3 Losing My Common Sense

By lunchtime, I realised that I needed to suck it up and get a job. A job without my husband's letter of recommendation to get me through the door. A job where I wouldn't have a chauffeur to transport me to and from work. A job where I wouldn't know anyone and no one would know who I was. What I hadn't anticipated though, was that I would have to start from the bottom up.

"We don't have any vacancies open in the field you're looking at, love."

"Oh, okay."

"...But I can offer you a different position."

Note to self: if a man in a tight suit tells you that he can offer you a different position, without a formal interview, kindly decline before it goes any further.

"You're a very beautiful woman, and I'm a very rich, and busy man. I wouldn't mind having a capable woman like you to come home to every day... if you catch my drift." He winked.

At first, I was utterly confused, and then it finally hit me..

"You want me to be your PA?" I asked.

The tightly suited man looked at me as though I had grown two heads, shook his and then sighed. "A bloody bimbo...great.", he mumbled inaudibly.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, love." He replied, "To cut a long story short, I'm offering you the position as my personal concubine."

It was now my turn to shake my head.

"Are being fricking serious right now?! How dare you!" I screeched, gaining the attention of several interns walking around the office I was currently being interviewed in. "The audacity!"

I swiftly retrieved all my belongings, along with my CV from the clutches of the red-faced, tight-suited man seated across from me. I violently pushed the door to exit the room with its transparent walls, stomped through the shared office space and yanked open another door...only to retract my steps embarrassingly and pull the rebellious door open. I barged past all the shell-shock interns and their cheap fragrances. I took the agonisingly long lift journey down to the ground floor (I was not THAT blinded by my anger that I would climb 27 flights of stairs to the bottom of the building). I did all of the above, just to get to the ground floor and realise that I needed a pass to get through the stupid ID barriers. So now, I had two options. I could either wait for someone to come down and let me use their ID while simultaneously coming up with a lie to justify why I didn't have mine. Or, I can go to the receptionist who probably has a resting bitch face, as all receptionists I've ever met in corporations do and ask her to let me out.

I was about to swallow my pride and go for the second option, as a sultry voice stopped me.

"Hey, are you trying to get out?"

I turned towards the voice with the intention of sprouting the most believable lies, only to find myself facing the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. I was suddenly star-struck and didn't know where my words had run off to. I didn't trust my lips, and so I just nodded and followed the goddess out of the building.

After letting me out of the building, the woman invited me out to eat as it was getting late and I was new to this area. I didn't tell her that I would probably never be back, or that I had most definitely not gotten the position. I didn't tell why I was at her place of work today or where mine was. I didn't tell her about William, or my ex-boss. But at some point during the dinner, my voice returned and we had multiple discussions. She was a talker, though, so our conversations mainly consisted of her talking and me inputting a few sounds and words. I learned that she was head of Human Resources. I learned that her name was Hannah, she was 32. I learned that her parents both died in a car crash when she was 18 and she had dropped out of her first year of university to care for her subsequent siblings. She was the oldest sibling, she had 2 younger sisters and a younger brother. She had been engaged for 3 years with her ex, but he cheated on her with her co-worker (which is why she detests office romances). She had also had a few issues with Steven (the man who had interviewed me), but he mainly left her alone these days, as interns were a fresh form of meat he loved devouring.

Before we knew it, it was pitch black outside and the restaurant we were in was empty. She offered to drive me home and I failed to convince her I could just get an Uber back.

That was how I ended up in Hannah's BMW at 9.30 at night on a Monday, listening to RnB in comfortable silence. After an hours drive, a song came on which I loved. I couldn't resist it, and I found myself trying to sing it in my best voice, while Hannah hummed effortlessly alongside me. I wasn't surprised by this. Even when she rapped alongside the track at 300 BPM, I didn't blink an eye. The woman seemed to be the definition of perfection. When she said she "wanted to show me something" I didn't think twice about it. However, when the car began to slow outside of what looked like an abandoned apartment complex, I felt my heart rate join the speed of her rap at 300 BPM.

"Where are we?" I heard my voice whisper timidly.

I had watched way too many dramas, thrillers and murder mysteries to be comfortable with sitting where we were.

"Do you trust me?", she replied.

Answering a question with another abstract question? Check.

"It's hard to trust someone I virtually just met," I answered cautiously. My murder mysteries had taught me that trying to be 'smart' with your kidnapper, was an easy way to get killed or tortured.

"True, but for some crazy reason you find yourself trusting me anyway right?"

I thought about it for a moment and countered, "Do you trust me?"

"Yes." she replied, without missing a beat, "there's was an instant attraction between us that I know you felt too. If you asked me if I loved you right now, I would probably answer the same."

As her intense gaze pierced me I ticked two more mental boxes. Delusional? Check. Obsessed? Check.

And like a fool, the red flags in my head waved their greeting to me as I ignored them, got out of the car and entered the daunting building with Hannah by my side. But nothing in the world could have prepared me for what would be behind those large, neglected doors.