Accidentally Yours

by Bettye Griffin

She laughed. “It sounds like I’ll have to pretend I don’t know you.”

  “Even if somebody notices me they won’t say anything. People treat you different when they think you’ve been hit by a speeding bus.”

  She was still smiling as she straightened her desk in preparation for tomorrow’s work, but she frowned when her line rang at five minutes to five. If there was anything that made her clench her teeth more than people who didn’t tear their coupons out of the sale circular until after their totals had been tallied at the register, it was people who called just before she was getting ready to leave for the day. She grabbed the phone and tried to keep the irritation out of her voice as she greeted, “Human Resources. Vivian St. James.”

  The female voice on the other end was breathless. “Oh, Vivian, I’m so glad I caught you.”

  She frowned. “Who’s this?”

  “I’m sorry. It’s Sharon from the lab.”

  “What’s up?”

  “I don’t know how to tell you this…”

  She no longer tried to conceal her frustration. All she wanted to do was go home. “Tell me what?” she asked impatiently.

  “The technician made an error. Dennis Chin is clean.”

  “What!”

  “I’m so sorry, Vivian. Has he been let go?”

  “You’re damn right he has! The man was crying in my office. He kept repeating it was a mistake, and now you’re telling me it was, even though this morning you were sure it wasn’t.” She stopped to count to five in an attempt to control her temper. “How could this happen, Sharon?”

  “It was an error in labeling.”

  “Has this ever happened before?”

  The answer came fast. “No, never.”

  “You realize he could sue you for this.”

  “He seemed like a nice young man. I’m hoping he’ll be content to just get his job back. You will offer it to him, won’t you?”

  “I don’t know. It’s his boss’s call. And if word’s gotten out that he was terminated for testing positive for illegal substances he might not want to come back.” But she doubted this was the case; Mel Norris wasn’t the type to feel he owed explanations to his subordinates. “I need to reach him right away. I’ll let you know what’s happening tomorrow.”

  After an acknowledgment from Sharon, Vivian clicked over to an available line and poked out Mel’s extension with her index finger. “Mel, Vivian St. James. You’re not going to believe this. The lab just called me. They made an error labeling Dennis’s specimen. He’s clean.”

  He voiced his displeasure with a grunt.

  “I’m sorry, Mel. It’s not like it was my fault; the lab did it,” she quickly pointed out. “I feel like a fool, having fired him. I need to know if you want me to offer him his job back.”

  “By all means. There should be no problem. I don’t think anyone except my secretary even knew he was gone.”

  She exhaled in relief. At least Dennis wouldn’t have to contend with endless jokes from his coworkers about the mishap. “I’ll call him right now.”

  There was no answer at Dennis’s home phone. Vivian declined to leave a recorded message. This simply wasn’t the type of message one left on someone’s answering machine. She wrote the number down and put it in her purse. She’d try him later, from home.

  When she got home Zack was in the kitchen, sitting on a stepstool in front of the stove. “Hi. Ready to go to the store? I want to go now so I can make something for din—” she broke off, noticing the four small beef mounds in a shallow baking dish atop the stove at the same time a hint of barbecue sauce drifted toward her nostrils. What’s this?”

  “Dinner. It’s meat loaf, my specialty. All I have to do now is add the dry potato mix to water and milk and mash them. I didn’t want to do that until you were ready to eat. We can go to the store after.”

  “You are amazing, you know that?”

  “I must confess, I’m a man of many talents. How was work?”

  “You don’t want to know. I fired someone this morning because he failed his drug test, and then the lab called back this afternoon and said they goofed.”

  “You’re pulling my leg, right?”

  “I wish. I’m trying to reach him to let him know they made a mistake and we’d love to have him come back.”

  Zack shook his head. “And I thought my job was stressful. Those people you work with are downright nutty.”

  “Not really. It’s just that everything seems to be going wrong this week.” She put down her purse and pulled out silverware and glasses for the table. “You’re spoiling me, having dinner ready as soon as I walk in the door.”

