“Along with your dog? That was your beast out on the porch?” Finn asked.
“Uh, yeah, that’s Buddy. Is that going to be a problem? I meant to ask over the phone…”
“He will need to stay this side of the fence, for his safety as much as anything,” Kelly said. “There is a risk, keeping him here. This far out, we do have issues with wild animals.”
“I know he’s a Husky, and they’re bad for escaping, but Buddy’s never been an issue. But yes, I understand. I brought him here, he’s my responsibility.”
“OK, I’ll get Finn to set you up with uniforms and a place to stay. Drop back in the morning. Karen will have some tax file forms to fill out, and I’ll need to do a little induction.” Finn got to his feet, so I followed suit. “This is a largely male-dominated workplace,” Kelly said, “but we have had very few incidents. I keep it that way by making certain all employees are aware of the processes.” God, was she talking to me? Was my interest in my boss that obvious? It was hard to tell as her gaze shifted slightly, so I wasn’t sure if me or Finn was the intended recipient.
“Of course, what would be a good time for you?” I asked.
“Come see me around 9 am, and welcome aboard.”
“Out this way, Julie,” Finn said, opening the front door of the reception building. As we walked out, I saw the receptionist’s eyes jerk up and follow us, or rather Finn. I empathised with her. My eyes wandered over to a strand of hair that had gotten free from its tie, falling down the side of his face, and felt a completely irrational desire to smooth it behind his ear. Instead, I clenched my hands into fists. He turned and smiled, probably wondering why I was just standing there. He took a deep breath, nostrils flaring a little, the smile widening then smoothing away, as if he was trying to stop from laughing. “You coming?”
“Sorry,” I said, attempting to cover for my complete lapse in professionalism. “I’m a bit tired and overwhelmed. I’ll be much better tomorrow, I promise.” Get it together girl! I thought. Go to town, bone some guy who isn't your boss. You got this, you have to.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder. I stiffened slightly but don’t think he noticed. I didn’t want to be that girl, but I just stumbled along, not really taking in what he was saying, the warm weight of his hand getting all of my focus. “So, this is your Buddy?”
“Uh, yes. Hey, baby,” I said, dropping down beside my dog and giving him a scratch. I hadn’t noticed because I was too busy trying to be cool as the boss steered me down the porch, but he was whining now he’d seen me, wanting off the lead and to be walking wherever I was going. “I’ll be back soon and then we’ll get you settled.”
“You can bring him with us, if you like. I’ll leave the proper orientation for when we’re both fresh and dressed appropriately.”
“Yeah, I guess pencil skirts aren’t real practical.”
“No…” his eyes slid down to look at the offending garment, seeming to linger on my legs, before he looked away quickly.
Dude, is this guy into me? I thought. I could not deal with this, no way, no matter how gorgeous he is. I needed a job, not a boyfriend.
“All the women here wear pants, so it makes for a change. Anyway, let's head to the shed, and I’ll get us a cart. I’ll show you around the facilities and then get you settled.”
I busied myself with unhooking Buddy’s leash. The moment he was free, he started pulling me with his entire weight, wanting to walk, sniff, pee on everything. “Buddy!” I snapped and gave his lead a jerk. He looked back at me, shamefaced, but then went right back to sniffing around wildly, though not straining as hard. Finn led the way, which was OK by me. I’m not really into guys arses, but even I could tell that this was a particularly fine specimen, showcased in perfect fitting pants. I almost stumbled into him when he stopped suddenly, a smile slowly spreading across his face.
“So…” he scratched at his neck, “the shed is where we keep all of our vehicles. We sign them in or out, depending on who needs them. The mech crew service them, so they’re in tip top condition. So if you have any issues, talk to them.”
“Okay,” I said, not really getting what was amusing.
“The guys…well, there’s Stevie, but she can be just as bad. The guys are a bit…old school.”
“What? They’ll want to open car doors for me?”
“No, they’ll probably stare at your tits the whole time you’re talking to them. They’ll probably even make comments.”
“Oh!” I said, and then burst out laughing. “Hey, I worked in a diner whose main clientele were truckers. Trust me, I’ve had customers describe what they’d like to do to pretty much every part of my body. I’m good at busting heads if needs be.”
“Yeah? Look, Kelly’s going to go over this with you, but the long and the short of it is we have a lot of guys, straight guys mostly, working here and women…well, sometimes they can be seen as fresh meat. We used to not worry too much about fraternising, and then we had a few incidents. This place is too remote for us to think about ruling out office relationships, but…” He looked me square in the eyes, like this was really important for me to remember. “Never feel like you have to do anything. If you feel hassled or pressured in anyway, just let me or Kelly know, yeah?”
“Of course.” My eyes flicked over to the big green shed in front of us. All I could see was a range of vehicles lined up outside and a big, dark entranceway. “I’m a little nervous about going in there now.”
“Yeah, I think I built this up a bit. Let’s… grab a cart and go.”
“OK.” I looked down at Bud, who was wondering why the hell we were standing around. “C’mon boy.”
2
Finn disappeared into the shed before me. The first thing I noticed as I followed, was the strong smell of motor oil. The second, once my eyes adjusted to the change of brightness, was that there was a guy with no shirt on, bent over the engine bay of a car, and not just any guy. This was no pasty-skinned bloke in his 50s with a sagging paunch, promising to give you a lube job. This was a body that would have made Brad Pitt circa Fight Club go and hide in the corner and have a little cry. Every muscle was clearly delineated. I know, because I watched the mesmeric bunch and shift of them as whoever it was under the bonnet tightened a something-or-other with a hooziwhatsit.
This is just ridiculous, I thought dimly, do they only employ hot guys in this place?