by Karen Pokras
“Lucky is not the word that comes to mind,” he finally responded, handing her a stack of papers from across his desk. “These are the reports you did for Mr. Schilling while you were at home … working. You were going off of his old numbers and guessing. These will mean nothing to him. Monkeys could have done that and possibly better. These were a complete waste of your time … and mine.”
Taking the reports, she did her best not to roll her eyes. It wasn’t easy. He knew she only had old numbers to work off of when he insisted she re-do them all. She even tried to explain that to him. He purposely set her up to fail. Again.
“Nicholas is in London right now. Call over to his office, and see when his new broker and bank statements will be available. I told him we’d have an interim meeting instead since we missed this past quarter’s meeting. I’ll need some preliminary projections right away. And they’ll need to be perfect. Then we’ll have to do a full work-up for next quarter. There is no room for error here. Do you think you can handle that, or shall I put a call in to the Forest Hills Zoo for a replacement?”
Tessa glared at Mr. Abbott. With Sophie being sick all week, and her boss appearing to act somewhat human—what with letting her work from home and all—she’d forgotten to scour the want ads for a new job. Stupid her for thinking he might actually be growing a heart.
“I can handle it,” she snapped.
“Good.” Getting up from his desk, he grabbed his keys and his briefcase. “I’ve got client meetings the rest of the day. I trust I can leave you alone to work.”
This time she did roll her eyes … directly at him. Was he serious? She didn’t care if he was her boss. She’d had enough of the sirs and other usual niceties. Turning on her heels, she walked straight out of his office. Her heart was beating so loud she could barely hear herself think. Let him fire her. She was fed up with his crap. She sat at her desk, turned on her computer with trembling hands, and waited for the repercussions of her blatant disrespect.
After several minutes, there was a knock on the doorframe of her office. Holding her breath, she refused to look up from her computer screen.
“I’m leaving now, Tessa. I’ll have my cell if there is anything urgent, although I have no doubt you’re more than capable of handling things. I’ll see you tomorrow. Have a good day.”
She opened her eyes wide, still staring straight ahead. “Thank you, sir,” she said, turning her head slowly toward him. “You have a good day as well. I’m sure everything will be fine here.”
Bringing her head back to her computer, she smiled. Maybe she needed to stand up for herself more often to gain some respect. First the doctor, now her boss. Yes, some of that spirit Holly was talking about was indeed starting to resurface after all. She waited until she saw Mr. Abbott’s car leave the parking lot and picked up the phone to call Mr. Schilling’s office.
Chapter 11
“Good morning, Nicholas Schilling Capital Ventures. How may I direct your call?”
Tessa twirled the pencil in her hands. Even the receptionist sounded pretentious, or maybe she was just happy. At the very least she was well paid. With the generous Christmas bonus that woman received, she made almost twice the salary Tessa did this past year, just for answering phones. Of course Tessa noticed … she received copies of Shilling’s bank statements every month. It was hard not to notice checks with that many zeros on them.
Mr. Abbott’s idea of a Christmas bonus was letting her leave at four-thirty on Christmas Eve instead of five. She wondered if Schilling’s office was hiring. Wouldn’t that be a kicker?
“Mr. Abbott? I quit. Oh yeah, I’m going to work for Nicholas Schilling. But don’t worry, I’ll put in a good word for you. I’m sure after I’m done telling him what a stellar member of society you truly are, he’ll gladly keep you on as his personal accountant and financial manager.” She smiled as she tried to picture his face contorting when she told him the news. Or maybe it would be more fun to have Abbott and Associates remain on as Schillings’ accountant. Stretching her feet out, she imagined what it would be like working for the other side: “Steven, we’ll need those reports to be done first thing Monday morning and without error. Do you think you can handle that, or should we put in a call to the Forest Hills Zoo?” She giggled silently to herself just thinking about it.
“Hello?” the voice asked. “Is there anybody there?”
