by Kayla, Mia
“I looked in Becky’s room, and she had only one pad left.” She peered up at me with confusion and nervousness and all things teenage girls going through hormonal changes had. “Uncle Brad, could you take me to get some pads?”
I cringed inwardly, trying not to let it show. Why was teenage life so hard?
With confidence I didn’t have, I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Sure. Get ready. We’ll get you some right now.”
Chapter 5
Sonia
I stared at the time on the bottom left of my computer screen. Brad was late to work, and he was hardly ever late. Something was most definitely wrong. He had a meeting, one that would start via teleconference in fifteen minutes, and I wasn’t going to cancel unless I heard from him first.
I was about to pick up the phone and call him when he stormed straight into the room with two girls trailing behind him. If I had to guess, I’d say they were his nieces.
“Sonia. In my office.” He stomped to his desk without a glance and left the door open.
Great. He was in a good mood this morning. I never knew what type of Brad I’d get every day—sad-’cause-my-date-sucked Brad, angry-at-the-world Brad, cocky-and-I’m the-king Brad.
“Have fun at the waterpark, boss?” I strolled into the office and shut the door behind me.
I smiled at the girls. One looked about middle school age, the other preschool or kindergarten. I’d only seen them in pictures on Brad’s desk. There were only three photos on his desk. One of his parents, one of him and his brothers, and the other, in the largest frame, of him and his nieces.
“Sonia, this is Sarah and Mary, Charles’s kids.” His whole demeanor softened, the crease between his eyes disappearing as he introduced them. He was holding the younger girl’s hand, Mary, and she smiled, revealing dimples on her cheeks.
“Best. Weekend. Ever,” Mary exclaimed, hopping in her spot.
Her eyes were the bluest I’d ever seen. None of the Brisken boys had blue eyes.
The older one’s eyes were puffy. As I examined her closer, I realized that she’d been crying. Automatically, my eyes shot to Brad’s.
I’d seen him make women cry before and even grown men, but looking at the way he softened when he looked at them, I doubted he was the source of her problems.
I waved toward them, took a Jolly Rancher from my skirt pocket, and handed them each one.
Brad tipped his chin toward me. “Do you carry candy everywhere you go?”
“Yes,” I replied, opening the wrapper for Mary when she let go of Brad’s hand. “Here you go.” I smiled, wondering why they were here with him. Didn’t they have school today? It was a weekday.
Then, slowly, realization slapped me in the face, first one cheek and then the other, and reality punched me in the nose. There was only one reason he’d bring the girls to the office. My shoulders tightened, the tenseness rising to my neck. I could predict what was going to happen next. He wanted me to babysit.
As cute as the kids were, no. The definition of secretary did not include babysitting.
We had crossed so many boundaries already, and once he had me babysit them, there would be endless errands that would include his nieces. Picking them up from school, taking them to practice, feeding them lunches. I wasn’t ready for that.
Brad paced the room, one hand on his hip, the other pinching the bridge of his nose. I recognized this stance, the anxiousness and frustration emanating from him. I’d worked with Brad long enough to know his tics and how he tocked.
“Sonia, I need you to cancel all my morning meetings.” He rubbed at his temples and continued to pace the room.
I clenched my teeth together in a forced smile. “Sure.”
“No school. No school. No school!” Mary bopped up and down and danced, her blonde curls bouncing side to side. She was like a hopping bunny.
“Are you doing something with the girls this morning?” Because I sure as hell would not be. I had work to do, and it did not include babysitting his nieces.
He shook his head and looked at Sarah, and then his eyes landed on me again. “No, no, I’m the only one here to take care of things. But I’ll need to make my afternoon meetings.” Then, he began to stare at me in that expectant way, as though he were going to ask me a very important question but wasn’t sure how to frame it.
I could read all the thoughts running rampant in his head and also the reluctance in his eyes, knowing that I would reject his request because he knew me so well.
