by Sophia Smith
You Give Me Hope
Book 3
Sophia Smith
PUBLISHED BY:
Sophia Smith
Copyright © 2020 All rights reserved.
Copyright
No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places, events, brands and media are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real people, places, or events are purely coincidental.
Chapter 1
Linda sifted through a few papers, pushing them on the desk to straighten them so that they fit nicely. She heard a knock at the door, causing her head to rise.
“Come in,” Linda said.
A younger woman walked through the door, with a black pixie cut and blue eyes.
“Ahh, you must be the new recruit,” Linda said.
“Yeah. It’s my first day. The receptionist told me to come here,” she said.
“Oh of course. I’ll take you over there right now. Brianna is a little picky about seeing new people. She’s been through quite a bit recently, and she doesn’t want too many visitors. But of course, you’re about to play a huge role in our company, so I do believe it’s only fair to bring you over there,” she said.
“Yes, for sure,” the new lady said.
“You’re Charlotte, right? I’m surprised, you’re much younger than I expected,” Linda said with pursed lips. She wasn’t used to dealing with younger employees, but her resume was impressive.
“Yeah, I get that a lot. I just…look younger than I am. I’d love to get started right away,” she said.
“Of course, Charlotte. Now, you know that Brianna has a condition, right? She did get heart transplant surgery and she’s been recovering for about six months. The old secretary was a total idiot, and I wanted to fire her forever ago, but Brianna insisted upon me keeping her around. I hope I don’t have to deal with the same problems with you,” Linda said with narrowed eyes.
“That’s no problem. I’m here to work, not to screw around,” Charlotte insisted.
Linda smiled. She liked a woman with a fiery tone of voice.
“Perfect, let’s go over there then,” she said.
Linda did go through a lot of candidates to find someone who was as good as her previous secretary. Charlotte had the credentials and then some. Let’s just hope that Brianna would like her.
They got to the door and knocked, waiting for a moment for the door to open. After a brief second, the lady then looked at them.
Brianna was a little older than Charlotte, or at least looked older than her. Brianna was nearly 40, and Charlotte looked thirty at the oldest. But Linda noticed Brianna’s eyes widen in surprise.
Charlotte was trying to keep herself together. She clutched the pieces of paper that Linda gave her in the office, hoping that Brianna liked her.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Brianna said.
Charlotte smiled.
“Same to you ma’am,” she said.
“Now Brianna, here are those reports,” Linda said.
“Thank you, Linda. You’ve done quite a good job. And I must say, I’m pretty surprised by Charlotte here. I looked at your track record, and I was pretty surprised at your credentials. You’re definitely a little younger than I was expecting, but with the different items on your resume, I’m quite impressed,” Brianna said.
In truth, the moment Brianna opened the door and saw Charlotte, something was weird with her. She immediately felt her body tighten, and her heart beat fast. It was strange, like she knew Charlotte, even though she’d never met this woman in her life.
She thought about mulling on this, to think about what this meant, but then, Linda spoke.
“Everything good there, ma’am?”
“Oh, of course. I’m quite happy to have you here Charlotte. Give me just a moment,” Brianna said.
“Do you need my help anymore Brianna” Linda asked.
Brianna turned, looking at the HR rep and then shaking her head.
“Nope, I’m pretty good. I’m actually totally fine. You can actually work on the rest of those reports, if that’s okay with you. I think it was just a sudden surprise. My heart is still on the road to recovery, but hopefully, I think it’s just a temporary thing,” Brianna said.
In truth, Brianna felt like she was faking a smile, and when she looked at Charlotte, she was trying her best to keep herself together. But there was an inexplicable tightness that occurred within her, and while she wanted to express her feelings, the last thing she wanted to do was to scare the new recruits.
Most people knew her as a tough, strong woman who didn’t back down from anyone, but now, here was Brianna, feeling her heart race and her body tense at the notion of this woman here. She never met Charlotte till moments ago, but being around her made her wonder if maybe, just maybe they met before.
“Alright, I’ll leave you to your devices,” Linda said, closing the door behind her.
A pregnant silence filled the room, with Brianna trying to figure out what to say next.
“Everything okay?” Charlotte asked.
“Whatever do you mean?” Brianna inquired.
Charlotte blushed, looking at Brianna and assessing her face.
“Oh, I just noticed that you seemed a little off. It’s like you saw a ghost the moment I walked in. if you’re not well, I wouldn’t mind helping and—”
“That’s fine Charlotte,” Brianna said.
She didn’t understand her feelings, but when she saw the dejected look on Charlotte’s face, she realized maybe she could’ve been a little nicer to her.
“I’m…I’m sorry, I’m just not sure what’s come over me either. I did recently have surgery, so it does take a little bit of time to recover. Maybe it’s just that,” Brianna said.
Yeah, it was probably just that. But, in her heart, she didn’t think that was the only answer. She looked over at Charlotte, who seemed concerned for her.
