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Three horrified expressions stare at me before they fix their faces and smile. “Oh nice,” is the general response to that.
I snicker to myself. Maybe one day I can afford to buy lunch every day, but that is not today.
I snatch up my phone and switch it back on, happy to have something to do on my lunch break. I stab the button for the elevator and wait, slightly nervous as the doors ding open, but it is empty, to my relief. I’m sure those guys are harmless. I just need to forget them and carry on with my day like I never met them, like they didn’t get me behind a closed door to do God knows what with me, and I especially need to forget that the more I think about what that might’ve been, the more my heart pounds in anticipation.
ChapterThree
Bailey
The cafeteria isa bustling cacophony of clanking trays and clashing conversations, even this early on. I’m guessing all departments enforce the separate lunch rule. It doesn’t stop people from different departments from lunching together though, chatting and laughing.
It makes me feel incredibly alone. I didn’t expect to sit with anyone on my first day, but looking around, I will be the only one. Maybe tomorrow I’ll take my chances out on the pavement, find a bench to sit on, and catch some sun. I’m slightly overwhelmed and out of my depth among all these new colleagues.
I stroll casually and with purpose to the back of the canteen, having spotted an empty table in the corner of the room, as far away from everyone else as possible. I place my lunch bag on the white plastic table, a simple sandwich that I’d made the evening before, along with a bag of crisps and an apple. The smell of the hot food suddenly makes my sandwich a bit dreary. The unappetizing white bread is a stark contrast to the dishes whose scents permeate the air. I flick through my phone and take a bite, only to be startled when I hear a voice break the silence over me.
"May I join you?"
I look up, my mouth full of sandwich, to see a man standing next to my table. He is tall and finely dressed. His brilliant blue eyes twinkle with amusement, and something else. Something darker.
It is Archer.
I cast a panicked gaze around, looking for anyone to rescue me from thispredator, but there isn’t anyone even looking in our direction.
Archer smiles, and I feel a warmth pass through me that is entirely unexpected. He is, for sure, one of the most handsome men I’ve ever seen.
"Of course," I say softly, knowing I can’t make a scene and refuse.
Archer pulls out a chair and sits down opposite me. He looks around the room as if seeing it for the first time before turning back to me.
“You graduated this year?” he asks.
I nod, dumbstruck.
“My old alma mater. I was several years ahead of you. Owen, my younger brother, was a couple of years ahead of you. He remembers you from Economics. He was a TA briefly.”
“Oh,” I mutter, my cheeks heating up for no reason. “I’m surprised he remembers. I don’t recall him…” I frown but then remember his voice, and recognition hits me, but Archer is already moving on.
Archer snorts. “Ouch, that’ll hurt his ego.”
He smiles, and I return it almost on instinct.
"I'm sorry if I'm intruding," he says, indicating my phone.
"You’re not.”
He leans forward and looks into my eyes. “It can be hard to make friends when you first start somewhere," he murmurs.
I feel a lump rise in my throat.
“Would you like to be my friend, Bailey?”
My mouth goes dry. I can’t form thoughts, never mind words. Trish’s warnings are ringing in my head, but this man has something about him that is difficult to ignore. He is suave and sophisticated. He is gorgeous, and his eyes sparkle with mischief. I want to fall at his feet and beg him to be my friend, so I don’t have to sit alone in the cafeteria every day, but also because I know there are gazes on us now. I canfeelthem boring into my face. Everyone must be wondering who I am, and why he is with me.
Or they know why he is here, to seduce the new girl, and I’m about to let him. I can feel it in myself. It’s like a force of nature that is propelling me into his orbit. I don’t know what it is, and I’m powerless to stop it.
Powerless.
That is what all of this is about.
