Sold (Keeping her in the Dark)

  eating again. I shook my head and took a few bites too. “It sounds

  wonderful!” I said. He narrowed his eyes at me. “All that family

  under one roof; living and working together. And now a new baby to

  celebrate the two families becoming one. It sounds so wonderful.”

  He smiled and took another bite.

  “Well I don’t think they know I know this, but I think Lina and

  Raymond have started seeing each other too.” Raymond was a very

  attractive Italian man that was in charge of the grounds. I had

  spoken to him a few times. I thought my sisters would like his

  assistants, so I made a joke.

  “Well if you really want to make it a family affair, we can

  bring my sisters over here, I’m sure they would love Lorenzo and

  Carlo, and then we can be related!” He didn’t laugh, he didn’t seem

  to think my joke was funny. I lowered my eyes back to my plate, as

  his cell phone rang.

  “Hastings. You’re kidding? He’s here? I thought the deal was

  done, over, he walked away! What now? I’m having dinner, and I

  can’t….” he looked down at me. “Fine I’ll be there in thirty minutes.” He stood up. “I have to go to the office, Stackhouse is here, in

  London and wants to try to negotiate again.” He started to walk

  away from the table. “Just put the food in the fridge, and leave the

  dishes in the sink. We can do them when we get back.” I looked up

  at him. “Yes, I want you to go too. Go get your shoes on, I’m going to

  change into something a little more businesslike. We leave in fifteen

  minutes.” He ran up the stairs. I quickly did as he instructed with the

  food and dishes and then ran to my room. I was wearing khaki

  colored capri pants and a yellow knit top. I brushed my teeth, and

  squirted on some of my vanilla coconut body splash. I slipped on my

  brown sandals and ran out the door. I grabbed my black bag as the

  shut behind me. I stood by the doorway and waited for him to

  return. He walked down the stairs in khaki pants, a white button up

  shirt and brown loafers. He was talking on the phone, but came right

  over to me and looked me over. He turned me around, and then

  turned me again, winking his eye in approval. Then he grabbed the

  clip from the back of my head and let my hair down. He set the clip

  on the table next to the door, and ran his hands through my hair. He ended the conversation on his cell by telling whoever it

  was he would call them back from the car. He shuffled through his

  briefcase and I decided to apologize about the family comment.

  “Um, I just wanted to apologize for what I said earlier,” I

  paused and he looked over at me. “You know, at dinner, I made a

  joke about my sisters moving here. I know that isn’t possible and we

  aren’t a couple, I was just kidding.” I lowered my eyes again. He

  stepped directly in front of me again, and raised my chin to his face.

  “Do you think I’m upset that you would want your family

  here with you,” he paused. “Here with us, I mean?” I didn’t have

  time to respond before he spoke again, which was fine, because I

  didn’t know what to say anyway. “Norah, I’m glad you feel

  comfortable enough to say something like that to me. I only wish for

  your sake, I could make it happen.” He turned back closed his

  briefcase, grabbed my hand and we walked out the door.

  In the car he continued to talk on his phone for a few

  minutes, then turned to me. “We need to talk about the rules.” His voice was stern. “It

  goes without saying that ours is a very unconventional,” he paused,

  “relationship. The less people know, the better. While I am taking

  this meeting, you will sit in my office and wait. I don’t want you

  talking to anyone. I don’t want you to be rude, of course, if someone

  speaks to you, be polite. But by no means go out of your way for

  conversation.” I nodded. “Tell me you understand, Norah. This is

  important,” he squeezed my hand, “for both of us.”

  “I understand, sir.”

  He smiled, “and don’t call me sir in the office.”

  We walked in the office building. I was nervous and he held

  my hand as reassurance. He walked very briskly, and I did my best to

  keep up. He waved and nodded at the security guards who said good

  evening to him and then we were on the elevator. An attractive

  woman got in with us, and started talking to him. I could tell she was

  flirting until she saw he was holding my hand. Her eyes met mine

  and I lowered my head to the floor. He was pleasant to her, but overall very uninterested in what

  she had to say. We got off the elevator and went to the right. The

  floor was black marble, and the wall in front of us was lined with

  glass, with double glass doors in the middle. My feet slipped a little

  and Liam moved his arm to my lower back to steady me. We walked

  through the glass doors and were met by a cute red head at a large

  white desk. She smiled and stood up when she saw Liam. He said

  hello to her, and kept walking. We went around the desk, passing

  people the hallway who all said something to him. At the end of the

  hall we went left and were again greeted by a young girl, at a desk,

  this time a blonde. She stood up and started talking about the

  meeting, and followed us as Liam opened a large cherry wood door

  behind her desk. It was a very large office with cherry wood

  furniture, and a large black sofa and chair. He went straight to the

  desk and they were both shuffling papers. She kept looking over at

  me as I walked around the office looking at things. There were

  pictures of Liam playing golf and tennis with whom I assumed were

  clients. He had pictures of him with beautiful women at charity

  events, and degrees and accomplishments framed hanging behind

  his desk. I think he could see how the blonde was distracted by me,

  so he introduced us.

