Chapter 5

Three days passed before I even dared to turn my phone back on. I had called Marianna that night and told her the job hadn't worked out and had then spent my time mollycoddling Danny, cleaning my flat over and over until it was overly clean, and watching copious amounts of day time TV. Sighing, I fidgeted slightly before leaning back into the sofa and returned my attention back to the TV to watch the very interesting episode of Jeremy Kyle, by interesting I meant that it made my life seem a million times better because mine wasn't filled with so much drama and scandal. After the other day I didn't think people could have worse lives that I do right now but the power of television proved me wrong. When the presenter revealed with that smarmy attitude of his , that the guest's baby was in fact fathered by her husband's brother or father or some crap like that and that her husband had been copping off with her younger sister and gotten her knocked up. I realised that no matter what, my life was never a Jeremy Kyle episode. Seriously, compared to all that crap, how can getting threatened and almost killed be that bad? I asked myself before mentally slapping myself for thinking about the event again.

Pressing the button on my remote so that the screen turned black, I pushed myself off of my worn cream sofa and walked towards the door to the kitchen. I knew Danny would be waking up soon so I headed to the small 70's style kitchen and started to prepare him a bottle. It was a mindless task and did nothing to keep from wandering back to that night so that my hands started to tremble and a tear ran down my cheek. With a sigh I swiped it away and stared blankly through the net curtains that hung across kitchen windows. My view only afforded me a glance into the flats across the streets but the sight of some woman dancing around the living room was enough to put a small smile upon my face, even if it didn't linger for long it was a reprieve from all of the gloomy emotions that had been plaguing me.

Tightening the lid of the bottle, I placed it gently on the side before walking into the hall and walking the few steps to Danny's room. He was laying there staring in amazement at the glow in the dark stars that I had put on the ceiling. Smiling I walked over to the cot and picked him up cuddling him into my arms and letting my grin grow as he leaned into my embrace. It was nice to know I was loved I thought as I glanced down at the baby in my arms. Cooing to him I wandered back into the kitchen and started for the living room when that irritating buzz sounded through the flat. I knew it could only be Marianna so with a sigh I wandered back down the hall to where the handset hung on the wall.

After some careful manoeuvring I managed to get the receiver up to my ear. "Hello?" I questioned as the incessant buzzing came through the ear piece. I heard the sound of a voice being cleared before a male voice came through and was most definitely not Marianna.

"Miss Holmes?" I gulped in recognition whilst my eyes involuntarily closed. Why was he here? Didn't I make my point obvious by sending in my resignation and not turning up for the last three days?

"Yes?" I responded, my voice cracking slightly as my hands shook around the receiver. I waited for him to say something but he paused like he was trying to think of how to say his piece.

"Look Miss Holmes, can I come in? I need to talk to you and it's not something to be said on the streets." His voice wasn't forceful but I knew he wouldn't take no for an answer, he had a set of determination about him.

"Fine." My breath let out with a sigh. "You have five minutes." My voice was firm and resolute as I removed the handset from my ear and pressed the button to unlock the communal door before replacing the handset. I had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that this was a mistake, I felt that I had just made a deciding move and that whatever is said or agreed to now, there was no going back.

I was pulled from my thoughts by a knock at the door. Glancing down at Danny who was playfully tugging on the ends of my hair, I smiled through my nerves as I walked the two steps to the front door and proceeded to disengage all of the locks before opening the door to reveal two impeccably dressed men.

I nodded my head to them in greeting. "Mr Watson, Mr Satani. Come on in." I stepped to the side and allowed the two of them to pass making sure my back was pressed against the wall as they stepped inside my home. It felt strange to me to have my boss, ex-boss I corrected myself, in my home. Pushing the door closed I let my hand linger for a moment before putting on a fake smile and looking at the two men, one of whom looked extremely uncomfortable to be here. "Come on through to the lounge. Oh can one of you pick that up for me?" I questioned as I spotted the bottle that had fallen off the ledge I had left it on. Its times like these I'm glad for the lids, I wouldn't have been impressed if I had had to get a new top for it because they distracted me.

Mr Watson smiled at me before bending down and retrieving it from the floor. I nodded in thanks before brushing past the pair and leading them towards the lounge. I could feel both of their stares on my back and I knew they were probably sharing looks about my attire. Well, it was 9am and I didn't have a job so I didn't see the problem in being in my Mickey Mouse pyjamas at this time. I was more disturbed at the fact that I was around two men and had no bra on.

With a regretful sigh I led them into my sanctuary and quickly retrieved my dressing robe from top of the pile of freshly laundered washing on that chair that I had been up since six sorting out. Laying Danny down on his little mat on the floor I sat down beside him pulling on the dress robe whilst nodding for the men to take seats. Mr Watson took the armchair so Mr Satani was forced to sit next to my pile of washing that teetered precariously for a moment before stilling. I looked over to Mr Watson and saw he still had the bottle clutched in hand.

