Touch Me Boss: A Single Dad Office Romance

by Aria Ford

  “Isaiah Jenkins. You knew his name, that’s your job as campaign manager, to know the opposition.”

  “Spoken like a man trying to run for governor. Can I count on running your campaign?”

  Neal ran a hand along his coffee mug. “I don’t have much time to think about it,” he muttered, “the election will be here before I know it.”

  Stephen stood up and picked up the nearly empty coffee pot. He poured a bit into Neal’s mug, and then his own mug. “Well, you have a year and six months.”

  “And I haven’t begun any promotion. Oh, this will be stressful. Maybe I’ll consider it next term?”

  “You’re thinking about all of the stuff a campaign manager has to worry about.”

  Stephen smoothed a hand over his balding scalp. “Let me lose my hair over the campaign, you just need to look good, trustworthy, and attractive to all kinds of people.”

  “All kinds, huh?” Neal asked.

  “Well, we can certainly try.”

  Over the next several weeks, Neal and Stephen made campaign posters to offer in neighborhoods. They went door to door, informing the citizens of Delamar that Neal Powell had his eye on governing Nevada.

  There were men that shook his head, and wished him luck. There were democrats that politely nodded and closed the door saying, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Some people were indifferent. Sean Tucker pried open his door and let a big brown glob of tobacco fall out of his mouth before he slurred, “I aint voiting.” He fiddled with his shirt, looking around, anywhere but Neal’s eyes.

  Neal said, “I hope that if you change your mind, you consider voting for-“

  “I don’t like democrats.” Sean said.

  “You’ll be happy to know that I’m from the conservative party.”

  “I don’t want nothing to do with no conservationists!” Sean yelped, he gripped the edge of the door with dirty brown and black fingers.

  Stephen grabbed Neal by the elbow. “I think we can wrap this one up.”

  Neal nodded at Sean and offered, “Thank you for your time, sir. Enjoy your day.”

  Sean growled and slammed the door. As they marched down the walk way, Stephen muttered, “I say we get some lunch and some alcohol and revise the angle we’re going at this campaign with.”

  “I wish you had stopped at alcohol.”

  Only half an hour later, Merla, a waitress at Joe’s Burgers led them to a secluded table and blew her hot bubblegum scented breath in Neal’s face as she said, “Today’s specials are corn beef sandwiches with sauerkraut on rye. We’re also serving some delicious white chicken and cream soup, extra helpings for governors.”

  She winked, and swished her hips away from the table. Stephen watched her leave and grinned. “See, someone believes in you. Maybe all aspects of you.” Stephen took a turn at winking.

  Neal scoffed and poured himself some water from the pitcher on the table and popped the lemon into his glass. “I can hardly focus on women when this campaign can’t get off of the ground.”

  “I disagree. I think our campaign is falling short because you have no interest in women.”

  “I’m doubtful.”

  Merla came back and kept her eyes on Neal. “You ready to order, Mr. Governor?”

  “Oh. I’m not governor yet. But thank you for your support. I’ll have a tuna sandwich with milk, and a beer if you have it.”

  “We sure do.” She lazily drew on her order pad. She looked over her shoulder. “And what are you having, mister?”

  “I’ll have the same but two sandwiches.” Stephen replied.

  Merla left again and Stephen asked, “How do you expect to win over most of Nevada when you’re a man that’s unattached well past his 30s?”

  “I would think that the two are not at all connected.”

  Neal spread his napkin across his lap. Stephen was becoming impatient. “Put some faith in me. Traditionally, a man is married before his 30s. By your age, one is usually desperate for a wife.”

  “I’m very good at taking care of myself. I make my own meals-“

  “This isn’t about how well you can prepare a steak! To be frank, people enjoy what they see, much more than substance. You need to appeal to all kinds of people. You want to be like America’s father- warm, inviting, you can trust him because you always have. We can’t create an image of America’s father without America’s mother standing right beside him.”

  Merla slid Neal’s tuna sandwich in front of him and mumbled something about milk and beer.

  “I’m not running for president, just governor!” Neal exclaimed.

