Chapter 4

 

I waved wearily at Jim as I limped across the lobby. He returned my wave and I pushed through the large glass double doors. I stopped and stared in surprise at the parking lot. My car was missing. I scanned the lot quickly, positive that I was just mistaken. I wasn’t. My rusty Honda, always noticeable among the gleaming new cars of the rest of the employees, was definitely not there.

I groaned, unable to believe that the damn thing had been towed. It looked like I was taking the train after all.

“Excuse me, Ms. Temple?”

I turned to see a man about my age, dressed in a black suit and standing next to a silver car, smiling at me.

“Yes?”

“My name is Russ. I’ll be driving you home tonight.”

“I’m sorry?” I stared blankly at him.

“I’m your driver for the evening.”

“Um, I think you have me mistaken for someone else.”

Russ stared at my bandaged ankle and the cane gripped firmly in my left hand. “No, ma’am. Mr. Knight asked me to drive you home this evening.”

My mouth dropped open and I stared silently at him. “How much is this going to cost?” I finally asked.

A small smile crossed Russ’ face. “No cost, ma’am. I’m Mr. Knight’s personal driver. My salary is paid by Mr. Knight.”

He opened the door and indicated for me to get into the back seat. “Shall we go, Ms. Temple?”

“Um, yes. Thank you.” I hobbled to the door and climbed into the seat. The seats were leather and deliciously comfortable. I settled into the seat and sighed happily. This was much better than the bus or my piece-of-shit car.

Russ pulled smoothly away from the office building and into traffic.

“Do you need directions?”

“No ma’am. Mr. Knight has already given me directions.”

“Okay. And please, call me Mae.”

His brown eyes met mine in the rear view mirror. “And you can call me Russ. It’s nice to meet you.”

I stared silently out the window for a few minutes before clearing my throat. “Russ?”

“Yes?”

“Why does the car smell like chicken?”

He grinned at me in the mirror. “Mr. Knight asked me to pick up some dinner for you.”

“He did not!”

“He did.” Russ confirmed.

I shook my head in disbelief and stared out the window again.

Once we reached my apartment building, despite my protests, Russ walked with me to my apartment. He carried both my purse and my dinner and kept up a steady stream of chatter. By the time we reached my apartment door I knew he was from a small town in the west, he was an aspiring actor and he had a boyfriend named Steve.

He placed the food on the table and began to unpack it. My mouth dropped open at the sight of all the food.

“Good God! How much food did you buy, Russ?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Mr. Knight said to buy lots.”

“I’ll never eat all of that. Have you had dinner? You’re welcome to stay and join me.” I offered.

He hesitated. “Well, Steve is working tonight. I was just going to grab a pizza but if you’re sure?”

“I’m sure.” I replied. “I’d like the company.”

“Cool.” Russ took off his suit jacket and loosened his tie as I grabbed a couple of plates from the cupboard.

“Here, sit down. I’ll dish it up.” He grinned at me.

Ten minutes later we were digging into the food and chatting like old friends.

“How long have you worked for Mr. Knight?” I asked.

Russ shrugged. “Two years or so. It’s a pretty good gig. I mostly work evenings and weekends, and the one time I actually got a commercial he was good about letting me take the time off to do it.”

“I didn’t even know he had a driver. He always drives his car to work.” I chewed on some roasted potatoes.

“I mostly drive him to and from the various business functions and charity events he goes to.” Russ stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork. “Drive him to the airport, that sort of thing.”

“What does Steve do?” I took a sip of water.

“He’s a bartender at ‘Night Play’.” Russ answered. “Have you been there?”

I shook my head. “Not yet, but my friend Allie has been bugging me to go for months.”

“You should go. It’s a great club.” Russ said enthusiastically.

“Once this stupid ankle heals, maybe I will.” I grinned at him.

“I’ll give you my cell number. Text me when you’re planning on going, and I’ll make sure you get in.”

“That’s really nice of you Russ, thanks.” I patted his arm.

He leaned back in his chair and stared at my apartment. “No offense Mae, but your place sucks.”

I laughed and ate some more potatoes. “Yeah, I know.”

“Why do you live here?”

“Being a PA doesn’t pay a whole lot and I’ve got student loans to pay off.”

“What did you take in school?”

I took a deep breath. “Nursing, actually.”

“Working as a PA in a law firm is about as far away from nursing as you can get.”

“I worked as a nurse for about six months.”

“And then what?” Russ prompted.

I shrugged. “I decided I didn’t like it.” I speared a piece of broccoli and ate it. I was acutely aware of the redness of my face and I wondered if Russ could tell I was lying.

“So,” Russ stared around my apartment again. “Ever been mugged in this rat hole?”

I laughed. “No. Why does everyone keep asking me that? It’s not that bad of a neighbourhood.”

“Are you kidding me? It’s a terrible neighbourhood. I’ll be lucky if the car still has its wheels when I leave.”

I snorted laughter and then sobered as I remembered that my own car was impounded. I had no idea how I would pay the fees.

“What?” Russ asked.

I sighed. “My car was towed from the office parking lot. I was just thinking about how much I’m going to owe in impound fees by the time I can afford to get it out of there.”

“Oh shit!” Russ slapped himself in the forehead. “Mae, I’m sorry!”

“Sorry for what?” I stood and gathered the two plates before limping to the sink and beginning to rinse them clean.

“Your car hasn’t been towed. It’s at Mr. Knight’s mechanic’s shop.”

“What?” I turned around and stared at him. “He has his own mechanic?”

“Well, yeah, sort of. I mean, the guy owns his own shop and takes other customers but he drops everything when Mr. Knight calls him.”

“Of course he does.” I muttered to myself. “Mr. Knight says jump, we say ‘how high’.”

