The Boss and His Secretary

But, putting first things first, by the time she was serving dinner that night Taryn had begun to feel quite edgy that Jake Nash had not yet fulfilled his promised to ring her ‘early next week’. If he didn’t ring her soon she wouldn’t be there for him to ring!

Which, with her feeling all on edge, perhaps explained why she was not at her most friendly when the phone rang that evening. Dinner was over and Osgood Compton, having earlier spoken with his daughter and not expecting another call, was in his garage, inspecting his beloved Daimler Double Six car.

‘Hello?’ Taryn queried, picking up the phone and admitting to churning insides.

‘Jake Nash,’ answered a well-remembered voice, to set her antagonistic vibes a-flutter—what was it about this man? ‘You’ve had time to consider our discussion?’ he enquired, getting straight down to business, apparently only needing to hear her say that one word ‘hello’ to know he had got the right person.

Although logically, Taryn supposed, since she was the only female supposed to be there, it would not take an awful lot of guesswork. ‘I’d like to come and see Kate Lambert,’ she replied. Two could play the straight-down-to-business game.

He didn’t say good, but, since neither did he say that he had reconsidered, Taryn took it that, subject to her passing muster with his present PA, she was still in there with a chance. ‘Has my uncle’s housekeeper advised when she’s returning?’

‘Thursday morning,’ Taryn replied. And before she could draw another breath began to understand that Jake Nash had no time to waste.

‘Kate will see you at eleven-thirty Friday,’ he decided—and, take it or leave it, he was gone.

For all of ten seconds, feeling more than a touch put out, Taryn felt like telling him what she could do with his decisiveness. But when she had calmed down she knew that she still very much wanted that job.

Mrs Ellington arrived as promised on Thursday morning. Taryn prepared lunch for both Mrs Ellington and Osgood Compton, and was then happy to relinquish the reins of what had after all only been meant to be a two-week fill-in job. She bade an affectionate farewell to Osgood Compton, and left his tranquil home.

That her own home was far from tranquil was an abrupt reminder to Taryn that she needed to find somewhere else to live.

‘Thank goodness you’re back,’ her stepmother greeted her. From that Taryn knew that the new housekeeper had not stayed the course.

‘What would you like for dinner?’ she asked. She might as well volunteer to cook it as wait to be asked; she knew she would be doing the honours anyway.

Her family’s domestic arrangements were far from her mind the next morning, however. She dressed with care in a fine wool navy suit, the skirt’s length just touching her knees. She wanted to look her best, and was glad she had good legs. They were long, shapely, and she was blessed with trim ankles to go with them.

Taryn owned to butterflies in her tummy as she drove to the offices of the Nash Corporation. She wanted this job, and hoped she would be lucky enough to get it. She reminded herself that she knew PA work, was a speedy typist, had good computer skills and—most important—had been told she had an efficient but natural and warm way of dealing with people.

She left her car hoping that Kate Lambert would like her, and that she would assess her as being up to the job. Only then, Taryn knew, would she get through to be interviewed for real by Jake Nash himself. The final decision would rest with him.

Taryn took to Kate Lambert on sight. Kate was short, dark-haired and somewhere past thirty. ‘Come in,’ she greeted her warmly, shaking her hand as the security man who had shown Taryn up to the top floor went away. ‘Would you like coffee?’ she asked.

‘Please,’ Taryn answered with a smile, thinking that it would set a friendly tone, but wanting to make it herself—Kate Lambert looked more than a shade delicate.

‘Jake—Mr Nash—he explained the—um—confidential circumstances of the vacancy?’ Kate began.

It was a fact that in a few months or so the PA would not be able to hide that she was going to have a baby, but for now Taryn would not have been able to tell. ‘Yes, he did. Congratulations,’ she replied, wanting to say more, but not wanting to appear gushing.

Kate smiled her thanks, and then got down to asking Taryn about her work to date, and to letting her know some of what was involved in being a PA to a high-powered executive. And the more she spoke, the more she whetted Taryn’s appetite for the job. She would ultimately, while Kate was on maternity leave, be running the office of the top executive. She would be dealing with people from all over the world and would be in attendance at ‘top brass’ meetings. The job was no sinecure, and it paid extraordinarily well. But Taryn was under no illusions; from what Kate was saying, she would earn every penny of the fantastic salary.

It would be a wonderful challenge, Taryn felt, experiencing a buzz in her very bones. She had known before she had come to the Nash Corporation building today that she wanted the job. But the more Kate explained the work she would be doing, the more eager Taryn felt to take it on.

