Arin

There were certain rules that most people would break - saying no to sugar or caffeine on weekends only to break it every Monday morning. Those rules didn't harm anyone.

Then there were more profound rules. Rules made for a better existence. When those were broken, chaos ensued.

My mind remained preoccupied with the thoughts of the man who talked to me the whole night. He also became the reason for the dreadful reality that I broke my well-preserved rule - not to have phone sex with clients.

All it took was one phone call for a stranger to undo what took a whole year to build. One reckless night unraveled everything.

My overthinking only made me assume the worse of worst scenarios. My heart pounded every time our conversation revved up in my mind. The possibilities of him being a serial killer were high, higher; being a crazy stalker who might stalk me for the rest of my life.

Of course, the chances of me landing a call with a murderer or a rapist was always on the table. With my crappy luck, who else would I end up talking to? Someone rich and debonair? Pfft.

"Arin, you seem lost." Mrs. Rose's soft voice called me out.

I dragged my attention from my unblinking, non-ringing phone. I wouldn't utter it out loud to anyone but I secretly hoped for some message, at least, from the caller. The fascination to know his identity had increased leaps and bounds since hit with his generous payment.

"Sorry, Mrs. Rose...You wanted something?" Shoving the thoughts of my mystery man and my useless phone aside, I asked.

"No dear, I don't. But Mr. Murphy has a dictation for you."

In a flash, I picked up my notepad and trotted toward his office. Dragging a deep, rejuvenating breath, I knocked at his door. No reply meant - Come in. Something thrown on the door spoke for itself. I had imbibed these little things in my learning since I joined the company.

And since nothing landed on the door, I slid inside.

"Mr. Murphy...You wanted a dictation?" I addressed his straightened back while he gazed outside the window, hands resting in his pockets.

Standing near the large glass shield - one which stretched from the ceiling till the carpet - his eyes remained fixed over the fog-filled city. The cold October morning made the smog remain suspended till the sun's warmth settled it at noon.

Walking towards my dictation chair, I settled in, awaiting him to dictate. After a couple of silent minutes where I could hear my ears ring up my pulse, I decided to do something. It was unlike Roger to not talk and get done with things.

However, today seemed different.

He didn't speak. He stood still, observing the world outside as if a dragon flew past him.

Assuming he had a standing stroke, I tossed a pen on the carpet.

The sound was loud enough to lift him out of his trance. It also confirmed he wasn't having a stroke.

Clearing my throat I looked up, knowing he will start his dictation.

Instead, I saw him roll his white sleeves which hugged his biceps and slid back in his chair. With his eyebrows bridged together, he scanned me with his icy cold eyes. "You wanted something?"

"I... you...wanted... dictation," I fumbled.

"I can't have a dictation with a steno who's having a stroke." A smirk ruled his dewy, trim beard face.

Such an arse!

Moments ago, he was staring down the window like a baby who saw the world for the first time. I wanted to state this justification to his puréed brain but I loved my job more. Dissing him wouldn't get me anywhere.

"I'm here for the dictation," resisting the cringe on my face, I answered. "Mrs. Rose informed me that you wanted one."

"So are you fine?" He smirked. "No stroke it seems."

Mr. Murphy could be a sarcastic, cold-hearted boss if he wanted. Don't be fooled by his ocean-colored eyes and the smile which arrested people's hearts as well as their steps. He may be London's heartthrob but he was also a devil incarnate.

"Yes, I'm fine. Seems so are you," I rebutted. Least, he needed a wordy jab.

"What do you mean?"

"Staring outside the window isn't a sign of a normal person either, Sir."

"Who said I'm normal?" His eyes narrowed as he pulled his chair closer to his desk.

With his quick wit, he may have won this match but it did nothing to vitiate my determination. One day, when he'd least expected it, I would strike. With words. Or make an error in his letter that would be addressed to someone in the hierarchy. Maybe the Queen.

I stared down at my yellow legal pad, dragging in deep breaths and exhaling pent-up frustration. I scribbled notes as he dictated in his raspy, sour-throated voice, and rushed out to finish typing it.

Before I could make my final draft, Mrs. Rose walked into my cubicle.

"Sweetheart, I need your help." The diminished smile on her face said she desperately needed one. "I can't decipher one thing from another of these documents that Roger gave me."

Mrs. Rose was one of those who was bestowed with the privilege to call our boss-monster by his name. The rest of us slaves could only call him - Sir.

I gave a quick look at the stacks of papers she clutched in her hand. Many of them were tax and legal documents, all outside Mrs. Rose's area of expertise.

