The Widow and The CEO.

Chapter 7. Stranger in the Cupboard.

Chapter 7. Stranger in the Cupboard.

Ruth let out a sigh of relief as she left work on Friday. The first week was done, and although the job was not difficult, she still found herself tired and looking forward to the weekend. Her black bag was filled with bread as she trundled to the bus stop. The bread had come in useful, however, there was more than she and Naomi needed, so they had gifted some to Charlotte, who was more than a little excited about passing it off as her own at her next W.I. meeting. As she boarded the bus, she made sure to keep the ticket safe in her small purse, so that she could hand them to the finance department Monday morning and receive her next week's travel allowance. Ruth could not help the sense of achievement that she had completed, successfully, her first full week in the workplace. As she took her seat on the bus, she smiled at herself. Diana had taken her under her wing, and although they could not have their lunch or breaks together, due to Ruth being her relief, she often found that Diana would make her way up to her small cupboard during her afternoon break and give her the latest gossip from around the office, or the factory. Not that Ruth engaged in gossip all that much, but still, it felt good to be included. Apparently, according to Diana’s latest titbit of information, the finance department was ‘pissing their pants’ because the new Chief Financial Officer had arrived from America and was currently on the rampage about nothing being available on computers. This had bothered Ruth slightly, because if there were no backup files, she wondered why she was shredding so much stuff in the afternoon. The past two days she had noted a marked increase in files marked as urgent to shred. Still, Ruth could not afford to rock the boat and voice her concerns. She needed this job as work experience to gain more beneficial positions from Mrs Hurst.

Ruth found she enjoyed the walk to and from the bus stop every day. It helped clear her mind, however, as always, the weather had been glorious sunshine when she left work, but as she stepped off the bus the heavens opened, and now she had to make the half-hour walk in the pouring rain.

Ruth determined she must have been in England for too long, as once she had marvelled at the rain and plentiful water, she was currently grumbling because she was getting soaked to the skin. Finally, she arrived home, to be greeted by a smiling Naomi, who had her favourite meal cooking for her arrival.

“Chilli!” Ruth smiled, it had been so long since the pair of them had enjoyed the food, living off tins and the cheapest food they could find for what had felt like forever.

“Yes, I thought we deserved a treat,” Naomi smiled, ushering her into the house and towards the fire to get warm.

“So how was your day?” Naomi excitedly asked. She loved hearing what Ruth had been up to, and even though she had no clue who Ruth was talking about, she enjoyed the gossip, which gave her a sense of being involved in someway.

As they settled down to eat, Ruth noticed another plate of chili made up sitting on the countertop covered in foil.

“I made some for Charlotte because we both know she will be here soon, to chat about your day. I know she has lots of friends, and her husband at home, but I feel she is still a little lonely,” Naomi noted.

“Or she just cannot help but love you, Naomi, and who can blame her,” Ruth smiled warmly at her mother-in-law.

Sure enough, not five minutes later, Charlotte knocked on their door.

“Couey, only me,” she shouted as she popped her head around the door.

“Come in please Charlotte,” Naomi smiled at her new friend and employer.

Ruth placed her food down and headed to the kitchen, grabbing the plate Naomi had put up for Charlotte along with some cutlery.

“Oh, wow. This is amazing. Thank you so much. I am alone tonight, William is out and about with his golf club chums,” Charlotte smiled, sitting down and eating the food, much preferring it to the salad she had prepared earlier. She was not much of a cook, and so the wholesome, homemade Chilli-con-carne was more than welcome.

“So, Ruth, please do tell me all the gossip about your work, leave nothing out!” Charlotte grinned, clearly living vicariously through her.

Ruth spent the evening telling Naomi and Charlotte the ins and outs of Bowmans, including the arrival of the new C.F.O from the company who were taking over the business.

“Oh, so is he handsome?” Charlotte asked with a grin and a wink.

“I don’t know. I have not met him. He arrived when Diana was manning reception and I was sorting out the mail, then in the afternoons, I was in the finance archive office. Which is just a glorified big cupboard,” Ruth laughed slightly.