"Can I take that, the little guy needs his feed." I questioned looking up at him before turning my gaze to the cooing child beside me. He seemed as happy as ever, unaffected by the events of the other day. I was glad that he was too young to understand what happened, heck I was twenty two and I still couldn't comprehend it fully, it seemed too unreal.

"Yeah, sure." Mr Watson replied sitting forwards and handing me the bottle I smiled in thanks as I shook it before pulling the lid off. After testing it on the back of my hand, I scooped Danny into my arms and tentatively pressed the bottle against his lips whilst I stared at him in awe. I still couldn't believe that this beautiful little boy in my arms had come from me. As my son suckled noisily on the bottle, I turned my gaze to the two men.

"Okay, start talking." I murmured trying to figure out why exactly they are here. 

Mr Watson sat there smiling whilst Mr Satani shifted uncomfortably in his seat, his nose wrinkling in disgust as he eyed the room. I rolled my eyes at this, what a snob, I'm sorry that I don't live up to your rich man expectations.

After much throat clearing Mr Satani spoke, his voice as deep and smooth as I remembered. I'm sure to some it would be seductive but to me it was nothing out of the ordinary because I'd met enough players in my life to know one when i saw one. "As I'm sure you are aware Miss Holmes, when you joined our company you signed a contract which deemed you would work for us for the period of 3 months minimum, as for your resignation, I'm afraid to say I cannot accept it based on said contract. As for your continuing absence that would be deemed breach of contract and you could be held liable," he leaned forwards with a smirk on his face. It sent shivers down my spine and not the good shivers either. Staring at him wide eyed, I waited for him to continue and was surprised when he lowered his voice so it was almost as if he was being conspiratorial with me. "And trust me, you don't want that."

I stared at him for a moment before turning to Mr Watson. "You're kidding me right?" I glanced between the two of them with growing sense of incredulity wondering who had hit the two of them with the stupid stick today. "You expect me to return to that place, after what happened on my first day? You must be frigging crazy and as for contracts, I didn't sign them, we were supposed to do it at the end of the day but it happened so no matter what you say there is no contract binding me to your service." Barely restraining the urge to stick my tongue out at the two of them, they both looked at me with wide eyes before they turned to one another and seemed to have a silent conversation with just their eyes. I waited for them to finish instead focusing my attention on Danny.

"How about this Miss Holmes-" I cut Mr Satani off getting annoyed with them calling me Miss Holmes every two seconds.

"The name is Savannah." I replied drawing my gaze up to the dark haired gorgeous man before me who in moment of distraction, had taken off his suit jacket and lain it neatly across the arm of the chair as well as rolled up the sleeves on his shirt and undoing the top few buttons on his shirt.

I raised my eyebrow at this before nodding my head for him to continue. "Savannah, as I was saying, would you consider returning to work if I offered you a pay rise?" I looked at him incredulously before sparing a glance at Mr Watson who seemed to not even be paying attention to our exchange but was instead focusing on the pictures littering the free surfaces of the room. I smiled slightly at the one that was drawing his attention, it was of me and Danny after he was first born, I looked a state but I was happy, heck I'd even say I had the glow.

"Why would you offer me a pay rise? I worked there all of one day and I know there are a million other people desperate for a job out there and yet you chase after me, the one person who doesn't want to step foot inside that building. Please explain your reasoning to me because I am struggling to understand." I glanced down at Danny and say his eyes were fluttering shut as he suckled on the now empty bottle. Smiling I removed it from his mouth before lifting him up so his head was on my shoulder and I began to pat his back whilst I turned my attention to the two men.

Mr Watson chose that moment to put his word in as he cleared his throat and set his gaze on me, his usual mischievous gaze was the most serious I had ever seen it. "There are many reasons why we chose you to begin with but because of recent events..." he trailed off when he saw me pale slightly as my grip tightened on Danny momentarily. "We believe that you yourself would be safer there, we take care of our employees and we have no guarantees that the, survivors of the attack won't come after you when you are on your own."

I froze at the thought of being attacked again, what if they hurt Danny? I looked up at him with wide eyes, moisture threatening to leak out as I stared up at him pleadingly.

"We also need to confirm what they said to you that night which we is why we would like to invite you to the directors meeting next week, we will be having some associates from our rival company there but that doesn't need any more explaining." He stared down at me with a look that made me feel as if he was staring into my soul. "There was a reason you were chosen for this job Miss Holmes, what it was only time will tell but I can assure you, if you return to our company you won't regret it." He smiled at me before his eyes flicked to Mr Satani opposite him and it transformed into a smirk. "Besides, who else is going to resist the charms of the irresistible Mr Lucius Satani?" His voice was laced with sarcasm and made a small smile appear on my lips before a light laugh came from them.

