Wednesday arrived. The whirlwind of emotions that swept through me left me feeling a little dizzy. I still wasn’t sure if this was really the right decision, but I reasoned with myself that I could just quit if it was terrible. I could even offer to pay back Mr Stone for the clothes.
According to the email I got, I was to report to the social media department at 9 am. I would spend a few weeks there before moving around the different departments. I was actually quite pleased about this. It would provide me with a good varied experience and may give me an insight into what area of marketing I would eventually like to work in.
After I got over my initial nerves, I actually really enjoyed my morning. My mentor Louise was very friendly, and not at all like Mellissa or Greta. She was still well-dressed, but she was much more down to earth. She taught me about the different algorithms of each social media platform and explained that in a week or so I could help her create some content for a new range of snack bars. I found this genuinely exciting and tried to take in as much information as I could.
Maybe if I didn’t have to spend too much time with Mr Stone, I would get through this internship without wanting to quit. There was something about him that made me nervous. People like Louise put me at ease.
However, my dream was short-lived. Just before lunch, Louise answered a call.
“Yes, Mr Stone. Of course. I’ll let her know.” As she put the phone down, I got a sinking feeling in my stomach.
“Rosie! Mr Stone has requested to have lunch with you! Isn’t that amazing?! You must have really made an impression!” Louise looked genuinely enthusiastic about this. I had to fake mine.
“Er yeah, wow. Okay. Where do I go?”
Taking me to the lifts, she punched in the floor for his office and sent me off. I smiled weakly as she stood grinning at me while the doors closed.
I vaguely remembered my way to his glass domain, spotting Greta at her desk outside.As I approached, she looked me up and down. “Go straight in. He’s expecting you.”
She clearly hadn’t warmed up to me just yet.
I pushed open the door, clutching my pathetic lunch box in one hand. This time I entered the room, I didn’t stop to take in its décor. Instead, I fixed my eyes straight over to where he was sat.
Concentration was spread over his face as he looked at the computer screen. Despite him unnerving me, being able to watch him like this, he was kind of…beautiful?
“Ahh Miss Woods. I’ll be with you in just a second.” He continued to tap away on his keyboard, and I stood there awkwardly waiting for him to finish.
He glanced up, about to say something, then stopped.
“Did you not do as I asked?” The look on his face told me he was displeased.
“Apologies Mr Stone, what do you mean?” Stupidly, I did not realise what he was talking about.
“Your clothes. I thought I told you to buy new ones. Did you not receive the money in your account?”
My face reddened and I cast my eyes downward. “I’m sorry Mr Stone, this is what I bought.”
He rose out of his chair and made his way over to me. I thought he was going to stop in front of me, but instead, he continued on, circling me like a shark. I jumped as I felt his hand push one half of my hair over my shoulder. What was he doing?
In the next moment, he’d slipped his fingers to the back of my collar. A tingle trickled down my spine as his fingers brushed my bare skin, and I shivered. I realised he was looking at the label.
The next thing he was whispering into my ear. “This is what you spent £1000 on?”
I felt myself begin to tremble a little. This scrutiny was too much. “No Mr Stone. I actually wanted to return £900 to you. I felt you were too generous.”
He sighed heavily and strode back over to his desk. He picked his suit jacket from the back of his chair, swinging his muscular arms into it with ease.
“Follow me, Miss Woods. We’re going out.” As he passed me, he gestured to my lunch box. “Put that away. You won’t need it.”
I hurriedly shoved it back in my rucksack, wondering where the hell he was going to take me. He was the kind of man you didn’t feel able to question. You just did it.
As he held the door open, he asked, “I trust you have your purse with you.”
I nodded dumbly, feeling too overwhelmed to speak.
As we passed Greta, he called out to her. “Call Louise in Social Media. Tell her Miss Woods will not be returning this afternoon. I will be going with her.”
As he walked off, she tried to scurry after him. “But Sir, what about your 2’oclock and 4’oclock?”
“Rearrange it,” he shouted over his shoulder.
We rode the lift down to the car park in uncomfortable silence. At least it was uncomfortable for me. Mr Stone just stood there rigid, eyes facing forward. In contrast, I couldn’t stop fidgeting. Moving from one foot to the other and fingering the strap of my rucksack.
