by Gail Sattler
The chime sounded, indicating the elevator had arrived. After a few people exited, Ken waited for Molly to precede him. Instead, she waited for him to go first.
Automatically, he began to move his left arm to gesture to Molly to go first, but the weight of the cast and twinge in his shoulder caused him to wince. He suspected he would find it difficult to use his right hand instead of his left to make gestures that were previously automatic. He could also foresee that when this whole thing was over, he would be doing a lot less talking with his hands.
Molly finally started to step forward, but since they took so long to move, the door started to close. Before he thought to use his right arm, Molly beat him to it, gave the door a push, and held it open for him.
Ken stiffened. He was still old-fashioned enough to hold a door open for a lady. It felt wrong for a lady to hold the elevator open for him.
Once inside, she released the door and let it close. He carefully aimed one finger at the button for the top floor and pushed. He didn’t get it dead center, but he did hit the correct button. As a leftie, he generally found he was more adept at using his right hand for such things than righties were at using their left. He found it both amusing and annoying to discover, one incident at a time, what he was good at and when he struggled. Fortunately left-handed people were more adept at using their right hand than right-handed people were at using their left. He suspected that tendency would be the only thing to save him in the eight weeks to come.
After the elevator started to rise, Molly turned to him. “Your tie is crooked. I didn’t want to say anything in front of anyone.”
Ken smiled. He couldn’t tell if it was straight without using both hands and admired Molly’s discretion. He started to raise his free hand to do the best he could to fix it under the circumstances but stopped when Molly spoke.
“Let me do it for you. It looked like it bugged you earlier. You’ll never get it straight by yourself with only one … Uh, I mean, without a mirror.”
Molly stepped exactly in front of him and raised her hands. Ken drew in a deep breath, then forced himself to relax when she touched him. This morning Aunt Ellen had helped him with his tie, but it didn’t feel like this. Molly’s gentle touch seemed personal, even though he knew that wasn’t her intent. He looked down, willing her to make eye contact, but instead, all her concentration remained fixed on his tie. She diligently gave it a gentle tug, wiggled it with both hands, then gave it a pat. He tried to blame the odd sensation in his chest to the motion of the elevator.
“There you go.” She stepped back as a ringing telephone broke the silence. “You’d better answer your cell phone.”
“I don’t have my cell phone with me. I still have to obtain a local number and get it connected.”
They both turned to stare at the closed compartment containing the emergency telephone. A second ring confirmed their suspicions.
Ken scrinched his eyebrows. “I’ve never heard one of those things ring before. How about that?”
Molly nodded. “Me neither. What do you think we should do?”
“Do? Nothing.”
Molly glanced from side to side, then pulled the small door open. “I have to answer it. What if it’s an emergency?”
“That’s impossible. That phone is meant to be used for people who might be trapped in the elevator to call out, not for anyone to call in.”
“Well, maybe there’s something wrong at the top, and someone has to tell us something.”
“I don’t think so. I think—”
“Hello?”
Ken cringed. She’d actually answered it.
She laughed. “No, you’ve got the wrong number. There’s no one here by that name.”
He sighed, waiting for her to hang up, but instead she shook her head and touched her finger to the body of the phone.
“You’ve got the wrong number. I mean yes, that’s the number you dialed, but you won’t believe this. The number you called is inside an elevator.”
Molly laughed and nodded. “Yes, I’m very serious.”
The elevator continued to rise. Ken looked up to the number display above the door. They were halfway to the top floor. “Say good-bye and hang up, Molly,” he said quietly.
She shook her head at him while she continued to listen to the caller. Fortunately the elevator was still moving upward. Chatting with a client on the office phone was one thing, but he couldn’t believe she’d answered the phone in a moving elevator.
“Yeah, this is the main elevator in the Stevens Building downtown. You know, the big brown building with the row of blue windows all the way up the side. The one beside the big trees where they had that newscast show in the spring, where they had that segment on the baby birds that hatched in the middle of busy downtown. Remember, they ran a contest to name the baby birds.”
Ken was beginning to see how Molly had learned about their best client’s personal life and medical history. “Molly. Please. Hang up,” he ground out between his teeth.
“No, I never did hear who won the contest. Only it wasn’t me.”
The elevator slowed. “Molly … hang up that phone …”
“Really? I think those are cute names. You should have won.”
The door opened. A woman and two men stepped forward, but they skidded to a halt just short of the entrance to the elevator.
Molly laughed. “You’re kidding. That’s really funny!”
The three people nervously glanced between each other, backed up a step, and the elevator door closed without anyone getting in. The elevator resumed its journey upward.
Ken glared at Molly without saying a word.
