Office Affairs

____________________________
From: Anna Ryle
To: Fiona Greene
Subject: Red Dress

Hi Fiona,

Can you do lunch? Bursting to tell you what happened at the weekend. The red dress I was telling you about might be nearly mine!!! Hush, hush though as I don’t want John to know anything!

Anna
_____________________________
From: Friona Greene
To: Anna Ryle
Subject: Red Dress

Hey Anna,

Yea, I can do lunch, can’t wait to hear, can we grab a roll and eat on park bench if you don’t mind, I’m running late today so short lunch I’m afraid! Perfect day for it, it’s roasting outside! Will John not want to join us?

Fiona
____________________________
From: Anna Ryle
To: Fiona Greene
Subject: Lunch

Great, meet you out at the front door at 1 p.m., we’ll get our rolls just around the corner. I know, torture being at work in this heat, least we got the weekend out of it! John is lunching with Amy, they’re still working on that same project I was telling you about.
____________________________
From: Fiona Greene
To: Anna Ryle
Subject: Lunch

Cool, see you then! I don’t know how you can be so cool about that wan Amy going for lunch with John, how you can’t see that she is trying to get her claws into your sexy John is beyond me.
____________________________
From: Anna Ryle
To: Fiona Greene
Subject: Claws!

She can try all she likes, he’s too in love with his wife to entertain any girl even if it is Amy!

As he says himself, his mine for keeps!

Fiona wished she had a man like John Ryle, Anna didn’t know how lucky she was and so cool about him lunching with a girl like Amy Porter who already had her claws in half the men at ABC Technologies. Just goes to show how strong their love is, total trust. She hoped with all her heart that she would have a marriage like theirs someday, though at the moment she would settle for just having a man.

She closed down Microsoft Outlook and got back to her work, she was already late this morning and wanted to leave at a reasonable enough hour this evening. With Christmas fast approaching everyone wanted their work done yesterday and they were getting into panics over nothing.

‘So, come on Anna, red dress story?’, Fiona asked as they sat on the park bench eating their rolls.

‘Okay but you have to promise not to open your mouth.’

‘I won’t.’

‘Not to anyone.’

‘I swear, I won’t, come on, you know me by now.’

‘Okay, John has bought it for me but I don’t have it yet!’

‘What, when?’

‘I don’t know but I found a deposit receipt in his shirt pocket on Saturday, he must have put it away on Friday at lunchtime, remember how I was saying on Thursday as we passed the shop window with him that it’ll probably be gone by Monday with the office parties coming up!’

‘Oh Anna, he’s a sweetie, it was so expensive but you raved about it everyday, I nearly felt like buying it for you myself.’

‘I did I suppose but thing is now I will have to act totally surprised when he gives it to me and if we’re passing the shop before that I will have to act devastated that it is gone.’

‘Ah you’ll be fine, ever the actresses us women, you’ll carry it off no problem. Do you reckon he will give it to you over the weekend?’

‘I think so coz I had said I would love it for the office party and that’s next weekend.’

‘Well, text me as soon as he gives it to you.’

‘I will. Come on lets get back.’

Back at work Anna pondered on how lucky she was to have a husband as thoughtful as John, never in her wildest dreams did she think she would meet someone as kind and caring as her husband. She was a lucky woman.

You’ve a text message Anna, John shouted out to her from the sitting-room where he was watching the rugby match on Sunday evening. Anna took her phone to the kitchen and as she guessed it was from Fiona.

‘Well, no word frm u, u get dress?’

‘No, deposit gon
frm coat tho so
assuming collected.
Maybe I shud mention
wot I'm wearing
2 office party.
What u think?’

‘Yea, do. Let me know!’

‘Fiona, he didn’t
even luk up frm
d rugby when I
mentioned wearing
my blk dress,
all I got was
‘luv dat on u!’

‘Godsake, bloody men,
sure as God he’s goin
2 wait until Fri nt
2 giv it 2 u!’

‘Prob!’

‘Anna, will you tie these cuff links for me please, they’re driving me mad’ John called from their bedroom as they were getting ready for their office Christmas party.’

‘Sure, be in to you in a minute,’ she called back from the en suite.

