Unsurprisingly, I didn’t get very far. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d actually run, and my body couldn’t either. It wasn’t long before my lungs were burning and my legs were aching. It didn’t help that I was also having to weave in and out of the crowd of people still shopping.
People looked at me as if I was mad. They were probably right, but I didn’t care. I had to get myself out of this situation and fast.My escape came to an abrupt halt as soon as I felt a strong hand take hold of my shoulder. I began to topple, but he caught me, pulling me towards him.
“Stop Rosie.” His breath was hot against my ear. A shiver ran down my spine when he used my first name. He hadn’t done that before. It had always been ‘Miss Woods’.
Panting, I had no choice but to relax against him. His arms still had me locked into his front, and I found it strangely comforting. It was as if he was holding me in place to stop me from falling apart. The way he held me in place with his arms, willing me to breathe through whispers was like nothing I had ever experienced. Eventually, when he was satisfied I wasn’t going to sprint off again, he let go. I was almost sad when he did.
I turned to face him, embarrassment now flooding me as the gravity of my ridiculous behaviour sunk in. What was I thinking? Mr Stone was trying to do something generous, and here I was acting like a child.
I bowed my head in shame, unable to meet his eyes.“Hmm.” I heard him say. “Miss Woods, perhaps you would like to tell me what that was all about?”
I bit down on my lip, cowering at the cold tone in his voice. We were back to ‘Miss Woods’ now.
When I didn’t respond, I heard him sigh heavily. “This way Miss Woods. I think we both need a drink.”
I glanced up to find him gesturing to the exit. I followed him sheepishly, unable to say anything despite how rude I knew I was being.
Before I knew it, Mr Stone was leading me into some sort of fancy bar. Why did it always have to be so bloody fancy? Couldn’t we have gone to some grotty pub that wouldn’t have put me on edge?The bar was frequented by people that looked a lot like Mr Stone, and nothing like me. Mr Stone pulled out one of the leather seats and motioned for me to sit down. As someone approached us, I realised it was table service.
The smart-looking man in a crisp white shirt inclined his head. “Welcome to Clinks. What may I get you?”
Without missing a beat, Mr Stone gave his order. “A glass of the Valentini.” He hadn’t even looked at a menu.
They both looked at me and I realised they were waiting for my order. My mouth opened and remained that way while I tried to make words come out. “Errr.” I looked around for some kind of inspiration. It didn’t look like the kind of place I could ask for a beer.
“She will have the same as me.” Mr Stone quirked his eyebrow at me as the server walked away.
He proceeded to watch me and say nothing. I fidgeted under his gaze, not knowing what he was thinking.
It felt like forever until our drinks arrived, but when they did, I was grateful for the distraction. The server placed a glass of white wine down in front of us both. I fought the urge to wrinkle my nose. I was not a wine person. However, at least I knew it would be alcoholic. I took a large sip, pleasantly surprised it wasn’t as vinegar like as most wines I’d tasted. I assumed this was a lot more expensive though.Finally, Mr Stone began to talk. “I would like you to tell me what that was about.”
I flinched. What was I supposed to say? That I had so little confidence, I couldn’t even face the prospect of trying new clothes on or having my hair cut? I’d just sound like a loser. Losers didn’t work at Stone Marketing.
“I won’t ask again Miss Woods,” he prompted.
I took another big gulp of the wine, wanting it to help me loosen my tongue. “I just…I don’t like being the centre of attention.”
I had hoped my weak response was enough to placate him. It wasn’t.
“Right. And why is that?”
I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, still unwilling to meet his eyes. “I don’t have much confidence, Mr Stone. What you saw the other day, me speaking out I mean…it was out of character. I’m sorry if you’ve wasted the internship on me.”
Silence followed, so I continued to drink. Thankful I at least had something to do with my hands.
“Look at me, Miss Woods.”
I glimpsed at him from under my lashes. His expression was unreadable.
“You are still not telling me the reason for your lack of confidence. If I know the reason, I may be able to help.”
I shook my head. “I appreciate the offer Mr Stone, but it can’t be helped. Some people are introverts. I’m one of them.”
A flicker of frustration crossed his face. “I will decide whether or not I can help. Now I am demanding a clear answer from you.”
