“Has she gone?” Eric asked her.
“Yes.” She sighed.
“Did you have another fight?”
“No, not really.”
Eric took her hand and led her to the couch. “Is everything sorted now?” He sat her on his lap.
“No.” She shrugged with despair. “We didn’t argue. We just didn’t agree. She wants me to leave you.”
“So you could marry the other guy,” he added slowly.
“She told you?” she asked with surprise.
He smiled. “Yes.”
“I’m… so sorry, Eric. This is so embarrassing.”
“She is just worried about you.” He caressed her fingers.
“She and my dad can be unbearable at times. But they mean well.”
“What are you going to do?”
“What do you mean?” She tilted her head up at him.
“Will you marry this man?”
She darkened. “Do you want me to?”
“I’m told he is rich and will take care of you.”
She grew stiff. “I suppose I shouldn’t pass on an opportunity such as that then.”
She tried to stand up and get off of him, but he caught her hand and held her still.
“You’re angry?” He grinned.
“No, I’m not,” she said between clenched teeth.
“I beg to differ.”
“Well, you can differ all you like, but I’m not angry. Now, let me go!”
“Oh, you so are,” he teased. “Is it because of something I said?”
“Let me go, Eric.” She writhed on his lap, trying to escape from his tight clasp.
He threw her onto the sofa, with him over her. He caught her slapping hands and pinned them on either side of her head.
“Never. No matter how much your father is going to throw at me, I’m never letting you go,” he whispered into her ear.
She froze, trying to make sense of what he had said. “He offered you money to leave me?”
“Uh-huh.”
She pulled in a deep breath. “I think I’m gonna just die now.”
He laughed. “It isn’t that bad.”
“Oh come on, Eric, he flagrantly flashed you his wealth.”
“Well, that he did,” he agreed with a grin.
“Oh god, what am I going to do with them now.”
She wound her arms around his neck as he laid kisses down the side of her face.
“Don’t do anything. I’m here and you’re here and that’s all that matters,” he said.
She smiled when he kissed the corners of her mouth.
“How much did he offer you?” she asked with curiosity.
“What does it matter?”
“Eric, how much?” she pressed.
He sighed. “Seventy-five thousand.”
She scrunched her nose.
He looked at her with interest. “Not good?”
“Are you kidding me? That’s a measly sum for someone like my dad. He loves me. He should have offered you more.”
He let out another deep throaty laugh. “I will let him know that you were offended.”
She smiled, caressing the hair behind his ears. “You should have taken it.”
“Yeah, maybe I should have. And then we could have run away together.”
“Eric, I’m serious. You should have taken the money,” she said firmly.
He arched his brow curiously. “Anne, he wanted me to leave you. The money isn’t important.”
“I’m not oblivious of the real world. Everyone needs money. You could have used it for something you’ve always wanted to do.”
“But I have what I’ve always wanted. Besides, I don’t think that taking his money would be a good way of impressing him.”
She leaned on her elbows, raising herself slightly off the couch. “Why would you want to impress him?”
“Because I want you. And you means all of you. And if that all happens to be your arrogant father and the beautiful but stern and overprotective Lucy Farrell, then I guess that is just how it is going to be.”
She ran her fingers over his face. “How did I get so lucky?”
He kissed her lips. “How did I?”
His hand ran down her sides, cupping her buttocks as he pulled her closer to him. She ground her hips so his crotch chafed against his. He groaned as he sucked onto the sweetness of her flesh at her neck.
“Eric… Eric?” she said, suddenly breaking the momentum of their passion. “I hate to say this now, but my father threatened to sever his financial support if I didn’t leave you. Is that important… to how you will feel for me?” She gulped nervously.
He rubbed the end of his nose tenderly against hers. “Why would it?”
“It is going to be hard to win my father over,” she said worriedly. “Maybe, you should forget about impressing him altogether. You don’t even have a job…” She stopped, biting her lips.
His shoulders tensed and he lifted himself off her. What was he doing? He was winding himself up in his emotions for her. Yes, he wanted her. More than anything else he’d ever desired. But could he afford to lock away his past and start a new life with her? He ran his fingers through his hair. Now he was planning a life with her. Fuck, he was living with her. He even wanted to impress that bastard she called her father just so she would be happy.
“I’ll… I’ll get a job,” he stammered.
“Eric, I didn’t mean to say it like that… I’m sorry…”
He leaned down again and kissed her. “Anne… I…” How do you say I love you? “I’m going to do everything I can to keep us together. We’ll be fine, I promise.”
CHAPTER 17
He gave another glance at the sign on the window. Adelstein Constructions Pty Ltd. He groaned. It was evident that he had lost his mind. He was crazy.
He walked in through the automatic doors, his hands in his pockets and his head hung low. What should he say? Hi, I’ll take that offer now… I want a job… You still have that job you were talking about?
His body was on the alert, his eyes narrowing down on the people in the small office. Two women at reception, a man in the room to the left and then there were stairs to a first floor office. Was he there?
