Star Bright (14 page)

Dave was speechless for
the first time, his blunt question had caught him completely off
guard. He wasn’t sure how to answer him, as he had thought about
everything else apart from that, his real intentions. He stared at
Miguel, shocked, it took him a few seconds to realize the female
voice on the other end of the line.

A nurse in a purple
uniform moved close to Maria, “What’s your son’s name?” she asked
softly

“
Mich...
Miguel.” Maria said, catching herself. She lifted Elizabeth higher,
and wrapped her properly with her coat when she stirred and changed
positions.

“
Skorfield! I
bet he broke out again,” Maria turned to face the unconcerned
voice. The stoutly nurse faced Maria, “He must be out roaming the
building again.” Maria was about to yell at her for being
irresponsible and letting a child leave the room, and not even
bother to go out and look for him. “Miss Michaels, your son is in
Dave Greer’s office.”

Maria exhaled in relief.
Dave’s office should have been her first guess. Michael was at ease
enough to go to the cafe with him, why wouldn’t he visit him at the
office. He probably went to tell him where they were. She thought
of sitting back down and waiting for them to come, but she felt too
anxious to wait. She wanted to make sure Michael really was with
Dave and he was safe, “Thank you.” She said to the lady and went
out the door.

She knew where Dave’s law
firm was, Leo showed them when he took them for the tour weeks
after she had gotten to know him better. Apart from Tom, he was
another man she had come half way to trusting, and now Dave was
making his way onto that list, to the top of that list actually. If
he trusted her enough to leave his daughter with her, she didn’t
see why she couldn’t trust him the same way. But she had a stronger
reason rather than the love for their kids not to.

She walked slowly into
the large busy firm. A few people stared at her as she made her way
to the reception desk at the entrance, it made her uncomfortable.
If it wasn’t for the sleeping baby in her arms she would have
pulled her hair forward to partially cover her face. “Hi, could you
tell me which way to Dave Greer’s office?” she spoke, above a
whisper.

“
Go straight,
then take a left down the hall, it’s the last office. There will be
a red head secretary at his door.” The brunette lady spoke,
unconcerned, without looking at her. Maria would have considered it
rude, but it was relieving to have one less person staring at
her.

“
Thank you.”
She walked down the wide corridor, past a number of desks, keeping
her eyes down. She looked down the hallway, to meet a number of
eyes on her. She was a little bothered with the weird questioning
looks most of them gave her, but she could feel her anger mount
when she saw the familiar, lustful looks some men gave her. Those
looks always made her feel like her beauty was a curse and not a
blessing, as most women she met told her.

They kept telling her she
could get everything she wanted with her looks, what they forgot to
tell her, or didn’t care to know, was all the bad things it brought
too.

She stopped in front of
the red head’s desk and spoke coldly and quietly to her, “Is Dave
in?”

Carol looked up and
smiled, amazed by Maria’s beauty, and completely ignoring how cold
her question was, “That little hunk must be yours, I can see where
he gets his looks from.” She stood up and rapped on Dave’s door,
“Are you the new baby sitter or his girlfriend?”

Maria felt guilty about
being so rude when she complemented her son, but she was taken
aback by the girlfriend remark, “Excuse me?”

“
I’m Carol,
his secretary, and I only said that because, as much of a gentleman
as he is, with an ex- wife like his, I was sure he had his own
little action on the side.”

Maria felt
even guiltier.
He
had ended his marriage and not his wife, and by Carol’s words,
she must have cheated on him. It did explain his sudden rage at
lunch, “I’m Paula, and no, I’m not his girlfriend nor his sitter.
How long have they been divorced?”

“
He filed the
papers today,” she said quietly, looking at Maria more keenly, “How
is it he left you his child? He never leaves Lizzy with
acquaintances, let alone complete strangers. He must have done...”
she stopped when the door suddenly opened. Dave stood there with a
smile that lit up his whole face, his hands jabbed in his
pockets.

