Undercover Alice Read Online Free Page B

said he was starting his own company, and asked if I
wanted to join, I jumped at the chance.’
    I bet you did, I thought, perhaps a bit meanly. We
entered her office, which was large and airy, and she headed over to a large
cupboard in the corner and started rifling through it, talking all the while.
    ‘It’s been a huge amount of work, of course. I
barely have time to eat or sleep!’
    Plenty of time to talk, though , I thought.
    ‘And as for poor Matt, he must be run ragged. I’m
worried about him, you know. I keep telling him to take it easy, but he won’t
listen. Ah, here we go.’
    She handed me a purple top and some gym leggings.
    ‘Thanks, this is very kind of you,’ I said,
wondering what on earth Matt would say when he returned to find me looking like
I was just off to a yoga class.
    ‘Oh not at all, it was my own fault,’ Sarah said,
breezily. ‘What department did you say you worked in?’
    ‘Oh I’m Matt’s new personal assistant.’
    I felt the atmosphere change. It was as if a
freezing cold breeze had swept through the room, and I almost felt the chill on
my skin.
    ‘Ohhh, his new assistant, of course. And here’s me
rabbiting on about him.’
    She laughed, but the warmth had gone out of her
voice.
    ‘Anyway, there’s a toilet on your way back to your
office you can change into, it’s just down the corridor and through the double
doors on your left. It was nice to meet you, Alice.’
    And with that, she sat at her desk and commenced typing,
clearly finished with the conversation. I took the hint.
    ‘Likewise,’ I said, and left the office. I headed to
the toilet to change into my snazzy new outfit, and then back to my office.
Matt wasn’t back yet, so I busied myself with reading my welcome pack and glaring
at the computer, with its taunting ‘locked out’.
    The phone rang; someone called Dirk Ashcroft wanted
to speak to Matt. I put on my best phone voice and took a message, then carried
on reading my welcome information. After a while, I tried turning the computer
on and off to log on again, but not to avail. I was sitting there, face screwed
up in exasperation, when Matt entered the room.
    ‘Oh dear, looks like you’ve got off to a good
start,’ he said, noting my expression. Then he took in my changed outfit and
looked puzzled. ‘Um…’
    ‘I had an accident,’ I said, and then realised that
made it sound like the kind of accident you have at nursery school, and flushed
red. ‘I mean, someone walked into me in the canteen and coffee got spilled all
over me.’
    Matt looked concerned. ‘Are you ok? Did you get
burnt?’
    ‘No, it was lukewarm, but the woman who walked into
me took quite a tumble.’
    Matt shook his head, annoyed.
    ‘Lukewarm? Not again, that’s three times in three
weeks. I need to make a note to call them and kick up a fuss. Who walked into
you? No, let me guess, our resident klutz, Sarah Elliot?’
    I nodded.
    ‘I’ve told her to watch where she’s going,’ he
sighed, rolling his eyes dramatically for effect. ‘She’s always got her nose
buried in her phone or tablet. I’m amazed she hasn’t fallen down the stairs
here, yet.’
     He looked me over, appraisingly.
    ‘Well, I’m glad I don’t have to fill in one of those
workplace accident forms. You’re not going to sue us, are you?’
    ‘I’ll think about shelving my lawsuit if you can
help me log onto this thing.’ I gestured helplessly at the machine sitting on
my desk. ‘It’s put me in lockdown.’
    He laughed and crossed round to stand beside me. I
was conscious of his closeness to me, and I could smell his cologne. I took a deep
breath, savouring the smell, and then stopped, horrified. What on earth was I
doing? I’d only been here a few hours and I was sniffing the boss. And he
wasn’t even really my boss. He was the subject of the story that was going to
win me scoop of the year.
     Luckily, Matt was absorbed in fiddling about with
the machine and seemed oblivious to my inner