Come with Me (Let It Be Me #2) (6 page)

Liz stood up and followed them to the stage, where the others have gathered. She spotted Henry with his wife and approached them. It was interesting to see Henry dressed down in jogging pants and a collared cotton shirt for the day’s event. He always wore corporate attires in the office, since he met with sponsors a lot. Liz wondered how he got sponsors for the foundation with such a formal character. But Liz guessed it was also good since it balanced out with Alex’s zealous personality. 

“Good morning, Henry,” she greeted. 

“Good morning,” he greeted with his toothless smile. “This is my wife Diane. Diane, this is our newest employee Liz Hatton. We’ve met her parents Robert and Elizabeth.” 

“Nice to meet you Liz,” Diane said, a bit more cordial than Henry. “Today must be pretty exciting for you.”

“It is,” Liz said enthusiastically. “Everyone in the office has been looking forward to it. So I know it’s going to be fun.”

“Hey Liz,” she heard someone call from behind her. She turned to see Kayla, who was followed by Alex. 

“Kayla, hi,” she said warmly. “It’s good to see you.” She’s met with Kayla a couple times more at site and got to talk to her a bit. So far they were getting along pretty well. “Hi Alex.”

“Hi Liz,” he greeted. “Today you’ll see that everyone is part of RHS just so they can attend Family Day.”

They all laughed. “I’m just gonna watch,” Kayla said. “I just didn’t want to miss watching Alex make a fool of himself.”

Liz laughed as Alex kissed Kayla on her head. Watching them, Liz’s heart dropped, thinking when was the last time she and Jack showed that kind of affection towards each other.

Then Ben suddenly appeared, shaking both Henry and Alex’s hands. He hugged Diane then walking over to kiss Kayla on her cheek.

“Liz,” he greeted with a small smile, nodding his head.

Liz smiled shyly, still a bit uneasy around him. She’s encountered him in the office several times in the office for the past weeks and he was polite but she was still careful so as not to get on his bad side.

They were then distracted by an amplified voice, which turned out to be Will’s.

“Good morning everyone!” he said. “Welcome to this year’s Family Day! Before anything else, may we ask Alex to come up to give some opening remarks.”

Everyone clapped as Alex jogged up the stage. He was wearing an RHS shirt over jogging pants. 

Alex took the microphone. “Nice to see everyone bright and early -- as well as the legs of some of our male colleagues.”

Everyone laughed as indeed some came in athletic shorts.

“Family Day is one of the most important days in the annual calendar of RHS because it is the time when we can really celebrate the family that we are. In RHS our greatest assets are the people part of it. You have all generously volunteered your time and skills to the causes of the foundation. And we extend to your own families the camaraderie and the love we have in RHS. So hope you all enjoy today’s activities!”

Everyone applauded as Alex stepped down, passing the microphone back to Will. Liz couldn’t help but watch as Alex quickly went back to Kayla’s side, wrapping his arm around her waist as they kissed. It was so sweet.

Liz reverted her attention to the stage where Will and Sarah quickly ran through the activities for the morning. Everyone has already signed up for the games in the past week, after finding out which team they were part of. They have been divided into two teams; the employees with kids were distributed so there was an almost equal number for each team.

Liz was happy to have been placed in the same team as Alice and her family. Also included in their team were Henry and Diane.

And Ben.

She didn’t know what she felt about that.  

The first game was the Egg and Spoon Race – one of the games she signed up for.  She was with five other teammates that included Maron, Diane, and three children. They all lined up at their side.

“We’re definitely going to win this!” cheered Paul Armstrong, jumping like a cheerleader. Everyone laughed – even the kids – as he was a really huge guy and always joked in the office about how out of shape he was. Liz admired how Paul could easily not take himself so seriously.

The game started as it was fun playing with colleagues and their families. Everyone was a willing participant and there was the air of friendly competition. The other team would cheer when the other team’s egg would fall. But it was all in good fun.

Liz was the second in line and although she struggled a bit transporting the egg on the spoon, she managed to do it in a decent time. She watched as the rest of her teammates did their turns, but the attention shifted when it was Paul’s turn – he was the last for the other team. It was funny watching him wobble along with the egg on the spoon he was holding.

