Mystery Lover

by Annette Broadrick

  “You didn’t get cold while we were in Vegas.”

  “How could I, with almost two hundred pounds of brawn draped around me.”

  “One hundred eighty.”

  “Oh. Well, what’s a few pounds here and there?”

  “Sunshine?”

  “Yes?”

  “I know I wasn’tfair to you last weekend.”

  “In what way?”

  “I didn’t give you a choice.”

  “Sure you did. Remember, you stopped me in the hallway and asked if—”

  “You know what I mean. I never really asked if you wanted to marry me.”

  “I have never wanted to marry anyone else.”

  “But I know what you think ofC. W. Cameron.”

  “If I’d had any idea all these years that my boss could read my mind,” she teased, “would I have been embarrassed. I called you some pretty rotten names.”

  “After giving them some thought, most of the time I agreed with you.”

  “What about the times you didn’t agree with me?”

  “I waited to see if you were going to simmer down. No one would believe the temper you’ve got, just to see you and work around you. You keep it very well hidden.”

  “You’ve got the same abilities, you know.”

  “I’m afraid not. My temper seems to be legendary.”

  “I don’t mean that. You have the ability to hide your softer side, the Chad side that I love so much, from the outside world.”

  “There isn’t much call for him in the business world, I’m afraid.”

  “Perhaps not. But you don’t have to think about business all the time. There are times for tenderness and love, for caring and comforting.”

  “Not in my life.”

  “Of course in your life. You’ve done it for years. With me.”

  “Oh, that.”

  “Yes, that.”

  “But you ‘re different.’‘

  “No. You are different when you’re with me. But you don’t seem to want to show it except in these conversations—and last weekend.”

  “You mean I wasn’t C. W. Cameron last weekend?”

  “You were all that you could be, Chad. All your marvelous attributes and your loving disposition revealed themselves. If you gave yourself a chance, you could be that way more often.”

  “If we spent all of our time together like that, the office would fall apart.”

  “I don’t mean in bed. I mean relaxed, and friendly. . We could joke and talk in the office the same way we did over dinner, or in the shower.”

  “Now that might prove very interesting. I wonder what the staff would think?”

  “You know what I mean. Don’t be afraid to let your emotions show, Chad. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”

  He was quiet for several minutes. Then he said, “I’m not sure I could ever do that, Sunshine. ”

  “It doesn’t matter to me, Chad, because I already know they’re there. But it might make a difference for you.”

  After a while, he said, “Good night, Sunshine. ”

  “Good night, Chad.”

  She felt his love wrap around her and she smiled as she drifted off to sleep.

  By ten o’clock Friday morning the office was in an uproar. Phones were ringing, people were having trouble with office equipment, and Jennifer was ready to storm out screaming.

  Part of her problem was that she hadn’t heard any more from Chad. She hesitated to be the one who always contacted him, so she had waited, but there had been nothing. That had never bothered her in the past, but things were different now. Or at least she hoped so.

  Was he getting used to the idea that he now had a wife to return to?

  The office intercom buzzed and when Jennifer answered the receptionist asked, “Is there by any chance a full moon?”

  Jennifer laughed. “I’m not sure. Why?”

  “Oh, everything’s so crazy around here. Some of the questions I’ve been getting. I think some people think this office is run like Mike Hammer’s.”

  Jennifer grinned. “We should be so lucky.”

  “Well, actually, Mr. Cameron isn’t bad, if he’d just unbend a little.” There was a buzz in the background. “Got another call. See ya.”

  Jennifer shook her head, smiling. She wondered if Chad would like being compared with Mike Hammer? If only people knew how tedious investigative work was. Except for a few unusual incidents like the time when Chad got abandoned in a hunting cabin in southern Utah, it could be rather boring. She was smiling when she answered the phone.

  “Mr. Cameron’s office. May I help you?”

  “Ms. Chisholm?” She recognized his voice immediately. So. No matter what he might communicate to her privately, he was still going to be formal around the office.

  Maybe it was a full moon, because she replied, “No, I’m sorry. Ms. Chisholm is no longer employed by this firm.” She paused a beat and said in her most honeyed tones, “This is Mrs. Cameron, Mrs. Charles Winston Cameron. May I help you?”

  The long distance wires hummed while she waited for a reply. “Jennifer?” he finally asked.

  “Yes?” She kept her voice pleasant and very businesslike.

  ‘’ Are you going by that name now?‘’

  “I have a piece of paper, duly recorded, stating that to be my correct and legal name.”

  “I know. I just didn’t realize you’d be using it around the office.”

  “I was forced to do so, sir, in order to stop all those nasty, vicious rumors going around about you.”

  “What rumors?”

  ‘ ’Those slurs, on your manhood, sir. There has been talk about the possibility you weren’t interested in women.“

  “What?” he yelped.

  “Don’t worry, sir,” she said in a soothing voice. “I have certainly put paid to any such nonsensical remarks. I explained, in great and explicit detail, that after two and a half days of being locked up in a bedroom with you, there was no doubt in my mind as to your manhood.” She paused for a couple of seconds and added, “Now, then, sir. How may I help you this morning?”

