Your Heart's Desire (7 page)

“Would you like to meet Miss Stuart now?” Miss Thornton offered. “I think she might be able to spare a minute or two.”

“Yes,” Caroline said, “I'd appreciate that.”

Miss Thornton cracked open the door, calling out first. “Mr. Hancock's new secretary would like to meet you.”

“I only have a minute, Barbara. Keep it short.”

“Right this way.” Miss Thornton led her in, jumping immediately into introductions, although this vice president seemed uninterested, keeping her back toward them as she studied what looked like an advertisement for chocolates.

Caroline stared openly at the back of the woman leaning against the large, elegant glass-topped desk. Wearing a sky-blue suit, with the poster in one hand and a cigarette in the other, she looked so chic that she might've been posing for her own advertisement. The caption would read: “The modern career woman at work today.”

When Miss Stuart turned around, Caroline nearly fell over. It was the same blond woman she'd met in the sanctuary yesterday. The same gorgeous woman who had snatched Terry away from her. Caroline was speechless.

Evelyn appeared taken aback as well. She snuffed out her cigarette in a heavy glass ashtray, then approached Caroline with slightly narrowed eyes. “I believe we've already met.”

“Yes.” Caroline nodded nervously. “At church yesterday.”

“Yes, that's right.” Evelyn laid down the poster to shake Caroline's hand, staring at her with a skeptical expression.

“Well, isn't this nice,” Miss Thornton said swiftly. “Everyone knows everyone now. So off we go, back to work, ladies, lots to do and not enough time to do it.”

“That's right,” Evelyn agreed. “Short day today.”

Before they left the VP's office, Miss Warner pointed to Miss Thornton. “I'll bet
you
have big plans for New Year's Eve tonight.”

“You've got that right.” Miss Thornton smiled smugly as she slid into her desk chair, reaching for the phone. “Marketing,” she said smoothly, “how can I help you?”

Caroline was still trying to get her bearings as they exited the office and walked around the catwalk. So Evelyn was Miss Stuart, not Mrs. That meant she and Terry weren't married. But did Terry really work here? She considered asking Miss Warner, but didn't want to appear overly interested.

“Those marketing ladies,” Miss Warner said longingly. “If I had the right training, I'd love to work in that office.”

“Why that office?” Caroline asked uneasily.

“Partly because they're so modern and stylish. But not only that. The marketing department is exciting. It's where all the fun happens.”

“Fun?” Caroline wanted to remind Miss Warner this was a workplace, but didn't care to offend the young woman. Especially after she'd been so helpful and friendly.

“Oh, yeah. Everyone says that Miss Stuart gets away with murder around here.”

“You mean because she's so pretty?” Caroline felt dismayed. Was this really
that
sort of company? She hadn't gotten that impression at all until now.

“I'm sure her looks don't hurt a bit. But it's also because she's so cozy with the boss. Her family and the Gordon family are really close. Have been for years. We've got a secret pool—some of us girls—where we try to pick the day when Mr. Gordon will propose to Miss Stuart. Some girls picked tonight—New Year's Eve. But I picked Valentine's Day.”

“Uh-huh.” Caroline didn't know what to think—but something about this was bothering her. “Isn't Mr. Gordon a bit old for Miss Stuart?”

“Oh, I don't know how old he is.” She giggled. “Certainly, he's a lot older than me. And it's possible that all the speculation about him and Miss Stuart is wrong. I probably shouldn't repeat it.”

“Maybe not.” Caroline knew her tone came out chilly.

“Anyway, those marketing women really are fun,” Miss Warner said a bit defensively. “Just wait, you'll see.”

“Well, I must admit that Miss Stuart and Miss Thornton are quite glamorous, but I'm not sure I'd like to work in their office for that reason alone.”

Miss Warner laughed. “Well, it's not for everyone.” She pointed ahead. “One more stop. The big boss. Mr. Gordon might be a busy man, but he always wants to meet the new employees.”

