by Naomi Niles
“Well, my hair wants to be an asshole today, so I just threw a little scrunchy around it so we can go. I know you don’t want to wait on me all night.”
“Take your time.”
“No,” she said as she grabbed her purse, “we can just go.”
I placed the remote on the table, grabbed my phone, and we headed out the door. She climbed into my F-150, and we headed downtown to a restaurant near my business. Maggio’s was a popular Italian restaurant my company did a lot of business with. We had built two restaurants for them, and because of that, we always got a discount off their food when I showed them the company card.
“Oh, I love this place,” she said as we pulled into the parking lot. “They have the best pasta in Cottonwood. I could eat it for the rest of my life!”
I laughed as I shut off the engine. “Well, we will make sure you get enough of it to hold you over for tonight and tomorrow.”
She smiled. “Now I see the reason that Sarah was so spoiled. You really gave her everything she wanted, huh?”
I exhaled. “Yeah, I am guilty. She was my sweetheart, and anything she asked for, she could have.” We sat in silence, and when the thought of Sarah became too much to bear, I grabbed the handle on my door. “Shall we?” She quietly nodded her head, and with that, we entered the building. The hostess led us to a seat near the back of the restaurant. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling like giant spiders descending on single strands of silk.
The room was dimly lit from one end to the other, adding to the mellow ambiance inside the restaurant. The hostess smiled as she extended her hand for us to have our seat. I pulled Caroline’s chair out, then took a seat across from her. “Your server will be with you momentarily. Enjoy your meal.” The hostess smiled at us, then made her way back to the front of the restaurant.
“Did you see how she looked at us?”
I grabbed the menu and pulled it open. “No, I can’t say that I did. I wasn’t paying attention.”
“She looked as if you were my sugar daddy or something.”
“Sugar daddy?”
She snickered. “You don’t know what a sugar daddy is?”
I smiled. “Enlighten me.”
“Well, a sugar daddy is an older man who wines and dines a younger woman. Pays for things like rent or cars and things like that. She gave me that sort of, ‘good job’ look when she seated us.”
“Wow,” I said, looking back at the hostess. “I don’t know whether to be offended that she thinks I am old or what.”
“No, it’s not totally a bad thing. I mean, I am surprised she pegged you for an older man anyway, especially since you don’t look a day over 30.”
She lowered her eyes to look at the menu as my line of sight went to her breasts. She was attractive, without a doubt, but I had to keep my mind on the reason I wanted to bring her out in the first place. I ripped my eyes away from her breasts and dug them into my menu. “So, the opportunity I was telling you about before. We have an open accounting position at my company. For some reason, we haven’t been able to keep that spot filled. We had one person, but they turned out to be a dud, and then the next person ended up moving away with her husband about two weeks after she was hired. That is your area of expertise, right?”
She lowered her menu. Her lips glistened under the dim lights as she propped her elbows onto the table. “Yeah, that is my area, but I don’t know. I don’t want to leave your company high and dry again because I still plan on moving to California in a few months. Things kind of got delayed once,” she looked to the right, then dropped her head. “Yeah. Things just got delayed.”
“I understand. Completely. But, how about this. We will keep searching for a more permanent employee to fill that spot, but in the meantime, you can just rack up the experience and put me down as a good reference. It wouldn’t hurt. What do you think?”
She tapped her fingernails against the table. They sounded like a tiny army, marching along the surface of the table. “I guess I can come by and check it out. A little extra money wouldn’t hurt during this time.”
“It sure wouldn’t.”
Just then, the waiter came to our table to grab our orders. I extended my hand to Caroline, prompting her to order first. As I sat back and listened to her order, I realized that she was much mature than I imagined. As natural as things felt between us, there was still a line that I believed I couldn’t cross.
Chapter Ten
Caroline
I woke up the next morning after my dinner with Harrison. He refused to let me call it a date since we were just two adults going out to talk about business. I knew he had Sarah on the back of his mind, because at times throughout the meal, I did as well. I chuckled when I thought about the things she would say to me if she saw us out together last night, but it was business-related, so to me, it lightened her comments just a bit.
He told me to come out take a look at his construction company to see if it was somewhere that I wouldn’t mind working for a little while. I figured it wouldn’t be a bad idea, especially since I needed some form of income to make sure I covered my monthly bills. But, outside of the business aspect of our talk, it was good just speaking with another adult outside of the college setting. Everything was so structured at the university, but with Harrison, it felt like I was getting a taste of what life after college was going to be like.
I pulled myself out of bed so I could get dressed and head up to his office. I searched throughout my closet to find something to wear. I didn’t want to dress too fancy, but I didn’t want to look like I was going to spend a day at the mall or something. I held a few different dresses up to my body as I stood in the mirror. No, that is too tight. No, that shows way too much cleavage. I don’t want to look like a slut in front of his employees.
I practically sifted through my whole closet, mixing and matching different skirts and tops to find something I felt would be suitable to wear for the visit. I finally landed on a white skirt with a blue blouse. It was a loose-fitting top with spaghetti strings on the back, perfect for the Arizona heat. I grabbed my blue heels out of the closet with a pair of dangling earrings to match my top. Now, that is perfect. I smiled, then hopped in the shower and prepared to leave.
