Half a Dozen...Lies: Book 2

Chapter 1

UNEDITED...

Let me know what you think?

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Chapter 1

With her arms screaming in protest under the weight of a dozen unread manuscripts that Hanna was at this moment juggling, while she balanced her bosses cup of coffee on the top, she made her was down to research, where Ken, one of the company researchers, jumped to his feet to assist her.  With a chuckle he relieved her of her burden and set the pile down on the side of one of the many tables spread around the room.

"What have I told you about lugging this many scripts about?" 

"That one day my arms are simply going to drop off, I know, I know,"  Hanna laughed, grabbing the coffee cup which needed to go up another twenty four floors to her boss. "But I'm kinda in a rush and you know how much the Boss hates cold coffee."  She shrugged as she turned to leave.

"Yea well, if I was you i would dump that coffee in his lap and tell him to get his own coffee.  Your a PA not a delivery boy.  For god sakes, it's raining outside," he frowned disapprovingly back at her.

"Ken, This is England, when is it not raining," she laughed.  "Besides until I'm the boss, I do as I'm told."

"Well it's just not right, making a young lady, such as yourself, lug all them heavy books around and run half a mile to get his blinking coffee."

"You know I don't mind, really."  She smiled affectionately back at the old guy. "Gets me out of the office and I get to come see you, don't I?" she added giving him an uncharacteristic hug. 

"You bring the paper then?" he said blushing as he stepped away from her.

"You know it."  She grinned back at him, pulling the newspaper out of her coat pocket and handing it to him.

"Excellent, I'll call you at exactly 1300 hours so we can compare notes."

"I'll be there waiting at the phone."  Hanna laughed as she left his office.  This was their Friday routine, during their lunch hour they sat for ten minutes comparing their answers from that days crossword puzzle.  Hanna knew it made Ken's day having someone else to talk to.  The 'powers that be' had slowly moved him further and further away from the main hassle and bustle of the office, worried that his slightly anti-social behaviour might rub off on them and for the last ten years he had been stuck in the basement, doing all the research on his own.  

He had been working for the company for almost thirty years and seemed to enjoy his job, even though he got a little lonely down there on his own, not that he would ever admit it.

Hanna stepped into the elevator, greeting the only other person with a small smile before sinking back into the corner as the lift rose up to the twenty fourth floor.  When the doors pinged open she stepped out, making her way directly to her bosses office with his coffee.  He barely acknowledged her as she set the cup down and without a word of thanks she left his office and went back to her own desk.  Only to stop short just next to it.

"God I hate my job," she muttered under her breath as she took in the new stack of manuscripts that now completely littered her desk.  With angry, jerked movements she lumped each into neat piles, according to genre and age group.  And with a groan she sat down, she flicked on her screen and started logging each of the manuscripts in for her boss, going through each to remove those that where not set out correctly before printing out automatic rejection letters that would need to be signed.  

An hour later she had sorted through all of them and wheeled them through on her trolley for her boss to look through at his leisure.

"Mr Hammond?"