It all started one fateful day. I was on lunch from work and was browsing the sandwich section. I was being as indecisive as usual when I noticed a figure behind me. I wasn't at all alarmed by this, its normal in this kind of a place, no-one has any manners and they all reach over each other. This man though, he was different, he practically pushed me into the fridge.
"Excuse me!?" I said as I spun to face him.
"Sorry" he said with an Irish lilt his hand moving from the sandwich to the back of his neck. "I just couldn't bear missing the last chicken and stuffing sandwich."
"Well, I am very sorry but I saw it first." I turned back to the fridge and picked up the sandwich. I couldn't help but smile a little to myself, those eyes, that accent and the designer suit.
"So what would it take for you to change your mind?" I turned back towards him pouting slightly to try and cover up the smile.
"Oh I don't know… a coffee maybe?"
"I know a nice place around the corner."
"Okay but I have to get back to work now, how about after work?"
"See you at 5 in Costa. I didn't quite catch your name, I'm Jim"
"Lucy."
And with that he was gone. I turned back to the sandwiches and pick up the nearest one, a chicken tikka onion bhaji wrap, paid and went back to the office. Almost as soon as I got in I sent an email to Lola one of the girls in the office. "Hot drink?"
We met in the kitchen 5 minutes later.
"Guess who picked up a hot guy in ASDA?" I blurted out as soon as she walked through the door.
"Oh my goodness… Spill!" I told her the whole story and she was almost more excited than me. By the end of the day the whole office knew. I met Lola in the toilets just before I left.
"I am so nervous." I said. "What if he is a complete weirdo?"
"How about I get a coffee too and make sure you are okay?" She said.
"Yeah, that's a good idea. Lemme know what you think of him tomorrow." I said with a smile.
I walked into Costa and immediately saw Jim sitting at a table with 2 coffees in front of him. I walked over and sat opposite him trying not to grin too much like a Cheshire cat.
"I didn't think you were going to show." He said with a playful grin.
"I couldn't let that sandwich go for nothing could I?" I said.
"Obviously not. I got you a Cappuccino, is that okay?" he said nudging the cup towards me.
"Absolutely."
We chatted for about an hour. It turned out he had his own business. I told him I was a temp, working for the council but I was about to lose my job. He offered me a job as his PA there and then.
It was all very boring at first, I did all the normal PA things, I got coffee, I answered the phones, I filed paperwork. It didn't take me very long to realise it wasn't a normal office and business wasn't exactly totally legal.
At the end of my first week Jim called me into his office. He gestured to the chair opposite him and I obediently sat down.
"You have probably noticed this isn't a normal company. I need to know I can trust you before we go any further."
"You can." I said, my stomach flipped, what kind of an initiation was this going to be?
"Come on a job with me then." He got up from his chair and walked to the door. I followed trying to calm myself. We got into his silver Mercedes and he drove us to a car park at the top of the hill at the back of the town where I live. I had no idea what was about to happen and nothing could have prepared me for what lay ahead. Jim parked the car and got out beckoning me to follow. We stood facing each other by the back of the car.
"This is your last chance to get out." He said looking me in the eye.
"I want to stay." I replied meeting his gaze. He looked towards the boot and swung it open. My breath stopped dead in my throat as I looked at the body that lay before me.
"W, who?" I said after what felt like an eternity.
"I don't know his name. He took the last chicken and stuffing sandwich." I shivered. It was then that he stopped being Jim and became Moriarty, a man to be feared.
