He locked the office door and they walked to the little restaurant across the street. The proprietor looked at them strangely, but only said, “Hello, Mr. Cottingham. How are you today?”
“I’m great, Mr. Johnson, and I think I have something to thank you for.”
“Oh?”
“I understand Nicole came by here this morning looking for a job.” Mr. Johnson nodded and Connor went on. “I want to thank you for not hiring her. She came to me next, and I think I’ve found a receptionist-secretary who will work out fine this time.”
“Maybe I made a mistake and should rethink my decision about hiring her.” He picked up two menus and indicated for them to follow him.
“It’s too late. She works for me now,” Connor said as he slipped into the corner booth. “Don’t you dare try to hire her away.”
Nicole slid into the side opposite him.
“Well, young lady,” Mr. Johnson said as he handed them the menus. “If he gets too bossy over there, you just walk out and come see me again. I won’t make such a snap decision next time.”
“I’ll do that,” Nicole said with a grin. “Thank you.”
“The Philly steak is great,” Connor suggested when they were alone.
“That sounds like it would go good with iced tea.”
The waitress walked up. “Hello, Mr. Cottingham.”
“Hi, Lois. We’ll have two Philly steaks with iced tea.”
“Two Phillys and two teas,” she repeated. “Would you like anything else?”
“Bring some chips and salsa,” he said.
She returned almost immediately with two tall glasses of tea. In a matter of minutes a big bowl of chips and salsa appeared. As soon as everything was settled, Connor began discussing the job. “Nicole, I’m sure you know this, but I have to say it anyway. The most important thing you must remember about this job is discretion. We sell all types of insurance and our customers are all over the southeast. Most people are sensitive about their insurance and we never discuss their business outside the office. It’s important we maintain our files in such a way as to keep the trust and respect of our clients because many of them you will recognize when you see their names.”
She didn’t tell him she wouldn’t recognize her own name much less that of anyone else. She simply said, “I understand.”
“That means we don’t talk to our own husbands or wives; moms or dads; sisters or brothers, and definitely not other clients.”
“I rent a room from a widow lady up the street. She’s about the only person I ever see and I’m sure I’d never talk to her about anyone’s personal business.”
He smiled. “So you’re not married?”
Deep down she had no idea whether she was married or not, but she couldn’t tell him this. Besides, sitting here with him she didn’t want to be married, so she stuck with the simple answer of, “No.”
“I thought we’d start you on a trial basis. If it works out, we’d give you a raise in thirty days.” He mentioned a figure. “Is this satisfactory to you?”
“It is,” she said calmly, though she wanted to grab him around the neck and tell him how grateful she was.
“Of course, you’ll have benefits if we take you on permanently. Health insurance, holidays, and two weeks’ vacation are the ones which come to mind. We’re discussing a 401K, but we haven’t firmed up anything yet.”
Excitement rose up in Nicole, but she tried not to show it. She wanted him to think she was business minded, not desperate for a job.
Connor went on, “You can fill out the forms when we get back to the office.”
“Forms?”
“State and Federal withholding, that sort of thing.”
A sudden feeling of panic worked its way from her toes to her stomach. She had to think. How was she going to fill out forms? They required a social security number and only God knew what else. She knew she’d have to think of something—and quick.
The sandwich was as delicious as Connor said it would be. It was too bad she didn’t enjoy it as much as she normally would have. She almost forgot about the forms, when he ordered pecan pie to top off the meal. It was full of nuts and tasted freshly baked. By the time they were finished, she wanted to go home and take a nap instead of going back to the office.
Instead, she did go back to the office and had made it to her desk as the phone rang. Thank goodness, it was for Connor. He disappeared into his office to take it. She sat at the desk. She could call the social security office and say she was a new citizen from Canada, but then she figured they would want to see proof of citizenship. She would have to make up a number and hope it went through. If luck was with her, she wouldn’t get the sequence wrong and be caught right away. She switched on the computer and looked through some of the office files. She knew if she could find a deceased person, about her age or near what she guessed her age to be she would take their number, change it here and there, and hope it hadn’t been recycled.
She did find a number she thought would be safe to use. The former owner had been dead three years. She switched two numbers in the middle section and left the first and last sequence of digits intact. The outcome looked as if it’d be a good number. She copied it down and slipped the paper into her pocket. She then looked up Lita’s number and address in the phone book. Now she had to select a birthday. She chose one close to Christmas because she felt people would tend to forget a birthday near a holiday. Now what year, she thought. I could be anywhere from my mid-twenties or my early thirties. I have no idea which, but I think I’ll be twenty-seven. It’s a good respectable age. Not so young one would fail to take me seriously or too old to be considered a fuddy-duddy.
She began to write. When she came to the section to fill in her driver’s license number, she thought, I’ll just have to tell them my license is missing. She was sure she could pull this off. It wasn’t such a big deal. Maybe she’d remember who she was soon. If not, she’d try for a license and bring it in.
Connor appeared back in the front office with the tax exemption papers a few minutes before closing time. She filled them out without hesitation and, told him she’d never bothered to get a license. When he smiled and said that would be fine, she had to look away. His smile sent a shiver down her spine. She finished the papers and, without looking at him again, she said good night and headed home.
She didn’t think she was hungry until she walked into the house and smelled the tempting aromas coming from the kitchen.
“I’m home,” she called closing and locking the front door behind her.
“I’m in the kitchen. Come on in here.”
“You’re spoiling me.” Nicole groaned when she saw the perfectly prepared lemon roasted filet of snapper.
