Rivers of Ink Page 3

  “You’d better get going, you don’t want to be late,” said Nell. “Knock ‘em dead!” She gave Alicia a hug. “Gotta get back to the emails otherwise people will start to get suspicious.” And she left the room.

  Alicia took a final look in the mirror. She looked—and felt—good. Good enough to totally nail the interview. She grabbed her handbag and headed out the door.

  It took her less than fifteen minutes to walk to Fosse Arcade where The Unbound Soul was situated. The arcade was full of interesting independent shops. The ones that stood out for Alicia were a jewellery shop, a cute little bookshop-slash-coffee-shop, several clothes boutiques, and a deli. If she did end up working there, she certainly wouldn’t get bored in her lunch hour. She spotted The Unbound Soul at the end of the arcade, the logo covering most of the windows. From what Alicia could see, there were wooden floors, vintage barber chairs, and a couple of squishy leather sofas. It looked like a chilled out, sociable place to be.

  As Alicia pushed open the door, she saw the reception podium—a raised platform at the bottom of the stairs—where a woman with short, platinum-blonde hair stood. A friendly looking guy with styled black hair and an equally styled beard was chatting to her. In the barber’s chairs, two clients were being tended to by their stylists, chatting and laughing, and there was music on low in the background. It all contributed to the ambience, and Alicia immediately felt at home. She approached the pair.

  “Hi,” she said. “I’m Alicia Dylan. I’m here to see Aidy Brown.”

  The guy with the beard held out his hand and smiled. “Hey, Alicia, nice to meet you. I’m Aidy.” He turned to the woman. “We’ll be upstairs. Shouldn’t be too long. If the next candidate comes early, can you ask her to wait?”

  “Of course, and I’ll be certain to make sure she has a coffee and a pastry.” The woman’s tone dripped with sarcasm. “I’ve got a client in ten anyway.” She gave Alicia a cursory glance. “Good luck, yeah?”

  “Don’t worry about Pearl,” said Aidy. “Her bark’s worse than her bite, and she’s pissed because she’s had to cover reception again. Follow me.”

  Alicia gave Pearl a weak smile as she accompanied Aidy up the stairs. The top floor was open plan. There were three stations up there although the tools didn’t look like the ones she was used to seeing in the hair salons she frequented. There were two rooms marked private, a unisex bathroom, and a tiny office in one corner. Aidy opened the door to the office and gestured for her to go through.

  “The boss is in here,” he said as she walked in.

  “Thank you.” Alicia turned her attention to the guy waiting in the room. As their eyes met, she was instantly transported back to the landing of the Trackside Social and the feel of his lips on hers. It was Callan. Her jaw dropped, and she turned around, trying to escape, but it was too late. Aidy had already closed the door.

  If Callan recalled who she was, he was doing a sterling job of hiding it. Although he couldn’t quite look her directly in the eyes. Apparently, her CV was totally fascinating, judging by the way he was staring at it.

  “Thanks for coming in, Alicia, isn’t it? We appreciate it was short notice.” He was all polite professionalism, nothing to give away what had happened between them a couple of nights ago, as if he hadn’t seen her naked or had her impaled on his dick. “I’m Callan Rivers, the owner. Why don’t you take a seat?”

  Alicia sank gratefully into the chair opposite him, and Aidy sat at the side of the desk. She hoped it would be Aidy doing most of the talking because she wasn’t sure if she would be able to answer Callan properly. As they started to quiz her about the recent contracts she’d done, she couldn’t help but think back to being done by Callan. The way his hands skimmed over her naked body, the way his beard tickled her skin, the way his tongue and fingers had teased her into ecstasy. Alicia crossed her legs, pulled her thighs together, and tried to ignore the throbbing in her groin. She glanced across at Callan, and their eyes met. She stared deep into the pools of blue, and her insides contracted. The speed with which he tore his gaze away made Alicia think she’d had exactly the same effect on him.

  “What’s the attraction of the job here at The Unbound Soul?” asked Aidy. He appeared completely oblivious to whatever was going on between the other two people in the room.