The doors opened to reveal 100’s of cars glinting under the large strip lights. The underground car park was cold. And I shivered a little as we made our way over to some sort of sports car. I had no idea about cars. I just knew it looked expensive. I noticed his number plate was personalised to reflect his name. I thought that was a bit much.
“In you get Miss Woods. Try not to scuff the leather.”
I nervously slid into the black passenger seat. I placed my rucksack on my knees and tried to touch as little as possible. This was not going to be an enjoyable journey.
I found it hard not to stare as I watched his muscles contract whenever he changed gear or turned the steering wheel. The car smelt like a mixture of his expensive cologne and leather. It was a heady combination.
I worked up the courage to ask him a question. “Mr Stone, can I ask where we are going?”
He continued to fix his eyes on the road as he answered. “We are going shopping Miss Woods. Seeing as you’re clearly incapable of the task on your own. Then we will get lunch and discuss your future.”
I didn’t respond. I wasn’t sure I could. I felt too embarrassed to start with. Why was he taking me shopping? Couldn’t one of the women at the company take me? And what was he talking about my future for?
We pulled into a shopping centre. This one looked a lot more exclusive than the one I had gone to. As we left the car to ride the lift, I noticed how many of the cars in the car park looked like they had a similar price tag to Mr Stone’s. I suspected I was not going to feel comfortable here.
Everyone walking around the centre looked like they had money. Except for me of course. I noticed that the majority of the shops here appeared to be independent boutiques. The only stores part of a chain were the ones I would never dream of stepping into.
I was struggling to keep up with Mr Stone’s long strides, and I almost crashed into him when he suddenly stopped dead.
His gaze had landed on a salon, his expression thoughtful. “Have you ever considered having your hair styled Miss Woods?”
I blinked. “Erm, not really. I couldn’t afford the upkeep.”
“Hmm.” He reached and pulled a stray hair from my face tucking it behind my ear. My mouth parted slightly as our eyes met, and I lost myself in the feeling of his fingertips against my face.
His hand dropped, and he sniffed as if banking the thought for another day. “This way.” He continued to walk towards whatever shop he had in mind.
Finally, he stopped outside a store. I tried to read the name but it was such an elaborate lettering style, I had no idea what it said. The entire shopfront was pristine white, the inside the same. All the rails were gold, and soft yet illuminating lighting reflected off of it.
Mr Stone approached a shop assistant.
“Good afternoon. Please would you help this young lady to find three appropriate outfits for an office environment. She will need shoes and a bag to go with each.”
I stood there, rooted to the spot, unable to open my mouth to protest. I felt panic beginning to build within me. What if there wasn’t anything in my size in this shop? What if the shop assistant had to tell Mr Stone that I was too fat for this shop? I couldn’t bear the shame. And why was he talking about my hair? Did he plan to change my whole appearance? This was too much. I couldn’t do this anymore.
So, I did the only thing I could think to do. I ran.
Unsurprisingly, I didn’t get very far. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually run, and my body couldn’t either. It wasn’t long before my lungs were burning and my legs were aching. It didn’t help that I was also having to weave in and out of the crowd of people still shopping. People looked at me as if I was mad. They were probably right, but I didn’t care. I had to get myself out of this situation and fast. My escape came to an abrupt halt as soon as I felt a strong hand take hold of my shoulder. I began to topple, but he caught me, pulling me towards him. “Stop Rosie.” His breath was hot against my ear. A shiver ran down my spine when he used my first name. He hadn’t done that before. It had always been ‘Miss Woods’. Panting, I had no choice but to relax against him. His arms still had me locked into his front, and I found it strangely comforting. It was as if he was holding me in place to stop me from falling apart. The way he held me in place
During lectures the next few days, Neil had attempted to engage me in conversation about how my first day at Stone Marketing had gone. Having no wish to relive the mortifying experience, I attempted to keep my answers as short as possible.On Friday afternoon, he gave it one last attempt. “So, Rosie, are you going to fill us in one what it was like. It would be beneficial for you to share your experience with the other students.”I shifted awkwardly in my chair. “Er, well it was only my first day. Most of it was just induction stuff.”Emma caught onto my discomfort, and decided to pray upon it. “Did you meet Mr Stone again Rosie? Now that you know who he is of course?”Some of the other students smirked.Anger ran through me. “Yes, I did.” I snapped without thinking. I soon realised my mistake.