“Plus, Mason is in Ohio, and Charles is on his honeymoon, so that leaves me …”
Then, he simply stared, opened his mouth, and shut it again.
His eyes flickered to Sarah and me and then to Sarah again. Mary continued to suck on her candy, taking it out to examine it and then shoving it back in her mouth.
“Hey, I’m gonna be right back. I just need to discuss business with Sonia, but I’ll just be outside that door.” Then, he smiled the most awkward smile. His teeth were clenched so hard that his cheeks stretched like a woman who’d had too much Botox.
I followed him out his office door and over to my desk.
“We had a situation this morning.” Brad lowered his voice as if he were afraid anyone else would hear.
I walked around him to sit in front of my computer and booted up.
He looked at the ceiling, placed his hands on his hips, and took deep breaths. “God help me.”
He stood there, praying or whatever he was doing for far too long. To be honest, he was beginning to scare me, but I showed no mercy. Whatever he had to take care of regarding his nieces was his issue. I would handle everything work-related that was within my capacity.
“Sarah got her …” He circled the air with his pointer fingers. “… this morning.” Then, he blinked, taking deep breaths in. “And so, now …” He tapped my desk twice. “… she needs …” He widened his eyes as though I’d understand him better if he did. “She needs stuff.” He moved his hands in some sort of box-like figure, looking at me as though I understood his weird language.
“Stuff?” I quirked an eyebrow.
“Yes.” Weird box-like hand movements happened again. Then, he pointed to his private area. “Stuff.”
“Um, a penis?” I smirked.
He obviously did not think my joke was funny.
“No. Women stuff.” He nodded slowly as though I was supposed to understand him better.
I nodded, too, mimicking him and biting the inside of my cheek to prevent myself from bursting into laughter. “You mean, pads?”
“Yes!” He lifted his head to the ceiling, his whole body going lax once I’d uttered those words.
I let out a low laugh. “Feminine products,” I simply stated.
“Yes. Exactly. So, will you get her the products?”
“No,” I snapped, straight up, real, and without argument. I turned to my computer and opened up his schedule for the day.
He reeled back as though the answer shocked him. No one ever said no to Brad, but I had grown thick skin since I was hired here years ago. Except for where it came to Jeff, I guessed. But still, I already picked up his dry cleaning and took his shoes to get polished. I had to draw the line somewhere and feminine products was that line.
“No? No,” he repeated as though testing out the word and hearing it for the first time. “That’s interesting. I’ve never, ever heard that word come from a woman before. My nieces, sure, but definitely not a grown woman.”
At least he’d looped me in with the big girls.
“I’d like you to reconsider.”
His cocky self was back, and I realized I preferred the awkward, nervous Brad. He was less demanding.
I kept my face firm, but neutral. “No. I am not paid to get your niece’s feminine products. It’s not part of my job description.”
He frowned. “I’m pretty sure it is,” he countered.
This guy. The nerve. I reached in my desk, opened the drawer, and plucked out my original contract
from two years ago. I placed the crumpled piece of paper on the desk, and I pointed to said job description. “Anywhere on here does it say that I am supposed to get your niece’s sanitary napkins?”
He peered down at the piece of paper and skimmed. His pointer finger ran down the faded cream paper and then it stopped at the end. He jammed his finger against the sheet for emphasis. “Here. Right here. Run errands. I would classify this as an errand.”
“I don’t think it would.” I faced forward, in front of my computer screen, and began to open Outlook to send an e-mail out. “Okay, so I’ll cancel your meetings this morning.”
I was just going to pretend that the last twenty minutes hadn’t happened. When did it ever stop? Next, he’d ask me to pick up his condoms. Nope, not gonna do it.
“Okay, all meetings canceled.” I rechecked my inbox, but he continued to stare at me. Maybe ignoring him would give him a hint.
“Sonia, I’m not kidding. I need you to do this. I need you. Please.” He was pleading now. Brad never pleaded.
Stay strong.