  “How do you think presidents are made?” Stephen questioned.

  Merla plopped Stephen’s sandwich down in front of him.

  “Merla, dear?”

  Merla turned a questioning gaze his way, one hand on her hip. “Yes?”

  “I ordered two.”

  She shrugged and walked back to the kitchen. Neal turned his gaze back to Stephen.

  “So you’d like for me to begin courting a woman?”

  Stephen took a big gulp of water and waved his hands about. “No, you’re a rational, smart, and calculating man. It would take you weeks to find the right woman, and six months to decide if you want to marry her.”

  “Are you suggesting a quickie marriage?” Neal asked, as Merla put a beer in front of him and an additional sandwich in front of Stephen.

  “Don’t say it like that! Mail order bride marriages are more successful than most marriages where the Mama and Daddy met each other through a trusted family friend.”

  “So how does one pick a wife? I just pick a gal out of the paper and send for her things?”

  Stephen cut his tuna sandwich in half. “There’s more of a romance to it than that. I will stop by tomorrow afternoon and we’ll get started.”

  “I don’t know…”

  “Don’t overthink it. Just trust me.”

  “’Dear Cecilia, I had an aunt named Cecilia. She made the best cherry cobbler. That’s not why I’m contacting you, however. You sound like an absolute delight. I appreciate that you have your own trade. I’m a lawyer, I have my own office in Delamar. I’m well known here, most people will you tell you that I’m an upstanding and reserved gentleman. I try to be the best man possible- I think that you would greatly enjoy living with me. I have a nice home , I like it. There’s enough room if your family might want to visit. I think I’m much more interesting in person. I eagerly await your response.”

  Alice and Lacey giggled and Cecilia’s cheeks began to flame.

  “Oh, Cecilia, a lawyer is interested in you! Your first response and it’s a real classy gentleman.”

  Cecilia sat down in the arm chair next to the sofa. “He does sound classy, like a gentleman. He doesn’t sounds thrown together by any means.”

  Cecilia gripped her knees through her tangerine colored dress. Lacey grinned at her. “Oh, respond right away, no one if the family has ever been to Nevada before.”

  Alice playfully slapped Lacey’s knee. “Mama went once, before she was married.”

  “Anyhow, you’d be the first to marry a lawyer.”

  “Oh my.” Cecilia touched a hand to her warm face. “I forgot that I’d marry him through this arrangement.”

  “It will be wonderful! Then all three of us will be married.”

  ‘And I don’t have to worry about starving trying to keep this house up and running.’ Cecilia thought.

  “How about a cake to celebrate?” Lacey offered. Lacey was the middle daughter and an even tempered, logic minded girl that offered solutions. She married her husband Evan based on the deduction that he was the only man in Georgia that would still be worth anything by the time he was 50. That, and she suspected that he would still have his looks by then.

  “Cake sounds good. Maybe some wine?”

  Alice and Lacey hooted. “That’s right! I’ll start on the cake!” Lacey said.

  By the evening, Cecilia had enjoyed two large sl
ices of German chocolate cake. Her sisters were giggling in the kitchen over champagne. She patted her fully belly and walked down the long hallways to the tailoring room.

  Her hand rested on the door pane and she swiped a few stray tears away from the corner of her left eye.

  ‘This might be it. I don’t have long to memorize every nook and cranny of this room.’ Cecilia thought. She sat at the table that had a sewing machine on the other end of it and pulled open one of the drawers that hadn’t been opened in years

  The drawers stuck at first, and she wrestled with it for a moment. The drawer came out with a rough yank and Cecilia snaked her and through the narrow opening. She pulled out paper with a flowery letterhead. She wrote in the top left corner:

  Dear Neal,

  She paused. ‘How do I sound as fancy as he does?’

  She wrote:

  Look, I’m not a debutante by any means. I did not get classes on how to be prim and proper. But I still think I’m pretty great. I can offer you a stable home life, someone to stand behind you as long as you’ll have me. Family means a lot to me, so I will be taking you up on that spare bedrooms offer. I’m very pleased at your interest. Please send me any and all information that I’ll need to move forward with our… marriage? It feels like I should be calling this more of an arrangement until I’ve met you. Whatever we’re calling it, I’m sure it will be wonderful.

