terristories

Well folks, this is it. The story that won me £50. Hopefully its the beginning of great things for me :-)
Enjoy.

***
My first emotion of the day is panic.
What time is it?
I force my eyes open and squint at the clock. My eyes close again with relief that I haven’t overslept.
I drag myself out of bed and into the shower. Bracing myself, I turn on the tap and stand under a blast of icy water for a few seconds, gasping.
Good morning world!
Ten minutes later, with my wet hair wrapped in a towel, I breeze into Luke’s room to wake him up.
“Rise and shine, Sleepyhead! It’s a beautiful day,” I sing as I pull the curtains aside to let in the sunshine. Today I’m not lying. It is a beautiful day; the sun streams in to light up the lump in the bed that is my son.
“Aw Mom, five more minutes please?” the lump mumbles.
“No chance, Buster! I’ll see you in the kitchen,” I complete our morning routine.

I finish dressing and apply a minimum of makeup. We have had a few sunny days already this summer and I want to show off my tan. Luke and I meet in the kitchen for breakfast. I sip my coffee and smear Bovril on my toast. Luke layers on jam before topping his toast off with cheese. I wonder briefly where he got the idea from to put the two together. Not from me – I think it tastes awful.
Twenty minutes later we are in my Volkswagen, heading towards Luke’s school. I start singing to a familiar tune on the radio. Luke rolls his eyes at what he calls one of my “Golden Oldies”, even though the song is only ten years old – two years younger than he is.
As we approach the traffic jam near his school, he grabs his bag, gives me a peck on the cheek and scrambles out of the car quickly so that I don’t have to pull out of the stream of traffic and lose all hope of pushing back in again. Luke and I have this down to a fine art. I keep one eye on the cars in front of me and watch him disappear into the school grounds with his friends, my heart swelling with pride at the sight of my handsome boy with his tall, confident gait and slightly tousled blonde hair.
Ten minutes later I pull into the parking lot outside the building that houses Lewis & MacDonald, the firm of architects where I have worked for the past seven years. I am Mr Lewis’s Personal Assistant. It is my job to ensure that his office and his life run smoothly. I pride myself on doing my job well and in return Mr Lewis is happy to accommodate me when I need to take time off occasionally to take care of Luke. He understands that it is not easy being a single mother. Not that I take advantage of this and I certainly don’t use the “Single Mom” status to gain any special treatment. It was my choice, after all, and I am quite happy with my family status.

Alice is making a fresh pot of coffee in the small kitchen on the second floor. She is a tall, beautiful brunette, Mr MacDonald’s Personal Assistant, and my best friend.
“Why the big smile today, Shelley – did you finally get laid last night?” she asks.
I laugh.
“No, Al, I’m just counting my blessings on this lovely summer morning. I have a beautiful, healthy son, a job I enjoy and a best friend that I get to see every day. Life couldn’t be more perfect!”
“Sure it could, Shelley. You could have got laid last night!”
We both laugh. Alice is terminally single. Some people say she has commitment issues and wonder what terrible thing happened to her in the past to make her shy away from relationships. I believe that she prefers to be single so that she doesn’t have anyone else to answer to or take care of, a concept that I can relate to because I am similarly minded. Except, of course, that I have Luke, but I wouldn’t change that for the world.
Our conversation is interrupted by the sound of the door buzzer. Alice goes off to admit the newcomers, who are right on time for their meeting with our bosses. She ushers them through to the boardroom and I follow with a tray bearing coffee and tea. I set the tray down on the heavy wooden boardroom table and turn as Mr Lewis introduces me to the three men with him.
My smile falters.
Oh shit!
Two of the three men in dark suits smile pleasantly back at me and take their seats. A look of recognition flickers across the face of the third man, but it is almost immediately replaced with a similarly pleasant smile and then he turns his attention back to Mr Lewis.
The meeting begins. I am only there to take notes so I sit quietly off to one side, listening and observing. Outwardly I know I appear calm but my heart is pounding.
Thank God Alice is not in the room. She would see right away that something is wrong. But today is her turn to man the phones while I take minutes of the meeting.
I should have called ‘Tails’!

The men are now engrossed in their discussions and I raise my head slowly to study him across the table, half hoping that I am mistaken.
Nope, it’s definitely him. A little older, and looking more serious and sophisticated than I remember, but there’s no mistake.
He shifts his gaze suddenly and our eyes meet. I am frozen, trapped in the startling blueness of his eyes. Memories of hot sun, sparkling seas and passion on a faraway beach in another time wash over me. I break the eye contact and spend the next hour and a half trying to avoid looking at him, concentrating on scribbling my notes instead. But when he speaks I remember his velvety voice, his big, wonderful, carefree laugh… and the sweet nothings whispered in the sultry darkness of heavy summer nights abroad. Out of the corner of my eye I catch him watching me, and I know that he remembers too.