I peered up from my computer screen. “No. Those are your nieces. So, you do it.” I threw him my clenched smile and then dropped my head back to the screen.
I was walking a fine line here.
I blew out a breath and lifted my head. “If I don’t do it, are you gonna fire me?”
I tried to show no mercy, but I needed this job. Needed it like he needed me to buy pads. If he said yes, I’d never forgive him, but I’d get the damn pads anyway.
He pinched the bridge of his nose again and closed his eyes, sighing. “Of course not. I can’t fire you.”
Of course not, jerkwad. Liabilities and legalities and all. I could imagine it now—getting wrongfully fired for not buying sanitary napkins.
He leveled me with a stare. “But I would really like you to do this for me since we’re … since we’re friends.”
I reeled back and barked out a laugh. “Friends?” Snickers escaped my mouth, and I snorted loudly. “You’re my boss, not my friend.”
“Hey, I’m offended here. We’ve known each other for a long time. You know practically everything about me.”
“Which is exactly why we can’t be friends.” I bit the inside of my cheek to keep my face steady and pushed the annoyance aside.
“You’re being mean again,” he said matter-of-factly as though I were mean all the time, which I was certainly not.
It took all my effort not to be sassy, to smile and say, Yes, boss.
I softened my tone. “Is there anyone else you can ask? Elizabeth or Riley or … what’s her face who came by the office the other day?” I ticked off the names of some of our interns.
He looked dumbstruck, tilted his head, and assessed me. “No. I can’t ask anyone else. I need you. I have no idea about periods and pads and teenage female hormones. I grew up with two brothers. Come on, Sonia.” He placed both hands on my desk, his fingers interlaced as though he were praying.
I’d never seen him so desperate. Ever. Even when he’d lost the Cliffton printing deal.
He’d been in the boardroom, so close to winning in acquiring Cliffton from a competitor who was also vying to acquire the company. Brad conceded a little and upped the price the brothers were willing to pay. And, though I had known Brad wanted to buy Cliffton badly, he had done everything short of begging.
Here he was, begging.
“Please. I’ll owe you. Anything you want, it’s yours.” He held my stare with those depthless brown eyes that women fell for.
Then, after remembering how damn beautiful he was, the brightest idea filtered through my head. It was where desperation met desperation in the direst of situations.
Ava’s words pushed through. “We can make this happen, so commit to the plan. Now, we have to start looking.”
There was no way he would go through with it, and to be honest, it wasn’t a fair deal. I simply had to buy his niece some pads. He’d have to pretend to be my boyfriend for a whole evening.
“Anything, Sonia. Ask, and it’s yours.”
And, just like that, I sold my soul to the devil.
I returned his smile anyway because I was beyond saving now. “Fine. But you owe me. Whatever favor I ask you to do, you have to do it. No questions asked. No turning back. You just have to do it.” I crossed my fingers—and legs and toes for good measure—hoping and waiting for him to be my savior for this horrendous upcoming wedding. Really good-looking people were not accessible in my life.
The devilish glint in his eye told me what he was thinking. That I was going to ask for some sexual favor. Um, gross. No. I mean, he was gorgeous, but no.
“Sure.” The smile was still heavy on his face.
“And I don’t mean sex,” I clarified quickly. “Pigs could fly and there could be an apocalypse and you would be the last man on earth and I’d still not sleep with you.”
He jerked back, and his posture turned rigid as though what I’d said was absurd.
“You’re being mean again, Sonia.”
I got up from my chair, slipped the bag over my shoulder, and ignored his last sentence. “There’s a drugstore down the street. I’ll take her.” I glanced behind me. “But you’re going with me.”
He groaned.
“I’m buying them. All you have to do is stand there. What’s the big freaking deal?” When he didn’t answer right away, I quickly added, “You’re going.”
My comment did not amuse him.
“Anyway, about your favor, are you gonna ask me now?” he asked, genuinely curious.