  Cecilia sat her pen down next to her. She could hear Lacey and Alice laughing from the parlor.

  ‘Nights like this are becoming numbered. I won’t have many more with them before I leave.’

  “Who do you have there?” Stephen asked as he sat down across from Neal. Neal handed him a beer, and flashed the newspaper in front of him.

  “I was interested in a gal from Virginia, but she already had a couple of children. I didn’t think it would be fair to these children to be dragged into the middle of an election.”

  Stephen laughed and sipped on his beer. “Yes, you’re much more of a winner than any politician. You actually care. “

  Neal shrugged. “That, and an interesting red head from Georgia finally responded. She has her own trade.”

  “I think that’s something that could make you look great to women. Having a wife capable of earning her own income.“ Stephen said.

  “Well I think she will be lovely. I’m going to send for her this afternoon. I’m hoping she’ll be here this Friday.”

  “Really?”

  Neal nodded. “I’m looking forward to meeting her, I hope that she won’t be unhappy here in Nevada.”

  Stephen scoffed. “She’ll be the governor’s wife, I’m sure she won’t want much else.” Stephen looked around the den. “Do you have more beer?”

  “It would have been nice to know that I was going to be a politician’s bride! That’s a whole other lifestyle!”

  Stephen tried to soothe Cecilia. “How fantastic will it be? How lovely? You come from humble folks. You’re a shop owner’s daughter from Georgia, marrying Nevada’s first Republican governor.”

  Cecilia shifted in her heavy white gown. “Isn’t a husband supposed to consult with his wife?”

  Stephen chuckled. “He picked you out of the paper, dear. I don’t believe the man has to ask your permission for anything yet.”

  “Why would you tell me at my wedding rehearsal? I’m just upset before my big day… Alice and Lacey are going to be here before I know it.”

  “You had to know why a reporter or two may want to cover the event next week.”

  Cecilia crossed her legs and frowned. “Why couldn’t he just tell me?” She turned to Stephen. “Mr. Mitchell, can you step out, please? I’d like to get out of my gown.”

  Stephen nodded. “You can call me Stephen, it’s fine, we’ll be around one another often enough, with the campaign and everything.” He tipped his hat to her and left the room.

  ‘What a sneaky pig.’ Cecilia thought. She wrestled with the gown and finally pulled it down and around her pale, skinny knees. She stepped out of the gown and lifted it up, then set the expensive garment on the chaise in Neal’s lounge.

  ‘He’s a handsome man.’ Cecilia thought. She found her dress hanging on the wall and slipped into the yellow sun dress she had decided on wearing that morning. Alice and Lacey would be coming in a little over a week for the wedding. It was fortunate that Cecilia had enough time to finish planning Alice’s wedding and attend it.

  There was a knock on the door, and Cecilia hollered, “Open it. Its your house, anyway.”

  Neal stepped in and grinned at her. “My, you are beautiful.”

  Her slender and long legs peeked out from underneath her dress and the curtain of Cecilia’s red hair formed little curls at the end.

  Cecilia hid a small smile behind her hair. “Don’t try and sweeten me up, Mr. Lawyer. I’m upset with you. I’m telling you right now, I’m not one of those wives you can control into not being mad at you. My Mama wasn’t that kind of woman, and I’m not either.”

  Neal chuckled and loosened his vest a little. He sat down next to her, and let his fingers trail along her bare shoulders. “I’m not the kind of man that can take any interest in a woman that won’t speak her mind.”

  “Stop trying to butter me up.”

  “I’m not, but if you’re starting to feel better, I can’t help that.”

  Cecilia rolled her eyes but her smile grew. “You couldn’t tell me that you were running for governor?”

  “Well, there’s much more to me than the election. If I lead with that, you wouldn’t have wanted to know much about me. Do you know the president’s favorite color?”

  “No, but I bet it’s not purple.” She giggled.

  “It’s the color of royalty. Also, you’ll be treated like nothing but royalty from now on. In my world, a queen does what she wants.”

