ‘Well, yes, but it was an accident. I was running, and my backpack…’

  ‘Oh, for goodness’ sake, girl, I don’t know what’s got into you recently. I do apologise, Caspar. Jemima is like a walking disaster area at the moment.’ She scowled at Mim.

  Caspar held his hand up. ‘Hey, it’s really not a problem, and it was actually my fault, I wasn’t looking where I was going and stepped out in front of Jemima; she didn’t have time to dodge out of the way, and if she had she would’ve run into the path of a car.’

  ‘Hmphh. Right, well, thank you, Jemima, you can get back to your desk. Have you finished that ad yet?’

  ‘Almost, I just need—’

  ‘No need for explanations, go on, back to work.’ Catherine waved her hand, making sure Caspar got a good glimpse of the diamonds adorning it.

  ‘Okay.’ Keep your knickers on, and if you didn’t treat me like the office flaming doormat, then I’d have had it finished last Friday.

  ‘Thank you for the coffee, Jemima.’ Caspar flashed her a heart-melting smile which, despite the negative feelings that were simmering away inside her, made her heart squeeze.

  ‘You’re welcome.’ She gave a small smile back before heading through the door and stomping down the hall, humiliation making her cheeks flame.

  Once back in her office she felt all eyes on her.

  ‘So what’s he like?’ asked Anna-Lisa.

  ‘Please don’t tell me he’s as old as Uncle Kenneth and the other old crocks that work here; this place needs some young, fit guys to liven things up a bit. No offence.’ Honey looked across at Aidey.

  ‘None taken,’ he said.

  ‘Aidey’s not an old crock, is he, Mim?’ asked Anna-Lisa.

  ‘No way, he’s only twenty-eight and he’s attractive.’ Mim was too busy shooting Honey a look to notice Aidey’s face flush to the roots of his dark blond hair. ‘Anyway, the new bloke’s called Caspar De Verre, or something like that, I’d say he’s mid-thirties, and he seems okay.’

  ‘Did I hear my name being mentioned?’ Caspar walked in with Catherine who was taking him round the office and introducing him to the rest of the staff.

  Mim felt a rush of excitement. ‘Oh, er—’

  ‘Caspar, this is Aidan Lister, he’s the picture editor, forward slash, designer I was telling you about, and the girl with the hair like candyfloss is Anna-Lisa Swift, she’s our editorial assistant, forward slash, copy editor and proof reader. Over here is Honey Blenkinsopp, Yorkshire Portions’ new marketing assistant forward slash PR assistant, and you’ve already met Mim.’

  Mim groaned inwardly; if she noticed the change in tone of Catherine’s voice when she moved on to her name, then the chances were everyone did.

  ‘And what’s Mim’s role?’ asked Caspar.

  Oh, that’d be doormat, forward-bloody-slash dogsbody!

  ‘Oh, she does the same as Honey. Though she also writes the occasional article for the magazine,’ said Catherine.

  ‘Yep, we’re the same rank,’ said Honey, surprising her new work colleagues by adopting an affected little-girl voice.

  ‘Ah.’ Caspar looked from Honey to Mim then to Anna-Lisa whose non-verbals spoke volumes.

  ‘You didn’t tell us he was absolutely drop-dead gorgeous, Jemima!’ Honey hardly waited for the door to close before she rounded on Mim, her voice back to its usual tone. ‘What’s the matter with you? That would’ve been the first thing I’d have mentioned.’

  ‘Just goes to show not everyone’s like you, doesn’t it?’ said Anna-Lisa.

  ‘I wonder if he’s new to the area? I wonder if he’s got a girlfriend? He might like someone to show him round, take him to the best bars, the best places to eat, that sort of thing. I’ll go to his office and ask him when Auntie Catherine’s stopped dragging him round the building. And don’t forget, I saw him first.’

  ‘He’s not my type,’ said Anna-Lisa.

  ‘Yes, but he’s Jemima’s type, isn’t he, Jemima?’

  ‘Trust me, I don’t have a type at the moment; you’re welcome to him.’ Mim bit down on the urge to come back with something cutting, ignoring Honey’s smile and the mocking look in her eyes.

