Playing by the Rules: The feel-good heart-warming and uplifting romance perfect for Valentine’s Day

‘Maybe I should just ignore the muffin and get down to the interview, Miss, um …’

‘Bright. Magenta Bright.’ I put out my hand and quickly grabbed his for a vigorous shake bordering on a standing arm wrestle. I needed to make a good impression and when I saw his smile grow that bit wider I knew I was onto something.

‘Take a seat, Miss Bright.’ He picked up the overturned chair opposite his desk and presented it to me. ‘May I call you Magenta?’

‘Absolutely.’ I was grinning broadly and felt assured, which might have had something to do with Ebony’s early morning alarm call at six a.m. when she woke me from a deep sleep.

‘You should be up and preparing,’ she’d said and proceeded to pep talk me through my interview technique after having grilled me about what I was wearing. Smile. Look enthusiastic. Be confident. Strong handshake. And for goodness’ sake try to sound like you know what you’re talking about. All of Ebony’s guidance stuck with me on the journey over to Mayfair.

The offices of A Shearman Leather Designs were old but stylish. The ceilings were high. There were tasteful plants here and there, dark wood furniture and stark white walls with expensive prints hanging from them. The large, sash windows in Anthony’s office sported open blinds and looked across to a small hotel.

Anthony went to sit in his high-backed, leather chair, still holding the muffin. He looked at it briefly before placing it onto his large, oak desk that contained nothing more than a telephone, a few letters in a wire rack and a half-drunk cup of coffee. He put his elbows on the desk and folded his hands under his chin. Expensive watch. No wedding ring. He looked young for his thirty-three years. He was not as good-looking as the photo online but there was a strong sexual appeal going on that I was sure he wasn’t even aware of. He looked like a complete innocent and the next time he opened his mouth I could tell he was greener than the lining of the designer jacket hanging over the back of his chair. This job was mine.

‘Could you tell me a little about yourself?’ Anthony asked. ‘Or maybe I should tell you a bit about the company.’ He droned on for a full five minutes but I kept alert and focused on him, nodding in all the right places. ‘And so,’ he was saying when I began to listen properly and stopped fantasising about his sumptuous lips, ‘Dad said the first thing for me to do was to hire a PA. To be honest with you I don’t really know what a PA does. Maybe you could tell me how you’d go about being my PA?’

Was this guy for real? During his blah, blah speech about his father and him and the company, I gathered that he’d agreed to take over because there was no one else to do so. His father had flown out to Anthony’s apartment in a small seaside town in southern Italy and had practically press-ganged him into taking over the running of A Shearman Leather Designs.

Anthony’s older brother, a top-ranking physician, was by no means interested and as a vegan, he wanted nothing to do with leather. Anthony, meanwhile, had happily been painting landscapes and portraits for five years and teaching sculpture at the local college while Father dear was keeping him in oil pastels and canvasses. Sound familiar? On the plane back from Italy his father had tried to fill him in about the family business and how to run it and insisted it would make him and Anthony’s mother so proud.

The short version, from what I could tell, was that Anthony wasn’t cut out for business, he was an artist not a businessman – and he was also a bigger flake than me.

I began to try to convince Anthony that I was the best person for the job. I told him about my work as a PA to the CEO of an entertainment agency, the PA to an art dealer in Paris, the PA to the head of a charity-run organisation that protected endangered giraffes and the PA to an entrepreneur who made food packaging.

In my very flowery interpretation of these jobs and how wonderful I’d been at them, not once did I mention that I was fired from every post I held. (Except as the PA to the entrepreneur; he had wandering eyes and wandering hands and I’d hit him over the head with a waste paper basket and run out screaming to the first cocktail bar I came to and called my best friend, Anya, to come and buy me a drink.)

‘You certainly seem well qualified,’ said Anthony leaning back in his chair and pushing his glasses up his nose. ‘I need someone who can help me keep on top of things. Dad was here for a few weeks, showing me the ropes as it were. Hopefully you’ll pick up on what’s what. Of course there’s Cassandra downstairs who is a secretary as well as a very efficient receptionist. She was with Dad before me. And we have a finance and wages department that I haven’t quite got to grips with but I think they handle marketing and sales. Not too sure what’s happening there but I’m sure you’d fit in very nicely here, Magenta.’

‘You mean I have the job?’

‘Well, I suppose so. If you want it that is. I gather your sister is my dad’s neighbour and she spoke so highly of you, it convinced me that with you as my PA I might just be able to do this job after all.’ He gave a weak laugh. His teeth were perfect: straight, brilliant white and with that slight overbite I can hardly resist in man. I liked his smile, I’d warmed to him instantly and now I had a job. And in 365 days I’d be a quarter of a million pounds better off. Where did I sign?

I reached over and sealed the deal with a handshake before he could change his mind. We rose to our feet, still holding hands across the desk.

‘You won’t regret this, Anthony. I’ll be the best PA there is.’

‘Can you start right away?’ he asked.

‘Well straight away on Monday, if that’s all right?’ I said with a winning smile. I needed a few days to psych myself up. Employment was a major step after all.

‘Monday is great. I’ll see you at nine,’ said Anthony. We finally released each other’s hands and for some reason I gave him a thumbs up. Anthony Shearman had me all of a fluster. I questioned whether I could survive the 365 days without falling for him; but by the time he saw me to the door of the building, it was too late. I already had.

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