  “Marcy, this is Norah. Norah, this is my secretary, Marcy.” I

  turned and walked to her and shook her hand.

  “It’s so nice to meet you,” I said.

  “Nice to meet you, too.” She still looked very confused. Liam

  had given her a title, but not me. I didn’t like the way she kept

  looking at Liam and I wondered if they had relationship other than

  boss/secretary.

  “This shouldn’t take long, at least I hope not. Make yourself

  comfortable, there are drinks in the fridge, snacks behind the bar,

  and the remote for the TV is on bookcase.”

  He walked towards the door. “If this starts to take too long, I

  will call Trig to come get you.” He kissed my forehead and looked in my eyes. “I’m trusting

  you to stay in this room, Norah.” I nodded and they walked out

  shutting the door behind them.

  I walked around, looked at the books, turned on the TV, and

  got a soda from the fridge. The movie “the Princess Bride” was on, so

  I got a large bag of popcorn from behind the bar, and got

  comfortable. I looked over at the door and briefly thought about

  walking out. I had no idea where the conference room was, but I was

  certain I could get out of the building before he was done with his


  meeting. He might be in there for at least an hour, so I could possibly

  have time to call a cab and really get away. But where would I go?

  What would I do? What if he caught me trying to escape? My

  punishment would certainly be much worse than solitary

  confinement in the basement and being denied conditioner for my

  hair. I knew whatever he would do to me for trying to leave him

  would make his spankings look like love taps. In the middle of my jail

  break fantasy I heard a knock at the door and it slowly opened. An older man with a big black cowboy hat on walked in. He

  was wearing jeans, a plaid shirt, and black cowboy boots.

  “Well hello there, little lady, have you seen Mr. Hastings by

  any chance? I think I’m running a little late for my meeting,” he

  laughed.

  “You must be Mr. Stackhouse. Yes, I think they are waiting for

  you, but honestly I don’t know where,” I held out my hands to the

  sides.

  “Well it’s just as well. All this talk about selling my company

  depresses me.” He walked closer to me, and sat on the couch. “Are

  you Mr. Hastings secretary? I didn’t meet you in Houston,” he asked.

  “Umm, no. I’m Norah, I’m…well, I guess I’m…” I didn’t know

  how to explain our relationship. “Liam and I live together,” I finally

  said. No matter what our relationship truly was, that part was true.

  “Oh, well good. He seems like a good man, and every good

  man needs a good woman.” I knew I was over stepping my bounds but I had heard so

  much about this deal Liam was trying to make, and how bad he

  wanted it, I couldn’t help myself.

  “He is a very good man. He’s really trying to help you. I know

  it’s scary, and you think he’s trying to take your company away from

  you, but he really isn’t. He wants to make it better. He knows what

  it’s like to build something from the ground up, that’s what he did

  with this company, and he wouldn’t want to lose it either. Your

  company is vulnerable and from what I have heard, the other offers

  haven’t been as good to you and your employees. His plan is to make

  an investment so you can continue to operate as you do now.” I took

  a breath, and started fidgeting with my hands. What was I saying? I

  couldn’t shut up. He told me not to go out of my way to talk to

  anyone, and not only was I going out of my way, I was getting in his

  business.

  “Please go on. You make this sound a lot simpler than all

  those lawyers combined.” “From what I understand, he still wants you to be CEO, and

  your son would still hold his position as well. Then when you retire,

  your son could take over just as planned now. He doesn’t want to

  take anything away from you or your family. He would take seat on

  your board and retain a percentage of ownership. He wouldn’t have

  the majority, which would still go to you and your son. When you

  retire, however his percentage would get bigger. With his

  investment your business would not only continue to operate as

  usual, but it would become more profitable. Instead of layoffs, you

  could create more jobs. And instead of closing factories, you would

  be building more.”

  “How do you know all this? Do you really work for Mr.

  Hastings? Were you sent in here by him to butter me up? The pretty

  girl convinces the old man?” He laughed. “Well honey, let me tell

  you, if that is the case, I’m sold!” I smiled and we both went back to

  watching the movie. “You should probably call someone to find out where this

  meeting is, I’m sure they’re waiting for you,” I said.

  “Let them wait. They’ll find me eventually.” We both laughed

  and the door opened. Liam walked in with his secretary behind him.

  “Here you are, Mr. Stackhouse. We have been looking for

  you. Everyone in is the conference room at the end of the hall

  waiting for you, sir.” He held out his hand. Mr. Stackhouse stood up.

  “Well I’ve been sitting here with this pretty young thing,

  having a much better time than being in a stiff conference room with

  a bunch of lawyers,” he chuckled. “I like her, Hastings. She sold me

  on this deal. She explained so it made since. She didn’t need a power

  point presentation or a thousand papers shuffled all over the place.”