However, when they got to Mr. Gordon's very impressive executive suite, his secretary, a sweet older woman named Mrs. Gallagher, informed them he was on an important conference call. “I'm afraid he'll be on for another thirty minutes,” she said. “But I'll let him know that Mr. Hancock has a replacement secretary. I'm sure he'll be relieved.” She smiled warmly. “And welcome to the MG team, dear. I hope you like it here.”

“And that completes your tour,” Miss Warner informed Caroline when they were out on the catwalk again. “If you'll excuse me, I really should get back to the reception desk.”

“Certainly. And thank you for the tour.” Caroline frowned toward the executive suite, wondering if it were possible. But then slowly shook her head. Miss Warner had said Mr. Gordon was “a lot older.”

“You can find your way back to your office from here okay?”

Caroline smiled at her. “No problem.”

They parted ways at the elevator, and, feeling somewhat overwhelmed and a bit confused, Caroline returned to the production office. She put her handbag, hat, and gloves in the narrow closet, thinking how much nicer this was than a locker. But at the same time, she warned herself not to get used to it. She was over her head, and she knew it. If she could hold on for six weeks, she would be surprised.

Chapter 8

Of course, you must
stay and work,” Marjorie assured Caroline after hearing the good news about the job. “Joe and Danny have been playing outside all morning. I tell you, Sis, your boy's a whiz at keeping Danny occupied. Maybe I should hire him as a babysitter.”

“Joe always wanted a little brother. Danny is as close as he'll probably get.” Caroline started sorting the large stack of mail with her free hand.

“Well, congratulations on getting a job so quickly. And such a good one, too. Rich will be happy to hear it.”

“And because it's New Year's Eve, we quit early today, so I'll be home a little past three, and I can watch your kids tonight, in case you and Rich want to go out.”

“No, we had our big date on Saturday. I just want a quiet evening at home.”

“I should get to work.” Caroline slit open an important-looking envelope.

“When you get home you can tell me all about it.”

Caroline ended the call and continued sorting through the mail, separating the urgent from the mundane, and making a list of questions for her new boss. Then she went to work familiarizing herself with her new work space. But she quickly discovered that Miss Bentley (of the broken leg) was not nearly as organized as her tidy desktop had suggested. And if one dug a little, it was obvious that Miss Bentley's filing skills were “unique” at best. However, Caroline respected the fact that this was Miss Bentley's domain and her job was simply to fill in until she recovered.

Hopefully she would figure out the filing system and find a way to stay on task without changing too much. For now it seemed the most important job was to keep up with the mail, deal with Mr. Hancock's calls, take dictation as needed, transcribe the letters and orders that were ready to be sent out, and to keep everything in the production department moving as smoothly as possible.

Before long, she met two other production employees—Mr. Vincent, the production foreman, who split his time between the office and the floor, and Mr. Divers, the head mechanic in charge of keeping the machinery running smoothly. They spent nearly an hour meeting in Mr. Hancock's office before they broke up for lunch.

“Aren't you going to lunch?” Mr. Hancock asked as they were leaving.

She smiled as she put a receipt in the proper file. “I'll be right along.” Of course, she had no intention of going to lunch today, but she didn't want her new boss to know. For one thing, she hadn't brought food with her, but besides that there was much to do, and three o'clock wasn't so far off that she couldn't wait. She planned to use the extra hour to get this space a bit more organized. And that meant moving a few things around—just temporarily, since she suspected Miss Bentley would probably want to go back to her old ways. But when Caroline returned on Wednesday, she wanted to hit the street running, as one of her old secretarial teachers used to say. Preparation was key to success.

After about twenty minutes of reorganizing, the big glass door swung open and Miss Fowler from the distribution department walked in. “What's going on in here?” she demanded with a scowl.

“Wh—what?” Caroline looked up from where she was kneeling by a file cabinet.

“It's the lunch hour, and here you are working.” Miss Fowler's scowl melted. “You don't want to make the rest of us look bad.
Come to lunch!
”

Caroline stood with a sheepish smile. “The truth is I didn't bring a lunch today, so I thought I'd just work through. I didn't think anyone would mind.”