  4

  With no further demands from Catherine, the morning went surprisingly quickly, and, despite the occasional surge of stress flooding her chest whenever recent events pushed their way into her thoughts, Mim had managed to make a satisfying dent in her to-do list.

  She loved her job, well, she enjoyed the marketing and social media aspect of it, and was getting more and more satisfaction out of writing articles, but she was beginning to resent the extra “dogsbody” bits that were starting to take over. They were adding to her unhappiness at Yorkshire Portions, and making her regret giving up her job as a marketing executive at Minster Digital, an ambitious up-and-coming digital company that were gaining themselves a decent reputation. Mim had been happy there, but it had always been her dream to work for a magazine, so when her sister, Josie, had dropped into the conversation that a friend of hers had mentioned there was a marketing job going at Yorkshire Portions Magazine, Mim hadn’t wasted a second, and applied straightaway. She’d watched its rise from a small on-line local lifestyle magazine run by Clarissa Pallister-Biggs, daughter of Catherine and Kenneth, to the almost overnight success it had become today. The whole family had joined forces, including Clarissa’s cousin Simon as publication manager, re-launching it as a glossy magazine that now rubbed shoulders with the best lifestyle publications that graced the shelves of the supermarkets. But, as Mim soon found out, all that glitters is not gold.

  Though the interview had gone well, as soon as she’d met Catherine and Kenneth, the bubble of excitement she’d bounced in on was immediately burst. The pair had an unpleasant, superior manner and she was hard-pushed to say who was the more arrogant. It had come as a surprise when she was offered the role, having resigned herself to her application being unsuccessful on the grounds that she simply wasn’t posh enough and didn’t meet their exacting standards. And, though a feeling in her gut was sending out warning signals, Mim did her usual, and let her heart rule her head, pushing her doubts, and her initial dislike of the couple, out of her mind, accepting the job without a moment’s consideration. She’d taken it, knowing it was for less money, but with the promise of a generous increase in salary once the magazine had properly found its feet. However, despite the magazine thriving and having an increasing readership, no such pay rise had been forthcoming, and Mim didn’t have the courage to ask for one.

  The one good thing to come out of working for Yorkshire Portions was her friendship with twenty-seven-year-old Anna-Lisa, whose forthright manner, dry sense of humour and dirty laugh Mim adored; she was the stereotypical Yorkshire woman, called a spade a spade and, despite her diminutive height of five-feet two, was utterly fearless and wouldn’t think twice about telling you if she didn’t like something. You definitely knew where you stood with Anna-Lisa, and Mim respected that. She also had a penchant for piercings and sported a silver nose ring, and tragus piercings in both ears, while the outer edge of her ears were decorated with an array of silver studs. And her view of love was the polar opposite to Mim’s. Where Mim wore her heart on her sleeve, Anna-Lisa kept he
rs very much locked away. Growing up in care and a variety of foster homes had seen to that. Anna-Lisa lived with Caleb, her boyfriend of the last two years, and her affection for him was as close to being in love as she would ever care to admit, though his fondness for computer games was beginning to grate.

  There was Aidey, too; he’d become a good friend. Mim had known him before she’d started at the magazine; he’d been in the same year at school as her older sister Josie and had hung around on the periphery of Josie’s friendship group. He was quiet, thoughtful and easy to be around; there was no hidden agenda with him. He was easy on the eye, too, with his moss-green eyes, smattering of freckles, spikey dark blond hair and tall, broad-shouldered physique. At six-foot-three he was a good five inches taller than Mim. She would class him as one of her best mates now, but when she was a teenager, she’d harboured a crush on him; one that she’d shared with no one, not even Josie.

  She didn’t like the way he was being treated by the Pallister-Biggs. She knew he was seething about having his role changed, but it hadn’t stopped him from giving his job his all. They should bloody well be grateful to have him! She peered over her monitor, observing his kind face, looking for traces of unhappiness and hoping what had happened wouldn’t make him start looking for a different job, though she wouldn’t blame him if he did.

  The mushrooming feeling of unease in the office didn’t help and nor did the increasing references to her being inadequate. It had begun to chip away at her confidence, but not as much as the appointment of Honey, who’d sat beside her all morning, resisting the tasks she was asked to undertake, doing nothing more taxing than watching vlogs on her phone or taking selfies and posting them on Instagram. A perfect example of nepotism if ever there was one. Well, there were quite a few at Yorkshire Portions Magazine, actually; Mim was beginning to wonder how many more Pallister-Biggs friends and relations would end up working for them.