  Alicia thought she saw Callan sit up a little straighter and wondered what their response would be if she answered with ‘the boss is hot, and he has a pretty talented tongue that could make me come for hours’. The words died on her lips as she realised she wanted the job. Not any of the others she was more certain she could get, this one. Rearranging herself on the chair and banishing all thoughts of Callan’s talents from her mind, she composed herself.

  “I think I have a lot to offer. I know I don’t have a great deal of reception experience, with the marketing projects I’ve worked on, I needed to keep organised and meet deadlines.” She watched as both Callan and Aidy scribbled notes as she spoke. “And obviously, I’ve had a lot of customer interaction, so transferring those skills to a reception-based role wouldn’t be an issue.”

  Her two interviewers nodded, then Aidy went on to ask her more about marketing and social media, which she confidently answered. She learned more about the two streams of the business, how the ground floor was set up for the barber side and the top floor housed the tattooing and piercing clients. They continued talking until Pearl knocked on the door.

  “Your next victim is here,” she announced, then immediately disappeared.

  “I’m not sure she really likes reception work, am I right?” asked Alicia.

  Both Callan and Aidy smiled.

  “It’s not her strongest point,” replied Aidy. “I guess that means we should wrap things up. Was there anything else you wanted to ask us?”

  “I don’t think so. You’ve been very thorough.” Alicia shot a sly look across the table at Callan, who was once again absorbed in her CV. “I guess I can call you if I think of any more questions?”

  “Of course.” Aidy slid a business card across the table. “I don’t think we’re going to take long in making a decision, so we’ll be in touch very soon.”

  “Great, thank you.” Alicia smiled and stood up at the same time as Callan did.

  He extended a hand across the table. “Good to meet you, Ali. Thanks for coming to see us.”

  Just the gentle touch of his fingers on hers set her off again. The fact he’d used the shortened version of her name that she’d told him the other night meant he did remember her. She set off down the stairs, a small wave of confidence washing over her.

  Waiting by the reception podium was her competition, a blonde woman. Alicia hoped Callan preferred brunettes.

  5

  Callan watched Alicia’s retreating form as she left the office and sank back down into his chair, pressing the heels of his hands into his eye sockets. The moment she’d walked in, the image of her naked body wrapped around his imprinted on his brain. He’d hardly been able to ask any questions for fear of a response in the shape of an untimely erection.

  “What did you think of Alicia?” asked Aidy.

  There wasn’t time for him to reply as the second interviewee arrived at the office door.

  “Hi, I’m Susie.”

  Callan studied her as she fussed around, making herself comfortable. She was blonde, a little on the plump side, and the type of woman who used fake tan and layers of make-up to disguise their natural beauty. On that basis she could be anywhere between twenty or thirty years old.

  “Hey, Susie, I’m Callan. Thanks for seeing us today.”

  Susie beamed. “No worries. My boyfriend loves this place, so he’s hoping if I get the job I’ll be able to get him a discount.”

  Aidy rolled his eyes. Callan wondered if he had tattooed her boyfriend; he prided himself on remembering his best clients. He didn’t remember inking Susie onto anyone recently.

  “Xander always cut his hair. Such a tragic accident.”

 
Suddenly Callan couldn’t breathe. It was fine for Aidy or any of The Unbound Soul staff or his other friends to talk about his brother but hearing Xander’s name from a stranger’s lips felt wrong. He tried to signal to Aidy that he needed to leave the room. Aidy misinterpreted the gestures and instead started to ask Susie the same list of questions they had asked Alicia. Callan sat in silence as she answered, letting Aidy take charge of the interview. Everything she said grated on him: the sound of her voice, the silly giggle that ended the majority of her sentences, the well-practiced responses sounding fake. The next half an hour felt like days as Callan tried to listen diligently to Susie’s answers. It was clear that Susie had a wealth of reception experience, even if Callan was worried that she might be a bit much for the clientele that liked to frequent The Unbound Soul. And if that was the case, they might head over to Cutting Ink. He wasn’t sure she was the girl for the job. Although was Alicia?