Lita laughed. “I love to cook and it’s fun to have someone to spoil. It’s been a long time.” She moved to the small kitchen table. “Sit! Let’s have a glass of wine and you can tell me all about your day.”
Nicole told her about going into the restaurant and then into the insurance agency. Lita was impressed when she gave her a step-by-step description of how she got the job with Cottingham Insurance. She was even more impressed Connor Cottingham had taken the new employee to lunch—his treat.
Nicole looked at her landlord and wondered why the fact she went to lunch with Connor was such a surprise, but she decided not to ask any questions. “He didn’t tell me when they paid, but I should get a check in a week or so. I hope you don’t mind waiting that long for your money.”
“Of course not.” Lita waved her left hand. “I’m not worried about the money. I know you’ll pay me when you have it.”
“Out of my first check, I promise. I intended to get a job as a waitress so I could make some instant money to pay you, but this job was available and I was afraid not to take it.”
“I think you’ll like this one much better. It seems to suit you.”
Nicole smiled. “I hope it works out. It would be nice to work near home.” She didn’t add it would be nice to work for the handsome Connor Cottingham.
Lita reached over and patted Nicole’s arm. “I’m so glad you’re beginning to think of this as home. That’s how I want you to feel.”
The telephone rang before Nicole answered.
“Oh, my, what a time for someone to call,” Lita said. “Would you get that on the hall phone while I finish up dinner?”
“I’d be happy to. I’m good on the phone. Just ask Mr. Cottingham.”
Lita laughed as Nicole went into the front hall. “Hello,” she said into the receiver.
“I hope you enjoyed the show,” a scratchy voice said. “The snake did.”
“Who is this?”
“Just someone who wants you to know I haven’t forgotten how you ruined my life, Lita. I’ll always remember what you took from me—as long as you live, that is.”
“Who is this?” Nicole asked in a stronger voice. The other party didn’t hear her. The phone had already gone dead.
* * * *
Connor Cottingham sat in a lounge chair on the back patio of his condo. He had a scotch and water in his hand. He didn’t usually drink strong liquor when he came home from work, but today was different. Today he’d made a snap decision, and he was afraid he’d live to regret it. He knew if he didn’t get a hold on it, it would change his life. A life he thought he had in control. A life for which he’d carefully laid out a plan. A plan he’d been able to follow for the last two years. In one morning, those plans had derailed, and he wasn’t sure he could put things back on track.
He downed the last of his drink and thought about going for another one, but decided against it. The last thing he needed to do was get drunk. He’d done that enough times when he’d first come home from the hospital. It was the one thing he thought helped him get through the lonely days and nights. He might still be depending on alcohol if he hadn’t almost run down a neighborhood kid chasing a ball into the street where he used to live. Having lost his own children, he couldn’t stand the thought of hurting another one. Somehow he missed the child, but slammed into a parked BMW causing thousands of dollars in damage. To add to his trouble, he backed up his car and drove the few blocks to his house, pulled into the garage, went inside, and passed out on the living room sofa.
The next thing he knew, the police were knocking on his door. He was arrested, booked, and spent a night in jail. If the neighbor hadn’t refused to press charges, it would’ve been a bigger mess than it was. He paid for the smashed car, thanked his parents and brother profusely for standing by him, and vowed in that moment he’d never drive when he was drunk again.
And he hadn’t. In fact, he hadn’t been beyond a little tipsy since that day. Now here he sat on his patio thinking about refilling his glass and drinking until the feelings his actions this morning had stirred up in him were gone.
Those feelings had come so quickly and so unexpectedly they caught him completely off guard. Since their secretary Tina had moved to the West coast to join her navy husband, things had not run smoothly at the office. They’d tried temporary help. They’d even interviewed a few replacements. Nobody had seemed to work out.
Then when he walked into the front office this morning, there she sat, wearing a cute little checked suit whose skirt had slid a little too far above her shapely knee. Her soft blond hair framed her oval face and her smile was infectious. How was he to know she wasn’t a temp? When she told him she wanted to work in his office, he started to laugh, but something stopped him. He looked into those blue eyes of hers and knew she was desperate. Having felt desperation himself, he couldn’t help wondering if hers was for a job or for some other reason. Knowing there was more to the story, but not knowing if it was something which would affect her work, he asked her to answer the phones while he listened from the back.
When she sounded professional with the callers, he decided to give her a chance. He gave her more work than any one secretary could possibly complete and left for his appointment expecting to return and find she’d blundered so much she’d leave on her own. But she hadn’t blundered. Instead, to his surprise, everything he’d suggested she do was not only completed, it was completed perfectly.
So without discussing it with his father or his brother, he’d offered her the job. He’d decided on the spur of the moment Nicole Lynch was just what the office needed to get back to its controlled efficiency. Or was this a ruse? Had he actually given her the job because she was so beautiful and she stirred him in an unexpected and wonderful way? Was she what he needed in his life, or was she going to be a distraction he didn’t need? Right now he couldn’t answer either question.
Staring at his empty glass, Connor Cottingham couldn’t stop feeling he’d done something which would turn out to be more than hiring a new secretary to help run things smoothly at the insurance office. Of course there was nothing he wanted more than for the business to begin to run smoothly again. Then, all he would have to do was concentrate on staying busy with work and never revisit his past.
Was this going to be possible with Nicole Lynch sitting at the front desk every day?
Abruptly, he got up and headed into the condo through the sliding glass doors. He sat the glass down in the kitchen, opened the freezer section of the refrigerator and took out a frozen dinner. Practically tossing it into the microwave, he moved to the adjoining living area and flipped on the television. He’d watch it all night if that was what it took to keep the pretty little blonde out of his thoughts.