“Oh,” she said, straightening back up. “I’m so sorry. Yes, this is Tessa Haines calling from Abbott and Associates. Can you connect me to Mr. Schilling’s assistant please?”
“Certainly. One moment.”
She scrolled through the texts and emails on her cell while the bland music played on the line as she waited. Still nothing from the doctor.
“Nicholas Schilling’s office,” the unfamiliar female voice said. Usually when she called, she dealt with Greta, his administrative assistant. They’d never met, but they’d been speaking to each other on the phone for over a year.
“Hello,” Tessa began, “is Greta available?” She knew she could probably ask the person who answered the phone for the statements, but then she’d have to explain who she was, who she worked for, and why she needed to see Mr. Schilling’s bank and brokerage statements. She doubted someone would just hand over that type of information without giving her the third-degree. At least she hoped they wouldn’t. Speaking directly with his assistant would be much easier.
“No, I’m sorry,” the frazzled voice said, “Greta is out on personal leave. I’m with the temp agency, filling in until she comes back. Can I help you with something?”
Huh, perhaps there might be an opening in that office soon after all. Tessa laughed silently and shook her head. No, Schilling was probably way more demanding than her own boss. The temps exhausted voice alone seemed to prove that.
“I’m calling from Abbott and Associates. We’re Mr. Schilling’s personal accountants. My name is Tessa Haines and—”
“Yes,” the woman said, abruptly interrupting her. Apparently time she had no time to waste on the telephone. “There’s a note here that you’d be calling. Mr. Schilling wanted me to let you know he’s contacted all of the banks, and they expect to have his statements ready in a few days. He’ll have his financial assistant drop them off at your office early next week.”
“Oh,” she replied, surprised. That went a lot easier than she was expecting. “Great, thank you very much.”
Hanging up the phone, she was relieved to have accomplished the most important task on Mr. Abbott’s list. Now there really was nothing left to work on for Schilling today, other than clearing out all the old numbers to get the reports prepped for the new information. After that, she could tackle the growing pile of work for the other clients. Those poor other clients … they always took the back burner.
~~~
“So what do you think, Hol? It’s been a week. Should I call him?”
Tessa kept one eye on the parking lot as she talked to her sister. With her luck, Mr. Abbott would pull in and catch her taking a lunch break.
“Why not? It can’t hurt. With the schedule he keeps, he’s probably lost track of time. You could always make the excuse that you just wanted to let him know Sophie was doing much better or something.”
“Oh great,” Tessa said, taking a bite of her sandwich. For once, she remembered to pack real food and actually had time to sit back and eat it. “Now I’m using my daughter as a pawn to get men?”
“Only the hot ones,” Holly teased.
“I don’t know. Something doesn’t feel right to me. I can’t explain it.”
“I can. It’s called fear, and it’s never going to go away if you don’t push through it. I thought we’d been over this. Anyway, I hate to cut this short, but I’ve got to go convince a bunch of fifth graders they will indeed use long division again at some point in their lives. I’ll talk to you later. Don’t work too hard, and call him. Love you.”
“Love you, too, Hol—” Tessa started to say, but her
sister had already hung up. Fear … right. She shook her head, attempting to rid herself of the feeling. Why not? With the phone still in her hands, she dialed before she lost her nerve. It went straight to voicemail. “Hi … Brandon. This is Tessa. Tessa Haines. I was calling to say hi. Well, and to thank you again for coming over to check on Sophie. She’s made a full recovery and is back at daycare. Um, anyway, I, uh, wasn’t sure of your schedule, but I know you had mentioned getting together again. And, well, I’m back at work, but it’s only during the day, so I’m free in the evenings … or on the weekends. Whatever works for your schedule is fine. I’m flexible. Just let me know. Okay. So … I guess I’ll talk to you soon. Thanks. Bye.”
