Over the course of the next month, Pete settled into the routine of working in an office. Working regular hours was a far cry from the zero-hours contract work stacking shelves of his last few jobs. It was certainly more challenging work.
The other challenge was Nalini. They still had sex but it was a little more irregular now. She generally messaged him for a booty call when Alex and Beth were unavailable. Despite his reservations, he still went because he was fucking a beautiful woman. Plenty of raw lust but little in the way of passion or love. She just didn't seem interested in that sort of thing. He had come to the realisation that he was not going to get that from this relationship.
--
One morning Pete arrived at work to find someone new sitting at the usually empty desk at the end of their bank. There was only one person it could be, the infamous Dougal after which the team was named but Peter hadn't met yet.
'Morning everyone,' he said to Violet and Lola who were already there. They returned his greeting but Dougal ignored him.
'Don't worry about that,' Violet said not too quietly. 'Dougal is always so engrossed in his projects he barely acknowledges our existence sometimes. Do you Dougal.'
'What is it, Violet, I'm busy,' Dougal said not looking you.
'Pete said good morning,' Violet said. 'It's good manners to respond.'
'Who?' Dougal said, finally tearing his eyes away from his laptop. 'Oh, yes, the new guy.' Dougal stood and came around to shake Pete's name. 'Sorry about that, very busy as I'm sure they've all told you. How are you settling in?'
'Fine, the team have been very kind and helpful,' Pete said. Dougal looked about sixty, worn and haggard but there was an energy about him, clearly a very hard worker.
'Nalini has been looking after him,' Violet said with a smirk. 'Poor boy looks exhausted half the time.'
'Good, good, Nalini is an excellent worker,' Dougal said. Clearly missing Violet's inference.
'She is certainly taught me a lot,' Pete said, trying to avoid Violet's grin.
'Glad you are settling in OK, Pete, it's nice to have some new blood around here,' Dougal said amiably. 'Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to finish analysing these reports for head office.'
Pete had not told anyone about his and Nalini's fucking, and he assumed neither had she, yet somehow Violet seemed to know all about it. She appeared to have worked it out based on the smallest of clues like some Sherlock Holmes of sex. It shouldn't have surprised him really since Violet excelled at finding things to embarrass everyone about, only Alex seemed immune to her efforts.
As the day progressed Nalini, Alex and Beth all came in on the late shift. The fact that Nalini was wearing the same clothes as yesterday suggested they had spent the night together. She and Alex looked rather tired and Peter assumed they had spent most the night fucking with abandon, the way she gingerly sat on her chair betrayed just how they did it.
Just before lunch, Dougal came over to speak with Violet.
'I need some of the records from the archives,' Dougal said. 'Violet, I think you are the only person who has actually been down there before so can you go. I've made a list of what I need.'
'Oh no, don't make me go down there. It's awful,' Violet wailed but Dougal was not to be budged on the subject. 'Shit, well, I'm not going alone. All those big boxes, its dangerous for a lady to go alone.'
'You'll be fine then won't you,' chipped in Lola and Violet stuck her tongue out at the younger girl.
'Take Pete with you,' Dougal said, passing her the printout. 'It'll be good to have someone else familiar with the archives. How long do you think it'll take?'
Violet scanned the document 'When was the last time you went down to the archives? My guess a couple of hours. Can it wait until after lunch?'
'If it'll take that long I suppose it can,' Dougal said. 'But I need those files as quickly as you can.'
'Don't get your knickers in a twist Dougal, we will get them,' Violet said, winking at Pete. 'I'll make sure Pete knows everything about our outdated filing system.'
Pete had a sinking feeling. He didn't much like the idea of being trapped with Violet in a confined space. Rarely did she miss an opportunity for a rude joke and he suspected she would be ruthless if they were alone. Nevertheless, he steeled himself after lunch and went down to the archives with Violet.
'The stuff in here dates back to before the company started using computers,' Violet said using her passkey to open a locked door. She then led Pete down a narrow flight of stairs. The architecture changed from the sleet walls of a modern office to old brickwork. 'It's quite old fashioned and no one likes coming down here.'
Pete could understand why. The archive was a low-ceilinged basement with one wall taken up with wheel cranked mobile shelving. The other had a couple of dusty desks which were piled high with boxes.
'For fuck's sake, why don't people put anything back properly?' Violet fumed, looking at the boxes on the table. 'How is an archive supposed to work if people don't put stuff back?' She picked up one of the boxes. 'Grab the other one.'
Pete did as directed and followed her amongst the shelves. It was very narrow but he put the boxes where she told him. Back and forth he went to get them all.
'What do we do now?' he asked, hefting up the last box. He was out of breath and panting, it was very hot and the air was close.
'Well we find whatever Dougal sent us for,' Violet replied. She squeezed past Pete, so that she could get out first, and in doing so made sure she pressed her breasts against his back and pinched his bum.
'What are you doing?' Pete stammered. He knew the brunette liked to play jokes but that was uncalled for.
All that did was induce Violet to laugh. 'Come on, he's given us quite the list of things to find.'
Violet sauntered down the row of shelves with a sway to her hips that oozed sex. She wore a tight pair of trousers that hugged her shapely arse. Pete had never really looked at her in a sexual way before, his attention had always been taken up with Nalini, but she was a very sexy woman. She was clearly a woman that was very confident in her own sexuality. She had curves and they were in all the right places.
Back at the desk Violet hopped up and sat, crossing her long legs as she did so. 'Right, so we need the Hopkins file. It's row H, section 4, shelf 3.' She clapped her hands. 'Come on now Pete. It's only fair that a strapping young lad like you do all the work.'
'Well, of course, we wouldn't want you straining something, certainly not at your age' he said quickly ducking amongst the shelves. He would probably pay for that remark. The required files were exactly where Violet said they would be so he collected them and brought them back to the table.
'So, you think I'm an old woman do you?' Violet said, a stern look on her face. 'I'm old and haggard? Past my prime, only good for the scrap heap? I should surrender now and buy a thousand cats.'
'Of course not,' Pete said, putting the box down. He wasn't sure if she was being serious or not. Had he really offended her? That hadn't been his intention. 'You are a very attractive lady, nowhere near crazy cat lady status.'
'You're a sweet kid,' she said with a little sad smile. 'Next box. The Cholmondeley-Warner file. Row C, section 7, shelf 2.'