  Jennifer was fascinated to discover that sometimes C. W. Cameron had trouble getting words out. He stumbled once or twice, cleared his throat and man. aged to say something that sounded like, “You’re kidding, of course.”

  “You mean you don’t want me to defend your reputation, Mr?”

  “You didn’t really tell everyone about last weekend, did you?” .

  “It’s nothing to be ashamed of, sir. You should be very proud of yourself. How many thirty-seven-year-old men could—”

  “Jennifer!”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Would you please stop calling me ‘sir.’”

  “Yes—What do you want me to call you?”

  “What have you called me in the past?”

  “Mr. Cameron. However, I refuse to call the man I sleep with by his last name. It smacks of class discrimination during the Edwardian era.” She glanced over at his stack of calls. “Was there some particular reason you called? I can read you your messages or summarize the mail, whatever you wish.”

  Jennifer had the distinct impression that Chad was silently counting to himself. Yes, that was exactly what she picked up on him. So far he had passed twenty and was still climbing. Perhaps that was how he kept that ironclad control of his. He must be a mathematical wizard by now.

  “Yes. I’d like to know what mail I have and any urgent messages.”

  For the next several minutes their conversation was filled with business. He gave her instructions for the other investigators, including the information that he would not be home for another week.

  “I thought you said you’d be home in a few days.”

  “I had planned to. However, I ran into some problems that have caused me to change my plans.”

  “I see.” As a secretary, it made very little difference to her whether he was there or not. She could take instructions in person or by phone. As a
wife, it made a considerable amount of difference. Particularly since she was a new wife. A brand-new wife. With no husband in evidence.

  Jennifer couldn’t help but wonder if his delay had more to do with their new marital relationship than business problems, but she refused to ask. As she had pointed out to him before, he had to come home sometime.

  Suddenly C. W. Cameron said something so astounding, she almost dropped the phone. He asked her a personal question. “What are your plans for the weekend?”

  In all the years she’d worked for him, he’d never asked such a question. She had finally decided that as far as her employer was concerned she went up in a puff of smoke every Friday afternoon at five, only to reappear bright and early each Monday morning.

  Maybe there was hope for them yet.

  She didn’t want to tell him that she had kept the weekend free just in case he were in town. Thinking quickly, she said, “Oh, I’ll probably spend the weekend with Mother. She’s always trying to get me to come visit.”

  “How is your mother?”

  She stared at the phone as though he’d slipped into a foreign language. “Mom’s fine. I had dinner with her Monday night.”

  “Oh.”

  She waited for him to say something else. She sure didn’t know how to conduct this particular conversation.

  “Did you tell her about us?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She wondered if she was going to have an invisible son-in-law and if her grandchildren would also carry the curse of invisibility.”

  “I’m looking forward to meeting her.”

  “She’s looking forward to meeting you, too.”

  There was another pause. “I, uh, need to get to work. I’ll talk with you next week.”

  “Fine. Is there anything else?”

  She waited. Finally, in a low voice, he said, “I miss you, Sunshine.”

  Jennifer had difficulty concentrating on her work for the rest of the day.

  “Definitely a good sign,” her mother commented that evening. Jennifer and Sam had traveled out to Oceanside. Jennifer and her mother sat in front of the small fireplace, watching the flames while Sam checked out the place. A cat can’t be too careful about the places he inhabits. Periodically he would leap up in Jennifer’s lap and touch his nose to hers. Satisfied that she was behaving, he would jump down and continue his reconnaissance. “I thought so,” Jennifer agreed. “I don’t think Chad consciously chose such a dramatic split in his personality. Little by little, through various circumstances and experiences, he worked out a pattern of survival.”

  “You know what I really find sad?” her mother asked.

  “What’s that, Mom?” Jennifer was enjoying some hot apple cider and she took a sip from the cup she held.

  “What do you suppose would have happened to the Chad you know if he hadn’t discovered how to communicate with you as a little girl? You took him out of himself, gave him someone else to think about, worry about, be concerned over. You’ve often mentioned how much company he was for you during those years. But what about him?”

  Jennifer gave a light shiver. “I hate to think. The C. W. Cameron that we all know and hate would have been all that’s left.”

  “Then he owes you as much gratitude as you owe him.”

  “Mom, gratitude doesn’t come into this. Not when you love each other. Love is so much a sharing, a chance to be who you are, and accepted for who you are. I will never be able to understand how we managed to get together because neither of us has ever known anyone else with whom we could mentally communicate. The odds of our ever meeting were astronomical. And look at the age difference. He’s twelve years older than I am. We could never have dated each other while either of us was growing up.”

  “And by the time you were grown,” her mother continued, “and you went to work for him, he would have been too set in his ways to ever open up.”

  “He may still be, for all I know.”

  “Yet you’re married to him.”

  “I know. And I’m not sorry. I’m willing to accept him as he is. It’s the same as if your loved one was injured and became less than completely whole. He’s the same person that you always loved.”

