Page 2 of Wish You Weren't Here
‘Let’s see then,’ he says, moving the mouse around, clicking his way deep into the settings. ‘I’m surprised you can’t fix your own computer,’ he muses, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. ‘I would have thought being in charge of a company that builds apps…’
‘Well, why have a dog and bark yourself?’ I reply, trying to sound nonchalant, but sounding a little bit like an arsehole. ‘If everyone fixed their own computers, you would be out of a job.’
‘Fair enough,’ he chuckles, clearly amused. ‘You know, I think it might just need turning off and on,’ he eventually says, snapping me out of my thoughts.
‘Seriously?’ I blurt.
‘Could you do the honours, and flick it on and off at the plug?’ he asks, stepping aside just enough for me to squeeze past him.
‘Okay,’ I say, getting up and leaning over the desk to reach the power bar attached to the back of it.
Just as I’m about to flip the switch, I feel a sharp nip on my bum.
‘How dare you?’ I say, spinning around to face him, trying to channel all the righteous anger I can muster. ‘I’m the boss around here, show me some respect.’
The man just laughs, holding up a bright yellow Post-it.
‘This was stuck to your arse,’ he tells me.
I blink, as my righteous anger quickly fades into pure embarrassment.
‘You almost had an HR nightmare on your hands,’ I say, reaching out to take the Post-it from him.
He inadvertently reads it as he hands it over and I notice him stifling a smile.
I cringe when I see the words written on it, claiming:
You are worthy of love.
‘A Valentine’s Day note to yourself?’ he asks, still smiling that infuriatingly perfect smile.
‘Oh, well, you know, it’s not easy being an important woman in an important job,’ I reply, trying to play it cool. ‘So many men, so little free time.’
‘Is there not a Mr Carter then?’ he asks, his tone a mix of curiosity and surprise.
‘Mr… oh, no, no, there isn’t,’ I reply.
‘So, no Valentine’s Day plans?’ he continues.
‘No, no plans,’ I say, trying to keep my voice steady.
‘Would you like some?’ he asks, his smile growing cheekier by the second. His dimples are everything – the kind of feature you see on a man and think, you know what, you can ruin my life if you want. ‘You’re turned on, by the way,’ he says.
‘What?’ I blurt, feeling my face flush. Is he a mind reader as well as an IT whizz?
‘Your computer,’ he clarifies. ‘You’re turned on, and everything seems okay.’
Oh, there’s no way he didn’t just do that on purpose.
‘Oh, good,’ I reply, trying to regain my composure.
Did he just ask me out? Was he joking? I can’t tell, but I definitely, definitely want to know.
‘So, Valentine’s Day,’ he says, leaning in slightly as he gets our conversation back on track. ‘Every CEO should have a date on Valentine’s Day.’
‘COO,’ I correct him automatically. ‘Erm, yeah, okay.’
He opens his mouth to speak but we’re interrupted by the door swinging open, banging against the wall, and then…
