Chapter 35 Work Friends

“Why are you here Isabel?”
“Wow, what a way to greet your cousin.”
Anna sighed, she had to get back to work and after listening to Isabel earlier in John’s office she doubted she would be able to prove anything. “If you want to start acting like a cousin then I can start treating you like one.”
Isabel’s face turned even sourer if possible as she glared at Anna. “I am actually here to warn you.”
“Warn me about what?” Anna asked as she folded her arms over her chest and stared him down. She was sick of Isabel’s crap and was no closer to knowing who to believe than she was before.
“The fact that Erin is telling lies about what happened the night of the anniversary party. She’s spreading some rumor around about me saying I told her what to do.”
“Isabel, did you put her up to it? I know you’ve always wanted what I had even though I’ve always had so much less than you.”
Isabel looked stunned and for a moment her façade slipped and Anna saw the calculation that hid beneath.
“I am truly shocked that you would say such a thing considering how much I helped you when we were growing up.”
“Isabel, you terrorized me when we were growing up. I guess I’m lucky you didn’t try to take John.”
Isabel looked at her with such hate that Anna felt like she almost couldn’t breathe.
“I didn’t terrorize you! And if I wanted John I would have taken him.”
“Dream on, I don’t have time for this Isabel, I just started work and I need to get back to it.”
Isabel glared at her as Anna turned and walked through the glass door into her office. Anna glanced back and caught the glare but she found that at this moment she just didn’t care.
***
Anna slumped down at her desk and rubbed her head. A headache had now begun to pound inside her brain like a jackhammer but she had to keep going. Her day had been going so well too.
“Hi hon,” Stella said as she brought over some paperwork and sat down. “I imagine John told you I wanted you to work on the restaurant account right?”
“Yes and I am so honored, this is such a big chance.”
“Honestly, John’s father made me promise that if you ever came to work here that I would help you as much as I could.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He loved you and knew that you and John would need all the help you could get if you were going to survive with Melissa and May around.”
“Wow, why would you agree to help?”
Stella smiled at Anna as she leaned toward her as if it were a big secret. “My husband and I grew up with John’s father. He was actually the best man at our wedding.”
“I can’t believe he would do that for me,” Anna whispered as she looked down at the hands clenched on her desk.
“He did it for both of you, he loved you both so much.”
“We loved him too, I still miss him.”
“Us too, but that’s not the only reason I offered you the project.”
“What’s the other reason?”
“I see something in you that I like, I think you are going to be amazing around here.”
“Thank you,” Anna said with a smile as she felt some of the tension Isabel had caused melt away. “I will do my best to do a great job.”
“I know you will,” Stella said with a smile as she motioned to a few people standing in the hallway. “I thought it might be great to introduce you to some of your co-workers.”
“Great! I would love that.” Anna said as the others filed inside.
“Anna this is Nathan and Bess, they will be making up the rest of our ad campaign for the restaurant. Nathan has worked here for about three years and is our customer relations pro. Bess has been with us for four years and is the mistress of everything electronic. If you need anything computer-wise you need Bess.”
Anna smiled at them both feeling slightly nervous. She held out her hand to Nathan and he engulfed her smaller hand in his monster paw.
“It’s good to meet you, Nathan, So I guess if I’m dealing with a customer who’s a jerk I just turn them over to you right.”
“Yes, I have a way with people, they give me things before they even realize it. His brown eyes sparkled with good-natured humor and his neatly timed beard moved when he smiled. Nathan was definitely the office heart breaker.
“Uh-huh,” Anna said turning to Bess and smiling widely. “It is especially good to meet you oh mistress of Tech, I can run a computer but after that, I am lost.”
Bess tucked a long strand of black curly hair behind one ear and nudged her glasses a little higher up her nose. She smiled widely and it made her face enchanting. Anna saw the kindness in her smile and knew that she would get along very well with this shy beauty.
“Glad to meet you too, I can teach you anything you want. I’m really not as nerdy as I look.”
“Good to know,” Anna said giving Bess an impulsive hug “I think this is going to be an amazing team.”
“it better be,” Stella said with mock fierceness “ we’ve got a lot of work to do, our restaurant is going under and they are counting on us to save it.”