  “Do you have any questions for us, Susie?” asked Aidy. Callan almost felt like cheering. He was ready for this to be over.

  The blonde shook her head, her oversized earrings jangling as she did so. “Nope, I think you’ve told me everything I need to know. This will be such a great place to work! Tommy will be so excited.” Her smile almost overtook her whole face. “Oh, when will I hear back?”

  “Soon, very soon, Susie,” Callan cut in before Aidy could speak. “It’ll definitely be within the next two days.” He stood up and held his hand out. Unlike the handshake with Alicia, he felt nothing.

  “I’ll see you out.”

  As Aidy took Susie back downstairs, Callan went to the fridge and got out a two of the bottles of Friday afternoon beers, flipping the lids off with ease. He went back into the office and stared out of the window, watching the commuters heading in and out of the station. Sometimes he loved the location of the shop. Staring at the hustle and bustle of the people at Oakridge Station made him appreciate his slower pace of life.

  “You’re starting early, mate. Not a bad shout though.” Aidy grabbed one of the bottles. “Well, they were interesting.”

  And I could make it even more interesting, thought Callan. “What did you think?” he asked instead.

  “They both seem to have good experience, although I think Alicia is perhaps a bit too corporate for us. Susie seemed quite bubbly though.”

  Corporate wasn’t the word that sprang to Callan’s mind as he thought about Alicia’s lips wrapped around his cock. He knew he was going to have to come clean to Aidy at some point, not yet though. If Alicia didn’t get the job or turned them down, he did think he would still try to see her again. At least now he had a number for her. The prospect of getting to know her better was an attractive one.

  “What’s more important to us though, Aidy? A nice, chatty receptionist who’s going to make the customers we have feel welcome, or a personable one with the nous to bring in more business? I think Ali would be great.”

  “Who’s Ali?” Aidy frowned. “Wait, didn’t you call Alicia that when she was leaving? Do you know her?”

  The pen on the desk was much more appealing to fiddle with than to actually tell Aidy the truth. “Nope, never seen her before today.” He avoided looking directly at Aidy. “Thought she had a lot of great ideas, you know, good experience in that whole marketing sector.”

  “I liked Susie’s enthusiasm though.”

  Involuntarily, Callan wrinkled his nose. He knew that Susie would irritate the hell out of him within about five minutes of her starting work there. It was time for him to pull rank. “I think we should offer Alicia.”

  “You really think she’s the best person for the job?”

  “Hands down.”

  There was a minute’s silence as Aidy considered what Callan had said. “You’re sure? Wouldn’t want to give them both a proper trial first?”

  “Why wait? We need someone now. What’s the worst that could happen?” He had to count on the fact that Aidy agreed with him.

  After what felt like an eternity, Aidy let out a hard breath.

  “Okay, you win,” said Aidy. “I’ll call them both this afternoon. Let’s hope that Alicia accepts.”

  Callan felt the corner of his mouth curve up into a smile. He hoped so too.

  Fosse Arcade was starting to get busy with lunchtime trade as Alicia left The Unbound Soul. While she knew it wasn’t a done deal that she would get the job, seeing Callan again had done a great job of raising her spirits. She decided to treat herself to something, maybe a new novel and a coffee at the place she’d spotted on the way in.

  Books ’n’ Beans greeted her with the aroma of freshly baked cakes and the pages of a new book. Seriously, if someone could bottle those scents they would make a fortune. Initially, she wandered over to the business section and began browsing the marketing books. Realising that wasn’t exactly the treat she’d had in mind, she headed for the new titles table instead. After a few moments of looking, she found one that was perfect and headed towards the counter where a friendly redhead beamed at her.

  “Just the book or would you like a drink too?”

  There was a table free in one corner, with one chair, so Alicia decided to stay for a while. She perused the menu on the wall. “Um, can I get a vanilla latte and a slice of the lemon polenta cake too, please?”

  “Good choice.” The waitress waved the book. “This one too. Would you like me to bring your drink over?”