“Don't you know that it's New Year's Eve? Mr. G always treats the entire company to a special lunch on special days. The folks downstairs get soup and sandwiches. But the executive employees get a catered lunch. And I must say today's selection isn't half bad.” She smiled warmly. “Don't you remember I said I'd see you at lunch? I looked all around, but you weren't there.”

“I didn't know about the catered lunch.”

“Well, it's a tradition here. And if you want to partake, you better get moving.”

Caroline closed the file drawer. “Then, of course, I'll come. Thank you, Miss Fowler.”

“When we're off the clock, I'm just Doris,” she said lightly.

“I'm Caroline.”

“And since we work on the practical end of the company—Production and Distribution are considered the workhorses—we need to stick together.”

“Thanks.” Caroline gave her a grateful smile.

Doris seemed to be studying Caroline's suit as they walked down the catwalk. “So…is that how they dress back east, or wherever it is you're from?”

“Minnesota.” Caroline shrugged. “This was an old suit that I remade for work a few years ago.” She didn't admit to how many times she'd remade it. She frowned down at the dark gray woolen pieces. The ultraconservative design resembled a military uniform. “I suppose it does look like I'm going to a funeral.”

“As long as it's not your own funeral.” Doris laughed as she pushed open the break room door.

The room was bustling with people now. Besides the other secretaries, there were a number of men in suits, and everyone seemed to be in a festive mood. Some were standing in clumps and visiting, others were sitting at tables, but all of them appeared to have food and drink in hand.

“Check out this spread,” Doris said as she led Caroline over to the buffet, which, though somewhat picked over, still had plenty of food. “I'm going to grab some of that chocolate cake, then I'll save you a place at my table.”

Caroline picked up a plate and was just dishing out some Waldorf salad when someone got into the line behind her. She paused to see who it was, then clumsily dropped the serving spoon when she realized it was her mystery man—Terry. Apparently he really did work here after all. “I see we meet again.” She tried to sound clever, but mostly felt awkward.

“What're
you
doing up here?” he asked with what seemed genuine surprise.

“As a matter of fact, I
work
here,” she said lightly.

“Really?”
He looked confused now. “You got hired on the assembly line?”

She chuckled. “Well, if that were the case, I wouldn't be up here now, would I? I'm sure I'd be tossed out on my ear.”

He looked truly perplexed. “So, tell me,
where
do you work?”

“I was about to ask
you
the same thing.” She put some asparagus spears on her plate.

“What?” He glanced around as if concerned that someone might be listening in.

“Oh, all right.” She forked a slice of roast beef. “I suppose you haven't heard that Miss Bentley broke her leg skiing.”

“Really?” He shook his head with a look of realization. “Poor Miss Bentley.”

She lowered her voice now. “I came in to apply for a job this morning. Naturally, I assumed it would be on the assembly line, which I must admit was not terribly appealing. But then I was whisked off to Mr. Stokes's office. Well, I had no idea what was going on, so I just played along. The next thing I knew I was offered a job.” She paused to ladle some gravy onto her serving of mashed potatoes. “Of course, it's only temporary, but I hear that Mr. Gordon likes team players and that this company is really expanding nicely, so perhaps if I play my cards right, well, you just never know.” She smiled as she set the ladle back into the gravy. Terry was really a strikingly attractive man, and it was sweet the way he seemed to have taken an interest in her like this. “And now, you must tell me about your—”

“Mr. Gordon,” Mr. Hancock called from across the room. “Glad to see you made it here. We heard you were running late.”

“Thank you for the delicious meal,” another VP said cheerfully. “And they say there is no such thing as a free lunch.” Everyone laughed heartily, and Caroline glanced around the room, trying to figure out which man was Mr. Gordon.

“You're all very welcome,” Terry said loudly. “Happy New Year to everyone.” Now he turned to Mr. Hancock, who was approaching them. “And I've just met your new replacement secretary. So sorry to hear about Miss Bentley. But it looks like you'll be in good hands.”

“I certainly appreciate the speedy decision on the part of Mr. Stokes.”

“That was fast, wasn't it?” Terry turned back around to the buffet, reaching for the roast beef.