The meeting is over. I nod and smile vacantly, leaving Mr Lewis to walk his guests out while I stay behind to tidy up. Their voices fade and I slump into a chair.
With the way the meeting went this morning I know they will be back at some stage. This is only the beginning of the project.
Shit!
I lean forward with my elbows on the table, my head in my hands.
Pull yourself together, Shelley. Maybe it’s not so bad. After all, it was a long time ago. Just keep up a professional front and everything will be fine.
I feel a little weak, like you do after narrowly avoiding a car accident, but I force myself to move, clearing away the dirty cups and carrying them back to the kitchen. By the time I sit down at my desk I am feeling almost normal again. But the happy summer mood from this morning is gone.
Alice wants to know how the meeting went.
“Fine.”
“That one guy looked vaguely familiar to me,” she says. “The blonde one. Has he been in here before?”
“I don’t think so.”
She can see that something is wrong but can’t figure out what, so she just shrugs and says,
“That’s strange. I’m normally good with faces.”
Mr Lewis returns and I start typing up the minutes from the meeting. I have a lot of work to do and the morning passes quickly. When I look again, it is lunchtime. The buzzer goes and Alice presses the door release button.
I glance up briefly and almost go into shock.
What the hell is he doing back here?!
Alice is about to ask if she can help him but he strides straight over to my desk and she swallows her words.
“Hello Shelley,” he says, smiling a little awkwardly.
“Hello, Brent.” My mouth is dry.
Good grief, he’s still so handsome!
“I forgot something this morning,” he says.
“Really? I didn’t find anything when I was clearing up in there,” I say lamely, motioning towards the boardroom. “What was it you forgot?”
“I forgot to ask if you’re free to maybe go out for coffee.”
Gulp! This is NOT good.
“Um, actually, I have loads of work to do…”
“Don’t worry about that,” Alice butts in. “I’ll cover for you if you want to go out for a while.”
Damn you and your constant need to see me get laid, Alice!!!
I shoot her a filthy look and she slinks away in the direction of the kitchen.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to make things awkward for you,” he says. “I just thought, I mean, I haven’t seen you in years, not since… anyway, I thought it might be nice to catch up.”
I realise he is nervous too, but I know I have to nip this in the bud. Under other circumstances, maybe, but there is too much at stake here.
“Thanks, but I don’t think it’s a good idea,” I say, dropping my gaze.
He says nothing so I look up at him and when our eyes meet it’s like an electric shock has run through my body.
Oh my God, this is hard, but I have to fight it!
Eventually he breaks the silence.
“How long has it been since that summer in Ibiza?” he asks quietly. “Twelve years?”
“Thirteen,” I say.
“Really,” he says slowly. “When I saw you this morning it felt like it was just yesterday. You look great, by the way.”
“Thanks.”
So do you, I want to say, but I fight the urge. Don’t say anything to encourage him.
“Shelley?”
“Yes?”
“Are you telling me I’m only imagining there’s still a spark between us?”
Double Shit!
“Look, Brent, you’re going to be working with my boss and… I just don’t think it’s a good idea. I need to keep my personal life separate from work.”
He looks sad now, as if he has lost something valuable. I know how he feels, but I have to be strong.
“Okay, if that’s what you really want,” he says softly.
He turns to go.
The door buzzer sounds and Alice appears from nowhere to press the release button again.
I turn to see who the newcomer is and my heart jumps into my throat.
“Hi Alice!” says Luke as he bounces past her desk towards me. “Mom, I need your keys. I left my gym bag in the car this morning.”
Luke stops in front of my desk, where Brent is now rooted to the spot. Time stands still.
“Hello,” Brent says to him.
Luke looks up and smiles briefly, his blue-eyed gaze meeting an identical one from the tall blonde man.
I look over at Alice. Realization dawns on her face as she looks from Luke to Brent, and she brings her hand up to her mouth to stop her jaw hitting the floor.
“Mom, the keys please? I have to get back to school by the end of lunch break.” Luke is oblivious.
I fumble in my drawer for the keys and hand them over.
Alice has recovered her composure and offers to drive Luke back to school.
Brent and I are left alone in the office.
“Um, Shelley, how old is your son?”
“Twelve.”
He looks confused and a little shell-shocked. He opens his mouth to say something but no words come out so he closes it again.
My heart melts.
Well I guess my secret is out now. There’s no point in being a bitch anymore.
“Hey,” I say softly, “Does that invitation for coffee still stand?”
Slowly a smile spreads across his face and I know that in one moment, three lives have been changed forever.

***