  “Thanks, that would be great.” Alicia tried not to feel guilty as she waved her credit card over the machine. Nell would only remind her that she didn’t really have money to be spending on cake and books when there was rent to pay. And no job, at least not yet. She tucked her book under her arm, picked up her cake, and sat down. Setting the plate on the low coffee table, she glanced out of the window and thought she saw Callan walk past. Now she was starting to hallucinate, she clearly needed the cake more than she realised.

  The redheaded waitress brought her latte over and placed it down, smiling at Alicia. “You seem happy, having a good day?”

  Alicia nodded. “I am actually. I’ve been for a job interview, and it seemed to go well.”

  “Good for you. Where was it?”

  “Oh, it’s at the end of the arcade here, at The Unbound Soul. Do you know it?”

  The waitress laughed. “Just a bit. My fiancé works there, you probably met him?”

  For a moment, Alicia felt sick. No wonder Callan hadn’t wanted to talk about himself if he were about to be married.

  “Aidy Brown? He’s the head stylist or whatever the barber shop equivalent is of that.”

  A relieved giggle escaped from Alicia’s lips. “Yes,” she said. “He interviewed me. He seemed nice.”

  “Well, if you do get the job, make sure you come in here. We’ve got a loyalty card scheme that entitles you to free cake after six visits.” She pulled a card out of her apron and thrust it at Alicia. “Aidy and Callan swear by it. I’m Wren, by the way.” She glanced over to the counter where a small queue was beginning to form. “I should get back. Hope to see you again.”

  Alicia watched Wren walk away, a sense of relief washing over her. That could seriously have made things awkward if she did get the job. The lemon polenta cake was calling to her, and she took a forkful. It was, as she had anticipated, totally delicious. She decided to come back there whatever happened with the job. She opened up her book and started to read, getting engrossed in the story and totally losing track of time. It was only when she realised that Nell had left her four messages in the last half an hour that she thought she ought to head home.

  The minute she opened the door, Nell was in the hallway, bounding up and down like an excitable puppy.

  “How did it go? Does the fact you’ve been gone for hours mean they liked you? When do you find out?”

  “One question at a time!” Alicia laughed. “Let me go to get changed and I’ll tell you everything.” She went to her room, stripped off her interview outfit, and pulled on leggings and an oversiz
ed jumper. She made sure she had her phone with her as she went back into the living room.

  Nell sat expectantly on the sofa. “Well?”

  Alicia settled down beside her, cross-legged. “I think it went okay. I seemed to get on with both of the guys interviewing me. In fact,” she began, fiddling with one of her rings. “I know I got on well with one of them. It was the guy from the Trackside Social the other night.”

  “Wait, what? The guy you went home with?” squealed Nell.

  “Yep. It wasn’t awkward at all.” Alicia rolled her eyes.

  “Oh my god, how did you deal with it?”

  “Gave my best answers and pretended like it hadn’t happened.”

  “What about him? How did he react?”

  “Barely said anything, to be honest. He wasn’t unfriendly though, he let his colleague ask all the questions.”

  “Of all the people to meet in that situation. Do you think it’s damaged your chances?”

  “No idea. They were seeing at least one other person though. How’s your day been?”

  As Nell regaled her with the tales of the issues she was having with one of her managers, Alicia tuned out. It was killing her not knowing if Callan liked her or if he’d consider offering her the job. If she did end up working at The Unbound Soul, would that mean any kind of relationship would be off limits? After all, shagging your boss wasn’t cool. She was jolted from her reverie by her phone ringing. The screen showed a mobile number she didn’t recognise, but she answered it anyway.

  “Hi, is that Alicia? This is Aidy from The Unbound Soul. Can you talk?”

  “Uh huh, I mean, yes, sure, carry on.”

  Aidy’s tone was measured as he began to speak, thanking her for taking the time to come in and meet them. As he went on, Alicia was sure he was about to let her down. She held her breath.

  “We were hoping that you’d like to join us. Initially on a six-month, fixed-term basis, and after that permanently if everything works on both sides. What do you think?”