Chapter 111 Multi-tasker
Emily finished up some sketches while she waited for him to come to bed. She sat at her desk in her pyjamas, fearing what this might do to Byron. At midnight, she had completed all the work she was going to do, but he had still not come out of his home office.
She got into bed and started reading a book. When she looked at the clock again it was 3 am. Soon after that she fell asleep, with uneasy dreams haunting her. She was woken up momentarily when Byron kissed her cheek as he got into bed. It must have been really late, or really early since a hint of the greyish-blue light of dawn colored the room.
At breakfast, they were both tired and opted for waffles which were easy to pop in the toaster.
Byron didn’t bother to shave, and he looked dazed, although kind of sexy.
“I don’t even want to talk about Teddy,” he said tiredly as they sat down at the table.
“That’s a mistake,” Emily said. “You assume he’s using you for money, but you can’t know that for sure. What if he really wanted to have this reunion with you, and then something happened and he needed money really badly?”
“He always needs money,” Byron replied, taking a gulp of coffee. “I can tell when people approach me because they want to use me for wealth. I had that feeling with Teddy. I should have gone with my instinct, but wishful thinking led me to believe he might actually care for me.”
“Maybe you should talk to him,” Emily said.
“I knew you were going to defend him,” he sighed. “But you don’t even know him. The truth is, he had never been a father to me. Not before, and not now. It would be better for all of us if we forgot all about him.”
“So you’re not going to give him the money?”
“I don’t know.”
The subject seemed so upsetting to him that Emily didn’t pursue it further. She hoped that giving him some time to think about it would change his mind. Surely he couldn’t stay mad at Teddy forever.
At least her working life afforded some good news when Katie came back from her holiday and started her job as an admin assistant.
“London was amazing!” Katie gushed as they walked up to the main office together. “You can get a picture taken inside this giant sea shell, like Aphrodite in that painting.”
“Sounds like you had a great time!” Emily said.
“But I’m excited to get to work. My first grown-up job for a real company!” she squealed. “Too much? Okay, I can stay calm.”
Emily smiled as Katie’s youthful exuberance warmed her heart. “I’m glad you’re enthusiastic about the job.”
They arrived at the main office, and Emily introduced the team. The smartly dressed young man at the front desk stood up and shook hands with Katie, but there was a weird vibe between them, both reacting as if they were shaking hands with a toad.
“This is Spencer, my dedicated receptionist,” Emily said. Spencer was always on time and very precise in the execution of his duties. He was almost good looking enough to be a model with his dramatic, angular face. Emily wasn’t sure why Katie had such a strange reaction to him.
Katie and Spencer exchanged polite conversation, but Emily still felt like the weird vibe was there. Then they walked on to the manager’s office, and Emily introduced her main office manager, Michelle. This time fortunately there was no weirdness.
“Michelle does all the real work so I can focus on designing new styles,” Emily said. “And you’ll be helping her with odd jobs like answering the phone, data entry, and organizing.”
“No problem,” Katie said proudly, “I organized my nail polish in the order of rainbow colors.”
“You will do just fine,” Michelle said, smiling. She seemed to find Katie just as adorable as Emily did.
After introducing her protégé to the rest of the team, Emily took her into the tiny office where she would be working.
“I get my own office!” Katie cried.
“Yeah, we had the space, so might as well enjoy it,” Emily said.
“Thanks, Emily. I won’t let you down.” Katie sat down at her new desk, beaming with happiness.
“Are you going to be okay working with the team?” Emily asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“It’s just you seemed to be kind of wary of Spencer.”
“Yeah…” Katie lowered her voice so as not to be overheard. “I did get a weird vibe from him. Are you sure he’s on the up and up?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” Emily said. “He’s never failed before, and he has a great work ethic.”
“Well, maybe it’s nothing,” Katie said, “But I’ll keep an eye on him for you.”
“I think your regular duties should keep you occupied enough.”
“I’m a multi-tasker!”
Emily laughed, “Okay then, just don’t do anything crazy.”