“Go Paul!” everyone cheered, even those in Liz’s team. The kids were chanting as well. 

Maron, the last one in their team, reached the finish line, making their team win. They cheered, but continued cheering for Paul as he went around the chair to go back to the finish line. And as he did, he knelt down and pumped his arms into the air as if he just won the World Cup.

Everyone laughed and cheered, and Liz thought it was a great way to kick-off the family day.

After a short break, Sarah and Will announced the second game: the three-legged race. Three pairs per team consisting of an adult and a kid would go around the chair this time and tag the next pair until the third pair has crossed the finish line. 

Liz was sitting that one out, but she saw that both Henry and Ben were part of it. Alex joined also for the other team. It was quite enjoyable to watch Henry loosen up a bit as he raced with one of Steve’s girls. There were a couple of times they nearly tripped, but they righted themselves just in time.

It was Ben’s turn after, with the other daughter of Steve, and Kayla couldn’t help but notice that he seemed like a fun and thoughtful guy. He was laughing and making sure that he wasn’t being too fast for Haley. 

Kayla wondered then why she always caught him at a bad time.

Or was it her? 

She hoped that wasn’t the case. She hasn’t done anything that would cause him to dislike her. 

Her mind went back to the game as Alex got everyone’s attention as he exaggeratedly counted off like a drill sergeant so he and Miranda’s son Caleb marched their way around the chair. Everyone laughed while watching them.

Alex’s team won by only a few seconds, but everyone was okay with it. 

The third game was a simplified version of Capture the Flag. It required a lot of running, so Sarah and Will decided to just have the kids participate in that one. Each team of kids had a color-coded handkerchief hidden in their base and each time had to steal the other team’s flag and bring it back to their own base to win.

It was fun to see the kids enjoy and run around, as the adults cheered them on. Some of the kids were too little but were allowed to run around. The older kids were just told to watch where they were going.  

The other team won the game again, when Miranda’s daughter managed to find the flag and bring it to their base. The kids were all good sports, and they were all getting along.

Everyone was required to play in the last game. It was a caterpillar game where each team formed a line – with each person holding on to the shoulders of the person in front of them – and everyone would be blindfolded except for the one at the very end. The one at the end of the line would direct the one in front of him which direction to go by tapping his left or right shoulder. No one was allowed to say anything. The objective of the game was for the one at the front of the line to tap anyone from the other team.

As Will and Sarah explained the rules, Liz just knew it was going to be a riot. And when they said the winning team would get two points, everyone got excited. The other team was only ahead by one, so whichever team won the caterpillar game would be the champion.

As they finished explaining the rules clearly until everyone understood, everyone shuffled to their teams to form their lines. All the kids went to the front. They were each handed a large handkerchief for their blindfold. Liz found herself behind Haley. She helped Haley with her handkerchief before blindfolding herself. She then rested her hands on the child’s shoulders.

She then felt hands on her shoulders. 

“Who’s that behind me?” she asked cheerfully.

She heard someone clear his throat. “It’s Ben.”

She instinctively stiffened when she heard his voice and his name. 

“Hi,” she said, willing herself to relax. She didn’t want Ben to notice her grow tense because of him.

She heard a whistle and Will announce the game was about to start. 

Must have been because of the blindfold, as throughout the game, Liz’s senses were on high alert. She managed to focus in the game – mimicking Ben’s tap on Haley’s shoulder. But his hold on her shoulders and each tap made her very conscious and careful that she didn’t screw up.

It seemed like it lasted an hour – but she was sure it wasn’t really that long – when a cheer broke out and Sarah announced that there was a winner. 

Everyone took off their blindfolds and squinted to find out who won. They saw Paul sprawled on the floor playing dead as Sarah picked up little Adam in celebration. 

Adam tapped Paul! Their team won!  

“We won!” Liz cheered, jumping up and clapping her hands. She and Haley hugged. Liz turned around and almost forgot it was Ben behind her. She stopped abruptly, and managed to smile at him. 

“We did it,” he said, smiling. 

