Protecting Emma

by ML Michaels

  Carla looked at him with a scornful stare and said, “If it’s okay with you, I’d rather be safe than sorry. But thanks for the geography lesson.”

  Dale said, “As long as we don’t have to leave the pub early.” They continued to load into the van, and Matthew carried out some final checks to make sure everything and everyone was secure and safe.

  “The what?” said Brooke.

  “That’s what the restaurant is,” said Dale to her. He was in the seat opposite Brooke and Carla, seated beside Darren. “It’s an old time pub.”

  “Oh, I see…” said Brooke, turning and sneaking a little smirk to Carla.

  “They convinced everyone to eat there somehow. And they only want to go because they’re obsessed with video games or something.”

  Matthew hopped behind the steering wheel and started up the van. “Don’t worry. It’s right near the airfield, although I haven’t been there before, so I can’t vouch for the food. Anyway—is everyone ready to have some fun?” he said, pulling the van out from the loading area of their building.

  True to his word, Matthew brought them all to his personal, albeit rather small, airfield. When he pulled the van up beside the little hangar, he stood up and said, “You’ve all been asking me for this since as long as I can remember.” There was a low cheer from most of them. “Who gets to go first then?” Matthew continued.

  Brooke certainly didn’t volunteer because she wasn’t entirely sure how brave she was feeling. Instead, she was one of the last people waiting to have their turn. The others would come back by the hangar after their turn, looking wild with excitement.

  “Are you going to go next,” said Carla, when there was no one else waiting.

  “I thought we’d go together.”

  “It’s only a two-seater plane, Brooke. You’re not afraid of flying are you? I didn’t think you were, because you seemed to fly out from your home town just fine and— “

  “Oh, no, it’s okay. I don’t have a problem flying…”

  Carla drew in a short, quick breath and nodded. “I see, say no more.” It was obvious to her friend that Brooke had started to panic about spending alone time with Matthew.

  Matthew walked over to get her and helped her board the plane.

  They were pretty formal with each other at first, and then things sort of smoothed out when they were cruising along at a stable altitude. She couldn’t help but feel relaxed, open.

  “It’s so beautiful,” she said, looking down at the expansive countryside, her headset’s microphone transmitting what she was saying to Matthew.

  “You’ve got that right,” he said, looking at her. “I’m glad I get to share this with you,” he said. “Would you be mad if I told you, that’s the only reason I agreed to this? I knew it was a sure fire way of getting you alone up here.”

  “You could have just asked.” Brooke went red in the face, part from embarrassment, part with anger. “But don’t you think your girlfriend would have been upset if she found out?”

  “What? I don’t have a girlfriend.” He straightened himself up and looked straight ahead into the blue and white around them, trying to act unaffected by the accusation.

  “That’s not the impression I got from Myra when she showed up outside my building.”

  “Myra.” Matthew almost spat the words.

  "What, did you two have a falling out?"

  "Don't you think I would have said something if I had a partner? Heck, do you think I would have actually asked you out on a…” He blushed, just like Brooke had done when she had almost accidentally referred to their day out together as a date.

  “Date?

  “I’m not sure what to think. What made you think that I’m the type of man to two-time his girlfriend?”

  “You mean, she’s really not your girlfriend? Fiancée Wife?”

  Matthew looked ahead, brow furrowed and a miffed expression. “No. But apparently I need to have a word with her father about, some things.”

  “Please don’t get me in trouble.”

  “Don’t worry about your job. Henry can’t touch my team, it’s in our agreement. Besides, this is as much my company as his, and he’s committed as I am. But I am tired of being pushed into a few things I don’t want to do.”

  “That’s nice to hear.” They were silent for a moment soaking up the amazing view.

  “Say, Matthew, is there another way back to town? I wasn’t thinking about skipping lunch? I’m not feeling too hungry right now.” She didn’t want to mention that her stomach was a bit queasy riding in the small plane that obviously meant so much to him.

  “No. There’s no other way back to town. Are you okay? Should we cut the day short? If you’re not feeling well…”

  “No really, I’m fine. Just not too hungry. Maybe I’ll just sit in the van.”

  “Brooke, we have to do this as a team. Everyone will lose motivation if their newest member doesn’t want to be part of the team. How about you and I just grab a coffee at this ‘old timey’ place? That’s if they even have coffee.” He laughed a little, and looked so attractive and inviting doing so, that it made Brooke smile. “We’ll let the other people eat and drink to their heart’s content. And if you don’t feel at some point, we’ll all pack up and call it a day.”

  “Okay, it’s a deal. I wouldn’t want to let the team down, after all,” she said. Without thinking, as she did so, Brooke put her hand on her boss’ shoulder. He didn’t flinch. In fact, his eyes warmed.

  ***

  Tuesday morning was not as productive as everyone had told her it would be. Normally after the team-building day, everyone was totally pumped, ready to take on the looming deadline.

  Brooke walked into the office and checked to make sure her phone was on silent. She made her way through the ground floor area, past the slew of busy administrative staff and business guests coming and going from important meetings.

