Chapter 1
Sophie pushed her glasses up her nose, crinkling up her forehead as she inched her face a little closer to the screen, trying desperately to make sense of the formulas and algorithms that were in front of her.
"God dammit." she grumbled under her breath, giving up and leaning back on her chair as she stared up at the ceiling. I need a fucking coffee break, I'm pretty sure my eyes aren't even working anymore. Sophie had been at work for the past twenty one hours, working solidly through the night in an attempt to get through a particularly important piece of coding for her boss before the Christmas holidays but she'd written and read so much that everything looked like a blur to her. She pushed her dark, wavy hair back out of her face as she got up from her seat, walking in to the break room in a daze. Her eyes fell on the other people in the room and she instantly regretted her decision of craving a coffee at this particular moment in her life. Have they seen me yet? Could I just stealth back out and no one would even know?
"Webster!"
Sophie forced a smile as she turned to her boss who was smiling widely at her.
"Wow Sophie, you look like shit." he chuckled as the rest of the men joined him in their open mocking of Sophie.
The brunette mentally rolled her eyes as she went over to the coffee machine, silently pleading with it to pour quicker so she could get out of the lion pit.
"So Webster, are you coming to the Christmas party tomorrow, it's going to be wild." asked her boss, grinning at her.
Sophie cleared her throat, trying to gather the energy and enthusiasm required to engage in an actual conversation with him. "Yes sir, I'll be there."
"I can't wait, I'm bringing along my latest conquest, she' something else." continued her boss, turning his attention to the other men in the room. "Her body's to die for and she fucks like a rabbit."
Sophie was pretty sure her gag reflexes couldn't take another second of her bosses comments. She could just imagine what this woman would be like, desperate, tarty and a gold digging bimbo, probably missing a fair few brain cells. That was the only type of woman that would be interested in her boss. Sophie worked for a new social networking website that was hoping to be the new Facebook, she was one of the many people who were sat at their desks all day every day writing out code while her boss, the CEO of the company sat in his huge office discussing fantasy football with his friends on a conference call. He seemed to believe that just because he owned a computer, he was qualified to run a social networking site, however everyone at the company knew he had absolutely no knowledge on websites and he was just a rich businessman who'd got lucky. Hence Sophie's reasoning for the type of woman he'd attract. He was crude, arrogant, lacked intelligence and was probably not a firm believer in monogamy but he sure had a fat wallet. No one would ever say this to him though, the last person that did was clearing their desk out five minutes later.
The men turned to face Sophie. "Are you bringing a date?" asked Tommy, one of the supervisors on her floor and personal arse-licker of her boss.
Sophie wanted to run out of the room and never come back. She knew why they were asking that question and she knew what they were hoping her answer would be. "Ummm no I'm not."
All of the men let out grumbles and disappointed sighs at her answer. "Now that's a shame Webster, we'd like to meet one of your lady friends." said her boss with a wink.
"Well I'm afraid you'll have to wait for another party." stated Sophie, flashing them her most sarcastic smile before turning and leaving the room in a flash.
Sophie trudged back to her desk. Just get through this last little bit of work and you can go home, one page left to go and you'll not have to set eyes on your boss again for the rest of the day.
Sophie sat herself down at her desk, taking a large gulp of her coffee before turning her attention to her screen and starting to type. A few moment's later her attention was taken from her work by a sudden flash of ginger hair appearing over the side of her cubicle.
"What do you want Chesney." grumbled Sophie. Chesney was Sophie's best friend, he worked at the same level as her at the company and they both shared a mutual hatred for their boss.
"What's crawled up your arse Soph? Rick been giving you trouble?" asked Chesney earning him a chuckle from Sophie. Rick wasn't the name of their boss but it was their own personal nickname for him so they could discuss him without getting caught. The reason they called him Rick was because it rhymed with a rather rude word that fitted him perfectly.
"No … Well not really. His crudeness does make my day a little worse. But being here for almost a full twenty four hours certainly doesn't help matters."
"His crudeness? Why what's he said?"
"Going on about some airhead he's bringing to the party tomorrow. I honestly wouldn't even be surprised if it was my sister." laughed Sophie, thinking of how shallow Rosie could be.
"She could be a nice girl …" Chesney added half-heartedly.
"Come on Ches, even you don't believe that. Rick bringing a nice girl to the Christmas party is about as plausible as me bringing any girl to the party." stated Sophie, raising her eyebrows.
"What happened to Rachel?" Chesney frowned.
"Too boring."
"Sarah?"
"Too needy."
Chesney sighed, "Lauren?"
"Don't even get me started on her." Sophie turned her attention back to her computer screen, typing a few more things.
"Sophie, you need to stop being so damn picky, you're throwing away girls for no reason." Chesney had been worried about Sophie for a while now. Every time she found a nice girl that actually liked her, she managed to make up some pathetic excuse not to be with them and would break it off a week later.
"That's easy for you to say, you've already found your perfect woman. Excuse me for not wanting to settle for second best." Sophie never looked up from her screen, continuing to type frantically before slamming her hand down on the save button. "Crack out the champagne, hang the streamers, hand me a fucking beer, I'm done."
Chesney laughed as Sophie started to collect her things from her desk, pulling on her coat.
"You wanna meet me for a beer tonight?" he asked.
"Sorry Ches, but I've got big plans with my bed and sleeping myself into a coma before I brave this party." answered Sophie. "I'll see you tomorrow yeah? Are you bringing Katy?"
Chesney nodded, "I'll see you there. Can't wait to see what sexy frock you decide to put on." He winked earning him the finger from Sophie as she walked out of the office.
