by Kay Edwards
Chapter Two
Wendy looked at her hands again. Of all the things her little nephews could do, a manicure with permanent marker while she slept, never once crossed her mind. The doors to the elevator opened, and she stepped in with the other three people waiting to go to work. The way her morning had gone, it did not matter if these three owned the world. She was not in the mood. She waited for one of them to say something.
The three brothers looked at their new employee’s fingers. All of them were trying hard not to laugh.
Stefan knew he could not give in to his desire to snicker. He almost gave up his self-control and let the chuckle he had built up out when Wendy turned and looked at all three of them.
“Do not say a word. Not one…” Wendy heard the elevator door open for her to get out. After making eye contact with each one of the men, she turned, held her head high, and walked toward Stefan’s office.
Trevor couldn’t take it anymore. As they entered the office, he gave in to his desire to laugh. He could not help but tease her. “You need to get your money back. That is the worst manicure I have ever seen.”
Stefan apologized as he started chuckling too. “I am sorry it really is funny. What happened?”
Wendy looked at her nails and grimaced. She had to admit that she could understand their desire to laugh. In their eyes, she was sure it was funny. She, however, wanted to yell. “I think my cheek has holes in it from biting it. My nephews did this while I was sleeping. They were so proud of their ‘present’ for my first day of work.”
Liam chuckled at the faces she was making. “How did you sleep through that?”
Wendy pulled out a bottle of nail polish remover from her purse as she answered him. “I’m a newly single mom with two kids. I fall into bed most nights and don’t even remember how I got there. I'm just glad they didn't go for a facial.”
Stefan watched her start taking it off. He glanced at the Sharpie that had fallen out of her purse and picked it up for her. “I think you dropped something.”
Wendy looked at it and shuddered. “I have to put that back on before I walk in the apartment door later.”
Stefan shook his head. He knew that was a very bad idea. “You should not do that. They will do it again if you don’t tell them it wasn’t right.”
Wendy shrugged her shoulders. She didn't want to contradict her new boss, but she did. “I’m not worried about that. I can always take it off.”
Liam looked at Stefan. He could tell his brother was getting ready to give Wendy some parenting advice. He sat down and waited to see how that would go for him. In his opinion, Wendy didn't seem very open to what his brother had to say.
Stefan’s voice held some authority on the subject of children. “It is imperative to set some ground rules. Trust me the next time it may not be your fingernails. You may get that facial you are dreading.”
Wendy started biting the inside of her cheek. She nodded and said nothing. She didn't believe her boss understood the situation at all.
Trevor chuckled. He could see Wendy wanted to say something and was choosing not to. He decided to throw some fuel on her flame. “Stefan knows these things. He has a daughter who is three-years-old. You could say he’s an expert.”
Wendy looked at Trevor. She knew what he was up to. She chose to ignore his comment.
Stefan could also tell Wendy was trying not to say anything. He shook his head. “I’m not trying to tell you how to raise them. I’m just giving some friendly advice that my nanny gave me. When my wife passed, I was lost. As Macy got older, I didn’t say no to her as I should have. My nanny pointed out that it may not be the best parenting strategy. Macy was turning into quite a little stinker because of my choice to say yes instead of no.”
Wendy looked at her nails. The remover was not taking all of the marker off. If she had, to be honest, she didn’t want them to do this again. She looked at her new boss. Maybe he did understand this single parenting life that she had. “I think I may take your advice on this. I have no desire to wake up to this again. I guess I just don’t want to hurt their feelings when they were honestly trying to do something nice.”
Trevor watched his brother’s reaction to Wendy’s confession. It was interesting to see his brother relaxed for once. Stefan apparently wanted to help his new assistant.
Wendy glanced at Stefan. She voiced one of her biggest fears in a shaky voice. “I don’t want to break them. I am just winging this day to day with them.”
Stefan took the bottle from her so she could work on her nails more. His voice held no sensor as he spoke. “It is a delicate balancing act. You could probably tell them that you liked that they wanted to help, but in the future, it would be more helpful to have a card to bring with you. It can’t hurt to show them how hard it is to get it off either.”
Wendy thought that was a very good idea. “I can do that. I don’t break their little hearts for doing something nice all while redirecting their energy. That is some pretty helpful advice.”
Stefan watched as she finished cleaning her nails. When she was done, he started explaining the latest project they were working on as he handed her an electronic tablet. As much as he had enjoyed their little talk about parenting it was time to work.
Wendy took notes as Stefan spoke. At some of the areas, she had suggestions she marked down on her device.
As lunch approached the receptionist brought in sandwiches and coffee. Wendy nibbled on the food while she continued to take notes and work the program she was using. As Stefan finished and asked for suggestions, Wendy pointed out the things that stuck out to her.
Stefan looked at her suggestions on his tablet and had to agree that they worked better than his original plan. They revamped everything on the original design to include the ideas.
Wendy looked over Stefan’s shoulder at the final design on his computer. “It looks really smooth now. It was good before, but I think this client will fall in love with this. You may not have to worry at all about your bid.”
Stefan had to agree. “It really does look like something worth paying a bit more for. This is impressive.”
Trevor sipped at his coffee. “We have that second bid coming in right on top of this. The dinner party for that is the day after the dinner party for this one. We have a busy two weeks. My assistant is already starting plans for that.”
Stefan had forgotten about the dinners. He glanced at Wendy hoping she could make it to them. “Are you going to be able to attend the dinners with us? Trevor and Liam’s assistants will be there.”
Wendy didn’t see a problem with it at this point. “If you give me the dates, I’ll text Mary now and see if she is able to keep the boys for me.”
