Chapter 3 : Joe

Ella:

I finish off all my morning chores and reach my office early. I had worked for a good two years at Accent, a Fortune 500 company and this was my chance to work towards that full time contact I had been eyeing since a year.

Until now, I was a subcontractor on an agency’s payroll so Accent had no obligations whatsoever towards me as I was not really their employee. So, I was working overtime to secure at least million dollar company accounts to gain a permanent position at Accent.

“Hey gorgeous!” somebody whispered slowly in my ear.

I recognized that voice and swung around, hugging him and smiled gleefully, “Joeyy, what are you doing so early?”

Joe was my first ever boyfriend in life. My step mum would man me like a hawk at home and never let me date anybody. Whenever I’d ask her the reason she would pretend to be all sweet and say, "Oh Ella, I am your mother after all, I know who can keep you happy so you must always listen to me and marry the man I will choose for you” I doubt if she actually had my best interests at heart.

“I had to file some important papers for on boarding an account. Can you help me find them in the file room?” he pleaded naughtily.

“ Awwww you’re so melodramatic at times. Yes, indeed I will” I teased him.

As I was accompanying him to the file room, I recollected the first time I came across his name. I knew nothing about Joe before meeting him. I noticed his name on the list of graduates including me who had just started working in Accent’s graduate program.

The morning of our first day at work, I was running late because Mary wanted me to drop off her clothes at dry-cleaners before going to work. She knew it was my first day and the cleaners open only at 9 am yet she insisted I finish her task first.

As I rushed through the door, entering Accent’s premises, I noticed a fair, blond hair, five-foot eight inch guy sitting in the lobby with a fresher batch attached to his front pocket. He seemed to be staring impassively at the receptionist, both feet tapping away on the floor, hands loosely rested on his thighs.

After getting all the fresher formalities sorted, I sat besides him and he eagerly introduced himself to me. During our brief conversation, he described himself as a “tall handsome athlete who played football”. I chuckled to myself about the description but as time went by, I realized that he was actually good-natured, confident and ambitious.

Joe pursued me relentlessly for six months before I finally agreed to go out on a date with him. I had instructed him to never come to our house as Mary would kill me if she ever found out I had a boyfriend. At times, I often enjoyed the thrill that came with maintaining such a level of secrecy.

As we entered the file room, he turned around and latched the door behind him. I swung around and innocently questioned, “ Joey, what are you doing?”