I clenched my fists. Why did he need to know this? It was my own personal business he had no right to demand this out of me. And yet, I wanted to know what he meant by help. Was there a small chance he could fix me? The wine had obviously begun to work because suddenly I was blurting out everything. “I hate myself, Mr Stone. Okay? I hate the way I act. I hate the way I look. I hate the fact I will never be the person I want to be. I just…” During my rant, my breathing had quickened. I realised what I had just done, and I clamped my mouth shut.
Mr Stone took a sip of his own drink, still studying me with his eyes. He gently placed the glass back on the table. “Thank you for telling me that Miss Woods. Was it your lack of self-esteem that prevented you from going through with the fitting today?”
I nodded.
“Do you not think you deserve nice clothes?” I watched as he ran his finger over the base of the glass.
I gulped, something about the action made me feel strange. “They just aren’t me Mr Stone…the shop you took me to…I doubt they would have had anything for me.”
He quirked his eyebrow again. “Of course they had items for you. It was why I took you there.”
I realised he wasn’t getting it. I cringed knowing I was going to have to spell it out. “I mean…they probably wouldn’t have any anything that would have fitted me,” I remembered the pictures of him with various beautiful women hanging off his arm. “No offence Mr Stone, but I don’t think you’ve had the experience of dealing with someone like me.”
He furrowed his brow. “And what do you mean by that?”
I chastised myself for making the comment. “I just mean…from what your media appearances show, you’re used to dealing with women that look like you know…models.”
He began to chuckle. Before I could stop myself, I was looking at him with annoyance.
Noticing my expression he narrowed his eyes. I quickly dropped my expression. “I take it you Googled me the other day? Seeing as you didn’t even know who I was when we first met.”
I buckled with embarrassment. How could I have been so stupid to let that slip? Now he would think I was stalking him.
At that point, the server arrived back at the table. “Can I get you anything else, sir?”
Mr Stone shook his head. “No thank you, just the bill.”
Part of me was relieved that this interrogation was over, but another part of me was strangely upset.
The server arrived promptly with the bill, and Mr Stone swiped his car over the reader. I dreaded to think what two glasses of wine would have cost.
As we exited the bar I apologised again for the running off incident. I was surprised to see that the corner of his mouth turned upwards.“Not at all, Miss Woods. It certainly made my afternoon livelier. Now, I have to get back to the office. I will drive you home first.”
I attempted to protest, but he would not accept my offer to get public transport. There was something about his tone that told me I shouldn’t argue.
The journey was spent in yet more silence, although I accepted that it was better than all the difficult questions I had been asked.
When we reached my building, Mr Stone looked at the depressing concrete structure with distaste but did not comment.“I will be in touch, Miss Woods.”
“Okay,” I uttered quietly.
I hastily clambered out of the car and walked up to the entrance. I wondered if he had any intention of contacting me. I wouldn’t be surprised if I simply got a message telling me I no longer had the internship.
I looked back to see his car disappear around the corner. Maybe that would be the last time I would see him.
During lectures the next few days, Neil had attempted to engage me in conversation about how my first day at Stone Marketing had gone. Having no wish to relive the mortifying experience, I attempted to keep my answers as short as possible.On Friday afternoon, he gave it one last attempt. “So, Rosie, are you going to fill us in one what it was like. It would be beneficial for you to share your experience with the other students.”I shifted awkwardly in my chair. “Er, well it was only my first day. Most of it was just induction stuff.”Emma caught onto my discomfort, and decided to pray upon it. “Did you meet Mr Stone again Rosie? Now that you know who he is of course?”Some of the other students smirked.Anger ran through me. “Yes, I did.” I snapped without thinking. I soon realised my mistake.