Stefan nodded. “If she can’t they are always welcome to join Macy and her nanny at the penthouse. I'm sure Macy would be thrilled with the company.”
Wendy glanced at the dates he wrote down. The Saturday one looked like it was going to run late. “I am going to be dragging at church on Sunday morning.”
Stefan chuckled. “You should just sleep in.”
Wendy shook her head. “I don’t want to. I like going to church. Trust me when I say you like me going to church too.”
Liam was the only brother that went to church. He was seriously asking her to explain. “Why do you say that?”
Wendy didn’t even try to sugar coat it. “I don’t think I am a very nice person without Christ. The weeks that I miss church on Sunday. I do more apologizing than I should. I can be very nasty with my words.”
Trevor chuckled at her words. He couldn't see this woman being anything but pleasant. “I doubt it.”
Wendy shrugged her shoulders delicately as she confessed one of her past escapades. “I ended up in handcuffs once because of my mouth. I was sixteen and knew everything. The police officer I was mouthing off to disagreed. The three months I was grounded af
ter that proved I didn’t know anything. I thought my mom was going to kill me.”
Liam choked on his coffee. “What did you say to the man?”
Wendy giggled. “I told her she had man hands when she gave me a ticket for speeding. That sensor that adults have was not quite working for me as a teen. Let’s just say it escalated, and I had some major apologizing to do. I also had to clean out the officer's garage. I was super ashamed of myself when I realized how much I liked her. She was very nice.”
Trevor shook his head. “I’m thinking that taught you some respect.”
Wendy chuckled. “It really should have, but I am still positive it is Jesus that keeps my sensor button in check. The trips to the principal's office after that showed me I still had some self-control to learn.”
Stefan had his doubts about Christ. He used to believe in Him but after his wife died. He had a hard time believing. He changed the subject to the second project. Liam and Trevor’s assistants joined them as they started working out the details for it.
Wendy again took notes. Her mind started seeing things the way that had become her norm. She took notes and again added suggestions. Stefan looked at one of the suggestions as he was talking. He stopped midsentence to speak with her. “How do you do that?”
Liam looked at the notes Wendy was sending to them on their tablets. “That is really interesting. I want to know too.”
Wendy was not sure how to answer the question. She absolutely hated it when people noticed it. Some of her college friends poked jokes at her strange way of looking at things. The reason that she did look at things like she did was a bit heartbreaking to talk about.
Trevor also looked down at the tablet in his hand. He glanced at the notes and then back at her. “These are actually things I don’t usually think of. They are good suggestions.”
Liam looked at Stefan. “Maybe we change how we start our projects. It may save time if you have her beside you as you start your thought process. The more time we cut off of the brainstorming, the faster we put in our bid.”
Stefan couldn’t argue with that. Wendy's point of view was unique. “It would save us hours.”
The group continued to work. The fact was that Stefan needed them to work. Not having a proper assistant for the last month had set him a few months behind on certain things. He glanced at one of the projects Liam had on his tablet in front of him. “I thought we had that done already.”
Liam looked up. “We did, but I think we could benefit if Wendy took a look at it.”
Wendy was embarrassed by the attention. She glanced at it on her device. In seconds, she broke it down to something the same yet entirely new. She looked up. “This is how I see it.”
Liam looked at it and then sent it to Stefan's tablet as he spoke. “You are right. She is going to be an asset.”
Wendy continued the work that was given her. She chose to ignore the compliment.
Trevor chuckled. “You really are not into the attention thing. I would love to know how you can see things this way. It would be interesting to learn.”
Wendy decided to give it a shot. “Ok, I can try to show you why I see things like I do. When you see this exit here as fine, I put the same exit in a crisis scenario. When I do that and change it, it opens the area up differently in my eyes. What I look at as a safe exit most look at as a really nice spacious place. I can see you all like what I’m doing. However, I enjoy seeing it like this for a different reason than you all do.”
Stefan looked over the other project she was working on. “Why do you see it that way?”
Wendy didn’t think of making anything up. She told them the truth. “My parents were killed in a fire. We were at a hotel and couldn’t get out. The exits were not clearly marked and very narrow. My sister’s husband went to find my parents and never came back. The building was up to code, but that didn’t help my parents or brother-in-law. After that fire, it was just my sister, the kids, and me.”
Stefan shook his head to remove the images put there out of his mind. He glanced at his brothers before he spoke. “How old were you?”
Wendy continued to mark things on her device as she answered. “I was eighteen. My sister was twenty-two. She had just had Sean. We didn’t go after our parents because we needed to get the kids out first. We watched the hotel burn knowing those we loved were still inside.”
Liam was shocked at how monotone her voice was. “It doesn’t bother you?”
Wendy answered without even looking up. “It bothers me a lot. I choose not to let it define who I am. I cry. I just do it alone.”
The group continued their work for the next few hours. As it came time for Wendy to leave, she stacked some papers that she had been working on beside her tablet. “Where would you like me to keep my work?”
Stefan looked at her surprised. He realized he had been remiss. “I’m sorry. We kind of got distracted with your nails today. I didn’t show you the office you will have.”
Wendy followed him into an office next door to his. It was very spacious there was a door from Stefan’s office and another door out into the hall. She glanced at him. “I didn’t expect this. I thought a cubical would be okay for me.”
Stefan leaned against the doorway. He chuckled. “You and I are working as a team. Trust me you will need this.”
Wendy put her papers on her desk. She turned and smiled. “I say our first day was a success. How did you see it, Mr. Felix?”
Stefan held the door open for her as she walked past him. He followed her to the elevator. “I think you stood by your words on Thursday. You told me I would not regret giving you a chance. You were right. Today has been a success.”
