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“Yes, Daddy?”
“No matter what turns you find, goodorbad, home is always here for you.”
“I know, Daddy,” I said, feeling as warm as if he were right here in the room with me. He always had that effect, even through a computer screen. “Thank you. I love you.”
He smiled his most loving smile and said, “I love you too, my little angel. You have a good day now.”
“You, too, Daddy,” I said, ending the call.
I leaned back on my bed and rested my head on the pillows. For some reason, the face of Elijah Bennett flashed into my mind. I didn’t know why he would be in my thoughts right now. Perhaps it was just that he was so nice to look at, for those few minutes I’d spent with him. He was like a “dream boss” or something, not at all like the kind of guy that you picture giving orders and signing paychecks. He was nothing that I’d ever expected to find in my new position. I wondered how long it would be before I’d see him again.
CHAPTER13
Elijah. Monday
I had just stepped out of the office when Leo showed up. He waved at Barbara, then called to me, “Hey, Elijah, where are you headed? You remember that meeting we have in fifteen?”
“I know. I was just going downstairs to look in on the interns,” I told him.
Leo laughed. “The interns? Seriously? You’re going down to see them without any prompting, after you just looked in on them last week? Barbara says they’re doing just fine.” He tilted his head at her.
“They are,” Barbara confirmed. “No worries.”
“I was just thinking, we don’t pay enough attention to what goes on down there. And if I go and look in on them now, you won’t have to come ‘prompting’ me about it.”
A funny look passed between Leo and Barbara. Barbara just smiled and shrugged.
“Okay,” Leo chuckled. “Fair enough; if you say so.”
“Go on ahead to the meeting,” I said to him. “If anyone shows up early, let them know I’ll be right there.”
“The internsmustbe doing well if you want to stop in on them again so soon. Especially that new young lady, Corinne. Isn’t she just the sweetest girl?” Barbara wasjustold enough to remember the days when female workers in an office were all called “girls,” a practice that was going out of style before I even went into business.
I laughed, remembering the long-haired brunette who looked to be perhaps ten years younger than I was. “We had a funny moment last week. She was having a conversation and I spoke up, and she said something to me like, ‘Excuse me, I’m talking.’ The poor kid almost keeled over when she found out who I am.”
Barbara broke out giggling like a schoolgirl. “Well, it’s abouttimesomeone put you in your place. Imagine if you had tattoos all over your arms and onto your hands and she saw that! The child would end up thinking, ‘What kind of man am I working for?’”
As Leo laughed, as amused with that idea as Barbara was, I only said, “Well, considering my past life, it’s a wonder I’mnotcovered with tattoos. At least we’ve spared her a sight likethat.” I squirmed a bit inside, recalling my chance meeting with Kathleen and the uninvited return of Kane to my life.
On the floor below, I entered to the sound of voices chattering away, people assisting customers, and pictured Corinne sitting in her cubicle, being pleasant and efficient with some caller. I wondered what she was wearing.
Just before I rounded the corner into that room with the cubicles where our associates and interns dealt with customers’ problems, I stopped myself in the hallway, startled at what I’d just thought.
I had actuallywondered what an employee was wearing.
Granted, she was a verybeautifulemployee, but it was not exactly the most appropriate thought for a boss to have.
There was, however, no working around the fact that Corinne was very beautiful. She waslovely,a word that I wasn’t accustomed to using, but it fit her.
Corinne wasn’t beautiful in the way Kathleen was. She wasn’t “magazine cover” beautiful. She was lovely in that quiet, wholesome, small-town, Girl You Take Home to Meet the Folks kind of way. Corinne was the kind of girl a guy takes to bed after he’s slain a dragon or fought off an ogre or something. It took me totally by surprise that I was thinking of her in these terms. Sheworkedfor me!
But having caught myself thinking of her that way, Ireallywanted to see what she was wearing. I naturally couldn’t expect her to be dressed up in some delicate, flowing gown like a princess in a storybook. But whatever she had on, I could only guess she must look like the gentlest, loveliest thing…
There was thatwordagain. “Lovely.” Guys with the kind of past and background that I had didn’t think of things as being lovely. Next thing I knew, I’d probably end up thinking of her as graceful.
My God, Elijah,I wondered to myself,what the hell is happening to you?
Corinne’s cubicle was along the row right around the corner leading into the room. I could have a discreet look around the corner, just to get a glimpse of her. That was all I wanted.