056. Danger Ahead
Characters: Tessa & Clayton (Arthur's mom & eventual step-dad)
Genre: Family
Rating: T
Time Period: 2006-2007, right before R&R

The Affair

"So, I heard Mr. Richmond finally hired a new assistant to replace Miss Clary."

"Seriously? I was starting to think he was never going to get around to it. Do you know anything about who he hired?"

It always rather amazed Tessa how far her co-workers, Colleen and Arin's, voices could carry. The two of them were sitting at their desks on the complete opposite side of the room, yet she could still hear every word they said, as clearly as if they were sitting right next to her.

"I heard he's from Scotland," Colleen continued, clearly completely oblivious to anyone else's attempts to be productive, as she completely ignored her own work in favor of gossiping. "Mary Ellen apparently spoke to him and she said he has the accent."

Arin immediately interrupted her. "Did she find out if he's married?"

"He's not." Colleen giggled and even her giggle was audible over here. "He does have children, though. Three boys, apparently."

Christ, Tessa wished she had the authority to tell the two of them to shut the fuck up and get back to work. She could complain to their boss, but the likelihood of it doing any good was minimal. Mr. Cunningham was the type of man who nobody took seriously. He hated confrontation and never followed through on any of his disciplinary threats. Colleen and Arin would probably shut up for a little while, but then start up with their gossiping as soon as he was out of hearing range… And then she'd be the office snitch.

It wasn't worth it. Better for her to just try to ignore them and finish her work as quickly as possible so she could leave early. All she had left to do was finish typing up these reports, check to make sure all those newly signed documents were properly filed, and then make some copies… Of course, there were always more things she could add to the list, but nothing that she couldn't put off until tomorrow.

"Three boys… I wonder if he's divorced. You know what they say about men who are divorced…"

No, she didn't know. And she also didn't care. Tessa had always hated how gossipy her co-workers were; just a bunch of busy bodies who apparently had nothing better to do with their lives than talk about other people.

All Tessa wanted to do was do her job and receive her paycheck. She really had no other desires when it came to this place. She didn't have any particular friends in her workplace and that was fine with her.

Although… She couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of curiosity right now. A new employee normally wouldn't even ping on her radar, especially one who worked under Mr. Richmond, with whom she rarely had any contact. But they'd said he was from Scotland...

A fellow Briton was enough to at least capture her attention. She'd grown up in England, near Canterbury, and then moved to London after she married Dennis. It wasn't until Arthur was a toddler and Dennis' job fell through that her husband decided to relocate them here.

She'd only visited Scotland once, on a trip with her girlfriends when she was a teenager, but she still remembered the absolute beauty of the mountains and the lochs. It was one of her dreams to return, but Dennis hated travelling and, while she might not mind going alone, she rather doubted her husband would be happy to be left in charge of Arthur and the house.

She wondered where in Scotland this stranger had lived. It would be interesting if he was from one of the few places she had visited. And, more relevantly, it would be nice to talk to someone from at least the general vicinity of her homeland.

Not that it was likely she'd ever do so. She probably wouldn't even meet the man and if she did, it wasn't likely they'd end up conversing.

She shook her head, silently scolding herself for listening to those two gossips instead of focusing on her work.

"So, is he handsome?"

Although, how anyone could focus on their work with those two in the room…

The problem was that the only other person currently occupying this office was Henry—and he always worked with headphones in, so he wasn't likely to back her up even if she did complain. Everyone else only worked during the week. Even Colleen and Arin would probably lower their voices, at least a little, if the office were full.

"Well," Colleen said. "I don't know if I'd trust Mary Ellen's judgment. You remember what she said about Jackson? Obviously, she doesn't have any taste. But, she did say he was tall and had red hair and, of course, the accent."

"Yes, the accent…"

Tessa rolled her eyes. She felt bad for the poor man already.

Eventually, the two moved on to other office gossip and she was able to tune them out and finish her necessary work. She finally stood, a stack of files under her arm, and left the room. Not bothering to say goodbye to either of the annoyances or Henry.

Now, all she had to do was get these files to Mr. Cunningham and let him know she was leaving early…

"Excuse me?"

She hadn't been paying much attention to her surroundings, so the sudden voice managed to startle her… Enough that she lost her grip on her pile of folders and now had to watch as they all slid to the floor, shedding papers in every direction as they did so.

Fuck.

"I'm so sorry! Let me help you pick those up."

It was a man's voice—an unfamiliar man's voice with a very heavy Scottish accent.

Well, well, apparently, she was going to be meeting Mr. Richmond's new assistant. In one of the more annoying ways to meet a fellow co-worker. But, at least the man had the decency to immediately bend down and begin picking up her papers, even before she did it herself. Tessa followed his movement, reaching out to grab her paperwork and begin sorting it back into her original categories.

"There, just a wee spill. Nothing that can't be fixed."

"Thank you." She continued to sort the paperwork as he handed his stacks to her, so it took a few moments before she realized all the fallen papers had been gathered, but the man hadn't risen to his feet yet.

She lifted her head and met Clayton MacAuley's eyes for the first time.

And immediately knew it was a terrible mistake.

Handsome wasn't the beginning of it… The man smiling down at her had dark eyes that held the faintest hint of mischief. As if he had seen the immediate attraction flicker across her face and mistakenly read more into the look than he should have. His hair was a shade of auburn with a few strands of grey throughout that made him look distinguished. She could tell he was tall, and he had broad shoulders and muscular arms even a business suit couldn't hope to hide.

Fuck…

"I apologize for startling you," he said. And even she wasn't immune to his voice, a deep rich baritone that made her start thinking about those beautiful Highlands, the craggy mountains, and mysterious lochs… "I wanted to ask if you knew the way to Mr. Cunningham's office."

Her own voice seemed to snap at her inside her head. Don't you even dare, Tessa. Didn't you learn your lesson last time?

Yes, after last time…

"Ah, yes." She hurriedly rose to her feet, her papers held in front of her chest as if they were a shield. "I was actually heading there now…"

He languidly rose just a moment after her and she found herself looking up into eyes that were gazing straight into her own with a confidence she found extremely attractive. "Well, how lucky for me. If you wouldn't mind me joining you…"

"Not at all." She said the words without thinking. But, it wasn't as if there were any real reason for her to say 'no.' She could help an attractive co-worker find her boss's office without anything coming of it.

But… Something would come of it. Something about his expression told her he was just as interested in her as she was in him. And the way her body was responding just to his appearance and his voice…

"After you." His smile widened as he motioned her ahead, and as he fell in step behind her, he began to whistle cheerily.

A/N: Sigh… Yes, indeed.

It's been a very long time since I updated this, but I had the hardest time figuring out what to write for the prompt. Technically, I just did a prompt on Arthur's mom and her…indiscretions. But that was like two years ago if you go by actual time and not just chapters. So, more about Tessa.

Danger Ahead, because yeah, there is much danger ahead for her which she is about to walk right into.

Next prompt is Sacrifice.

Reviews are very much appreciated. And let me know if there's anything/anyone you'd like me to write about. I've FINALLY gotten back into a state where I can write again after the past two years basically being the worst of my life. COVID wasn't even close to the worst thing that happened… That'd probably be my house burning down… But, now I am living in Scotland and going back to grad school for museum studies and actually working toward getting a job I will hopefully enjoy.