…
After approximately three whiskeys, seven outfit changes, two minor breakdowns and fifteen minutes in a taxi, Sophie had finally arrived at her work Christmas party. She wasn't entirely sure why she was attending really but Cheney had forced her and free drinks all night weren't something to be sniffed at. Sophie had to admit she looked pretty good, wearing a new black mini dress that she'd purchased for the occasion with a pair of killer heels and her hair worn down and wavy. As she stepped in to the office, she did a quick scan for Chesney and Katy, desperate to not have to converse with anyone else unnecessarily. She quickly spotted him towards the back of the room and walked as fast as she could over to him, taking a small detour for a bottle of beer on the way. She only let herself breath when she was safely by his side away from all the senior level jerks that were patrolling the area.
"Wow, Sophie, you scrub up nice." teased Chesney, grinning at his friend.
"Well it only took me six hours to look this good." joked Sophie, taking a sip of her beer and looking around the office. "Why the fuck are we here."
Katy laughed at her look on her husband and Sophie's face. "Will you two relax, it's a Christmas party, you're meant to be having fun."
"How could anyone have fun here?" asked Chesney, raising an eyebrow at his wife.
Katy rolled her eyes, "Well thank you so much for bringing me …"
Sophie went to say something but was interrupted by Chesney. "Rick warning, Rick warning. Evacuate!"
Sophie turned to look at her friend but he was no longer by her side and she was now left alone and uncomfortable as her boss approached her.
"Looking good Webster, if I didn't know better I'd say you were actually a pretty hot lady." he looked her up and down causing her stomach to churn.
"Thanks sir …" she managed to choke out between trying to not vomit in her mouth.
"Sir is for when we're working. I'm Paul outside of work." stated her boss. Sophie would rather not call him by his name, she really had no desire to be sociable with him.
"So where's your date?" asked Sophie, trying desperately to deflect his attention from her own body.
"Oh she's …" he scanned the room quickly before he spotted her and gestured for her to come over and join him. "Here she is."
Sophie's jaw almost hit the floor when her bosses date came and joined him. She was possibly the most beautiful woman that Sophie had ever laid her eyes on. Her boss wasn't wrong, she did have a body to die for, her long toned legs being complemented perfectly by her red dress that was just short enough to be incredibly sexy but not too short to be slutty. The smile on her face was infectious and genuine, her perfect white teeth showing between her lips, her bright blue eyes had an intriguing sparkle to them and her long blonde hair was flowing effortlessly over her shoulders.
"Sian, this is Webster, Webster, Sian." Paul introduced the pair of them, who both outstretched their hands politely.
"It's Sophie." corrected the brunette, causing Sian's smile to broaden even more.
"It suits you." stated the blonde, never breaking eye contact as they shook hands.
"I would hope so, I've had it for the past twenty five years." laughed Sophie as their hands broke apart.
"I'll be back in a little bit gorgeous, just have to mingle for a while." Paul pecked Sian on the lips before making his way off in to the crowd.
"So … you and Ri- Paul?" started Sophie, desperate to not let an awkward silence fall over the pair of them.
Sian narrowed her eyes slightly, a smirk pulling at her lips, noticing Sophie's slip up. "Yeah … me and Ri-Paul."
Sophie felt her cheeks burning as Sian's smirk grew even bigger and a small giggle escaped her lips. Sophie felt a flip in her stomach at the sound of Sian's laugh but chose to ignore it. "How long have you two been together then?"
"Oh we're just about to celebrate the big three week anniversary. It's very serious." joked Sian, letting out another laugh. "What about you? No date?"
Sophie couldn't tell from her tone whether that was a dig or not but she decided to believe it wasn't. Although they'd only met a few moments ago, she got the impression Sian was a nice person. "Nope, no date for me."
"Out on the pull for some hot men tonight then?" Sian raised her eyebrow suggestively.
"Errm .. " Sophie laughed, shaking her head. "I don't think so. No hot men for me thank you."
Sophie grinned in a knowing way before looking around the room and spotting Chesney and Katy staring at the intently. She leaned in to Sophie a little bit to speak and Sophie was sure her heart skipped a beat. "Well Webster, it's been lovely speaking to you but I think I'll let you get back to you friends, you can tell them the area's clear now." Sian pointed to Chesney and his wife before giving Sophie a quick wink and walking away.
Sophie was left a little speechless, watching Sian walk away, the way her hips swayed from side to side with every step and how her dress hugged her bum perfectly.
"Sophie, is it just me or are you openly perving at the bosses girlfriend?" asked Chesney incredulously, staring at Sophie who was paying him no attention what so ever. "Sophie!" he snapped his fingers in front of her face, finally getting her to notice him.
"What?" asked Sophie, her voice a little husky due to how dry her mouth had suddenly become from staring at Sian's body.
Katy laughed and shook her head, resting her hand on Sophie's shoulder. "Maybe a little more tact next time you perv eh?"
Sophie blushed a little, looking between the couple. "I uhh … I don't know what you're talking about."
Chesney bowed his head, letting out a long sigh before looking back up at Sophie. "Soph, don't shit where you eat."
Sophie frowned, "What a lovely way to put it Ches, did I ever tell you that you had a magnificent way with words?"
"Just sayin' … you show no interest in any girl and then an unattainable one bats her eyelids at you and you go all gooey. She's the bosses girlfriend, do you want to get fired?" asked Chesney seriously.
"Ches, I was just talking to her. I've met her once for like five seconds, relax will you?"
"Okay okay. Just don't want you to get in trouble that's all." Chesney held his hands up in defence. "So … another drink?"