His eyes twinkled at me in response whilst the man behind me huffed in annoyance. I sighed and looked down at my shaking hands. I didn't want to go back but I was overdue on the rent on this place which even I can admit was a bit of a dump though I had managed to make it look semi-respectable but still, if they give me a raise, maybe I could get a better place. I looked up at the two of them in resignation. "Will it be safe?" My voice shook slightly at the question but it earned me smiles from both men. One was giving me a smile reassurance, his eyes softening as he stared at me whilst the other was smiling smugly, knowing that he had already won.

I set a glare upon Mr Satani as Mr Watson voiced his reassurances. My hand continued to rub Danny's back as I pushed myself off of the floor and walked so I was in front of the smug man. "I don't get what you're smiling at, to make me even consider coming back you have to guarantee my safety and I was want a decent raise, I don't want to live in this shitty estate for the rest of my life. Some of us actually like to sleep at night without being woken up by police sirens." I tiptoed over to Danny's little cushioned donut chair that had a little teddy bear head at one end for a pillow. I crouched down and placed him gently into it watching as he fidgeted slightly before his chest regained it's even up and down motion. Covering him with a blanket I placed a kiss on his warm forehead, making sure I slept my hair out of the way first, before I stood back up again and faced the men. "Can you manage that?" I questioned folding my arms across my chest well aware of Mr Satani's gaze on my chest as these got pushed up so that though the opening in dressing gown you could see my cleavage.

He smirked before catching Mr Watson's eye in which the smirk dropped and he started to pout like a school child. I whipped my head to the older gentleman in time to see him wipe clear the scolding look that was on his face. He then turned his attention to me as he got up from the chair, avoiding the debris of motherhood as he came towards me and placed a kiss on the back of my hand.

"It will all be sorted. How many bedrooms do you want? 2 or 3?" I stared at the man incredulously. He caught my look and chuckled before patting me on the back. "You forget who you are dealing with child. Us buying a house or a flat is like you buying a loaf of bread." He frowned as he considered this. "I think well go for a three bedroom house, will have to be a terrace in Chelsea for now. I'll sort out something more ideal later but that will do for now. I will call the decorators to give the place a once over so you should be able to move in by Sunday."  I just stared at the man, was he serious?

"Are you joking with me?" I asked warily as my eyes flickered between him and the man lounging at little too comfortably next to my laundry that I now noticed showed off a nice array of my underwear.

"No jokes Savannah, we never joke about business." Mr Satani answered sitting forwards with his elbows lightly leaning on his knees. "You just sign the contract that means you work for us for a year and half minimum and the house will be yours along with an annual salary of £35,000." I balked at the sum, which was nearly £10,000 more than my current salary. Biting my lip I gazed up at the men with a hint of suspicion. It was perfect, a little too perfect.

"It sounds good, a little too good." I sighed bringing my hand up to pinch the bridge of my nose, my eyes fluttering shut as I thought. "It just sounds a little too much like I'm selling my soul to the devil."  I murmured which earned me a bark of laughter from Mr Satani.

"You don't know how right you are about that one. But no, no selling of souls, company policy doesn't allow me to bargain for the souls of employees." He was deadly serious as he said this but I just laughed nervously whilst Mr Watson shot a warning look at the younger man. "So do we have a deal?" He questioned. I sighed and after looking down at the sleeping baby I nodded with reluctance.

"I want to read through the contracts first before I agree to anything." I said as I held my hand out to him.

"Wise decision Miss Holmes; I will have them drawn up tonight." He grasped my hand firmly in his as he shook my hand, his eyes never leaving mine. His eyes flickered down to our still shaking hands and smiled before his eyes caught the time on his watch and they widened slightly before he returned his cool gaze to me, dropping my had like it was diseased. "I will have the lawyers draw them up tonight and someone will drop them round tomorrow. Phil, we have an Executive meeting in twenty minutes so we should head out."

Mr Watson nodded before smiling and turning his gaze on me. He pulled his hand from his jacket pocket and held out a plain white card that I had thought was blank for a moment except when I blinked there was suddenly red and black print across it. "Call me or the company on this number if you ever see any of those people again or if you see something that seems suspicious. We will send someone to come and retrieve you if that happens." I nodded unsurely taking the card from his grasp. "I'll see you on Monday Miss Holmes, don't bother coming back tomorrow, it's training day tomorrow so everyone will be off site." I nodded before glancing at Mr Satani, who in the time I had been distracted, had grabbed his suit jacket and had slipped it back on over his dark blue shirt.

"I'll walk you out." I said politely nodding to the door and waited for the others to start moving before I unstuck my feet from the floor and followed after them. We stopped before the door and said some more goodbyes but I couldn't be more relieved than I was when I shut the door behind them. As I laid my head against the peeling paint I sighed. I just basically signed my life away to these people and yet I couldn't quite decide whether it was a mistake or not. Pushing away from the door I squared my shoulders and headed back to the living room. I suppose there was only one way to find out, I thought grimly.