‘There you go, you look very handsome tonight.’

‘Thanks, you look very sexy yourself, the dress is beautiful.’

‘Yea, not the same feeling when it’s not new though.’

‘Ye women, never happy!’

Anna had resorted herself to the fact that John had obviously bought her the red dress for Christmas, after all they were going to the New Year’s Eve Ball this year so she would have it for that. Pity though, she’d have loved it for tonight, there was always great style at the office party.

Fiona tied the last button on her dress, she loved this dress, so comfortable yet classy. She posed in front of her full length mirror and liked what she saw, it looked like she had gone to little trouble and yet she looked very stylish. Not as stylish as Anna was going to look in the red dress but then nobody would be as stylish as Anna. She had seen the ‘Heaven’s Door’ shopping bag under John’s desk that day, she was thrilled for Anna, she had been so disappointed at work on Monday when John hadn’t given her the dress over
the weekend.

He was a cool customer all the same waiting till last minute. Still, it would completely make her night to be presented with the dress before heading out. That’s why Fiona chose to keep it to herself, she was going to put her out of her misery but she would have ruined the surprise. He was such a perfect husband she thought again, what you see is really what you get with John, she thought.

Beep beep, that’s them, Fiona switched off her bedroom light, hurried down the stairs, left the hall light on and grabbed her bag and keys from the hall table, locked the door and turned around to find John standing holding the car door to allow her into the back with Anna. Her mouth dropped as she saw Anna in her black dress. Hopping in she looked puzzled ‘Anna, what’s up?’.

‘Shush, must be for Christmas, he didn’t give it to me’ Anna sighed.

‘Ah for Godsake, typical. I was dying to see it on you, not that you don’t look well, you look fab but I’m disgusted.’

‘I know, I’m used to the idea now but I was gutted myself, ah well I’ll wear it to the new Year’s Eve Ball now instead.’

‘What’s all the whispering about?’ John asked and the two ladies giggled.

Fiona started chatting with John about the cold weather and the night ahead and Anna put all thoughts of the red dress to the back of her mind, hell bent on having a good night tonight, red dress or no red dress.

The hotel was buzzing when they arrived, there was a champagne reception in the lounge where there was a roaring fire in the traditional fireplace adorned with Christmas stockings and the Christmas carols in the background all added to the magical
atmosphere. Everyone sounded in top form, their chatter and laughter filling the room. Anna, John and Fiona had a good feeling for a great night ahead.

As they entered the function hall, they could see Amy waving them over to her table where it appeared she had kept seats for them. On nearing the table, the three stopped short in shock…Amy was now standing at the table, to welcome them, in none other than the RED DRESS…

‘John, did you buy that dress?’ Anna’s whisper was barely audible…’

‘What, no Anna I can explain’…

’Did you buy that dress John, don’t lie on top of everything else, yes or no?’…

’Yes but…Anna it’s not what you think’…

’I saw the receipt John’…

’Anna no it’s not what you think’…

Anna felt dizzy, flashbacks coming at her…Heaven’s Door receipt flashed in front of her eyes…her head was filling with Fiona’s voice…’she’s trying to get her claws into John’…’why is he working late surely they have enough hours in the day to meet their project deadline?’…’I wouldn’t be one bit comfortable with my husband lunching with that tart’…she’s had her way with half the men at ABC’…Anna felt sick, the room started to spin… she heard the faint noise of a glass crashing to the ground and felt a pair of strong arms catching her body as it went limp…

Fiona’s glass slipped from her hand smashing off the floor, her mouth agog, truth dawning that her suspicions about Amy were right all along…

‘Anna’…John cried, horrified as he held onto his wife, looking up at Amy in disgust and disbelief that she would do such a thing…having trusted her to take care of his wife’s Christmas present until Christmas Eve…Nick’s words in the office came back to haunt him ‘I’d watch that Amy if I were you John…she may have other motives in mind than just lunch…I’ve seen her in action before’…

‘What else does a woman do when a man buys her a dress only compliment him by wearing it,’ Amy laughed as she flounced out of the room leaving all at ABC with their mouths open…’Happy New Year’, she spat back…