"What is that you want me to do, Mrs. Rose?" I fished it out of her hold, scanning through each of the labelled documents. "Please don't tell me he asked you to summarize them."

"No, nothing like that. You see, I need to leave early for the day, Sweetheart. William is taking me on a dinner date." She blushed, evidently at her husband's romantic gesture. "It's our thirtieth anniversary."

"Oh My God! Congratulations Mrs. Rose." My arms coiled around her, swaying her from side to side. She reciprocated with soft pats on my head. "William is a lucky man. Any advice for us girls to trap men like him and retain them?"

Not that I currently needed one but the last boyfriend I had was ages ago. With work and the call job, I had no time for even friends, let alone dating. Having tried my hands at dating apps, I realized the grim reality that was my profession.

Guys who seemed mature enough to handle things would dart off upon being conveyed about my second job. I didn't blame them though. Had someone told me in college that I'd be a phone sex caller, even I wouldn't believe them. Heck, I might even smack them across their face. A timid one like me, playing an extrovert on call wasn't something I'd ever imagined.

And look at me now.

"Advice? Yes, I do." Mrs. Rose began. "I would say that if you ever get a good man, don't leave him. Kids nowadays break up for anything and everything." She proudly stated the secret to her successful relationship. "Real relations take time and patience. Do you think I never wanted to kill and bury William?"

I giggled, watching her pick up her bag and flashed a reassuring signature smile before leaving.

To her retreating figure, I picked up the cardboard box and got back to work. Many of the documents inside were bank statements.

My eyes fell off their sockets when I saw the number of zeros again a numerical value in Mr. Murphy's bank account.

Rich people and their issues - my thoughts mocked. Too much money was also a problem.

I was reading through the list of charities Mr. Murphy donated to, evading tax. Well, technically not evade. It was more to do with not getting taxed, which if you'd ask a person like me - holding onto two jobs - would state was evasion too.

"At least some good came from all the money he minted from his whiskey business," I said to the empty office space.

While I shuffled through the papers, I heard Georgia's humming entry, her heels clacker on the marble floor. She was Roger's personal assistant. Like most of us, Georgia knew the tips and tricks to employ whenever Mr. Murphy threw a temper tantrum.

She was the next best thing after Mrs. Rose and the only woman who could calm that wild boar.

"Hello, gorgeous." Georgia approached me with excitement springing in her tone. She tossed her blonde locks off her shoulders and placed her arms around her thick curves.

"You're still in office? I asked, checking each document and placing them in color-coded folders. "No dates tonight?"

Georgia was the girl whom the entire office wanted to date. I, on the other hand, would blush and die if anyone complimented me. I wasn't used to the attention and compared to Georgia, I was a fish at the end of the barrel.

"Not tonight, sweets." She looked at Mr. Murphy's closed office door and back at me. "What are you doing here? Isn't Murphy gone?"

"No, he's inside." I pointed at his upcoming schedule which Mrs. Rose placed on my desk. "Acting deranged like always." Patting the box kept on my table, I continued, "I had some last-minute things to sort for Mrs. Rose while she enjoys her thirty blissful years of marriage."

"When do you think we'll have our 30 years, Arin?" Georgia released a deep huff of air. "When will we have a man like William?"

"For that, we need to have a marriage first..."

Georgia chuckled, tossing her blonde hair back again. Meeting gorgeous, well-to-do men who wouldn't mind being wrapped around her fingers was a stroke of luck for Georgia. The grim reality of a partnerless life was only true for me.

"Lemme give you a hand with that. You're punching out very late these days." She rummaged her manicured fingers through the pages. "Don't work so late, Sweets. It's not like they'll pay you extra for it."

Nodding at her words, I finished the box closest to me before helping Georgie with hers. A fluttering paper made me look up at her.

"Blimey! Look at this." Georgia held a translucent sheet in her hand, her green eyes widening every second.

I went back to the task of reorganizing the documents, ignoring Georgia.

"If it's the bank statement you're holding up, then let me tell you, I already know how much he's worth..." I knew her reaction would have been the same upon seeing those many zeroes.

"Nope, it's something else." Grabbing my elbows, she turned me towards the crumpled paper, shoving it in front of her face. "Read the damn thing."

I peered at the heading - Credit card statement - dated with yesterday's transaction.

Before I could scan the bold figures, Georgia blurted. "Roger made a payment to Naughty Nights Phone play for 1000 bucks yesterday."

//

Who all guessed it was Roger? Let me know..