“If you need to lay down or anything, I’m totally willing to help. I mean, you hired me to be your secretary and all,” Charlotte said with a chuckle.
Brianna got her bearings, but she shook her head.
“I should be fine. So, you know that it’s a little different from a normal secretary job, right? I’m actually coming back to the office for the first time in a while today. I had another secretary, but I found out that she was causing trouble for my HR team, and I didn’t want to keep that negative energy around. Which is why you’re here. I expect you to do your job, and help me as much as you can,” Brianna explained.
“Of course. I’m ready to tackle all challenges,” Brianna said.
“Perfect. Let me show you your workspace, if that’s okay. It’s a little different from everyone else in the company. I do have a room adjacent to mine, and I’d like for the door to be at least left unlocked, if not opened. I’m definitely happy that you took this job by the way Charlotte. I went through a lot of candidates, but there was something about you which intrigued me,” Brianna said.
It was very odd. When she heard the name, she immediately agreed, as if the heart chose rather than her head. But Brianna was a leader, and she normally thought pretty long and hard when it came to new people in her office. But it was like she wanted Charlotte here.
Charlotte blushed, and then, she nodded.
“Of course. And I’ll try to help however I can. I’ve never really been in a position where I’ve needed to provide medical treatment, but I’m definitely quite happy to do so if you ever need anything,” Charlotte said, a beaming smile on her face.
For Brian
na, this whole interaction spurred something within her. It was a strange feeling, and as she continued to look at Charlotte, she felt her heart race.
“Anyways, you can get started. You don’t have to stay the entire day. I actually may take some time off a little bit early, if that’s okay,” Brianna said.
“Oh, okay. I’m actually pretty happy that you asked me to come work for you. This is the first job I’ve had since I lost her that I’ve felt really happy about,” Charlotte said.
“Lost her?” Brianna asked.
She immediately saw the raven-haired woman’s eyes close, her head in her hands, and her body shake.
“I’m sorry. It’s still just…so hard,” she said.
“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?” Brianna said.
“I’m…I’m a little embarrassed to bring this up after just starting here, but I guess I can tell you. Truth is, this is the first job I’ve had in a long time since I…I lost my fiancé. Her name was Lisa. She was a beautiful woman, an artist and someone who I thought I’d be spending my life with. But life didn’t turn out that way. In fact, she passed away from a brain tumor about a year ago. Her body was donated, her organs that weren’t her brain have since been used. It’s what she wanted, and I’m glad that I could do it but…it’s still hard for me to talk about sometimes. I’m really sorry for bringing this up,” Charlotte said.
“No, you’re totally fine. I’m more sorry than anything. Anyways, if you want to take it easy today, I won’t get mad at you or anything. I know how hard it can be. It’s been quite a long day for me already, and the longest I’ve really worked here at the office. But thank you Charlotte, thank you for being someone that I can rely on,” Brianna said.
Charlotte smiled and walked away, but then; Brianna realized she had more questions than answers. Charlotte immediately got her attention, and she strangely felt her heart lurch when she thought of her.
But, why was that? What did Charlotte do to spur this within her? Brianna didn’t know, but for now, she needed to catch her breath, figure out her feelings, and go from there.
Chapter 2
After Brianna finished at the office, she went over to the local aquatic center to swim for a while.
As she jumped off the diving block and into the water, she started to move her arms, pacing through the lane and then doing a flip turn on the other side. She did this for about 45 minutes, and when she was done, she walked out of the swimming area, wrapping a towel around herself.
“Wow, good job there Brianna. You’re getting better and better. Must be that new heart, huh,” Cameron, one of the other swimmers said.
“It definitely hasn’t hurt me or anything,” Brianna said back.
She did like Cameron, but she never really saw him as attractive or anything. But she liked swimming, and that’s part of the reason why she came out here four times a week to swim for a little bit.
“I’m glad you’re keeping yourself in shape. It’s better you take care of yourself now for future you,” he said.
“Yeah, I’m trying to live my best life,” Brianna said.
The truth was, she didn’t know what encouraged her to take up swimming. It happened almost on accident one day. She drove by there a few month after her transplant, and she realized that she wanted to go swimming. Since then, she’s been coming religiously.
It was very odd, and maybe it was due to the surgery that she had.
“Anyways, I’m going to head home and paint,” Brianna said.
“Sounds good. Have a good night Brianna.” Cameron said.
She waved goodbye, but then, she headed over to the locker room to change and then skedaddle.
When she got home, she put her bags down, and after making some food, she went to her new haunt she created since the surgery: a small room with an easel and a few canvases in there.
It was another strange symptom that developed after the transplant. Brianna didn’t understand why she did this. She thought that maybe it was because the person who had this heart before her loved to paint, but at the same time, she felt it was somewhat odd in a sense.
In the past, she never was interested in painting. But then, after the surgery, she started painting. She was good at it too, and it was like a switch turned on within her to get her to do this.