His smile caught her off-guard that she wasn’t able to say anything back. It was the very first time he smiled her way, and Liz realized he really was quite handsome.

“Congratulations everyone!” Sarah said into the microphone, making Liz look back towards the stage. “That’s the end of the morning games. We will have lunch now, followed by some afternoon activities. So please make your way to the other side of the field where the tables and the food are ready.”

Trying to forget that awkward moment, Liz walked to where Dana and her family were. 

“Great job, Adam!” she said, raising her hand for a high-five. Adam, in a joyous mood, raised his hand to meet hers. 

“Let’s go eat!” Dana said.

They walked to where the tables were set up, and saw people were starting to line up to get food from the buffet. Dana and Maron went ahead to get food for Adam.

Allowing the kids and their parents get their food first, Liz approached Sarah, who just reached the dining area. 

“Hey Sarah, great job!” Liz praised. “That was really fun!”

“I’m glad you had fun!” Sarah exclaimed, beaming. “A pity I wasn’t able to join the games but it was fun watching everyone. Will and I took a video of the caterpillar game. It was hilarious!”

Liz laughed. “I should see that!”

“Yeah you should,” Sarah said, her eyes sparkling. 

Liz could see that Sarah was truly enjoying being part of this year’s committee.

“Well the day isn’t over,” Sarah said, “We still have some activities in store for everyone.”

“I’m looking forward to it!” Liz said.

“Go get your food,” Sarah said. “I just have to check with the caterer.”

“Sure,” Liz said. But seeing the line to get food was still long, she thought it was a good time to check her phone. She walked to where she left her bag and got her phone. There were only a couple messages from Emily and Brian. She quickly replied.

She thought of calling Jack. The last time she was able to speak to him was the previous day during a brief call. 

“Hey, Liz,” he said, answering.

“Just wanted to say hi,” she said. “I’m still waiting to get my lunch.”

“Oh yeah, it’s the family day right?” he asked.

“Yes!” Liz said, excitedly. “We’re having so much fun.”

“Oh, uh, yeah, that’s great,” he said.

Liz heard some tapping on the keyboard. “Are you working?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “Doing some paperwork here at home.”

Liz got a bit peeved that he couldn’t even stop for a while. They haven’t seen each other all week and only spoke a few times.

“Okay,” Liz said. “Let’s go somewhere casual later okay? I will be able to change but no chance to shower.”

“Tonight?” he asked.

“Jack!” she exclaimed, appalled. “We’ve talked about this. You’re going to pick me up here at Irvington then have dinner!” She was starting to get pissed.

“Yeah, sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” he said.

Liz sighed. “You are picking me up later, right?” she repeated, to be sure.

“Yes,” he said. She could still hear the tapping.

“Four o’ clock?” she pressed, losing her patience.

“Sure, see you then.”

“Okay, see you,” she said automatically, ending the call. She was still pissed, both at him and how their relationship has been for the past months. 

She took several deep breaths as she put her phone back into her bag and jogged back to the dining area. 

He wasn’t going to ruin her day.

Chapter 10

Ben

He saw her as she approached the dining area, and he knew she was bothered even if she was acting like nothing was the matter. Whoever she was speaking to in the phone must have aggravated her, since she’s been very cheerful before then.

Ben had to admit that he kept on noticing her all morning. He blamed it on her being the newest girl in the office, and he hadn’t gotten to know her yet. He also knew that she wasn’t very comfortable around him. She felt her shoulders stiffen when he told her who he was during the caterpillar game; and when they won, he knew she was holding back.

 He knew he was at fault. He hasn’t been very friendly to her since she started. It was a bit out of character of him, but he couldn’t help it then.

“Hey Ben, Alex said you’re close to making a deal with Jeremy Stephens,” Kayla said, jerking him out of his thoughts. It was only the three of them in the table. Henry and Diane joined Miranda’s family.

“Oh, yeah,” Ben said, picking on the slab of ribs he had on his plate. “All he wanted was a control on the screenplay. There’s no problem there.” Jeremy Stephens was an author of a bestselling book about the life of a man who ended up being a suicide bomber in Washington when he was twenty-one years old. It was the book he and Alex were turning into a movie.