Shit. She threw her phone into her purse and shook it down to the bottom. Could she have possibly sounded anymore desperate? Putting her head down on her desk, she tried to will the powers that be to turn back time—just three minutes would do to erase that call. She could hear her phone buzzing from inside her bag. Ugh. Why did she bury it? What if it was Sophie’s daycare? She dug through and grabbed it in time to see she’d worried for nothing.
“Ava, hi.” Tessa felt flustered, yet relieved to hear her sister’s voice. After leaving that message, she was no longer in a hurry to talk to Brandon.
“Hey, are you busy?”
“No, I’m on my lunch break. How’s everything?”
“Everything is fine. Max is already off again on another flight. It’s international this time, so he’ll be gone until Sunday. ”
She could hear the sadness in her sister’s voice. It had to be so hard on her and the kids having him gone so much.
“Do you need some help?” It was time for her to return some of the favors she’d burdened Ava with lately. “I can take Logan and Jenna for a few hours this weekend if you need to get some things done. I’m sure Sophie would love the company.”
“Thanks,” Ava replied, “but what I really need is a date.”
“Excuse me?”
“Let me rephrase that,” she started to explain. “I received an invitation to a gallery exhibit for this Friday night. It’s been so long since I’ve been to an event like this. I’d really love to go, but I hate to go to these things solo.”
“So you want me to find you a date?” Tessa asked, confused. “I don’t know, Av. I can’t even find myself a date. Does Max know about this?”
Ava laughed. “No, silly. I want you to be my date. I’ve already arranged for a babysitter. You can bring Sophie to my house. She can even sleep over if she wants. You both can. What do you say? It’s a chance to get all fancied up for the night. It’ll be fun. Promise. They’ll have free food and drinks …”
“Well, when you put it like that. It sounds great. Thanks.”
Chapter 12
It was almost time to leave for the day, and Tessa was in the middle of compiling reports for a client, when her cell phone started to ring. She was so wrapped up in her work that she nearly missed the call.
“Hello, hello?” she said into the phone, hoping she’d grabbed it in time before the person on the other end was sent to her voicemail. She hadn’t recognized the number off hand and hoped it wasn’t Sophie’s daycare or Mr. Abbott calling from a client’s office.
“Hi Tessa. It’s Brandon.”
Startled by the sound of his voice, her heart instantly began beating faster. She put her file to the side and tried to calm herself. “Brandon … hi. How are you?”
“I’m good,” he replied. “I’m sorry I haven’t had a chance to call. That flu really took its toll on the staff at the hospital, and I’ve been pulling double shifts to cover for sick doctors. I’ve barely been back to my house since I saw you and haven’t had a moment to myself to do much of anything.”
“Wow, that’s awful,” she told him, now feeling bad she’d bothered him with her desperate sounding phone call.
“Yes, but we’re finally starting to get back to normal. I got your message, and I’m so glad to hear Sophie’s doing better. I was hoping you’d get in touch with me to let me know how she was feeling … and to let me know how you were doing, as well.”
Feeling her cheeks starting to flush, Tessa tried to think of something interesting and witty to say. “I’m doing okay. I’m back to my regular work schedule. You know, getting paid pennies to count other people’s millions.” Crap. Now she sounded desperate and poor.
“So, I promised you a dinner if I remember correctly. Are you free Saturday night?”
“I am,” she replied, feeling tinges of fear creeping back in.
“Great. How about I pick you up at seven?”
She’d never hear the end of it from her sisters if she said no and already knew Holly would watch Sophie for her since all of this was her idea. “Seven is good.”
“I’ll see you then. I’m looking forward to it, Tessa,” he said in his swoon-worthy voice that both made her heart melt and bring forward her insecurities all in the same breath.
The line went dead before she was able to respond.
~~~
“Tell me again how Dr. Steam-worthy looked into your eyes and instantly cured Sophie?” Ben mocked while helping himself to a third helping of Holly’s lasagna.
Tessa and Sophie had stopped over to their place for dinner. It used to be a regular Wednesday night thing, but with school conferences and Sophie getting sick, it had been a while since they’d all seen each other.
