FOUR
It was past one week and Ashley was yet to find herself forgetting the tall, built man with the lustrous dark hair and twinkling eyes.
She turned in her bed, her eyes appreciating the bright, natural set up just right outside her window.
And that chest of his. That chiseled chest of his was still etched in her head and it didn’t seem like she would be forgetting the image soon. To speak the fact, as time went by, she seemed able to point out more features about the man she did not notice during their encounter.
Like how his huge hands clenched into a fist each time he spoke. Ashley could still smell him, he had this very strong masculine scent that was probably due to the combination of two or more scents.
In summary, Ashley had been swept off her feet which was still surprising even to her.
Getting off her bed, her mind partially nodding appreciatively at the wonderful rearrangement she had done to her room during the course of the week, Ashley began to ponder on ideas to meet him again.
She could just walk right into their company, (it was just around the city anyway) and tell him she has been considering his proposition to fix her and she accepts it.
Or, she could ruin her pipes again and have him specifically come over to fix them again and maybe eventually, fix her. Ashley shivered slightly as she replayed his words about touching her which he had said with this touch of intense sensuality.
It was one of those ideas and she had to decide fast which it was going to be. Dave’s unexpected presence in her life had caused a little bit of disturbance to her entire system and the only way, evident to Ashley to calm it, was to let him into her life and, fix her.
As she opened her stand alone, polished wardrobe whose brownness went along with the cool theme in the bedroom, she began to play out the two scenarios in her head.
After seeming too desperate in one and appearing to more sensible and of course less desperate in the other, she grabbed her outfit of the day from the rack that had been watching her melodrama.
~
It was indeed nice to be back outside. Summer had set in and Ashley could not be more glad that she decided to come out at that period.
Her GPS indicated that she had arrived at her destination and the skyscraper ahead of her was totally not what she had pictured of the company. After finding a suitable spot to park, Ashley found her wedged sandals gracing the marbled ground floor which led her to the desk of the receptionist.
‘Okay Ash, this is it. You are doing this.’ she convinced herself as she walked towards the smiling lady behind the long wooden desk.
“Hello.”
“Hi there ma’am. Welcome to Everything Pipes, how can I help you?”
“Uh yes,” Ashley went on to rest on the desk. “ I will like to see Dave Scott please.” Ashley had noticed his full name written on the side of his tool box.
She also did not the miss the way the receptionist’s face lit in slight surprise. “Do you have an appointment?”
Ashley frowned. Why would she need an appointment to see an employee of the company? “No, I don’t. Am I supposed to? Or doesn’t Dave Scott work here?”
“Uh… your name please?”
“Ashley Steve.”
“Oh.” The lady quietly said after she had read something off the computer in front of her. “Please, take the elevator to get to the last floor. You will meet his secretary waiting for you. Have a nice day ma’am.”
A little confused, Ashley replied, “Thank you.”
And she walked towards the elevator just right ahead.
‘Why does Dave have a secretary? Do companies run differently now?’ she wondered as the elevator took her to her destination.
The woman she met after she had taken few steps out of the elevator didn’t look exactly pleased to see her. “Ashley Steve?”
She did not sound pleasant either. Ashley nodded in positive, her head calculating why the slender, blue-eyed, well suited woman could be so cross and irritated at her.
“Mr. Scott will see you now. Please go in.”
Of course. Ashley could sense it already, she just had to walk past the blur glass doors to confirm it.
And there he was seated, looking all serious and concentrated on what was in front of him. The layout of the room was enough to confirm to Ashley that Dave was the owner of the company (and that his secretary has the hots for him). Why he would show up at her door step to fix her pipes was quite beyond her though.
“You certainly don’t want to keep standing there,” Dave said, not looking up. Ashley noticed his voice lacked the amusement it carried the last time. The Dave Scott she was about to talk to was probably the cliché stern CEO’s she read about in her erotic novels back at college.
Taking her seat on the leather chair, her eyes proceeded to tour the huge room again. There was nothing fancy about it, well apart from the company’s name that was boldly painted into a frame and hung directly above Dave’s desk. The cream color was sort of expected as well as the lush green carpet.
“I see you have decided to accept my proposal.” He was still not looking up at her.
“What makes you think I am here to tell that I have accepted your proposal? Maybe I am here to complain about your work.”
Dave’s head finally lifted from the paperwork that had his attention. “Ashley,” he gently called, his eye twinkle still missing. “,you certainly did not come all the way here to complain about my work.” She shifted in her seat a bit . “You are a very predictable woman, you know.”
“I don’t think I like being called predictable.”
“Well you are.”
Ashley scoffed at his remark, a part of her annoyingly agreeing. “I have a question though,” his attention had been stolen by the paper again. “,why did you show up at my doorstep as a worker?”
“Sometimes I like to leave my expensive seat and enjoy life as an ordinary labourer.”
“So, you don’t like being CEO?”
His head came up again, this time his lips were drawn up in a smirk. “Why? Don’t you like Dave as an ordinary plumber?”
“I… I am not insinuating that. I am just saying, you know… uh…”
“Don’t beat yourself up.” He closed the document. “I hope you are ready.” The Dave she had met a week ago was back.
“Ready for what?” She asked cautiously.
“Ready for the amazing ride ahead, of course.” His smile at the end distracted her.
“Uh…”
“Good.” He got up, left his seat and walked to her side, his scent engulfing her. “Let’s go then.”
As she got up, she asked, “Where are we going?”
“You’ll find out, but first, I hope you are fine with me taking you wherever I want.”
“Uh…” Wherever he wants? Ashley was beginning to have second thoughts again. What on earth was she doing with a man she hardly knows? What if he meant to harm her?
But at the same time, she was jumping at the idea of something thrilling, something different happening in her life. She did want to find ways to get her divorce out of her mind and the man standing over her, a questioning look on his face, was a way.
“If I end up dead in some random bush, I will haunt you even after you die.”
Dave chuckled at her response and pulled gently at her hand. “I will keep that in mind.”
And Ashley certainly did not miss the look his secretary gave her as they walked past her desk.