“Mr. Gordon?”
Caroline stammered. “You
are
…Mr. Gordon?”

“Yes.” Terry smiled. “Pleased to meet you, uh,
Mrs.…
?”

“Mrs. Clark.” She set down her plate and nervously extended her hand.

“Ah, yes.
Mrs. Clark.
” He grasped it firmly. “Pleased to officially meet you. And welcome to the team.”

“Thank you.” As she made an uneasy smile, she felt her cheeks growing warm. How could she have been so stupid? Acting so smug, trying to be clever!

Evelyn sidled up to Mr. Gordon now. “I need to talk to you,” she said in a slightly terse tone. “I left several messages with your secretary this morning, but you never returned my calls.”

“I've been on the phone all morning.” He continued to fill his plate.

“Well, I want to show you a new idea,” she said urgently. “And I need you to see our revised Valentine ad campaign. I want it sent out by Wednesday and we need your approval by quitting time today—if that's not too much to ask.”

“No problem. I'll stop by your office after lunch.”

Caroline couldn't help but overhear their conversation as she gathered her silverware and studied the dessert selection.

“And I'm feeling unclear about something,” Evelyn said a bit more quietly. “I thought we'd agreed that no executive staff would be hired without the exec team's approval.”

Mr. Gordon glanced at Caroline as she put a piece of apple pie on a dessert plate. “I suppose you'll have to speak to Mr. Stokes about that.”

“Really?” She sounded skeptical. “This was completely below your radar?”

“I only just learned of it myself,” he said quietly.

“But the team decided that—”

“She's only a temporary replacement,” he said in a quiet but firm voice. “I assure you, any full-time permanent employees will be approved in the future.”

Feeling like an unwanted guest, Caroline slunk over to the table where Doris was waiting. “Have a seat.” Doris lowered her voice. “And I see you met Mr. G. Isn't he a dish!”

Caroline gave her a tolerant smile and picked up her fork. Staring down at her food, she suddenly realized she'd lost her appetite. In fact, the pit of her stomach felt as if she'd already digested a rather large stone. She had never felt so foolish in her life. As she poked at her food, she tried to remember what she'd actually said to Mr. Gordon when she'd blathered away like that. Really, what on earth had she been thinking? Acting so glib and cheeky? So completely unprofessional.

It felt as if he'd gotten the last laugh, though. When he'd told Evelyn that Caroline was
only temporary
—it felt almost like getting a pink slip. And why not? After her stupid little act, he'd probably decided that she should be even more temporary than six weeks. Caroline wouldn't be the least bit surprised if they'd found a replacement for her by the time she returned to work on Wednesday. Oh, why on earth had she acted like that?

“Aren't you hungry?” Doris asked.

“I, uh, I guess not.” Caroline glanced to the door, wondering if there was a graceful way to cut through the crowd and escape this room without making a further spectacle of herself.

She was about to stand when Mr. Gordon began to ding his fork on a water glass. “Excuse me, everyone,” he said loudly. “I'd like to make a little announcement while you're all still here.” He waited as the room grew quiet. “First of all, I want to thank you all for your hard work this past year. Although the year started out slowly, due to the war shortages and such, the last six months have surpassed all expectations. Thanks to everyone's efforts and our recent expansions and improvements, MG Chocolates has experienced its highest annual sales in the history of the company!” He paused while they all clapped with enthusiasm. “And now I want to wish each and every one of you a very happy and blessed new year.” He held up his glass in a toast. “Here's to making 1946 even better than 1945.”

“Hear, hear,” everyone said heartily.

Mr. Gordon pointed to Evelyn now. “And I believe you have an announcement to make as well.”

She smiled at everyone. “Mrs. Gordon and I have decided to combine our efforts for tonight's celebration. As some of you know, we were both hosting a New Year's Eve party this evening, and it was causing some controversy with our guest lists—some of you couldn't decide which party to attend.” She laughed. “Therefore I have relocated my gathering to the gracious home of our founders, Mr. and Mrs. Gordon, and of course everyone here is invited.”