  ‘So, how’s it going? Has Jemima been showing you what to do, Honey, dear?’ Catherine bowled into the room and Honey sat to attention.

  ‘I’ve been really busy, done loads, Auntie Catherine, haven’t I, Jemima?’ There was that irritating little-girl voice again.

  Mim felt herself bristle. Busy, my arse! You’ve done naff all except stuff your face with my sweets! ‘Yes, very. Been rushed off your feet,’ Mim said through clenched teeth.

  ‘Good, good, I was a bit worried there might not be enough work for two of you.’

  Catherine’s words sent a shiver down Mim’s spine. Why employ Honey if you thought that?

  ‘Right, I’m off on my lunch break,’ said Honey as soon as Catherine had left. ‘Anybody want to join me?’

  ‘I’ve got some catching up to do,’ said Mim. After what you did, hell would freeze over before I’d go anywhere with you.

  ‘No thanks, I want to finish this restaurant write-up,’ said Anna-Lisa.

  ‘Aidey, fancy going for a coffee so you can fill me in on all the office gossip?’

  ‘No thanks, I want to finish editing these pictures before I go out.’

  ‘Hmph. Your loss. I might as well go and see if I can tempt Caspar to do something with me.’ She arched her eyebrows suggestively as she pulled on her jacket.

  As soon as Honey left, it was as if the room breathed a sigh of relief, the tension dissipating as the door clicked shut behind her.

  ‘Jeez! This is going to be hell, she’s so full-on,’ said Anna-Lisa. ‘And that daft little-girl voice she does sometimes, what’s that all about?’

  ‘Mmm. It is a bit odd, and I must admit from what we’ve seen so far, she hasn’t got a great attitude,’ said Aidey.

  ‘Please tell me this isn’t happening.’ Mim put her head in her hands. ‘Please tell me I’m in a horrible nightmare and I’m going to wake up and find out none of it’s true.’

  ‘Trust me, I wish I could; the only thing I’ve heard about Honey Blossom Blenkisopp, is that she spells nothing but trouble. In fact, I’m surprised Catherine and Kenneth haven’t heard about it, or realised what she’s like,’ said Anna-Lisa.

  ‘Yeah, she hasn’t been here five minutes but she’s already changed the atmosphere of the place,’ said Aidey.

  It wasn’t like him to comment, which made Mim think things must really be as bad as they seemed.

  ‘As if it isn’t crap enough having the Pallister-Biggs breathing down our necks. Did I tell you what Simon said to me last Friday just before we finished?’

  ‘I dread to think,’ said Mim. She popped a Dolly Mixture in her mouth before offering the bag around. ‘I’m afraid there’s not much choice since Honey’s decided she can help herself to them.’

  ‘No thanks,’ said Aidey.

  ‘No thanks. Anyway, there was just me and him in the office, and he asked me if I had any plans for the weekend and if I fancied doing any “over-time” with him.’ Anna-Lisa made finger quotes around the words. ‘You should’ve seen him leering as he said it. Even put his arm round me and managed to “accidentally” touch my boob. Urghh! Gives me the creeps just thinking about it! Honestly, I was so tempted to yank his ridiculous man-bun right off his head and stuff it up his nose.’

  ‘I can just imagine you doing that, as well,’ said Mim.

  ‘Me, too.’ Aidey chuckled.

  ‘Well, could you blame me? It looks like some sort of rank birds’ nest. Granted, on some blokes it would look stylish, but on him, it just looks like a fusty old granny bun.’

  Mim and Aidey looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  ‘Not so sure many blokes could carry one off, actually; I certainly couldn’t.’ Aidey ruffled his short, blond hair.

  ‘That’s cos you’re more rugged; Simon’s a runty little dick,’ said Anna-Lisa.

  ‘There’s a compliment in there somewhere, Aidey.’ Mim giggled, her eyes roving over the undulations of the muscles visible beneath his navy-blue long-sleeved t-shirt. A warm, unfamiliar feeling washed over her.

