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I stepped carefully around the floor littered with beer cans and Xbox game cases.
“Excuse the mess,” he called out. “Three guys in their 20’s all living together is never gonna be tidy.”
Matt was in the kitchen getting us drinks, while I got to study the horrifying nature of the living room.
I gave a small laugh, but looked at the threadbare sofa covered in stains with trepidation. Was it originally brown? Or was that the colour it had gone since being in this flat? I wasn’t sure I really wanted to sit down on it.
“No problem,” I lied. “I’ll just move this stuff out the way.”
I went to remove the pile of laundry, but Matt appeared at the door way. “Oh no, don’t worry. We’re not staying in here.”
“We’re not?”
“No, I don’t want Steven or Bill disturbing us…We’re going to my room.” He gave me an easy
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As he undid the button, I pulled away just a little so that his hand stopped.“Matt…you know…” I began, avoiding his gaze.“It’s okay,” he soothed. “I know this is a big step for you…I just…I really like you. I want to show you how much I do.”Wow, he really likes me? No-one has ever said that to me before. My heart swelled. His words seemed to work on me, because the next thing I knew, he’d removed my jeans. In that moment, something occurred to me. I still felt self-conscious, but no where near the extent I knew I would have been without Mr Stone’s interventions. Stop thinking about Mr Stone, Rosie.Matts fingers were now rubbing me over my knickers. It was…okay. There weren’t the sparks I had been expecting, but maybe I wasn’t giving this enough attention. I tried to relax. His hand went under the hem of my panties. This was it. I was sure as soon as he
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We hadn’t spoken since the fateful weekend. That did nothing to alleviate my anxiety. I wasn’t sure how he was going to act, but then I reminded myself that the weekend hadn’t meant anything to him. So, he wasn’t going to be any different. Was he? I decided to go into the office earlier than usual to see if I could catch him before his morning meetings began. I wouldn’t be able to focus unless I did it straightaway. When I pushed open the office door, I saw I was in luck.It looked as if he had just arrived, as he had removed the long grey cashmere coat, and was hanging it in its usual place on the steel coat stand.He cocked his head when he noticed my presence, in that way I found so disarming. “Miss Woods…You’re in early. Are you making up for the other day?”I stopped in my tracks, halfway across the floor to my desk. “Making up for…” I honestly had no idea what he was talking about.
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As usual, mine and Mr Stone’s paths did not cross too much during the day. I was now absorbed in the work with Blast. My team had spent the morning pitching the new mock-ups to some of the company’s representatives, and had received very positive feedback about my ideas for a more retro theme. As a result, Mr Fraggon had now begrudgingly accepted me into the fold. Or at the very least seemed to be giving me less and less derisive looks. Louise, the girl I’d worked with on my first day in the social media department had also been involved to showcase the ads we were going to run on Facebook and other platforms. We’d barely seen each other since Mr Stone had put my desk in his office.After we came out, she pulled me aside. “Hey, fancy lunch with me today? Unless you have other plans?”I firmly shook my head. “No, that would be great.”Thankfully, like me, Louise was saving money to pay off her student
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The next few weeks were confusing and weird to say the least. My desk was moved out of Mr Stone’s office, and I realised how unlikely it was going to be that I would ever return to the ‘Sky Lounge’. Thankfully they let me work next to Louise. I think it was partly under the guise that I was now focusing my attentions on the social media ads for Blast, but from the way people raised their eyebrows at me, I wasn’t sure they’d bought it. Louise was my saving grace, helping me to be distracted from the gossip, and making sure she always ate lunch with me.Mr Stone never contacted me directly after that. My make-up lessons with Adrianne ended, so there was no reason for me to visit his flat. I saw him twice in total, and that was only to watch him stride through the marble lobby to the lifts. The only thing I saw from him was impersonal emails to the Blast team about our work. Even within this, he never named me.This is what I’d as
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“Wow.”Adriane’s jaw was nearly on the floor, but I hadn’t dared to look yet.Despite the fact our lessons were over, I had still been sent an email by Greta telling me the details of where to go to prepare for the Blast launch. This time there had been no fancy shopping trip. Instead, a selection of dresses had already been picked out for me and were waiting on a rail in the salon. Despite my aversion to dresses, even I couldn’t deny how beautiful some of these were. In the end, I had let Adrianne decide again.So here I was, standing in front of the floor length filigree mirror. Finally, I took a proper look. At first, I squinted, stepping closer to the mirror to make sure it was really me. It didn’t look like me because…well…the reflection looked…kind of beautiful? Adrianne had selected a deep crimson velvet dress. It ran all the way down to my feet, but a long slit revealed the top of my
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I made my way shakily back to the table, trying to block out the hundreds of eyes that were watching my every move. Why had he done that? I hadn’t wanted him to make a big fuss of everything, and by the look on Mr Fraggon’s face, he was thoroughly put out by my special mention. Louise on the other hand was giddy.“Oh my god Rosie, that was amazing!”I couldn’t even bring myself to give her a fake smile. I heard the sound of another speech starting, relieved to see everyone’s eyes were now refocused on something else. I hovered at my seat. No. I wasn’t going to sit down. This experience had been more than enough. It was time to go.I leant over towards Louise’s ear. “I’m going to slip out, if anyone asks, just say I wasn’t feeling well. Okay?”She nodded. “Sure, have a good night with Matt.”I slipped of the hall as quietly as I could, but once I got to the tiled flo
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I ran until a sharp stich formed in my side and my feet were bleeding. I collapsed against the rough bricks of the wall, breathing hard as images of what had nearly happened flashed before my eyes. I realised how hard I was shaking, and tried my best to take deep breaths, each one stinging my throat. I looked around wildly, not even sure where I had ended up running to. It looked like a lot of streets in London. Dirty, bright and loud, with various takeaways lining the pavement. The people walking around were drinking and laughing loudly, and I felt like I was naked with my leg exposed so much and only the thin shawl to cover my shoulders. I wanted to call a taxi to take me home, but I’d spent the last of my cash on the one to Matt’s.It was then that the tears came. Huge salty drops falling from my wide eyes. They’d been there ever since Mr Stone had confronted me on the steps tonight, and now they were finally being set free. Why hadn’t he conv
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I placed my hand against the door. “What…what do you want?” My voice was cracked, and I realised they were the first words I’d uttered since Saturday night.“I want you to let me in,” came back his gruff voice.I rested my forehead against the cool wooden panel. I couldn’t let him in. Not now. I was too broken. “I’m sorry Mr Stone, I’m really busy.”The impact of his fist coming down on the other side of the door made me jump backwards.“Let me in right now, or I will break your door down. You know well enough I have the money to replace it.”I could tell from the tone in his voice he was being serious. Defeated, I moved the metal latch from the door, the chain knocking against the wood. Then I took a deep breath, and opened the door.As usual, he was quaffed to perfection in a navy-blue suit. His dark tendrils styled away from his face. But instead of the tight j
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