  She tried without success to reach Dennis after dinner. Maybe he was somewhere venting, even though he’d had all day to do that.

  Zack turned on the television to the news as she hung up, and suddenly she panicked. What if Dennis had done something crazy, like gone to the lab armed and taken hostages?

  She took a seat next to him on the sofa. “Any big stories today?”

  “Nothing that would make you want to pack up and leave the area.”

  Her shoulder muscles slackened. “Good.” She always watched this station. Skye Audsley was her favorite reporter, and tonight he was anchoring. He was handsome in a movie-star way, and he wore no wedding band.

  “I see Skye’s got the anchor desk,” Zack remarked. “I know he’s happy about that, even if it’s only because the regular guy’s on vacation.”

  “You know him?”

  “We got kind of tight after we showed up at some of the same functions. About a year ago he was engaged to Austin’s old girlfriend.” He chuckled. “Lucky for him he came to his senses and called it off.”

  “What happened?”

  “He just realized how superficial his intended could be. She would have made him miserable. She would have made Austin miserable, too, or any man. She’s just that type of woman.”

  “What happened to her?”

  “I think she moved to Atlanta. She’s big on image, and hers was ruined when Skye dumped her.”

  “Too bad, but from what you say she had it coming.”

  “That she did.”

  When the sports segment came on she went to clean the kitchen. By the time she finished, Zack was ready to go.

  They went to the gourmet supermarket, at Zack’s insistence. As soon as they arrived he got behind the wheel of an electronic scooter with a built-in wire basket in front, zooming off with a jaunty wave in her direction. Vivian tried to catch up, but he moved too quickly. She walked past each aisle, looking for him and occasionally calling, “Zack?”

  She found him by the butcher block, ordering steaks. “There you are. I was looking all over the store for you.”

  “Sorry about that. This thing really moves. They ought to reduce the speed. A lot of older people use these things, and in the wrong hands it can really be dangerous.”

  “Are you all right, sir?”

  Zack nodded to the teenager who wore a polo shirt with the store’s name and logo sewn over the left breast.

  “Please be careful. We wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

  She looked at Zack, not understanding. “What was that all about?”

  “Oh, nothing. I had a little mishap. No big deal.”

  She watched the employee walk past several aisles, eventually joining a few of his coworkers who were picking up rolls of paper towels from the floor, restacking them in a pyramid-style arrangement at the end of the aisle. “Was your little mishap running into that display?”

  “No harm done. It’s only paper towels.”

  “Hmph. I’m glad you didn’t run into those glass bottles of apple juice next to it.”

  He turned his attention to the butcher, who handed him a package wrapped in white paper. “Give me two of those lobster tails, too, please. I want the biggest ones you’ve got.”

  “Lobster!”

  “You’ve been such a good sport about all this, the least I can do is make
you a fabulous dinner on Friday. Uh…that is, if you don’t have any plans.”

  “No plans.” She spoke softly, for the thought of him leaving made her feel a little down.

  “Good. I got some of those loaded twice-baked potatoes, too. And while we’re here, I want to replenish your food supply.”

  “You don’t have to do that, Zack.”

  “I insist.” He tossed the wrapped lobster tails in the basket of the scooter with his other selections, then backed up.

  “Doesn’t it hurt your foot to press down on the pedal?”

  “It just tingles a bit. Pressing down isn’t quite the same as bearing weight. Okay, I’m off like dirty underwear.” With that he depressed the pedal and took off once more.

  She found him in the produce department, gently squeezing tomatoes. She watched as each inspection brought a frown to his face. “What’s the matter, are they too soft?”

  “I’ll say. Just picking them up leaves indentations.” He reached higher on the diagonal pile, and before they realized what was happening the tomatoes began to spill to the floor in an avalanche of red balls, some of them making splats as they hit the floor.