  ‘Yeah, well, honestly, he made my skin crawl. And if he lays a creepy bloody finger on me one more time, he’s going to get a knee in the nads for his trouble,’ said Anna-Lisa.

  Aidey winced. ‘Ouch! That’d fettle him.’

  ‘It’s nothing more than he deserves. He’s a bit too hands-on for his own good. I saw him with his arm around the new intern, what’s her name? Sara? Poor kid looked really uncomfortable; her face was like a beetroot. Come to think of it, where is she? I haven’t seen her today, and it would be her that Catherine would usually send to make coffee, not me,’ said Mim.

  ‘She left,’ said Aidey.

  ‘What do you mean, she left?’ asked Mim.

  ‘She texted me this morning to say that she hated it here and she wasn’t coming back anymore,’ said Anna-Lisa, fiddling with a tragus piercing.

  A frown gathered between Mim’s eyebrows. ‘You mean after Catherine bawled at her last week?’

  ‘Mmm-hmm.’ Anna-Lisa nodded.

  ‘Can’t say I blame the lass. I saw her leaving the old trout’s office on Friday afternoon, she had tears pouring down her cheeks. I think she left just after that,’ said Aidey.

  ‘That bloody woman’s got a nerve! Those poor interns are treated like crap, and Catherine walks around like she’s doing them a massive favour; like it’s some kind of honour to be working here for jack-shit while they have you running around like a blue-arsed fly.’ Anna-Lisa looked livid. ‘And you should see the emails she sends them; they’re so arrogant and full of uppercase letters to make sure the poor kids are in no doubt that she’s yelling even then. I saw one the other day from Catherine that said, “WORK FASTER!” No “hello”, no “thank you for working your butt off for free for us”. Just bare-faced bad-manners and bullying.’

  ‘Yeah, coming here straight from university must be a horrible introduction to your working life,’ said Aidey.

  ‘Everything alright, folks?’ Clarissa Pallister-Biggs, the magazine’s editorial assistant popped her head round the door, her dark, glossy h
air shining.

  ‘Fine thanks, Clarissa,’ said Anna-Lisa, while Mim and Aidey just smiled.

  ‘I’m popping to the Nutmeg Tree and just wondered if you fancied anything bringing back? Coffee? Hot chocolate? Slice of cake?’ Her smile lit up her pretty face.

  ‘No, thanks,’ said Mim.

  ‘Thanks for the offer, but I’m going to head out just as soon as I’ve done this,’ said Aidey.

  ‘Yep, me, too, but thanks anyway,’ said Anna-Lisa.

  ‘Okay, see you later.’

  Mim turned to her friends. ‘Do you think she heard us?’

  ‘I hope not.’ Aidey frowned.

  ‘I don’t think she did, we were talking quietly, and the floorboards are so creaky on the landing, they make it difficult to hear anything else when you’re walking along them,’ said Anna-Lisa.

  ‘Hmm. But I heard Honey’s voice when I was walking along the landing; before I realised it was hers,’ said Mim.

  ‘Well, that’s because she’s got a massive gob and a voice like a foghorn.’ Anna-Lisa laughed. ‘I don’t think we need to worry about Clarissa hearing us.’

  ‘I hope not; I wouldn’t want to hurt her feelings,’ said Mim.

  Twenty-three-year-old Clarissa was the only likeable member of the Pallister-Biggs family, the “stuck-up-arrogant-prat-gene” having by-passed her. Unlike her parents and her older cousin, Simon, she was amiable, hard-working and kind-hearted. But, much as they were fond of her, it still didn’t stop them from treating her with more than a little caution. After all, as they regularly reminded one another, blood is thicker than water.

  ‘All alone?’

  Mim’s bubble of concentration was punctured. She looked up to see Caspar standing in the doorway, wearing a lopsided smile, his dark eyes twinkling at her. Her stomach looped-the-loop sending a wave of excitement through her.

  ‘Er, yes, I’m working through my lunch … thanks to all the roadworks, my bus got me in late this morning, so I need to catch up.’ Earth to Mim, he’s well aware you were late this morning! Don’t forget, he’s wearing the consequences down his shirt. She felt her cheeks begin to blaze, partly down to her earlier actions and partly down to what the glint in his eyes was doing to her insides. Oh, my days!