I couldn’t quite believe I was back in his car again. Although this time, it was a different car. The only reason I knew it was a Porche was because I took notice of the logo. Mr Stone had hardly said a thing since I’d got into the car. I wondered if he enjoyed making people feel uncomfortable or if it was unintentional.I hadn’t even bothered to try and make too much extra effort in terms of my outfit. After all, he disapproved of my appearance whether I tried or not. I looked down at my jeans and hoodie and hoped that we weren’t going anywhere nice. I looked at him from the corner of my eye. I was relived to find he wasn’t wearing a suit, although he was still smarter than I could ever hope to be. His dark grey chinos clung to his muscular legs and a crisp white shirt was tucked into his waist band. He’d rolled the sleeves up to his elbows, and I enjoyed watching the muscles in his forearm tense and rel
After Mr Stone’s shocking proposal, I had left his apartment without saying a word. He had not bothered to chase me, which meant that I was left to my own devices trying to find my way out of the ridiculous building. When I had finally found my way to the exit, I had earned a scrutinising glance from the concierge. I felt like shouting at him, “yes I know I look like I don’t belong here! Just like everywhere else that arrogant arse has taken me!” As I sat on the tube home, I tried to regain my composure. I couldn’t believe Mr Stone had propositioned me like that. I hated to admit it, but Emma had been right. He was a womaniser. He clearly took every opportunity he could to corrupt and bed women, and he obviously wasn’t that picky. The worst part about it was that he had got into my head. Against my will, I began to imagine what it would be like for him to touch me. I felt myself getting hot at the thought, and instantly scolded myself for being so ridiculous. I c
I was back in the waiting area for Mr Stone’s office. Except this time, I was 100 times more nervous than I was before. If that was even possible.When I’d called Mr Stone on Monday evening, he hadn’t even seemed surprised that I had got back in touch with him. That annoyed me. It was as if he knew I was going to change my mind and accept. However, I had resolved to something. I was not, under any circumstances, going to let him use me. This was all about me. I would be using him. I wanted to become more confident, and then walk out of his life without looking back. There wasn’t going to be anything personal about this.I was glad he’d asked me back to his office. It made it feel more like a business deal. I was essentially acquiring a service. Of course, I continued to tell myself these things over and over again, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t any less terrified. My heel tapped nervously a
We were back in the same situation as before. Except this time Mr Stone had hired out the whole store for me. I guess billionaires really could do what they liked. He’d insisted that we weren’t going to start anything properly until I’d ‘sorted out my image’ as he’d so eloquently put it.“Nothing too elaborate for now. Miss Woods only needs the essentials for her working environment.” He spoke to the shop assistant as if I wasn’t even there.“No problem Mr Stone, I’ll begin taking the young lady’s measurements.” From the way ‘Felicity’ batted her very obviously fake eyelashes at him, she would have preferred me not to be there.She got me to stand on a plinth in the dressing room area. It was completely surrounded by mirrors, and to make matters worse, the lightening was impeccable. I could see myself from every possible angle. It was horrific. I did my best not to lo
I tried my best to stop trembling. I didn’t want him to know that he’d got to me. I knew something like this would be coming, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon. I breathed slowly, telling myself I just needed to pretend he wasn’t here. I started with my faithful grey hoodie, pulling it over my head and resting it sorrowfully over the back of the chair. Then my boots, and socks. Those were easier. Now it was going to start to get harder from here. Tying to delay the inevitable, I posed a question. “What even is the point of this Mr Stone?”He sighed, almost as if I bored him. “Miss Woods. If you can overcome being naked in front of someone, wearing the kinds of clothes you were in earlier is going to be a breeze.”I hated to admit it, but that kind of made sense. I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him I agreed though. He would get far too much satisfaction from it.“Hurry up Miss Woods.
When Vanessa came round to pick up her meagre supply of make up, she noticed the fancy bags that were sat in the side of my room. I cursed myself for not moving them out of sight.“What the…” She said open mouthed as she began rifling through the bags.I attempted to drag them away from her, but Vanessa had already seen enough to be able to question me.She placed one hand on her slender hip. “So, are you going to tell me what all this is about? And don’t tell me you’ve bought this with money that your mum has leant you.”I sighed. “Mr Stone bought them for me. He wasn’t happy with my last attempt at getting clothes for the office.”Vanessa raised her eyebrow. “Since when does he have a say in your wardrobe choices?”I didn’t answer and she glanced back at the bags. “Rosie…this stuff is really expensive. This must have cost over a grand…”