  Zack’s expletive was lost in his rush to back away from the falling fruit. Vivian called frantically for help. Where was the produce clerk? Surely they didn’t all go home at six o’clock.

  “Damn. It didn’t look like it was that many tomatoes,” Zack said.

  An apron-wearing man in his thirties appeared. “Oh, no,” he said upon seeing the mess of red on the floor. “What happened?”

  “It was an accident,” Vivian and Zack said simultaneously, then looked at each other in amusement that quickly turned to guilt when they noticed the displeased look on the employee’s face. She recognized him as one of the people who were restoring the paper towel display Zack had run into.

  “I was trying to get a tomato from the top, and then they all came tumbling down like the walls of Jericho. I’ve got a leg injury and I’m not supposed to walk on it, and I can’t reach too high being in this chair,” Zack explained.

  She knew he was trying for sympathy, but the clerk wasn’t buying it. To him Zack was just an overgrown kid who wanted to see how the electronic scooter worked and was wreaking havoc in the store. The clerk frowned at them, then went to the wall phone in the corner by the less popular vegetables like rutabagas. “Clean-up needed in produce,” he said into the speaker.

  “Let’s get out of here,” she hissed to Zack.

  “Wait a sec. I haven’t had any grapes, yet”

  “Forget the free samples and just throw some in a bag to eat at home. You don’t live in this town, but I might want to come back here one day.”

  They got in line behind a couple in their fifties. Both husband and wife were quite heavy, and Vivian was glad to see they had included several desserts with their purchases. She would hate for their marriage to go on the rocks because one party repeatedly consumed all the Cherry Garcia.

  The woman smiled at her warmly. “Did you ever find your son?”

  “Yes, but now I think maybe I should have let him stay lost.” She laughed, amused by the woman’s misconception, then met the gaze of an obviously sheepish Zack.

  Back at home, she made another attempt to reach Dennis. This time he answered.

  “Dennis, I’m so glad I reached you. It’s Vivian St. James from—” she started to say, “from work,” but quickly amended it and named the company.

  “Did those people tell you they made a mistake?”

  “Well, yes, they did. But how did you know?”

  “Because, like I told you, I don’t do drugs.”

  “I’m sorry, Dennis. I’m only trying to do my job here. I did speak to Mel, and he would love it if you would come back to work tomorrow morning.”

  “I’ll be there. Thank you, Vivian. This confusion has caused me a lot of grief, but I know it’s not your fault.”

  “I’m glad. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “How’d it go?” Zack asked when she hung up.

  “If you ask me, he’s getting ready for his testimony. He said something about being all stressed out over this. I half expected him to say he had an appointment tomorrow morning—meaning with an attorney—but would be in later.”

  “He probably saw a lawyer this afternoon.”

  “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that.”

  “Don’t sweat it. If he sues anyone, it’ll be the lab, not your company. But since all he missed was half a day at work, I doubt he has a case, anyway.” He turned on the computer and monitor. “Come on, let’s see if you can still beat me at this game.”

  Chapter 13

  Enough Already

  Vivian watched Zack descend the stairs on his crutches. She’d been so surprised to come home from work and see him inspecting his unwrapped ankle and taking a few awkward steps without the aid of his crutches. She could tell from his grimace that it still hurt, and he promptly rewrapped it.

  They were greeted by both Mr. and Mrs. Hughes, as well as the appealing aroma of roasted pork.

  Mr. Hughes patted Zack on the back affectionately. “I hope you’ll be back on your feet again soon, my boy.”

  “It’ll be good to be back, even though I won’t be doing any running for a while yet. I’m going to take off the bandage tomorrow and start walking on it, at least a little bit.”

  “You’ll be running in no time.”

  “He has a follow-up tomorrow,” Vivian said.

  But Zack waved a hand in dismissal. “I’m not going to worry about going back. I know enough about orthopedics to know whether or not my ankle needs further attention…and it doesn’t.”

  “Your trip is coming up soon, isn’t it?” Mrs. Hughes asked.