Holly playfully swatted her husband across his head with her napkin. “It’s swoon-worthy, not steam-worthy, and he didn’t cure Sophie by staring into Tessa’s eyes. He’s an emergency room doctor, not some quack magician.”
Tessa shook her head and smiled before taking another bite of her dinner. She so adored Ben. He was like the big brother she never had. Of course she loved Max, too, but she never really had a chance to get to know him. She was only sixteen when he and Ava got engaged and moved across the country. Now that they were back here in Forest Hills, Max was hardly ever home because of his job as an airline pilot. They just didn’t hang out much, or at least not the way she hung out with Ben. They’d been close since before he and Holly even started dating. In fact, she was the one Ben relentlessly texted to get advice about her sister. Their relationship was special. Maybe it was because he was just a big goof … constantly in a good mood and always interested in what was going on in her life.
“Come on, Ben. It wasn’t so long ago you gave Holly the same look. You know what I’m talking about. I saw it at Ava’s wedding. You even kept it up after she kicked your ass playing pool. Just out of curiosity, have you won a game yet, Benny boy?
Glancing at his wife, he scowled. “She refuses to play me anymore.”
Tessa started laughing and looked over to her sister. “Hol? Is this true?”
“Yup. That’s right. I cut him off after he accused me of cheating. Can you believe that? I ask you, who in their right mind would call their own wife a cheater? I’ll tell you who, someone afraid to admit that they suck at pool, that’s who.”
Tessa dramatically drew in her breath. “Benjamin Oakes! How could you?”
“Now, hold on a minute,” he began, holding his hands up to stop the onslaught from the sisters. Having one sister on his case was bad enough, but having two gang up on him at the same time was something Tessa imagined he wanted to avoid at all costs. “I never called Holly a cheater. I only made a comment that I found it interesting that she’s gone so many years now without losing, that’s all. Some may have taken that as a compliment. I personally find it fascinating she got defensive over it. However, for the record, never did I use the word cheater. Am I right, oh lovely wife whom I adore with all of my heart and soul?”
Putting her arms around her husband’s neck, Holly nuzzled her face into Ben’s hair. “It’s okay, babe. You do what you have to do to make yourself feel better. We all understand. I know it can’t be easy to have your wife beat you at pool … what, like about five hundred times now?”
He rolled his eyes
and smirked. “How did we get on this subject anyway? I thought we were talking about Tessa and her new boyfriend, Dr. Spark-worthy.”
“Swoon-worthy!” Tessa and Holly both corrected before breaking out into a fit of laughter.
“And he’s not my boyfriend. We’ve only been on one date … not even a date, really. It was more like a house call.”
Ben opened his mouth to make a comment, but Holly quickly put her hand over it before he could get the lewd, sarcastic words out.
Tessa raised her eyebrows and shook her head. “What is it with you men? Pigs, all of you. The house call was for Sophie.”
“Aw, come on, Tessa. You set me up for that one,” Ben responded, making sad puppy dog eyes.
She laughed. “Yeah, the good doctor made that look, too, when I shut him down.”
“Shut him down? Ugh. That’s just cruel. I’m surprised he’s agreed to see you again,” he remarked.
“She’s a Haines,” Holly interjected. “Of course he wants to see her again. Don’t listen to him, Tessa. Brandon will wait until you’re good and ready.”
“You know I’m just teasing, right?” Ben asked, suddenly changing to a more serious tone. “Holly knows what she’s talking about. If he doesn’t wait until you’re ready, he’s not the guy for you. Lord knows your sister made me wait,” he grumbled, looking at his wife. “A man’s got needs you know.”
Holly swatted him with her napkin again. “A man’s got two hands, and I was worth the wait. So is Tessa.”
“She’s right,” he said, looking at his sister-in-law. “You deserve his respect and so much more. Don’t ever doubt that.”