Three weeks later
Sarah Fletcher stood in the ladies’ restroom of Sahara Fashions’ London headquarters, her trusty trolley of cleaning materials next to her, and ran through her mental checklist.
Floor mopped and polished: tick.
Toilets cleaned: try not to think about it, but tick.
Mirrors polished: tick.
Her gaze caught a glimpse of her reflection and she flinched. She still wasn’t used to her natural hair colour—she’d dyed her hair for so long that the red now looked all wrong—and it jolted her memory neurons with grief.
Imogen. Her identical twin. If Imo was alive this was what she would look like too. But Imo wasn’t alive. She’d lost her twin sister twelve years before. Diagnosed with leukaemia aged thirteen, she’d died after a two-year struggle against the illness. Snuffed out before she could experience very much of life. The unfairness of it all still burned.
Focus on something else. Before the still razor-sharp edge of grief and guilt cuts too deep.
A large notice hung up by the mirrors caught her eye.
Urgent Internal Vacancy
Wanted: Temporary PA to Ben Gardiner
Duration: Two weeks
Pay Grade: Excellent
For details contact Maree Whitaker
Sarah frowned, sure she’d seen other notices like it littered round the offices over the past three weeks—clearly there wasn’t a queue of applicants. Which meant Ben Gardiner must be a difficult boss, despite being gorgeous, loaded and successful, as well as London’s most wanted bachelor—at least according to the last article her mother had showed her.
For a moment Sarah allowed herself a daydream. She was a high-flying executive PA, rather than a mop-to-the-ground part-time cleaner-cum-sales-assistant in a clothing store... Though actually she wasn’t even that. Worry twisted her tummy. The shop she worked for had closed down, so right now she was fully reliant on this job.
Keep calm. Somehow she would find another job. She had to—for Jodie’s sake.
An image of her six-year-old daughter filled her mind—Jodie, with her vivid red hair and her gap-toothed smile.
The most important thing in the world was Jodie and she would give her daughter the best possible start in life. Guilt tugged at her again. She certainly hadn’t given Jodie a good father. And her own stupidity in her teen years meant she was in no place to get herself a good job. Not with a criminal conviction, however unjustified, and no qualifications.
Steely determination filled her. She’d turn it around. She would. For Jodie.
But right now she’d better get on. She was on probation and she could not afford to lose this job as well. So it was time to go and empty Ben Gardiner’s bins; it might not be high-flying but it would pay the bills.
Two minutes later Sarah raised her hand to push the office door open and halted as she heard voices from inside.
Ah...
In the past four weeks Ben Gardiner had never been in his office in the evening—most days Sarah was pretty sure he hadn’t even been there. But someone was definitely in there now. A female, by the sound of it, and an angry one at that. Her higher-pitched tones were interspersed with the low, deeper rumble of a male voice.
Clearly not a good moment to empty the bins, then.
As Sarah stepped back the door burst open and a woman exited. Though ‘exited’ was an understatement. This woman swept out and anger radiated from each long-legged stride. Her dramatic swirl round to face the interior of the office was followed by, ‘You will never know what you missed, Ben!’
Sarah blinked and realised the identity of the woman: short dark hair, endless legs, a classically beautiful face seen on billboards and fashion magazines. This was Leila Durante—supermodel and diva, who had the reputation of only dating the hottest, most famous bachelors in town.
Sarah stepped back into the shadows.
‘When you change your mind let me know. But know this: I will not wait long.’
Ben Gardiner appeared in the doorway. ‘I won’t change my mind. So don’t wait at all.’