  “In June. I’ve got time. I’ll be running and doing push-ups by then.”

  “I’m glad.” Mrs. Hughes noticed Vivian’s quizzical expression. “It’s so exciting. Zack is going on an African safari.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “You are?”

  “In just about two-and-a-half months I’ll be watching all those animals running free.”

  “This is incredible. So will I!”

  It was his turn to be incredulous. “You are?”

  “Yes. I’m going with a girl I grew up with. It’s something we always said we would do when we were grown.”

  “I’ve wanted to go for a long time, too.”

  “Austin’s been wanting to go, too,” Mr. Hughes said, “especially since he’s already been to West Africa. He’d probably be going with you if he wasn’t getting married. They took some wonderful vacations. A few years ago they went down to Carnival in Rio.” He licked his lips. “That’s a trip I’d love to take…all those naked women.”

  His wife cleared her throat, and the look of longing on his face promptly dissipated. “So you two are going to Africa at the same time. Wouldn’t it be something if it was the same safari?” she asked Vivian and Zack.

  They looked at each other.

  “Kenya,” she said.

  “Tanzania,” he said.

  Everyone laughed, and Vivian let out the breath she’d been holding. She couldn’t bear it if Zack showed up on safari. Because of their history, it would almost certainly mean that someone would need medical attention before it was all over.

  “Still, that’s a heck of a coincidence,” Mrs. Hughes remarked. She rose. “Excuse me, I’m going to put the food on the table. We can all sit down in about five minutes.”

  “Just get back safely,” Mr. Hughes said to Vivian and Zack. “The wedding’s just a few weeks after that, and I know both Austin and Desireé want you two to be there.”

  *****

  Friday was designated casual dress at their offices, which meant most of the women wore slacks and the men tossed aside their shirts and ties for polo shirts and khakis. Vivian wanted to look nice for her lunch date with Timothy, so she chose a light blue denim skirt with a dropped yoke and a white blouse. Jeans and T-shirts were not allowed, but
a skirt made of jean fabric was acceptable.

  She hoped today would be as calm as yesterday had been. Dennis Chin was back at work, Peter Arnold had given her another check made out to the fund he had chosen, and all was quiet. It had been nice to take care of her responsibilities and go home to Zack for what she’d known would be a pleasant evening with the Hugheses. Since he’d already explained to them during his visit earlier in the week how he had come to be staying at her apartment, there was no shock to cope with. Mrs. Hughes did ask if there was any romance going on when the two of them were clearing the table, and she laughed it off—convincingly, too, she thought.

  But Vivian was actually beginning to feel a little frantic. When she and Zack returned to her apartment after dinner, they exchanged chaste good nights, and she retreated to her bedroom.

  Even last night, when they played the computer game after returning from the supermarket, there hadn’t been the slightest hint of desire on his part. She was running out of time. Tonight was their last night together, and he’d probably want to leave right after dinner.

  She smoothed her short hair close to her head with the aid of gel and applied her makeup. Somehow it didn’t seem right, primping for one man while her thoughts were with another…but she just couldn’t get Zack out of her mind.

  Timothy called at nine-thirty. “Hi! I hope we’re still on for lunch.”

  “Sure. I’m looking forward to it.”

  “What time would you like to leave?”

  “Twelve-thirty is a good time for me. It’s right in the middle of the day.”

  “That’s fine. I’ll see you then.”

  The morning went by swiftly, and Timothy appeared promptly at twelve twenty-eight. He wore a long-sleeved collarless shirt tucked into cuffed dark trousers and a beige waist-length zippered jacket.

  He suggested a nearby seafood restaurant, and she agreed. She ordered coconut-fried shrimp, and he requested the shrimp scampi.

  “Someone at the office must have told you about this place,” she remarked after the waitress had taken their menus. “It’s kind of hard to stumble across accidentally.”

  “Yes, one of the accountants recommended it to me. I usually get here once a week. Their scampi is the best I’ve tasted.”