  When she arrived on her team’s floor, she realized she hadn’t bumped into anyone else riding up with her to start the day. But she didn’t think too much of it, since the team was small, and it was a big building. There were other elevators that went to the same floor, anyway.

  When those big, steel doors slid aside, there was nothing. The sweet, young man who usually worked the front desk by the entrance? Gone. The programmers who would often gather around the break area and talk about how far they’d gotten in whatever video game they were currently playing? Not one of them. In fact…it was like a ghost town, and that sent Brooke into a tail spin. Her head spun, and she rushed by all of the rooms on the floor, just to find out where everyone was.

  She didn’t find a single soul, and finally came to the last door she could check: Matthew’ office. She knocked and heard some sort of grunting noise from within, so she entered, slowly, not wanting to rush in and find something bad.

  And what greeted her was a sour looking man who seemed like he was being held up purely by his expensive suit and an abundance of coffee. He had the latest cup of the coffee in his hand and was taking a desperate guzzle as he poured through various documents and windows on one of the three screens before him. “Brooke, I’m so glad you’re here,” said Matthew. He certainly didn’t look happy though, or relieved in any way.

  “What’s wrong?” She knew something bad was up; she could tell by the lost and forlorn look in his eyes. “Is everyone all right?”

  “No, I mean yes, everyone’s fine. But—” he looked like he wanted to throw his coffee cup at his computer setup.

  “Calm down, Matthew. What’s going on?”

  Matthew stood up and started to pace around behind his chair. The look on his face was enough to break Brooke’s heart, but she needed to get the guy to clear his head and tell her what the heck was going on here. “Hey!” she said, with a half-yell, “you need to tell me what happened to everyone, so we can solve the problem and keep on working.”

  That seemed to work because he finally stood still, stopped scrunching up his face in d
istress, and actually made continued eye contact with Brooke. “There we go,” she said with a smile. Matthew smiled back but that didn’t last long.

  “Everyone’s out sick with food poisoning, at least that’s what we think it is right now. That stupid restaurant. Why did I let those code monkeys talk us into eating there?”

  “Oh my, well then it’s a good thing we didn’t eat the food, right?” She tried to sound optimistic, but that was getting difficult already as she realized the implications of the team being sick—and Brooke had only just heard the bad news. “How long have you been here, Matthew?”

  He waved his hand like it didn’t matter, like time wasn’t a real thing. “The first one to call in was early, maybe four? Who was it? I can’t remember, everyone started calling in throughout the morning. You’re the only one who isn’t out sick. Oh, and Carla.”

  “Jeez, that’s horrible. You mustn’t have slept more than a few hours then.”

  “You’re right,” he said solemnly. “And Carla had the morning off to attend her son’s field trip with the school. She’s been trying to get back ever since she found out, but they car pooled, and she’s waiting for a taxi.”

  “You didn’t want to call her earlier and let her know to come in?” said Brooke with genuine curiosity. It seemed like saving the project would be the most important priority for him.

  Matthew sat down and seemed to be gaining his composure after having spoken with Brooke for a while. “I can’t ask her to skip out on her son’s field trip like that. This kind of thing’s important to a kid.”

  Brooke thought for a second and didn’t reply right away mostly because she was stunned. “No, you’re right. That’s absolutely right. But in all honestly, do you think we can keep ourselves on schedule if we miss a day of productivity?”

  “Just a day if we’re lucky,” he said. “Well, hopefully at least some of them will be able to come back in tomorrow.” He went back to clicking away with his computer mouse, but the optimism he usually exuded seemed to have been extinguished. That was a sad sight.

  “Can we call in some freelancers? Do you have any people who work for you under contract ever?” Brooke sat down on the chair beside the desk so she could talk to Matthew without the computer monitors being in the way. “Seriously, Matthew, you’re our boss, and we need you to keep your shit together. Even though the others are out sick, they’re still relying on you to keep the team together.”

  He sighed. “You’re right. I’m just so exhausted, and the stress has been building up for some time now, longer than I would even want to admit.”

  “Hey! I think I might be able to convince a friend of mine to come out and help us. We met at college where we took some of the same classes. I trust her completely. I can call her right now…I mean…if that’s alright with you.” She hoped she hadn’t overstepped any boundaries.

  “At this point, we have to take desperate measures. As long as you trust this person.” Matthew pushed aside his mouse and sat back in his executive computer chair. “Who did you have in mind?”

  ***

  “That’s a pretty far out story. So it’s just you and him there right now, all alone?” said Sally over the phone. She made a kissy sound and laughed.

  “Yeah, yeah. Actually, there’s one more of us who didn’t eat that tainted meat. Carla. She’ll be in soon actually. I told you about her, remember, you’d like her.”

  “I can’t believe your boss would be fine about you bringing someone in without so much as an interview or reference check,” said Sally over the phone.

  Brooke began to pace around the office she and Carla shared. She was brimming with excitement despite the dire circumstances. “I know, all based solely on my recommendation. So, what do you think?”

  “It’s not much of a vacation,” said Sally.

  “You’ve been hoarding those days off for way too long. We both know you’re never going to use them, so eventually you’ll just lose them. Instead, you can waste them coming here and working with your best gal pal.”