“I am glad you have made a friend already. This Diana sounds like a hoot,” Charlotte grinned.

“Well, this has been lovely. Now, ladies, enjoy your weekend. Ruth, I have a need to pop into the city on Monday, so I will give you a lift to work. Naomi, I will see you Monday afternoon when I get back. If you need anything, you know where I am,” Charlotte said as she stood up and headed to the door.

“Tootles,” she waved her fingers, then headed out the door, leaving Ruth and Naomi grinning at the whirlwind that was Charlotte Ferry.

~~~

Ruth’s knuckles were white, gripping her seatbelt for dear life, as Charlotte Ferry skidded to a halt in front of the factory, cutting up a taxi as she spun the car around without thought of anybody else in the large carpark. The taxi honked its horn, as Charlotte turned to Ruth, and smiled.

“So dramatic,” she complained about the driver, then looked, as a man got out of the back.

“Oh, who is that handsome devil?” Charlotte asked.

“Erm, I don’t know,” Ruth replied, shaking her head slightly, not taking much notice.

“Now that is a fine figure of a man, if I were twenty years younger, I would refuse to marry William, and throw myself at his feet. Okay, who am I kidding, if I was thirty years younger,” Charlotte let out a small laugh at her own joke.

Ruth remained silent, still trying to calm her breathing down from the ride to work, which had, once again, made her pray for her life.

“Anyway, have a good day, Ruth. Tootles,” Charlotte waved her fingers as Ruth got out of the car and headed to work.

Devon shook his head at the woman who had almost wiped out his taxi. He had arrived in England on Saturday afternoon. Yesterday, he had spent the day adjusting to the time zone, with a quick visit to his mother at the nursing home in the afternoon. He would like to say that she was pleased to see him, but she no longer recognised him. Alzheimer’s had taken her off to a place in her mind that he could not follow, a few years previously. He had spent the afternoon with her, as she sat believing him to be a new nurse, but he was happy to see her, even if it broke his heart every time he paid her a visit. The disease was cruel and heartless, not just for the patient, but for the family and friends of those affected by it.

He walked into the factory as David Obed, checking in with the blonde at reception, who was giving him a quizzical look.

“Sorry David, but do I know you from somewhere?” Diana asked him.

“I don’t think so. I have one of those faces,” Devon declared, then pulled down his peak cap a little lower, to hide his face. This was only going to work if nobody recognised him.

“Well, if you head upstairs, I believe the finance department is expecting you,” Diana smiled and gave him a pass on a lanyard, which he placed over his head.

As he entered the second floor of the offices above the factory, Craig greeted him.

“De..David, nice of you to come help us out,” Craig greeted him, nearly using Devon’s real name, as the elderly woman beside him shuffled her feet.

“This is Gloria, she is the head of accounts for the Bushman’s Group. I am the CFO of The Threshing Floor Corporation and asked for some help whilst I am here going over the accounts. You will be working directly for me,” Craig announced to Devon, clearly enjoying pretending to be the boss.

Devon nodded his head, the polyester suit he was wearing scratching against his skin.

“Nice to meet you both,” Devon smiled, ensuring the slight American twang he had picked up from being in New York for so long did not make an appearance.

Gloria nodded, then made her excuses to leave, as Craig led Devon into the small office he had commandeered, closing the door behind him.

“Okay, our biggest concern, as I mentioned, is the lack of digitalization of the accounts. Plus, Gloria and Signor seem very anxious when I mention seeing the books. Apparently, they are in the ‘archive office’ but they have a girl working in there on an afternoon, and I cannot get access. The rest of the time it is locked, and nobody seems to be able to find the key when I ask in the morning. I could push it, but I thought it would be better if you went in and saw firsthand what they are up to. I asked for accounts, and did not get them until the following morning. It is suspicious, however, I am playing it cool, as you requested,” Craig gave him the information he needed.

“I think the girl from reception recognised me,” Devon sighed.

“What did you say?” Craig asked.

“I didn’t, when she asked if she knew me, I just said I had one of those faces, and hoped for the best,” Devon admitted. It was all he could think of on the fly. His mind was still in a whirlwind after the visit with his mother the previous day.

“Well, just hope this woman they have in the archive on an afternoon doesn’t know who you are, or we are, else we will have to come clean and get heavy-handed with Signor,” Craig sighed.

“What is your read on him?” Devon asked, wondering not for the first time if he had made a mistake in offering his hard-earned cash to the Bushman Group.

“Old school. He is nearly 80 years old and should have retired 20 years ago. I get the distinct feeling he has made some business decisions that were not quite above board and is now panicking if we find out, and the sale falls through,” Craig answered honestly with his suspicions.

Devon let out a long breath, as he shook his head, hoping that whatever Signor Coats was hiding was nothing that they could not rectify.

“Are you sure you want to keep this factory on?” Craig asked, not for the first time.

“Well, depending on what the old man is hiding, yes. For the first time in years, I feel excited about rolling my sleeves up and building this part of his group into something amazing,” Devon answered. However, the caveat to his declaration was, ‘depending on what they were hiding’.

“He is up to his eyeballs in debt,” Craig informed him, but that was not news to Devon. When he had calculated how much he would pay for the group, he had ensured that the offer was enough for Signor to pay off the company's debts and leave a cool million for his retirement. Yes, he liked to get a good deal, but he was not a monster when it came to business.

“Well, I guess we shall see what is going on when I get to the Archive Office this afternoon,” Devon sighed, then moved matters of business to the other parts of the Bushman Group.