“
Someone won’t
be winning parent of the year anytime soon either.” The edge of his
lips rose in half a smile. He looked at her and then at his
sleeping daughter, he loved seeing them like that, they looked
perfect.

Maria stared at him, a
smile automatically dominating her face, “Your parenting skills are
contagious.” She noticed how much happier he seemed when his eyes
darted to his daughter and then back to her. There was no doubt he
really loved Elizabeth, and Maria liked that about him.

Carol shifted her gaze
between them. She was more shocked at how Dave looked at her. She’d
only seen him look at one person like that once before, since she
started working for him three years ago, his wife Amy. Then the
look faded and disappeared when Amy started cheating, and now she
was seeing it again. She had to admit, the girl was gorgeous, but
she knew there must be something more to her that was making Dave
slowly fall for her. He might not know it, but she did, and she was
sure in another few months there would be more than one girl in his
life, as much as Dave saw women as evil right now.

“
That’s not
the only thing that seems contagious.” Carol said, as she sat back
down.

Dave and Maria gave her a
questioning look, but didn’t bother to ask for further
explanations, “Would you like me to take her?” Dave asked, raising
his arms. He was hoping she would say no, he didn’t want to ruin
the picture.

“
No, she’s
comfortable and I’m already used to having her there.” Maria rocked
gently when Elizabeth stirred again.

“
The earlier
the better.” Carol mumbled. Maria and Dave turned to her again.
Dave smiled, finally catching on to her innuendos, but Maria was
still out of the loop.

Dave shifted out of the
door way and motioned for Maria to go in, “Don’t mind her, she’s a
little imbalanced.” Maria was even more confused, but she walked
into the office, leaving Dave outside. Dave leaned down to whisper
in Carol’s ear, “Quit it, there is nothing going on between
us.”

“
That’s what
you think.” she whispered back, pushing him away.

Dave walked in and closed
the door behind him. Miguel was already at his mother’s side,
beaming up a very adorable smile, he was sure Dave would get him
out of trouble. She shook her head, bent down and kissed his
forehead before she went to the pen and gently put Elizabeth down.
She lingered over her for a moment to make sure she didn’t wake up,
whispered something in her ear, kissed her cheek, then walked away
slowly, light on her feet. Dave loved that image even more than her
just holding his daughter.

Maria stretched out her
hands, unknotting the kinks before she picked up Michael and held
him, not bothering to scold him. It had been hours since she held
him in her arms, and she wanted to hold him close even for a
moment, glad that he had been safe with Dave.

Dave moved to them and
pulled Michael out of her arms, “I think you need a break, your
arms must be tired.” He placed a hand on her back and guided her to
the empty seat next to Todd, “What was that you whispered in Izzy’s
ear?” He walked around his desk and put Michael in his chair. He
liked Miguel’s pet name for his daughter better than Lizzy or
Elizabeth.

“
It’s a
blessing. She whispers it in my ear too when I go to sleep.”
Michael offered, spinning in the chair. Dave walked back around the
desk and sat on it next to Maria with an eye shot to his
daughter.

“
Sit still!”
Maria scolded, but Michael didn’t stop.

“
Don’t worry
about it, he’s been doing that since he got here. It kept him busy
for a while as I finished some business.” Dave didn’t want to tell
her about the question Miguel had asked him. He had managed to
convince Miguel to give him some time before he answered it. He was
very protective over his mother, and he got Dave to agree to
supervised dates, by Miguel of course, as he figured out his
answer.

Todd stared at Dave,
amused at how swiftly he lied to her. He could see Dave didn’t want
to tell her the conversation he had with Miguel, but he couldn’t
figure out why, “Hi I’m Todd.” He stretched his hand out to her
with a smile.

Maria
swallowed a lump in her throat before she shook his hand.
It’s just a hand shake, a harmless hand shake
that’s all.