It was nearly a 30-minute drive to his office, and that was without traffic. When I arrived, I gave Harrison a phone call to let him know I was parked outside. “Oh, great! I was just telling my project manager about you. Come on up. We are on the fourth floor, room 402.” I got out of the car and looked over my attire once more before I headed inside.
The marble floor of the building matched the walls. Medium-sized flower pots extended four feet into the air, positioned in separate corners of the room. The receptionist sat behind a counter in the middle of the room. She smiled as I approached her. “Hello. How can I help you today?”
“I am here to see Harrison Zimmer.”
“Alright. Sure thing. Is he expecting you?”
“Yes.”
Her finger skimmed down a sheet of paper, stopping on my name when she came to it. “Welp, there you are right there. OK,” she handed me a visitor pass, “the elevator is straight down this hallway, and he is on the fourth floor–”
“Room 402?”
“That is it! How did you know?”
“I spoke with him just before I came in.”
“Oh,” she smirked, “I would have let you right up if I’d known that! Could’ve saved you a few minutes of mindless chatter. Anywho, go right on up!”
“It’s quite alright, and thank you…” I searched for her name tag and found it on the corner of her desk, “Tammi.”
“No problem at all.”
My heels clicked against the floor as I headed down the hallway. Inside the elevator, mirrors covered each wall as I checked myself one more time to make sure everything was in place. Nervousness began pumping through my blood as the elevator raised from floor to floor until it chimed on my destination. The doors opened slowly like a whale’s mouth as
I took a deep breath and made my way to his office.
I knocked twice and straightened my shirt out. Moments later, another man opened the door. He smiled and extended his hand. “My name is Brian. You must be Caroline.”
“Yes,” I said, placing my hand into his. “Caroline Dalton.”
“Well, it is nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you that I feel like I practically know you already.”
“Good things, I hope.”
“Yes, very good things. Come on in.”
I stepped into Harrison’s office. A small leather couch was positioned against the wall next to a miniature refrigerator. Two filing cabinets sat against the other wall, and behind the large wooden desk, Harrison sat on the phone holding up one finger to let me know he just needed another minute. “He is on the phone with another possible business partner. We’ve got a lot of those rolling in these days,” Brian said as he invited me to take a seat on the couch.
“Well, I suppose that is a good thing.”
“Suppose? No, it is a great thing. It is how we pay the bills around here.” He opened the refrigerator. “Are you thirsty? We have water, Sprite, and Coke.”
“No, I’m fine. Thank you.”
Just then, Harrison got off the phone and came around to my side of the desk. I stood up to greet him with a handshake, but he pulled me in for a hug instead. It caught me off guard, but I welcomed it. “Good to see you again, Harrison.”
“Likewise, Caroline,” he said as he released me. “I’m glad you could make it out on short notice. Brian,” he glanced at his employee, “I think she is the one we need for the time being. She just graduated from ASU. My daughter’s best friend. I figured I’d give her a shot and see what she could do for us.”
“Right. Well, I am looking forward to it. That is, if you decide to join our team for now. I’ve been the one handling the accounting for this company, and that stuff is nerve-racking.” He smiled. “But if you went to school for it, then I know you will probably be able to handle it better than me.”
“We will see.”
Harrison smiled at me, then directed his attention back to Brian,. “Brian, do you mind giving us a minute or two alone? I want to go over a few things with her and show her around the building a little bit.”
“Oh, sure thing, boss. Call me if you need me. I’ll be in my office drawing up some designs for the Lawson project.”
“Got ya.”
I walked towards his desk and glanced at the picture of Sarah. I shook my head as her smile became bittersweet. “Hard to believe that it has only been two months since she left. It feels like it has been so much longer than that.”
He stood beside me with his arms folded across his chest. I tried not to notice the biceps that bulged from beneath his long-sleeved shirt. “Yeah, it does feel like she has been gone for much longer than two months. I know that she would be happy that this opportunity is here for you, though. In a way, I feel like I am still looking out for her by helping you out a little bit.”
“Oh.” His answer threw me for a loop. Maybe he was just going out of his way for that reason alone. I didn’t want to misconstrue any of our interactions, so from that point on, I tried to keep my feelings separate from what was going on between us. He was just here to help me for the sake of his daughter, and that’s it. “Well, yeah, I’m sure she would be happy that you lent a helping hand to me.”
“Absolutely.” His smile was alluring. His chest protruded from under his shirt, and I had to force myself to look away from him before my gawking became obvious. “So, I was thinking of just showing you around the building and give you an idea of where you would be working if you chose to stick around for a little while. Shall we?”
I smiled. “Certainly.”
He opened his door and led me around the building. I noticed a few of his construction workers glancing in my direction as we walked past. Harrison spoke to each one of them by their first names. That impressed me. It helped me see that he cared about each one of his employees, and I knew that if I did choose to work here, he would treat me the same way. “Hey, boss,” one of them said, “who is the beautiful young woman you are escorting around here?”
