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,
Norah. I know being here with me is hard for you. I hope it will get
easier. I hope one day, you’ll be that happy,” he gestured back
towards the hospital as if he was talking about Sofia.
When they got back to the house, Norah went straight to the
kitchen and started washing the dishes. Liam came in behind her,
and pulled out a beer from the fridge.
“I never thanked you for closing the deal for me tonight. You
did something in fifteen minutes that my executives nor myself could
do in a month of talks. Thank you.” He walked up behind her at the
sink. He touched her cheek and pushed the hair off her shoulder. “It
seems the appearance of a girlfriend does good things for me in
more ways than one. I don’t think Stackhouse would have closed the
deal otherwise.” He leaned down and kissed her neck. “He’s very
traditional, believes in family, marriage, having something to pass
on. I don’t think he ever pictured me as the kind of man who wanted
to settle down.” He kissed her neck and traveled down to her
shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist.
“You looked very natural with the baby, Norah, you looked
happy.” He ran his hands down her body and pulled her to him. She
could feel his erection in her back. “For a very brief moment, I saw
my life playing out in a different way with you.” He kissed her neck
again. “Is this okay, Norah?” She turned her head toward him and
they shared a passionate kiss, as his hands wandered up her shirt. “I
want you, Norah,” he breathed in her mouth. “Do you want me?”
she wiped her hands on the towel in front of her and turned her
body to his. She put her hands in his hair, and pulled him closer.