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

Russ grinned at me. “Mr. Knight has a large collection of vintage cars. He kind of does need his own mechanic.”

“I still don’t understand why my car is at the mechanic’s? Or how you got my car key?” I replied.

“Mr. Knight gave me the key. I tried to start it earlier this afternoon because I had been given instructions to drive it back to your place. Only, I couldn’t get it to start. I phoned Mr. Knight and he told me to take it to his guy. So I did.”

I groaned. “Russ, you have to use the right technique to get her to start. She’s old and she’s fussy, and you can’t just expect her to fire right up without pumping her a bit.”

“I’m confused. Did you want me to start your car or make it horny?”

I snickered before sitting back down at the table with a loud thump. I propped my foot up on the chair beside me and gave Russ a stern look.

“You have to pump the gas pedal exactly three times and pop the clutch. Then she would have started for you no problem.”

He laughed. “Of course you do. Why didn’t I think of that?”

He pulled a business card from the pocket of his pants. “Speaking of which, here’s Dale’s number. He said to call him in a couple of days and he’ll let you know if your car is ready to go.”

I took the card and set it on the table. I would call Dale first thing tomorrow and hopefully catch him before he started to work on my car. I couldn’t afford any of the repairs it undoubtedly needed.

My cell phone rang and I dug it out of my purse. The number was vaguely familiar and I shrugged at Russ before answering it.

“Hello?”

“Ms. Temple, I assume Russ drove you home this evening?” Liam Knight’s voice, deep and honey-coated, gave me a shiver.

“Oh, um hi. Yes he did. Thank you very much, that was very kind of you.”

“Did he pick you up some dinner?”

“Yes. We’re just finishing eating it now.” I replied.

“We?”

“I invited Russ to stay for dinner and he said yes.”

Russ was shaking his head frantically at me and mouthing the word no as the tone of Mr. Knight’s voice turned icy.

“Did he now? Pass your phone to him, please.”

“Why?”

“I need to speak with him.”

“Why do you need to speak to him?” I glanced at Russ who dropped his head to the table and banged his forehead against it.

“Ms. Temple, hand your phone to Russ now.”

Obviously my boss didn’t like his employees talking. By opening my big mouth, I had just gotten a perfectly nice guy into trouble and I felt terrible about it.

“Promise me you’ll be nice to him.” I demanded. Even I could hear the bossiness in my voice and Russ lifted his head and stared wide-eyed at me. I shrugged and gripped my cell phone tightly as Mr. Knight’s irritated sigh drifted over the line.

“Ms. Temple, I – “

“He didn’t want to stay.” I interrupted. “I asked him to stay because I was bored and lonely. He was doing me a favour. Promise you’ll be nice, or I swear I’ll march into your office tomorrow morning and quit.”

Russ did a face plant into the palm of his hand. Truth be told, I wasn’t quite sure what had gotten into me. It wasn’t unlike me to be bossy but I’d never acted this way with an employer before. Not to mention that my threat to quit was ridiculous. One - I needed the job, and two – PA’s were a dime a dozen. Ida would have a new girl in my chair and fetching Mr. Knight his coffee before my chubby ass had made it out of the building.

There was another sigh of irritation and then Mr. Knight said, “Yes Mae, I promise I’ll be nice.”

“Thank you.” I smiled at Russ and handed him the phone.

“Hello sir.” Russ said and then listened quietly.

“No sir. Yes, I understand, sir. Of course, sir.” He handed the phone back to me and I held it against my ear.

“Hello.”

“Russ will be picking you up for work and driving you home the rest of the week.” Mr. Knight said tersely.

“Thank you.” I replied. “Did you steal my car key the night you gave me a lift home?”

He hesitated. “I didn’t steal it, Mae. I just borrowed it so I could arrange to have it driven back to your place. When it wouldn’t start, I asked Dale to take a look at your car. You shouldn’t be driving a car that has to use duct tape to hold it together. It’s dangerous.”

I sighed. “Mr. Knight, my car is not your problem. Besides, it’s not that dangerous.”

“I told you to call me Liam, and yes it is.”

I opened my mouth to argue again and he must have sensed it because he snapped, “I’ll be out of the office until the end of next week. I’m emailing you a list of work I need finished by Monday.”

“Yes sir. See you next week.” I replied smartly and then quickly hung up my phone.

Russ stared at me. “Jesus Mae, you’ve got balls of steel.”

“Was he nice to you?” I asked curiously.

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble.”

“I know.” He gave me a considering look. “I’ve never seen Mr. Knight do that before.”

“Do what?” I asked.

“Be nice just because someone told him to be.”

I shrugged. “Maybe it’s the first time someone’s ever asked him to be nice.”

He laughed. “You didn’t ask Mae – you demanded. God, you’re a bossy little thing aren’t you?”

“I’m not bossy. I’m just... assertive.” I winked at him and he gave me another one of those careful looks.

“Maybe that’s why he’s different.”

“What do you mean?” I took a drink of water and shifted in my chair.

“I mean, I’ve seen him with dozens of different women over the last two years, and not once has he ever had me drive them back and forth to work.”

I laughed. “It’s only because he doesn’t want me hobbling into work late.”

“I doubt that.” He scanned me up and down. “You look so different from his usual type.”

I scowled at him. “One – I’m way smarter than his usual type and two – “

“That’s for sure.” He interrupted me. “They may be tall, blonde and super-hot, but a good three quarters of the women he’s dated are dumb as rocks.”

“And two – “ I gave him a dry look. “Mr. Knight has no interest in me.”

He shrugged before standing. “Maybe, maybe not. Listen, I’d better get going. I’ll pick you up at 7:30 tomorrow morning alright?”

“Alright.” I struggled to my feet. “Thanks again Russ. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem. Good night, Mae.”