"First of all," Diana said as she opened the annual general meeting, "I'll start with the good news."
She was the new CEO of the company that I worked for and in the two months since she had started, she had very quickly gained a reputation as a bit of a ball-buster, especially amongst the more lackadaisical male members of the office. She had been brought in to get sales moving again and judging by the graphs and charts that she was highlighting on the projection screen, she had done just that.
Diana stopped talking for a moment, and pointed the wand that she was using to control the slideshow at me instead. "Are you listening, Paul? This concerns you."
I must have lost concentration for a moment. Diana was the sort of woman to notice that. She was also the sort of woman to make you lose concentration. She was in her mid-thirties, but looked younger. She was tall and slim, with curvy hips that flared out and a bust just big enough to give her the classic hour-glass figure. She dressed quite conservatively, always in a pencil skirt and blouse, sometimes with a jacket or cardigan but I quite liked the power-dressing look in a woman.
"Sorry," I said, straightening up in my chair and staring at the screen when I realised I was looking her up and down without realising. "I'm just analysing the figures there." I didn't mean the pun.
"Good," Diana said with what might have been a very slight smile. Had she noticed me checking her out or taken the pun as intended? Either way, she pushed a stray lock of pale blonde hair back behind her ear and continued the talk.
Sales were up dramatically. That was the good news but there was bad news too. We had gained a new rival in a company that had set up in town a couple of weeks ago and from her research it looked like they were making moves on our customer base. This wasn't good.
"So, I'm nominating a new team who will concentrate on customer retention. Paul?" I blinked at the mention of my name. "You'll be leading the team. Okay?"
"Um, yes, sure." That was quite an honour and I felt myself blushing for no apparent reason at Diana's smile.
"Great. We'll have a meeting about it this afternoon." Diana then spoke to the other members of the team, designating roles and dealing out new sales targets before eventually closing the meeting. As I walked back to my desk, I couldn't believe that she had picked me to be the new team leader and suddenly, pride turned to nervousness when I realised how high Diana's standards were and what she might expect of me. My job could be on the line.
I worked somewhat uneasily that afternoon, waiting for her to call me into her office but she didn't actually ask for me until five minutes before I was due to finish. The telephone rang and her PA told me that she was ready to see me now.
"Come on through," she said as I knocked on her office door, which was already open. "Close the door behind you."
Diana's office was spectacularly tidy. Not a single pencil or post-it note was out of place. Just like it's occupant, it was perfectly presented so I felt slightly out-of-place being slightly sweaty from a day's work. I straightened my tie and smoothed down the front of my trousers until she told me to take a seat.
"Relax," she said, obviously aware of my nervousness. She sat opposite me and smiled. "This is just an informal chat, and it's a good meeting, as opposed to a bad one."
We all knew what a bad meeting was. Several members of staff had been hauled in and given a dressing down in the past weeks. A couple had been sacked, and another two had left voluntarily.
"I just don't want to let you down. Are you sure you've picked the right man for the job?"
Diana pushed another stray lock of blonde hair back behind her ear. That was a little habit of hers that I'd noticed. Then her smile disappeared. "Are you questioning my judgement?"
"Not at all," I said hurriedly. "I'm really pleased, and would love to..."
"I'm teasing you," she chuckled. "Sorry. I couldn't help it." She leaned back in her chair, smiling and staring at me.
I felt slightly uncomfortable under her blue-eyed gaze. It felt like I was being studied. I shuffled in my seat and then finally she spoke, giving me the details of the new role in a more business-like manner, but when we finished talking about that, she leaned back in her chair again and smiled coolly at me.
"So you'll take the job?"
"Of course I will."
"Good," she bit her bottom lip for a moment, as though deciding how to say something. "Are you still going out with..." she paused, waiting for me to fill in the gap.
"Sophie? Yes, we're still together. It's nearly three years now."
"Yes, Sophie. That was the one. Pretty girl. Redhead?" When I nodded, Diana leaned forward, her eyes glancing towards the door, making sure it was shut, I presume. "Bet she's a bit of a wild one? Knows how to keep you happy if you've been together three years?"
The weird out-of-the-blue question caught me off guard. What was this? Some sort of strange flirting?
"A wild one? What makes you say that?" I said, genuinely puzzled. Sophie had been a little bit of a 'wild one' in her younger days, but that had been before we met, in her teens, a decade ago.
"The other week. Mark's leaving do?" Mark had been my supervisor and a popular member of the team so we had all been sad when he left. His leaving party had been a great night. I had taken Sophie but as far as I could recall, she hadn't got that drunk or particularly wild so I was still nonplussed and just shrugged and let Diana continue.
"I overheard you talking about me. I was standing behind you and couldn't help but overhear. I'm sorry."
Diana hadn't even stayed at the party for that long, seeming quite aloof as new managers often do, so I was now completely confused. "You overheard what? I don't remember."
"Sophie asked if you found me attractive. I'd noticed her eyeing me up and down when I first got there and then when you were at the bar, she asked. I was stood right behind you."
I froze, suddenly remembering that exact conversation, and my reply.
"I only said that I thought you weren't my type because I didn't want to..."
"You didn't want to offend your beautiful girlfriend," Diana laughed. "It's fine, it really is. I think that is charming and considerate. You're obviously a nice guy." Then she leaned forward towards me again. "But she's not here now. So tell me, do you find me attractive?"
I swallowed. Had she seen me staring at her legs? Seen me checking her out during the meeting? "I... think you're... well, let's be honest, you're not unattractive, are you? You know you're good looking."
"You're a good looking guy too, thank you," Diana's blue eyes were twinkling with mischief. "That's why I'm thinking of giving you this job - along with the fact that you're girlfriend is hot."
"I... um, thank you?" I managed to reply, wondering where all of this was going. Was that really why she'd given me the job. Wait. "Hold on... thinking of giving me the job? I thought..."
"I'll put my cards on the table, Paul." Diana rolled her chair back and then around the desk, so that she was sat at the side of it, next to me. "My husband is fantastic. I'm happily married. But he works away. A lot."
I knew this. She'd mentioned it before. Apparently he worked for some sort of military contracts company and spent a lot of time in the middle-east.
"I really need some friendly fun in the evenings and weekends. No-strings fun. With someone I can trust and who isn't going to get all crazy on me."
I raised my eyebrows. What? Seriously?
Diana moved a little closer so her knee was almost touching mine, "The problem I have is that I'm picky. I don't want to just sleep with any Tom, Dick or Harry. And I don't do this internet dating thing." She visibly shuddered. "There are some total creeps out there. No, I want someone attractive. Like you, Paul. And Sophie."