Today, she’d pain something small, but something she would enjoy. She got to work and an hour later, she painted a beautiful landscape with bright stars and a deep blue sky.
As she sat back to look at her work, she breathed out a sigh of contentment. She didn’t understand why she was even able to do this. Before the surgery, she wasn’t super artistic, and she didn’t take care of her body. She never went swimming.
The condition that caused her to need a transplant was one that came about as a result of genetic predisposition, but maybe it was the fact that she recently did have a heart transplant, but it woke her up to taking care of her body. After that, Brianna would work out more, and she would paint.
There was also something else which happened with Brianna after the surgery. Her sexual orientation seemed…different. It wasn’t like it was a bad thing, she just noticed that she found women attractive.
It happened at first while she was at the grocery store. She was checking out some items, when she noticed the cashier and her were making eye contact. Suddenly, Brianna blushed, looked away, and then afterwards, she then started to stutter when she looked at the cashier. It was very odd, but as time went on, she began to realize that this was happening more and more often.
And it would always happen with women that looked like Charlotte for some reason.
Brianna finished the painting, holding it there. But then, she noticed in the corner a small drawing of two people holding hands. She realized that it was her and Charlotte. Suddenly, she felt her hands shake, and as she put the painting down, she shook her head.
“No, I need to not think about that. I need to not think of my new employee like that. It’s wrong, I can’t do that. She’s here to work for me,” Brianna said.
This was the first time she ever had any feelings for someone who was working for her, but Brianna knew it was forbidden. It wasn’t right for her to do. And yet, her heart kept randomly aching for some reason.
The aching was something that did sometimes happen now and again, but at the same time, she didn’t want to get involved.
“Who could I talk to about this?” Brianna asked herself.
There was no way in hell she was telling anyone at work and talking to Cameron seemed hollow and bizarre. Linda was the only one who truly knew of her condition, but she wasn’t about to make a big deal out of this either. She didn’t think getting Linda involved was right. For now, maybe it was for the best that she kept it to herself, since it meant that she would be able to figure out her own feelings and get a grasp on everything that was going on.
Either way, she didn’t really know what else to do at this point than to go about her day. It would be better if she just didn’t think of Charlotte, but little did she know that this was only the beginning of a new and crazy turn of events, a series of events that even she was not ready for.
Chapter 3
Brianna wished that these feelings would disappear, but after about three weeks, they started to grow only more so.
At first, Charlotte and Brianna had a normal relationship as boss and secretary, and they would mostly keep things on a professional level. But then, one day Brianna noticed that Charlotte was at her desk, biting her pen in frustration.
“Something the matter?”
“Yeah, I have these tickets for this play, and I don’t know how to go with. I don’t want them to go to waste. They were something I was planning to see with her but…”
Brianna suddenly felt a small lurch in her heart.
“I mean, we could go together. No sense in wasting a ticket, right?” Brianna offered.
“Sure, I’d love that. We can go after work, if that’s okay,” Charlotte
said.
Brianna had a giant grin on her face. She felt a happiness that grew stronger.
The next couple days felt very strange. Brianna would notice Charlotte at her desk and feel a sense of longing. She never seemed to really feel that with someone before.
On the day of the play, they did dress up and go together as friends, but for Brianna, it felt almost like a date.
No, she wasn’t dating Charlotte, they were just going because Charlotte needed someone. She was doing her a favor. Nothing more
After they sat down, watched the play, and got up, Charlotte’s eyes were filled with tears.
“Thank you,” she said.
Brianna looked at her with concern, unsure of what this meant.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m…happy. I’m really happy Brianna. I’m just surprised by everything. I’ve been a bit nervous about going to this play because it was her favorite, but now, I feel like I’m doing things for her,” Charlotte admitted.
“I see,” Brianna said.
“The truth is Brianna; I actually never left my house after she passed away. I was a hermit, holing myself up in order to avoid the truth. But now, here I am, out at the theater with my boss, and I’m happier than I’ve been in a long time,” Charlotte admitted.
Hearing her say this made Brianna feel happy inside, a warm and fuzzy feeling that made her feel happy and whole.
“I’m really happy for you Charlotte. I can tell that it’s hard, but you’re a strong woman for doing this,” Brianna said.
“Yeah, I am,” she replied.
For a moment, neither of them said much to one another, but it made Brianna’s heart race as soon as she heard those words. It made her feel like she did something nice for Charlotte, even though she couldn’t understand what it was.
From that point forward, their relationship soon became even deeper. For the first time, Brianna felt like she had a friend. They did work together almost all the time, making small talk and work-related questions, but Brianna started having lunch with Charlotte, talking about everything from their favorite animals to dreams and things that would make them happy. For Brianna, it was to find the person that she loved, and to continue to be successful. For Charlotte, it was to finally get over her past, and to finally improve her own life. It was a dream of hers, and as Brianna heard this, she took Charlotte’s hand, holding it there and squeezing it.