  “Yes. When your father realized that he was paralyzed, that he would never be able to walk again, he seemed to give up fighting for his life. I tried to make him understand that the important thing to me was that he would still be here with me.”

  “That’s the way I feel about Chad. If we have to keep our lives together totally separated, the formal boss-employee relationship at work, and whatever he’s willing to give me away from the office, I’ll accept that. Because I know that he will be giving everything he’s capable of giving. I can’t ask for more than that.”

  By the time Jennifer arrived home on Sunday evening she felt pleasantly tired and truly relaxed. The visit had gone well. Sam had slain a few invisible dragons, which left him in a very benign mood, and she and her mother had grown closer than ever.

  Jennifer felt blessed, even though she recognized that others might view her situation as bizarre, to say the least. She might go through life with a secret lover, while married to a cold, arrogant man in public. Sooner or later Chad had to realize that their marriage was workable because they wanted it to be. It might not be the usual arrangement that others shared, but why should it be? She and Chad were different. Hadn’t she known that for years?

  To be married to her invisible friend seemed to be enough of a bonus to Jennifer to accept whatever the future might bring.

  A new serenity seemed to enfold Jennifer. She went to work the next week with an easy acceptance of her role in life. She kept the office running smoothly while Chad was away. Hopefully when he was back, she could find a way to keep his home life running just as smoothly.

  The first thing she noticed when she walked in the door Wednesday morning was that the receptionist gave her a strange look. A very strange look.

  Jennifer glanced down to see if she’d accidentally worn mismatched shoes to the office. She’d almost done that once. No. Her navy kid pumps gleamed back at her. As she walked toward her office she surreptitiously checked to see if her slip was showing. How could it? With the longer length in skirts, there was a good six-inch gap between her slip and the hem of her suit.

  Shrugging, she walked into her office and stopped.

  Her mail was stacked neatly on her desk, where it was always left by the receptionist. Right behind her nameplate. She did a double take.

  Her nameplate read, “Jennifer C. Cameron.”

  Where had that come from? Glancing up she saw an ornate bouquet of red roses, which dwarfed the credenza behind her desk. After absently storing her purse she slid the card from the small white envelope attached to one of the roses and read, “Thank you for the most wonderful honeymoon a man could ever wish for. All my love, Chad.”

  Jennifer glanced around and saw that as many of the staff as could crowd into the area stood in front of the door to her office, watching her.

  She turned around and gave them what she felt must be a very sickly smile. “Good morning, everyone.”

  “Good morning, Jennifer,” came a chorused reply. They continued to stand there, waiting.

  Now what was she supposed to do? Everyone’s gaze seemed to move between the nameplate and the roses. No one said a word. She wondered if anyone was breathing, it was so quiet. Chad, how could you do this to me! She felt his love and amusement swirl around her, and she knew that he was paying her back for what she had said to him on the phone last week. Where are you ? she demanded. There was no answer.

  He could have had all of this done by someone else. In fact, he probably had. Although she felt sure he was wishing he was there to see her face.

  “I, uh, you’re probably wondering why—” She waved her hand helplessly at her new name and the flowers.

  All heads bobbed in unison. What had they been doing, for crying out loud? Rehears
ing?

  “Yes, well, I thought that—What I mean to say is, we had felt that perhaps—After all, he’s been traveling and—” She gave up. What was there to say, after all?

  Folding her hands primly in front of her, Jennifer announced, “Mr. Cameron and I were married in Las Vegas two weeks ago.”

  Chapter Twelve

  Contents - Prev / Next By the time Jennifer arrived home Friday evening all she wanted to do was to fall into bed, roll over and play dead.

  She had not heard from her mysterious boss and so very secret lover. Which was just as well. She might have shot him. Actually, shooting was too quick and painless. Given enough time and energy, she was sure she could think of some really interesting and long-drawn-out ways to make him suffer.

  Their newly announced marriage had created a minor riot at the office. “Too bad you couldn’t be there to participate, my darling,” she muttered to herself.

  Of course everyone was shocked right down to their brightly painted toenails. And why not? There had never been a hint of romance between them. Not even a faint whiff. As a matter of fact, some of the women were embarrassed to remember going to her with complaints about him, only to recall that she had emphatically agreed with them.

  And she married him anyway?

  How could she explain? Jennifer saw him exactly as they saw him. He was just—most of the time—and fair—most of the time—but had never heard that justice and fairness could be tempered with mercy. More than once she had interceded on an employee’s behalf.

  But if she was happy, it was obvious they were happy for her. She had accepted their teasing and congratulatory comments with good grace, and tried to get some work done.

  The next afternoon she had come back from lunch to discover a surprise shower, complete with cake and streamers, and gifts—all kinds of gifts, from gag to practical.

  And poor dear Chad had missed out on all the excitement. Why was it she had a hunch he’d planned it that way?

  What with all the added commotion in the office, Jennifer had gotten behind on her work. So she had stayed late tonight to catch up.