‘How do you feel?’ Kate asked. ‘Have I put you off?’

‘Not at all!’ Taryn exclaimed enthusiastically. ‘It sounds very much the kind of work I would love to be involved with.’

‘You’re aware the job will only last a year tops?’

Taryn agreed that she was. ‘Just until you return from having your baby.’

‘Good,’ Kate commented. And, causing Taryn’s hopes that Kate was ready to recommend her to rise, ‘I wouldn’t be at all surprised if we didn’t find a way of keeping you on in one of the other offices in a year’s time.’ Then, confirming Taryn’s hopes, ‘I’ll just check if Mr Nash is free to see you now.’

From that Taryn realised that, had Kate Lambert thought her unsuitable, she would have said something to the effect that they would write to her, and would then have bidden her goodbye. But the fact that Kate was phoning through to ask Jake Nash if he was free indicated to Taryn that things had gone well. What she had to do now was hope that her interview with Jake Nash went equally well.

‘Mr Nash says to give him five minutes,’ Kate reported, coming off the phone. ‘Now, is there anything you would like to ask me?’

To Taryn’s mind they had discussed everything pretty thoroughly. And just then Kate had to take a call, so Taryn was left starting to feel the nip of nerves. Very shortly she would be seeing a man who always before had seemed to bring out the worst in her. Only today, if she was to have any chance of this job she was now realising she wanted so badly, she must hold down those impulses to spark up at him.

It was most unfortunate in her view that, when she had worked for a whole two years for Brain Mellor without once feeling the need to fire up at him, Jake Nash had barely to say more than a few sentences and she was straight in there. But there was no comparing the two—one ex-employer and one new one, hopefully. Brian for the main part had been placid and easygoing. Jake Nash just had the knack…

The door opened. And there, business-suited, tall, dark-haired and just as she remembered him, stood Jake Nash. ‘Sorry to have kept you,’ he offered urbanely. ‘Come in, Taryn.’

Taryn got to her feet, her heart giving a funny little skip. She preceded him into his office—a large, light and airy affair, with a couple of other doors leading from it, one to the outside corridor, she guessed, the other probably a cloakroom of some sort.

There was a three-piece suite—a three-seater sofa and two matching armchairs—at the far end of the room. But it was to an upright chair by the side of his desk that Jake Nash indicated when he invited, ‘Take a seat.’ As she did so, he went round to his chair behind the desk. ‘Kate has filled you in on what is expected?’ he enquired.

‘It all sounds very interesting,’ Taryn agreed. Actually, he had rather nice eyes—and, her eyes strayed, his mouth wasn’t all that bad either. Good heavens! Taryn brought herself up short—what on earth was she thinking of?

‘And how do you feel about it?’

She started to feel scratchy with him again. The very fact that she was still there should have told him that she was interested. ‘I believe I can do the work,’ she replied.

He took that in, and enquired bluntly, ‘You appreciate that some of the work in this office is highly confidential?’

‘Confidentiality, is all part of a PA’s remit in my view,’ she replied.

Jake Nash did not appear too impressed—she would have given anything to know what went on behind that cool exterior. ‘You’ll be able to supply references, of course?’

‘I…’ She hesitated.

‘You seem unsure?’ He was straight in, and again Taryn felt her antagonism fairy give her a poke.

‘It isn’t…’ she began. Somehow she felt awkward about Brian Mellor being approached for a reference, even though she did not doubt he would give her a good one. ‘I’ve only ever had the one permanent employer,’ she stated, as calmly as she could in the circumstances.

‘And you left him in rather a hurry,’ Jake Nash said, not a smile or anything the least encouraging about him. ‘Why was that?’ he demanded sharply.

With difficulty Taryn reined in the spurt of aggravation his sharp tone aroused. He wanted confidentiality, she’d give him confidential! ‘That’s confidential,’ she stated, making no apology.

‘I’ll accept confidentiality in business,’ her would-be employer retorted. ‘But your reason for leaving was personal.’

‘How do you make that out?’ she flared.

‘That it was personal? I’d have thought that was obvious!’ he rapped, and was unrelenting when he demanded, ‘Why did you and Brian Mellor fall out?’

‘We didn’t fall out!’ she denied, aware that this job she had coveted was getting away from her, but feeling powerless to do anything to stop it.

‘Oh, come on,’ Jake Nash grated impatiently. ‘You stayed with the man for two whole years and then walked out at a moment’s notice? According to you, Brian Mellor didn’t dismiss you—so it had to be personal.’