  “Just how much coffee have you had to drink today?”

  “Either too much—or not nearly enough. Hey, we’re on a tight deadline here. Don’t ever try to deprive a tired, over-worked woman of her caffeine. And please, please, please tell me that you’ll come and help. The flight and your accommodations are all on the company, of course. Matthew and Henry even agreed to give you a food and entertainment budget.”

  “Wow, you guys really are desperate,” said Sally, with honest surprise.

  “We need to get someone who can hit the ground running. What do you say then?”

  Sally didn’t actually arrive until after work hours were technically over. Her plane touched down at around 4:00 pm, but it took some time for her to get her baggage and take an Uber there. Brooke wanted to meet her at the airport more than anything. But it just wasn’t practical, not with all the work they had to do. “I totally understand. What’s the point in flying me all the way out there to help, if you’re going to miss out on work coming to get me during rush hour traffic?” Sally had said to her.

  “I can’t believe you’re here!” Brooke shouted the moment she spied her friend climbing out of the shiny car that had brought her from the airport.

  “I know! I must really be crazy,” Sally said, giving her friend a big, warm, long-needed hug.

  “Do you need help with your bags?” Brooke asked, trying to retain a partial air of professionalism despite her overbearing excitement.

  The trunk popped open, and a carefully groomed man in his mid-to-late twenties hopped out of the driver’s side door. “I’ve got those, ma’am,” he said to Brooke, and then nodded toward Sally. “Please, allow me.”

  Once the driver had taken the suitcase and laptop bag to the lobby of the building, the two friends gave little squeals, first Brooke, and then Sally, which seemed like something teenage girls would do. “What’s with that driver calling me ma’am?” said Brooke.

  “He was doing the same thing to me the whole drive. He even met me in the baggage area and helped me with my luggage. I can’t believe the dedication. And so polite.”

  “Okay, ma’am, how about you and I get to work then?”

  ***

  “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Sally,” Matthew said after welcoming her to the team’s floor. They were in the common area, not far from the front desk. “And thank you again, thank you so much. I trust Brooke’s opinion a great deal. I know you’ll be a big help to us.”

  “Thank you for the vote of confidence, sir,” replied Sally with a confident smile. Brooke could tell that Sally was impressed by Matthew’ own poised mannerisms, even in the face of such a devastating setback.

  “How about I take Sally and get her started right away?” said Brooke.

  “That would be great, Brooke, thank you,” he said looking deeply into her eyes. There was something about it that made her almost shiver, in a good way. He’d displayed so much trust in her, and it seemed like he was already back to his usual self. Only, there was something else there too, a little extra thing that Brooke had never seen before, and she admitted to herself that she liked it.

  “Well then,” she said to Sally after Matthew went back to his office.

  “Yes? What?” Brooke said. “What do you think of him?”

  “Oh, he’s fine. Nice guy, I guess. Kind of cute, if you like that type.” She looked at Brooke with a completely flat, passive expression. But Brooke could tell it was starting to crack, in the form of a smile at the very edges of Sally’s lips.”

  “Sally, you are such a terrible liar.”

  They started to laugh. “Okay, okay, you got me. He’s absolutely gorgeous, and so nice too.”

  “He really is, right? I can’t believe he’d even be interested in me.”

  “Why not? Look at you! So pretty, smart, nearly as smart and pretty as me. Now that’s sayin’ something.” She tried to hide her mischievous smirk.

  “Well, I don’t know
about that. You’re so gracious though.”

  “And don’t forget those curves,” Sally said. “Men loves them. Take it from me. Honestly though, just on his looks and bank account, he’d be considered a keeper by most of the women in this city. If he’s the sweetheart you think he might be, you’d better make your move before someone else beats you to it.”

  “Make a move on who?” came another woman’s voice from beyond the door.

  “Oh, hey Carla. I’m glad you could make it in,” said Brooke, shocked and hoping like crazy that her coworker had not heard the rest of that conversation.

  “Hi, Brooke. It sounds like a total mad house down here. I just wish Matthew had called me early this morning before we headed out I would have been here in a flash.”

  “He didn’t want to drag you away from your son’s field trip,” Brooke said.

  “Really?” interrupted Sally. “That’s so considerate.” She glared at Brooke, as if to emphasize just how great a guy Matthew was.

  Brooke turned her head from Sally, back to Carla, and to Sally again. “Oh, I’m sorry, you two haven’t met before, of course. Carla, this is my very good friend, Sally Soto. She is going to—hopefully—help save our entire department.”

  “And maybe even the entire company, or the world,” added Sally, followed by a nervous chuckle.

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said Carla, walking over to Sally and offered her hand very elegantly.

  Sally shook her hand and grinned. “It’s a pleasure,” she said.

  “If you’re half as good as your friend, I think we might just be able to drag ourselves out of this mess. I mean, seriously, what was everyone thinking eating at a place that had animal heads mounted on the wall, and in a serious way too, not for the cheesy effect you get at some diners.” Carla stopped talking and broke eye contact with Sally. “I think I’m ranting, sorry. I do that when I’m getting pumped.”