I couldn’t quite believe I was back in his car again. Although this time, it was a different car. The only reason I knew it was a Porche was because I took notice of the logo. Mr Stone had hardly said a thing since I’d got into the car. I wondered if he enjoyed making people feel uncomfortable or if it was unintentional.I hadn’t even bothered to try and make too much extra effort in terms of my outfit. After all, he disapproved of my appearance whether I tried or not. I looked down at my jeans and hoodie and hoped that we weren’t going anywhere nice. I looked at him from the corner of my eye. I was relived to find he wasn’t wearing a suit, although he was still smarter than I could ever hope to be. His dark grey chinos clung to his muscular legs and a crisp white shirt was tucked into his waist band. He’d rolled the sleeves up to his elbows, and I enjoyed watching the muscles in his forearm tense and rel
After Mr Stone’s shocking proposal, I had left his apartment without saying a word. He had not bothered to chase me, which meant that I was left to my own devices trying to find my way out of the ridiculous building. When I had finally found my way to the exit, I had earned a scrutinising glance from the concierge. I felt like shouting at him, “yes I know I look like I don’t belong here! Just like everywhere else that arrogant arse has taken me!” As I sat on the tube home, I tried to regain my composure. I couldn’t believe Mr Stone had propositioned me like that. I hated to admit it, but Emma had been right. He was a womaniser. He clearly took every opportunity he could to corrupt and bed women, and he obviously wasn’t that picky. The worst part about it was that he had got into my head. Against my will, I began to imagine what it would be like for him to touch me. I felt myself getting hot at the thought, and instantly scolded myself for being so ridiculous. I c
I was back in the waiting area for Mr Stone’s office. Except this time, I was 100 times more nervous than I was before. If that was even possible.When I’d called Mr Stone on Monday evening, he hadn’t even seemed surprised that I had got back in touch with him. That annoyed me. It was as if he knew I was going to change my mind and accept. However, I had resolved to something. I was not, under any circumstances, going to let him use me. This was all about me. I would be using him. I wanted to become more confident, and then walk out of his life without looking back. There wasn’t going to be anything personal about this.I was glad he’d asked me back to his office. It made it feel more like a business deal. I was essentially acquiring a service. Of course, I continued to tell myself these things over and over again, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t any less terrified. My heel tapped nervously a
We were back in the same situation as before. Except this time Mr Stone had hired out the whole store for me. I guess billionaires really could do what they liked. He’d insisted that we weren’t going to start anything properly until I’d ‘sorted out my image’ as he’d so eloquently put it.“Nothing too elaborate for now. Miss Woods only needs the essentials for her working environment.” He spoke to the shop assistant as if I wasn’t even there.“No problem Mr Stone, I’ll begin taking the young lady’s measurements.” From the way ‘Felicity’ batted her very obviously fake eyelashes at him, she would have preferred me not to be there.She got me to stand on a plinth in the dressing room area. It was completely surrounded by mirrors, and to make matters worse, the lightening was impeccable. I could see myself from every possible angle. It was horrific. I did my best not to lo
I tried my best to stop trembling. I didn’t want him to know that he’d got to me. I knew something like this would be coming, I just didn’t expect it to be so soon. I breathed slowly, telling myself I just needed to pretend he wasn’t here. I started with my faithful grey hoodie, pulling it over my head and resting it sorrowfully over the back of the chair. Then my boots, and socks. Those were easier. Now it was going to start to get harder from here. Tying to delay the inevitable, I posed a question. “What even is the point of this Mr Stone?”He sighed, almost as if I bored him. “Miss Woods. If you can overcome being naked in front of someone, wearing the kinds of clothes you were in earlier is going to be a breeze.”I hated to admit it, but that kind of made sense. I sure as hell wasn’t going to tell him I agreed though. He would get far too much satisfaction from it.“Hurry up Miss Woods.
When Vanessa came round to pick up her meagre supply of make up, she noticed the fancy bags that were sat in the side of my room. I cursed myself for not moving them out of sight.“What the…” She said open mouthed as she began rifling through the bags.I attempted to drag them away from her, but Vanessa had already seen enough to be able to question me.She placed one hand on her slender hip. “So, are you going to tell me what all this is about? And don’t tell me you’ve bought this with money that your mum has leant you.”I sighed. “Mr Stone bought them for me. He wasn’t happy with my last attempt at getting clothes for the office.”Vanessa raised her eyebrow. “Since when does he have a say in your wardrobe choices?”I didn’t answer and she glanced back at the bags. “Rosie…this stuff is really expensive. This must have cost over a grand…”
After my makeover Adrianne gave me her details so that we could arrange my session. She’d also promised to show me how Jake had managed to make my hair look the way it did. I was pretty sure the only explanation was witchcraft.Just before I walked into Stone Marketing, I suddenly remembered that I needed to swap my shoes. I leaned precariously against a brick wall, attracting strange looks from many passers-by. Now I just had to make my way up to Mr Stone’s office without falling over.As I approached his office, Greta spotted me and did a double take.“Miss Woods…they’ve done quite the job on you.” I noticed that she actually seemed to be a little annoyed. Maybe that meant it did look good.I gave her a thin smile. “Straight in a presume?” I pointed to Mr Stone’s door.She inclined her head to tell me I was correct.I actually felt nervous about him seeing me like this. Would he