Free Executive Affair by Ber Carroll Page B

laughed.
    â€˜What are you girls up to tonight?’ James asked, looking from Claire to Fiona.
    â€˜Drowning our sorrows in copious amounts of alcohol,’ Fiona replied.
    â€˜Do you mind if we keep you company?’
    â€˜Not at all.’
    Fiona found a seat and settled down to entertain James and Paul with slightly exaggerated stories of life in Ireland.
    â€˜My sister is married for a year now and my mother said to her last week that she hoped she wasn’t using any pills to interfere with the course of nature. My sister was about to state, very indignantly, that she didn’t take drugs when she realised my mother was talking about contraception!’
    They all laughed and Claire took the opportunity to steal a look at Paul. He was already looking her way. He smiled at her and she smiled back.
    It was the early hours of the morning when they left the pub.
    â€˜Do you girls want to kick on to a club?’ James asked, his hand lightly touching Fiona’s waist
    â€˜Not me, I’m too tired,’ Claire said, ‘but you guys go ahead.’
    â€˜I’ve an idea. Why don’t you come back to our place for a nightcap?’ Fiona suggested, her words a little slurred.
    By the time they got a taxi and let themselves into the unit, Fiona was more subdued. Claire assumed the role of barmaid. When she came back with the drinks, Fiona was asleep on James’s shoulder. Paul was looking through their CDs.
    â€˜Thanks.’ He took his beer from her laden hands. ‘Do you mind if I go out to your balcony for some air?’
    â€˜Sure, I’ll join you in a minute.’
    James took a beer and seemed quite content to stay on the couch with the sleeping beauty.
    Paul was leaning on the railing when she came outside. She stood next to him.
    â€˜Have you known James long?’
    â€˜We grew up together.’
    â€˜That’s nice.’
    â€˜For me it was. But James had a tough childhood.’
    â€˜Did he?’
    â€˜Yeah. That’s why he’s so ambitious.’
    James was easygoing and relaxed at work. Claire concluded that his ambitions must lie outside Amtech.
    â€˜It’s great that your friendship lasted all the way through your childhood and teens to now,’ she commented.
    Paul shrugged. ‘We have a lot in common. We both want the same things out of life.’
    â€˜And what’s that?’ she couldn’t resist asking.
    â€˜To get rich quick and retire young,’ he grinned and she laughed with him.
    James and Fiona weren’t there when they went back inside. Claire felt her face colour with embarrassment.
    â€˜You look worried,’ Paul said with a smile. ‘Relax … nothing needs to happen if you don’t want it to.’
    â€˜I’m totally out of practice with all this,’ she admitted nervously. ‘I split up with my boyfriend not so long ago.’
    â€˜Is it okay if I put this on?’ He was holding up a U2 CD.
    She nodded. When he sat down, he took her hand loosely in his.
    â€˜Let’s just sit here and listen to some music.’
    They fell asleep on the couch, lying lengthways, her body moulded against his. It felt nice.
    Claire woke, her face jammed into a velvet cushion and her knees cramped from being in the same position for hours. She couldn’t speak without eating some of the cushion so she nudged Paul with her elbow to encourage him to move off her.
    â€˜Hey, what was that for?’ He flinched when her elbow made contact with his stomach.
    â€˜Sorry, I couldn’t breathe,’ she said, sitting up, taking huge gulps of air.
    Her face felt hot and she was sure her hair was all over the place.
    â€˜Excuse me,’ she mumbled, making a quick exit before he had time to see what a mess she was. The damage was worse than she expected. Her mascara was in thick black lumps under her eyes. Even though there was no lipstick remaining on her lips, there was a red smudge on her