  “Oh, stop throwing your financial blessings around, Neal. If I had thought for a second you might mistreat me, I would have stayed in Georgia.” She reciprocated his touch and drew circles on the hand on her shoulder with her pinky.

  “Are you excited to get married?”

  “I’m excited to start a life with you, yes.”

  “Is there a reason you phrased it that way, Cecilia?” Neal asked.

  “Yes, because I wasn’t one of the little girls that grew up planning her wedding. I fixed dresses and I loved it. Alice and Lacey chased boys, maybe it’s because I’m the oldest. So, I’m excited to start my life with you, Neal. But the wedding is really for show, isn’t it?”

  “I suppose so.” Neal leant in to her rosy cheek and asked, “May I?”

  “It’s only fitting.”

  He kissed her softly on the cheek, and she turned to him and allowed him to leave one on her lips.

  “Don’t be so shy with me, Neal. I’m your wife.” Cecilia took a kiss, and Neal gave more.

  “How familiar am I allowed to be?” Neal questioned.

  Cecilia tossed her bouquet in the air and a few of her cousins and her sisters jumped in the air. Some held their dresses in their fingertips as they waved skinny arms about trying to catch the flowers.

  ‘Alice and Lacey just want the attention, they already have husbands.’ Cecilia smirked as she crossed her legs after the bouquet tossing. Her hands were linked with Neal’s at their table.

  ‘This is the closest I will ever get to feeling like royalty if he doesn’t win the election.’ She thought. It was a regal event. Neal had rented out a large hall for the reception; every table had a beautiful table topper placed on it. The food was better than Neal or Cecilia had eaten in years.

  Cecilia’s cheeks were decorated with blush, her long, red hair had been piled on top of her head, and held together with a diamond studded hair piece. A few lose curls has escaped in the excitement of the wedding, and her lips matched the color of her hair.

  Stephen clinked his butter knife against his wine glass. “I would like to propose a toast to the bride and groom!”

  Everyone clapp
ed in response and Cecilia could see the goofy grins on Alice and Lacey’s faces.

  “To Neal and Cecilia, may you have a wonderful marriage, and may Neal have an even better term as governor of this great state of Nevada!”

  Cecilia smiled at Neal, he squeezed her hand in response. He took a sip of the champagne, then offered his hand to Cecilia in a dance.

  “It’s a shame you both have to leave soon.” Cecilia said, as she poured wine into three glasses.

  Alice nodded. “Well, Earnie wants to start trying some more.” She grinned, “He’s always dreamed of having a son.”

  Cecilia scoffed, and leant back in Neal’s lounge chair. “Then how about he adopts one of the orphans in the Georgia streets? Why is he trying to get my little sister barefoot and pregnant so soon?”

  Lacey chuckled, and gulped her wine. “She won’t be barefoot, because she’ll be wearing maternity slippers. She’ll be a happy house wife. Not all of us have a political marriage, Cecilia.”

  “My marriage is more than political. For a relationship that began over correspondence in the mail, it is a good one. I have many, though. Speaking of politics, Neal has fallen behind. Stephen said that it’s been rough to gather votes and get folks to listen.”

  “Daddy would roll over in his grave if he knew you married a republican.” Alice remarked.

  Cecilia sipped her wine and shrugged. “I’m the first in the family to marry a lawyer, then to marry a future governor, and to have a bipartisan marriage. I think he’d be impressed at what’s going on. Were you able to rent the house out, Lacey?”

  Lacey nodded. “A husband and wife, with the son they adopted recently. I think they will treat the place well.”

  “They better. I hope the tailoring room is put to use, as well.”

  “Does Neal have any family left?” Alice asked.

  “His father died in war when he was a boy, his mother is elderly and lives in Texas. She’s much too old to travel now, I’ll have to make it down there eventually to introduce myself.”

  “That big man that’s always with Neal, that’s his campaign manager?”

  “Yes, and he’s something else too. I don’t get how Neal can work with him, but I’m focusing on my own work. I need to introduce myself to the ladies at the church and let them know that I mend clothes.”