‘Poor knowledge base.’
It wasn’t just bad: it wasterrible. That bloody wankpuffin had completely buggered my chances of passing my upcoming ARCP. I would have to have my training extended, go into special measures, maybe even be kicked off the training scheme altogether with a report this damning. I was so engrossed in my own morbid thoughts that I didn’t hear the door to the registrar office open, and I leapt about a foot in the air when two large hands landed on my shoulders.
“Staring at it’s not going to change it, Kira,” his smug, smarmy voice told me. I tried to shake him off but he just tightened his grip. A moment ago, I’d been glad the registrar’s office was deserted, now I would give anything to have some other nosy bastard walk through that door. “Ihadto be honest,” Simon continued. I twisted my neck to look up at him – the prick was smiling. For once in my life, I really, really minded my size. I wished I had the physical strength to forcibly remove his hands and punch him in his smug face.
“Fuck you,” I spat out as I twisted again to no avail.
He leaned over me so that his breath fanned my cheek and I fought an urge to vomit. “Well, if you’d done that in the first place there wouldn’t be a problem now, would there?” His hands left my shoulders and made their way down the front of my chest, prompting a violent struggle from me, which he controlled with ease.
Right. That was it. This bloody man wasnotgoing to touch my breasts. I took a deep breath in and screamed. His hand came up to cover my mouth and I bit down on it until I tasted blood. He grabbed my hair and slammed my head down onto the desk in front of me so hard that my vision clouded for a moment, and then … he was gone. I blinked at the tabletop as I heard a body slam hard against a wall. Holding my forehead and turning slowly in my chair, I was shocked to see Barclay pinning Simon up against the plasterboard by his throat.
“Don’t you fucking touch her,” he roared as Simon’s face started to turn red. I stood on shaky legs and made my way over to the two men. Yeah, Barclay was well and truly on my shit list, but that didn’t mean I wanted him to lose everything and gain a criminal record for killing a wankpuffin, even if he did deserve it.
“Barclay, stop it,” I called as I took a step towards them.
“You hurt her,” he said, his tone a mixture of absolute rage and total disbelief. “You’vebeenhurting her, haven’t you?”
Barclay released Simon’s throat, thank the badgers, but both his hands curled into his shirt, keeping him pinned to the wall.
“You’rethe problem at work.Youare. And to think I bloody well listened to your shit about Kira. How could you hurt her? How couldanyonehurt her?” his voice was hollow now. I could hear the pain and regret in it, but still I took a step back. Barclay had spoken to Simon before? He’d listened to his ‘shit’? Had he believed it?
“Yo, Lucas,” Mark called from across the room, but Barclay was still focused on Simon. “Let the dickhead go now, mate.” Mark started walking slowly towards him with his hands up.
“Get this lunatic off me!” Simon choked out, his voice shaking.
“Shut up,” Barclay barked out and gave him another shake. “Just shut up.”
That was when I moved. I crossed the room and put my hand on Barclay’s arm. I could feel the muscles under his skin vibrating with tension.
“Let him go,” I said in a low voice. “This isn’t helping. He’s not touching me anymore. He’s never going to touch me again. If you hurt him, I won’t be able to press charges.” And I was pressing charges – I was pressingallthe charges.
“Barclay,” Mark put in. “She’s bleeding, mate. Let him go so we can sort her out, yeah?” Barclay flinched, then glanced at me. I could feel a trickle of blood slowly making its way from my hairline.
“Christ,” he breathed as he dropped Simon’s shirt and turned to me, before cupping my face in his hands and tilting my head to the side so he could inspect my bruised and bloodied temple. Wankpuffin wasted no time in storming out of the room, pushing past Mark to do it.
“I’ve called the police,” Sandra, the staff nurse called from the door. “We saw him slam your head on the desk, Kira. We all saw what happened.” Fury vibrated through her tone and, when I glanced over, I could see she was shaking with it.
“Kira, darling. I think that’s going to need a couple of stitches or at least some steristrips,” Mark told me softly. “We’d . . . uh . . . better get you up to A&E.”
“I’ll call down Christy to run the clinic,” another staff nurse said from the entrance. I turned to see that a small crowd had gathered outside the door behind Sandra.
I looked back into Barclay’s concerned face and I blinked away the rest of the tears that were forming in my eyes. Then, I reached up to grip his forearms with both of my hands and pulled them down so that his hands fell from my cheeks. After that, I took a big step back.
“I want you to leave,” I told Barclay. My voice was steady, firm, almost unrecognisable from my normal tone no doubt, but I was done with being pushed about by arrogant, self-absorbed men. “Thank you for pulling him off me, although I was about to go for his balls like Sam taught me, but now I would like you togo.”
His face paled and, to my shock, he actually brought both his hands in front of him and clasped them together as he leaned towards me.
“Please, Kira,” he choked out, his tone was almost tortured and his eyes were alive with that desperation again. “Please, I need to see that you’re okay. I …”
I took another step back and felt Mark’s big body slide in next to mine as his arm went around my shoulders and he tucked me into his side.
“Barclay, you heard her,” Mark said, his voice was soft but there was a hint of warning there too. “Sheneeds you to leave and that’s what you’re going to do.”
Barclay’s hands went into his hair before they clasped the back of his neck. I felt another trickle of blood settle into the hollow of my collarbone and saw his eyes track its progress.
“Yes,” he said. “Of course. Ofcourse.Whatever you need, Kira. I’ll be waiting to hear.”
I was shocked anew as I saw a sheen of moisture gloss across the blue of his eyes for a moment before he blinked it away.