Maria returned the smile,
placing a face to the screw up Dave had been talking, more like
rebuking, at the cafe. He was the personification of muscles and
looks without brains. She figured his father was McKenzie when he
said ‘dad’ and a promise of a promotion in the same sentence.
“Hi.”

“
You must be
Paula.” He lowered his tone to a seductive level. Dave looked at
him with a raised eyebrow at the sudden change of his
tone.

The change in his tone
annoyed Maria, making her withdraw her hand from his.

Maria, repeating his
earlier insinuation, “Yes, the waitress who he’s not sleeping with,
we just have a habit of finding each other’s kids. How are the
repairs going?” She was amused when she saw the red rush to Todd’s
face, it would teach him not to think the worst of every situation.
Dave placed a hand over his mouth to hide a smile.

Todd picked up his
notebook and stood up, reading in between the lines, “I’ll leave
you two alone.”

“
Can I come
see your office?” Michael chimed excitedly.

Maria didn’t want him out
of her sight again and was about to say no when Dave intervened,
placing a hand on her shoulder, “Todd, tell Carol to watch him.
Tell her, her job depends on it.” Michael shot off the chair and
ran after Todd, not waiting for his mother’s approval. Todd nodded
and closed the door behind him. Dave saw the worry in Paula’s face,
“Don’t worry, he’s very safe with Carol.” Maria nodded and gave him
a feeble smile. She was still worried and Dave liked that. Amy
wouldn’t care if Elizabeth ran into speeding traffic. Dave sat in
the seat Todd was on and turned to Paula with an amused look on his
face, “You really put him in his place.”

Maria felt relieved his
hand hadn’t lingered too long on her shoulder, “Someone had to. I
figured since I don’t work here and I can’t get fired for being
rude to the boss’s son, I should take the initiative.” trying not
to worry about Michael. She didn’t know Carol nor Todd, but Dave
did, and he was sure he would be safe, so she had very little to
worry about.

Placing his hand on her
arm, “Do you always eavesdrop on your customers conversations? How
much did you hear?”

Maria’s eyes
darted to his hand, her throat quickly restricting, making her hold
the breath in her dry throat.
Don’t
fret
, she urged herself. She slowly let go
of the breath and swallowed hard before she pulled her gaze back to
his face, “All of it. You were pretty loud, and I was on my way
back out to give you Elizabeth.” She tried to ignore the nervous
itch his hand gave her arm, she was hopeful he would move it as
quickly as he had before.

Dave wanted to ask her
the question that had been bugging him, but he thought against it,
he didn’t want her to retreat into her shell. He would get to know
the person she was trying to be, and then when she was comfortable
around him, he would ask her about the life she was running away
from, “I’m sorry, I have a short temper and I tend to get loud
sometimes.”

Maria there’s
your warning,
she thought to herself. But
she saw how he was at the cafe, so he must be different.

“
But never
physical.” Maria said unconsciously. She wanted to take it back
immediately because it sounded like another accusation, and she
definitely didn’t want to make him mad again.

He saw she didn’t mean to
say that, and it seemed more like a relieved proclamation than a
comment. He was right, who ever she was running away from used to
beat her, “My mother taught me only cowards hit women.”

“
Clever mom,
you should lend her to the cowards of the world.” But she was sure
nothing could change Ricky.

Dave looked at her, the
dark pained look on her face that mirrored her voice hurt him. He
couldn’t believe anyone would consciously break someone as gentle
as she was, “No woman deserves to be hit.” he said gently, making
Maria lift her gaze to him, “not even the annoying ones like my
wife.”

“
Ex-wife,”
Maria corrected with a smile, “I’m sorry I implied it was your
fault, I should have known there was something worse than your male
chauvinist ego. I can’t believe she cheated on you.”

Unable to bear the itch
anymore, she pulled her arm from under his hand and scratched her
neck in pretense. She may not like to be touched, but it doesn’t
mean she had the right to be openly rude about it, especially to
Dave.