  He looked back at me, and turned back to Liam. “Nope, your

  girlfriend, explained it so I understand. Draw up the papers and I’ll

  sign them.” He patted Liam on the shoulder and started walking to

  the door. “We’re having that dinner tomorrow night, and I’d like for

  you to bring her with you.” “Mr. Stackhouse, Norah is not,” Mr. Stackhouse looked back.

  “I mean, well, of course, sir, she’ll be there.”

  “Good. Good. I like to hear that. She’s a good girl, Hastings. I

  thought you were a good man, but way to serious all the time. I’m

  glad to know you have someone like her with you. Makes you seem

  like more of a family man, and family is something I like, you know

  that.”

  “Yes, sir, I’ll have the papers ready tomorrow. Thank you sir.”

  The door shut and Liam looked at me. I lowered my eyes right away.

  “I’m sorry, sir. He came in and just started talking, I didn’t

  know what else to do. I didn’t tell him I was your girlfriend, I just said

  we lived together,” he sat beside me and lifted my chin to look at

  him, then placed his hand over my mouth.

  “I’m not mad, Norah. You did great. You seem to be full of

  surprises today.” He dropped his hand and touched my leg. “People are going to assume you’re my girlfriend, and we do

  live together, so it’s to be expected.” He stood up, and pulled me up

  with him. He moved some hair off my shoulder. “How would you like

  to go see the baby?” I looked up at him and smiled. “Rosa called me

  from the hospital and said, Sofia delivered a beautiful little girl. I

  thought you might like to go see her.”

  “I would love to,” I gushed.

  “Good,” he whispered. He stepped a little closer to me, and

  leaned down. Just before his lips touched mine he asked permission.

  “Can I kiss you, Norah?”

  “Yes,” I breathed. He gave me a light kiss. I wrapped my arms

  around his waist to pull him closer, but he stepped away.

  “Let’s go,” he said.

  *****

  The baby was beautiful. She had a head full of black hair and

  the softest skin. Rosa was surprised when Liam came to visit, and she was

  shocked when Norah walked in behind him. Norah sat quietly in the

  rocking chair holding the baby as the room erupted in Spanish. Every

  so often Liam would say something in English, so Norah could follow

  the conversation. They all thought Norah looked like a natural with

  the baby, and they asked Liam when he was planning on becoming a

  father. He watched Norah rocking the baby, and whispering sweetly

  to her. She seemed so happy. Seeing her like this made Liam smile.

  Rosa touched Norah’s arm and said something that looked

  like she expected an answer. Liam chuckled and shifted his feet.

  “What did she say?” Norah asked, looking
up from the baby.

  Liam smiled at her. “She wants to know if you want to have children

  some day?” he looked back down at the ground, and back at her.

  Norah looked in his eyes, and then over at Rosa. “Umm, I guess so. I

  mean I always did before…..before I came here.” Norah looked back

  at Liam obviously feeling awkward about the question. He breathed

  out, and closed his eyes. “What’s her name?” Norah asked Rosa.

  “Josefina Marianne,” she said. Rosa understood English very

  well, she just didn’t like to speak it, and Liam didn’t mind translating

  for her.

  “That’s beautiful,” Norah said looking over at Sofia. She said

  something in Spanish and Norah looked at Liam for the translation.

  “She said, Nathan’s grandmother was named Mary and her

  grandfather was named Joseph.” Norah nodded and admired the

  happy couple. Nathan was the typical new father, taking pictures of

  everyone and everything. He kept asking Sofia if she needed

  anything, and she kept telling him she was fine.

  “Well, I think it’s time to go,” Liam said. Norah stood up and

  handed Nathan the baby.

  “She’s really beautiful, Nathan. You guys are so blessed.” She

  kissed her on the forehead and walked over to Liam, who was talking

  to Rosa. “Please, don’t worry about it. Stay here with Sofia. Everything

  is fine, be with your daughter. She needs you.” Norah was surprised

  and impressed by his sensitivity to the situation. He kissed her hand

  and they waved good bye to everyone. As they walked down the hall

  Norah instinctively took Liam’s hand. Whenever they held hands it

  was Liam who normally initiated it.

  “What’s this?” he gestured. “You okay?” She leaned into him

  and rubbed his arm, but didn’t say anything. They got on the

  elevator and she put her head in his chest and started to cry. “Hey,

  what’s this? What’s wrong?” he asked. He tried to get her to lean

  away from him, but she wouldn’t. He decided that seeing the baby,

  and all of Rosa’s family together must have been too much for her.

  He held her to his chest and let her cry. When they reached the

  bottom floor, she pulled away and hid her face while she wiped away

  her tears. As he opened the car door for her, he took her face with

  both hands, and brought it up to look at him. “Don’t feel like you have to hide your feelings from me,