“No. But I need your guarantee.” Inside, I was fist-pumping, doing pirouettes, flips, and cartwheels. Outside, I gave him a stern look and lifted an expectant eyebrow.
He didn’t hesitate. “I promise—or as Mary says, pinkie swear.”
For all he knew, I could ask him for money or diamonds, to drive his Aston Martin or to give me half the shares of Brisken Printing Corporation, and he would have to give me that, which only meant this man was serious and also very, very desperate.
“Anything,” he promised. “Just get my niece her products, and I will owe you big time.”
“Fine.”
He was satisfied with that answer.
So, I stuck out my right hand and smiled. “Then, we have a deal, boss man.”
He just had no idea I was getting the better end of it.
* * *
Sarah inched closer as we entered the drugstore at the corner of Clark and Nelly.
As requested by Brad, I had called their personal driver to send Mary back to school. Brad had panicked this morning because he’d forgotten that Mary had an event at school that she couldn’t miss out on.
Something about the way Sarah sidled up against me made me realize that maybe she wasn’t entirely comfortable around Brad. Not like I was surprised. Brad didn’t seem like the sentimental type, but I was a complete stranger, and we’d met only moments before.
We both perused the selection of pads.
“There’re so many different brands. But they’ll function the same way.” I lightly tapped her left hand, and she cowered into me, linking her arm through mine.
Sarah wasn’t a typical pre-teenager. I should know. I was the oldest of six and had seventeen cousins, ranging from seven to twenty-five, and the majority of those teenagers were hormonal and rambunctious. Sarah was quiet. She’d said five words since we left the office, and it was mostly one-worded answers to Brad’s questions. I’d guess she didn’t open up to people much. Where most of my teenage cousins were into makeup, skinny jeans, and heels, Sarah was a Converse, boy-jeans kind of girl.
Brad trailed behind me. His hands were shoved in his pockets, and his eyes perused the feminine product aisle, his face devoid of any emotion.
He plucked a few boxes from the shelves and began to read the labels because, of course, he had to know it all. “This one has wings. This one doesn’t have wings. What do you prefer, Sonia, wings or without wings? What do y
ou recommend?”
“Neither,” I deadpanned. “I prefer tampons.”
The color drained from his face, and he cleared his throat. “Um … I don’t think she’s ready for that yet.” Then, he plucked another box off the shelf. “How about these? They come with a little packet that you can put your product in. Isn’t that nice?” He ended that with a smile.
Sarah’s lips pressed together, and her gaze flicked upward. She was not a bit amused.
“Look, these are scented.” He gritted his teeth in the most uncomfortable smile.
I laughed under my breath when he lifted the box to his nose and inhaled deeply. I should snap a picture and send it to our company paper, which all the employees received. That’d be comic relief for the day—Brad sniffing a box of pads.
“Uncle Brad, please stop it.” Sarah plucked the box from his hands and placed it back on the shelf.
“I’m just trying to help.” He picked up another box and began to inspect the label.
Sarah completely ignored him and peered up at me as she bit her bottom lip. “I’ll just take whatever you use.”
Brad turned toward us, box abandoned, eyes wide. “No. No. No.” He shifted with unease. “I don’t think Sarah’s ready for that. Like I said, we have to wait for Becky to discuss the …” He pointed to the tampon box as though he was unable to say the word.
So mature.
“You know what? I use these sometimes.” I snatched the regular maxi pads off the shelf. “They’ll do the job.”
Sarah’s eyebrows pulled together, her gaze dropping to her black-and-white Converse shoes. “Thank you.”
My insides softened a little, and I tucked an escaping strand of hair behind her ear.
I lifted my gaze to Brad, who was still intently studying his niece as though she were a wild animal that no one could tame. And, out of nowhere, Sarah covered her eyes and rushed down the aisle, crying.
“Shit. I just don’t understand teenagers. Isn’t that what she wanted?” He linked his fingers behind his head and stared at the ceiling. “I have no idea what to do here.”