One of the women smiled at him as he neared her desk and the other continued with her business as if he never existed.
“Can I help you?” she asked, her short hair bobbing at her shoulders,
“Um… yes. Can I speak to John Adelstein?” He smiled, trying to ooze as much charisma as possible. His heart though, was pumping wildly inside him. He couldn’t remember the last time he had gone for an interview. Was it for an extra stint as a pizza delivery guy?
“Do you have an appointment?” she asked, already turning towards her computer for her schedule.
He swallowed. Of course, he would have had to make an appointment. He couldn’t simply barge in with a gun and demand for a job.
“I’m sorry, I don’t. But Mr Adelstein said I could come talk to him whenever I wanted,” he insisted.
She stared at him with interest, her amusement glinting in her eyes. He immediately realized the naivety of his sentence. Did he think John Adelstein, the director of Adelstein Constructions was a club buddy he could talk to whenever he wanted?
“I’m sorry, Mr Adelstein is in a meeting with a client at the moment,” she said. “I’m not sure how long he will take. You are welcome to sit and wait until he is available. Otherwise, I could take your contact details and he could get in touch with you later.”
“Yeah, I suppose we could do that,” he said with slight disappointment. He should have known this was too good to be true. He had never got a job just by walking into an office and asking for one. He didn’t understand why he had believed this was going to be any different.
He made his way out of the office and through the parking lot. He had thought Adelstein’s offer would have saved him the time to look for work elsewhere. It seemed he would have to now go the struggle r
oute like the old days. This is for Anne, he told himself, strengthening his resolve to start a new life with her.
“Eric! Eric Tanner!”
He half-turned, expecting the male employee to have followed him for some cause or reason. Had he left out a digit in his phone number? Did they want an email address too?
“You still have a minute to talk?” John Adelstein asked him.
“Would you like a cup of coffee?” he asked Eric.
“No, thank you,” Eric answered uneasily as he tried to settle himself into the chair across the man.
A long conference table separated them. The walls were flanked with cabinets and a TV stand. The tinted glass windows spanned the length of the walls of the room with a view of a river in the distance.
“I’m so glad to see you,” John said with a wide smile. “I almost lost all hope that you would ever come.”
Eric smiled awkwardly. He had practiced it repeatedly in his head. But now that he sat opposite him, he was lost for words. Who was he kidding? He was better off making a proper application for a job. There was no way he could ask the man to give him work. “How is your son?” he asked instead.
“He is fine. My wife and I… we are so grateful to you for helping us back at the diner.”
“It was nothing,” he muttered, looking down ashamedly at his clasped hands. He hadn’t come to ask for the condition of his boy. The purpose of his visit had been purely selfish.
“It hasn’t been easy raising an autistic child,” John continued. “We don’t often go out to dine. And if we do, we prefer the diners where his little fits are usually more tolerated than in fancy restaurants. It was unfortunate that those bastards happened to be there as well.”
“There were people who would have supported you,” he assured him.
“I guess. But I don’t know many people who can throw a fist like you did.” John grinned. “That was impressive.”
Eric smiled. “Thanks.” He glanced up at the door. I can’t ask him. I could never ask him… He coughed. “I … I should go. I don’t want to take up any more of your time.”
He pushed back his chair to get up.
“Oh okay,” John said disappointedly. “Do you want to start tomorrow then? We could do with a man right now.”
Eric sat back down again, dazed by his offer. “Um… yes. That… that would be good. I could do that.”
“Great. So I’ll inform the foreman that you will be there. Have you had any experience working at a construction site?”
“Yes… yeah. Five years,” Eric replied, still dumbfounded at the direction their conversation had taken.
He banged the table with glee. “I knew you had experience. It takes one hard hat to know another, right?”
“How did you know?” Eric asked curiously.
“The way you were looking at the chisels. The way you were studying the blades, you had to know exactly what you were looking for.” He beamed with pride at the success of his deduction. “When you get to the site, the foreman will brief you with your task. But if you have any problems at all, you call me. I’ll get someone to help you out. I’m certain you will get a hang of the job very quickly.”
“I… thank you so much,” Eric stammered. “I won’t disappoint you.”
“I know you won’t.” He stood up and gave out his hand.
Eric clasped it and shook it with appreciation. How the fuck…? It didn’t matter. I got a job.
“Tomorrow?” John said as he led him to the door.
“Yes, I will be there.” He made to walk out, but then faltered, shuffling his foot undecidedly at his spot. “How did you know I was looking for a job?”
John shrugged his shoulders. “Wild guess. I saw you get out of an old beaten down cab. You were carrying a duffle bag and a back pack. And then when you left the diner, I saw you headed towards the bus stop. I assumed you were passing through town, until I saw you in the hardware store. A traveler doesn’t visit a hardware store unless he is a serial murderer or a hit-man.”
Eric paled. He couldn’t have made a closer guess. “Yeah, I suppose.”
The man slapped his back.”Don’t worry. I know you’re neither. A man with a big a heart as yours could never be a murderer. You saved our pride that day.” He shook his head as he recalled the incident again. “You have to show me how you made that move someday,” he added jokingly.
