Trust Me to Know You Read Free Page B

should get back to you work now, Gemma, I will follow this up with your manager, Andy.”
    He rose and I scrambled to my feet too, collecting my laptop. Standing by the door, he opened it and held me in his intense gaze once again. I looked at him. Straight into his bright blue eyes and for a few seconds we paused there. A weird feeling passed over, as if we were in a mutual trance and then I was out of the door. I practically ran to the lift doors to escape from those eyes as they continued to burn into me.
    That night I went for a drink and dance with friends. My companions were not from my new job as it was still too early on in my internship for creating personal relationships. I was determine d to make friendships based on my day-to-day life and not return to my old haunts. Even so, I tried very hard not to think of Jason Lucas and his blue eyes. I had not felt so entranced since my last long relationship - the one that ended in a nightmare scene.
    Back in the office next day, there was an envelope on my desk with my name hand written on it. The small white offering was propped against my monitor. It had to be personally delivered as the internal mail tray was in a cupboard.
    I looked around the room at the others but they were all busy. I tore open the envelope and out dropped two pieces of paper. The first was a ticket to the charity concert on Sunday evening - a box seat near the front of the auditorium. I gazed in marvellous delight. The second was handwritten on a blank piece of company stationery and was succinct.
    ***
    To Gemma,
    I still prefer the Gloria.
    Enjoy the occasion and relax.
    Jason Lucas
    ***
    I was completely gobsmacked. Jason Lucas got me this ticket and left a personal message – relax? What did he mean? What was the CEO doing giving me an expensive ticket? Too many questions buzzed around my head like unwanted flies.
    I sat down with my heart in my mouth and fingers trembling. I dragged off my jack et as if I was in a hot flush. Why was I feeling overwhelmed by emotions? I had not felt energised for some time, certainly not since I cruised the clubs or flaunted my body at a party looking for my next encounter, the perfect one - an approach that cost me dearly. After three years of my chosen lifestyle I had given it up and decided on a different job, a different approach and now it looked like it had paid off big time.
     
     

Chapter 3
     
    Perhaps I should not have accepted the tickets. They were not an innocent gift by a furtive admirer. The presumption on my part that they came without any strings attached was due to my relative inexperience of the art of seduction. To see them as a lure or payment for services rendered would have not entered my thoughts. I simply saw Mr Lucas as being generous and kind. I knew he had a reputation for aloofness and distance from his employees, sat in his ivory tower penthouse floor and ruling from on high. To be summoned to his office appeared to be a rare event for most of his employees in his headquarters. I struggled to find anyone below senior management who had made it up there without being part of a larger group of attendees. Even with the knowledge of his reputation, I painted him as a munificent boss.
    The more I tried to justify my strange meeting with Jason Lucas, the more I buried my head in my emotional sandpit. He had given me a ticket for an expensive box seat, not one in the balcony or the gods up high. I was going to mingle with society’s wealthy benefactors. Sitting on my worn out sofa in my tiny flat, I held the ticket in my hand and considered returning it to his Personal Assistant with a ‘thanks but no thanks’ note. His generosity was unnerving and I could not refuse it. A little part of me had seen an extravagant surreal future and wondered if it was feasible. The attentions of a rich handsome man who would have me on his arm as he took me to concerts, the best plays in the West End and the Michelin starred restaurants.
    Could such a