He smiled, then led me towards him. “Come on, Caroline. I want you to meet someone.” The young man we approached was slim. His beard extended just beyond the surface of his cheeks, and his eyebrows maintained a natural arch that looked as though they were professionally done. He was a pretty boy with light brown eyes and a low haircut. I figured that Harrison was going to try to set me up with him. I didn’t want anyone young, though. That was one of my issues with Johnathan.
“Anthony, this is Caroline. She is, hopefully, our new accountant.”
He removed his glove and shook my hand. His callouses were rough, like sandpaper, as he firmly held onto me. “Hi, Caroline. It is nice to meet you, and hopefully, you’ll stick around. Harrison is a good guy, and no, he did not pay me to say that.” He had winked at Harrison before the both of them shared a laugh together.
“Well, it was nice to meet you, Anthony. I am still deciding, but judging by the looks of things, Harrison is no doubt a good guy.” My eyes lingered on him for a few moments as Anthony slid his gloves back on.
“Well, I need to get going. We gotta be on site today at 1 pm.”
“Long day ahead?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Make sure you guys stay hydrated and keep yourself covered from the sun, and tell Harold to use the company card to get you guys a bite to eat. Lunch is on me today.”
“Sounds good, boss! Check and check. You have a good day. And you, too, Caroline. Hopefully, you’ll stick around a little longer.”
I smiled, and with that, he headed out of the building. “Anthony is a good guy. One of my best workers here, and he would give the shirt off his back for me if he had to. Those are the kind of people I like working for me because it makes my job easier and I am more likely to go out of my way to make sure they are taken care of.”
We spent the rest of the day in his office, talking about what my duties as the accountant would be. I was pretty familiar with all of the tasks, but I was still unsure if I wanted to take on the job. I was focused on leaving in a few months, and I knew that if I started liking it here, it might prompt me to stick around in Cottonwood longer than I wanted to.
“Well, how about this. You take a few days to think about it and then contact me again… let’s say, this Friday. That gives you about 3-4 days to think it over and get back to me. Although we could really use you here, there is no rush. Take your time.”
“Thank you, Harrison. I will think about it and get back to you Friday. Should I come here?”
“You know what, I have the day off Friday. How about you come by my house? If that’s not too much to ask.”
“No, that’s fine. That’s fine. It’s closer, anyway, so it works.”
“Good. So, Friday it is.”
We embraced each other again, and as I found myself holding onto him longer than I should have, I quickly took a step away. “Um, yes, Friday it is. I’ll um; I’ll see you then Mr. Harrison, um, I mean Harrison. Sir.”
I left the office as quickly as I could to save face, hoping I didn’t make a complete fool of myself in his office. I started realizing that what I felt could develop between us was just a figment of my imagination. Harrison wasn’t into young girls like me, and I could tell by the way he introduced me to Anthony. I sighed as I got into my car, then I looked up to the heavens. “Alright, Sarah, you were right. Your dad is not into me. But so what! He is still hot!”
Chapter Eleven
Harrison
The steam billowed from my coffee like a smoky chimney as I sat in the front room watching a blank television screen with a newspaper spread open on the table. My cell phone sat just to the side, and in the back of my mind, I still hoped that it would ring and I would hear Sarah’s voice on the other end. I didn’t know how much longer my hopes would torment me
, because no matter what, I would never be able to change the reality of what happened. My baby girl was gone. With a deep sigh, I reached forward to grab my phone and flipped through my voicemails.
I landed on one that she left seven months ago. “Hey, diggity, diggity, Daaaaddy! What in God’s name are you doing?! I just called you one minute ago, right when you told me to call you back, but you are not answering! I hate when you do that… and then you have the nerve to get mad at me when I don’t answer. Anyways… I told Caroline that I wouldn’t tell you this, but that girl thinks you are a hunk. Every time I get on the phone with you, she is begging me to FaceTime so she can see you. She is sooooo annoying, but she’s a good girl, though, and maybe in another lifetime, I could actually see you two together. I know, it’s weird, huh? Anyways. Call me back because I know you aren’t doing anything except running a six-figure business.”
She giggled. Her laughter was like a sweet fragrance from roses on a spring morning. I fought back the tears as she continued, “I love you, Dad, and if I don’t answer, it is because I am in class. We both know that you are getting old and you’ll be senile any moment and you’re going to need somebody to run your business, you know? Since you will barely be able to remember your own name.” She laughed again. “Love you. Bye.”
I waited until the phone clicked before I hung up. I listened to her voicemails at least a few times a week. It felt like those messages were the only thing that I had to keep her presence around me. I folded the newspaper closed, grabbed my coffee, and made my way to her room. As soon as the door opened, a calm peacefulness rested in the air. Everything in her room was exactly how she’d left it. I told myself a thousand times that I was going to clean it out and give away her clothing, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. As time passed, I started to realize that her room was more than just a room to me. It was a memorial. It was her gravesite right here in my home.