~~~

“Bushman Group, good afternoon, how can I help you?” Ruth answered the incoming call, as she manned reception so that Diana could grab some lunch. Her stomach rumbled a little bit, she was ready for her own lunch when Diana returned. The leftover chili from Friday, which had been frozen, was sitting in a Tupperware box, along with a chili-infused baguette, and she was certain it was calling her name.

Ruth put the call through and glanced at the clock. Diana was late back again. Not that she normally minded, but with her stomach growling, and her lunch cut short as she needed to be in the Archive office in less than forty-five minutes, Ruth was desperate for the girl to return.

“Sorry, I am late, please forgive me,” Diana shouted as she rushed from the canteen to the reception desk.

“But, apparently, Old Gloria from accounts is having a fit upstairs,” Diana grinned with glee, having heard the latest gossip.

“Oh, I hope she is okay. Do we need an ambulance?” Ruth asked, worried about the elderly woman.

“Not that kind of fit,” Diana laughed.

“You are such an innocent. No, she is shouting at everyone, something about some files needing to be sorted last week, which haven’t been. Apparently, someone forgot to mark them to be shredded by you on Friday. I guess you will have an urgent pile waiting when you get up there,” Diana continued.

“Oh, I see. Well, I will go heat up my food, and take it up there. If it is urgent, I will get it done straight away,” Ruth smiled.

“You are such a swat!” Diana teased slightly but understood Ruth’s need to make a good impression.

“We have a new temp on the upper floors as well. Saw him this morning. Drop dead gorgeous. For an older guy. Anyway, he looks familiar, but I cannot place where he is from. I hope I haven’t had a one-night stand with him, that would just be embarrassing,” Diana giggled slightly.

Ruth shook her head at her new friend. She could not comprehend why Diana would be so freely giving with her body. Not that she judged, but for Ruth, she could never sully Clay’s memory by engaging in those types of activities with random men that you barely recognised the day after. It just wasn’t her thing. Her husband had been the only man to touch her in ‘that’ way, and she intended to keep it that way.

“Okay, well, I am going to heat my lunch, see you later,” Ruth smiled and grabbed her Tupperware, heading to the canteen to heat up her lunch, before making her way up the stairs to her little cupboard to begin her afternoon of shredding.

As she settled herself down on the seat in the corner, she lifted the lid on her container and closed her eyes, savouring the smell. Suddenly, she heard the door open, and as she opened her eyes, standing before her, with a smirk on his lips was the most handsome man she had ever seen, and she found it difficult to breathe.