Eric gave him a small nervous smile. What would he do if he showed him instead a list of targets he had killed with his sniper rifle?
He turned the knob to see if it worked and then pressed the key pad for the digital door lock.
“Eric?” Anne said as she walked through the hallway. “What are you doing? You’re creating quite a racket there.”
“I thought you were practicing your violin. Did I disturb you?”
“What do you think?” She smiled. “But you haven’t told me yet why you’re in such a mood to make so much noise.”
“Come here,” he said. He held her hands and ran it over the key pad. “It’s a digital door lock. So no more keys for you.”
“Eric, I love my keys,” she protested.
“Oh come on, this is so much more easier to manage. All you have to do is press in your code and click your door open.”
“I don’t know, Eric,” she muttered uncertainly. “I am kind of old fashioned when it comes to keys.”
He put down his tools and clasped her shoulders gingerly. “I’ve found a job.”
Her face brightened with excitement. “You did? Where at? What is it?”
“One question at a time, babe.” He laughed. “It’s at Adelstein Constructions as a construction worker. They’re working on a new annex for the local library, so that’s where I start from tomorrow.”
She threw her arms around him. “I’m so proud of you. This is wonderful, Eric.”
He held her by the waist as he looked down into her face, studying every line in her brow, bewitched by the color of her emerald eyes and the perfection of her lips.
“Anne,” he said. “Let’s keep the digital door lock.”
She puffed with annoyance. “I can’t believe you’re still going on about that. Eric, you’ve finally found a job. That’s great news. Why spoil it with petty matters like arguing over a silly door lock?”
“It’s not a petty matter, Anne,” he said, stepping away from her. He couldn’t avoid his voice being overwrought with worry.
He fumbled with the lock again, his fingers trembling with agitation. Cavallo and the new guy had tracked him to Boston. The chances of finding him would be slim. He had made certain he hadn’t left behind any clues. And Anne had no connection with that world of his. And he knew where they would start looking- dingy motels and clubs. They would be questioning gangs and mobs. The likelihood of finding him in a comely house such as this, playing house and boyfriend to the daughter of a superbly wealthy businessman was close to none. And yet the image of them barging through the house and hurting Anne kept looping in his mind.
“I’ll be at work,” he puffed as he attached the wires of the camera door bell. “And I won’t be here to watch over you. I want to be sure you will be fine.”
“Eric, I have been doing fine all these years. Sometimes you fret unnecessarily,” she said with a tinge of annoyance.
“That’s because I wasn’t in your life then!” he barked with anger, and she stepped away from him quickly, her fear evident in her face. He regretted his temper immediately and he touched her so he could pull her back to him.
She flinched from him, her palms raised up to protect herself.
His heart ached to see her like that and he grabbed her into a tight hug. “I worry about you,” he whispered into her hair. “I worry so much that it hurts. I can’t lose you, Anne. Not after all this time. Not when I have you now.”
She patted his back gently, soothing him, calming him down again. “Shhh… we’ll keep the lock.”
Men in fluorescent jackets and steel boots, stomped ab
out the site. The air was rife with noises of hammerings and drillings.
One man ambled past him slowly and another shouted at him. “You fucking blister! You’re fucking late!”
“I had to drop in at Chinamart,” the man grumbled.
“And whose fucking orders was that? The kitten in the gut truck you’re always clowning with?”
“No, man. The gaffer!”
“He’s a fucking Captain America, the bastard. Come over here! I need your help with these.”
The gaffer… that’s the foreman.
“Hey man,” Eric asked quickly before he could leave. “I’m looking for Carl Johnson?”
The man ran his eyes down him. “You’re the FNG?”
Damn, he had forgotten that construction workers had an entirely different language. He scrolled through his memory rapidly. Fucking New Guy. “Yeah… yeah, I am.”
“Just go down that way and you’ll see him pack sanding some bastard. He ain’t hard to miss. He’s the one with the gray brain condom.”
“Sure man, thanks.” Brain condom- hard hat.
He took the direction, trying to familiarize himself again with the lingo the men were using as he made his way towards the foreman.
“Hey, where’s my BFHD?!” one man screamed.
Big Fucking Hammer Drill.
“We need to burn that with a Chinese sparkler,” he overheard another.
A 6010 welding rod.
“I need me some bullets!” another man yelled.
And he froze. Calm down, Eric. They’re just screws.
He turned the corner and found Carl Johnson berating one of his men. “That’s an NFG! Do it again!”
“But Carl-”
“Listen to me, Donny. That’s as ratty as it can go. If you think you’re not up for the job, pack up your worm bag, pick up your 2 and a blue and get the fuck out of here,” he minced angrily.
He walked on, not waiting to hear the other man’s arguments. “Bevan, you gonna put some band-aid on those pipes?” he said to another.
“Yes, boss,” the man replied as he continued to fiddle with the pipes.
Carl Johnson frowned.
“Mr Johnson?” Eric said, interrupting him.
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