“Oops. I think I’d better go. I’m almost at my floor. Bye.” She fumbled the phone as she hung up and slammed the small door closed. “Uh, it was a wrong number.”
Before he could gather his thoughts, the elevator once again slowed. The doors opened to the top floor. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“Don’t tell me you can ignore a ringing phone!”
“If it’s not my phone, yes, I can.”
Molly harumphed and stomped out. “Well, I can’t. Which way are we going?” She stopped short, coming to a halt so quickly Ken nearly bumped into her from behind.
Between the off-center weight of the cast and the inability to move his left arm, he couldn’t regain his balance, forcing him to steady himself against the wall. He hoped no one had seen him swaying like a drunk. As he regained his balance and raised his head, Molly was staring at him.
“Ken? Are you all right? Do you want me to take you back to the office so you can lie down or something?”
Ken felt his ears heat up. “I’m fine. We’re going to 2510. According to the sign, it’s to the right.”
They were welcomed into Trevor Chapman’s large office, where they were seated in a couple of the large chairs arranged in a half circle in front of his desk. The door opened, and three more people entered.
It was the three people who hadn’t entered the elevator.
Molly cringed, then did her best to smile when they were introduced.
She’d embarrassed Ken. She hadn’t meant to, but as usual, she hadn’t thought before she acted, and again she was sorry. Molly made up her mind to sit and be completely quiet and to not speak unless spoken to.
With that thought firmly in place, the meeting progressed well. Ken gave her a small notepad he’d had in his suit pocket, and she soon had pages and pages of notes. At the conclusion of the meeting, the other people left first. As she and Ken stood, Mr. Chapman shuffled a few objects on his desk, one of them a picture of a darling little girl holding a puppy.
Mr. Chapman beamed when Ken picked up the framed photograph to admire it. “That’s my granddaughter and her new puppy.”
Molly peeked over Ken’s shoulder. “Oh! So that’s Missykins! What a darling little dog.” Sheepishly, Molly raised her eyes. “Your granddaughter is cute too.”
Mr. Chapman smiled like a typical prou
d grandpa.
“You know, I’d bet you’d like the dog better if you could get close to her without breaking out into a rash,” Molly offered. “I once knew someone who was seriously allergic to dogs and cats, and he bought some over-the-counter stuff that really helped. I could phone and ask him what it was.”
“It was a nonprescription remedy?”
Molly nodded. “Yes, it was. It will really help if she bathes the dog before you get near it and keeps it well brushed. Did you know more people are allergic to cats than to dogs? It’s not the hair that’s the allergen—it’s the dander.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ken squeeze his eyes shut then make a very halfhearted smile. She tried to keep smiling. Judging from his reaction, she’d embarrassed him again.
“Thank you, Miss McNeil. I’d appreciate that.”
Molly pointedly checked her wristwatch. “I guess we’d better go. It was nice finally meeting you after speaking to you so often.”
He simply nodded, they exchanged handshakes, and Molly and Ken left.
The second they were seated inside the car, Molly could no longer hold back. “I’m so sorry, Ken. I didn’t mean to embarrass you. But you should hear him talk about his granddaughter. I know he would love to share her joy in the puppy, but he just can’t get near it without feeling the effects for days. And he—”
“It’s okay, Molly. You don’t have to explain.”
“But …” At the touch of his warm hand on top of her fingers, Molly let her voice trail off.
“Don’t worry about it. Everything went just fine.” He started the car.
Ken retraced their route back to the office. She noticed he got a little mixed up with some of the one-way streets, but she decided not to say anything, until he got really lost. Therefore, Molly spent the trip gazing out the window, studying the tall buildings, and commenting on some of the landmarks they passed, negating the need for a real conversation.
Ken tried not to appear too relieved when he finally made it to the Granville Bridge. He could tell a few times she’d nearly corrected him when he turned down what he later found to be the wrong street. The restraint surprised him. In the short time since they met, he’d discovered that Molly didn’t mince words. The first thing she thought was what came out of her mouth, which should have been a detriment. Oddly, he found the trait rather appealing, even though at times he feared what she might say next. She was as bold as her hair, and as difficult to blend into what should have been a dignified setting. Even when her comments and observations had no connection with the current conversation, she still managed to charm everyone around her. Himself included.
Ken smiled. She wasn’t his type in the slightest. Bold, brassy, and once she got started, she talked a mile a minute. He preferred to stay in the background until he analyzed all components of a situation.
But he liked her anyway. He liked her too much. He’d felt a stab of something he didn’t want to think about when she mentioned the male friend with the animal allergies. It gave him great satisfaction when she left the impression she no longer associated with the man. He didn’t want to think of why it was important.
Chapter 5
Molly gave the dry cleaner’s plastic wrapper one hefty shove into the garbage container and let the lid slam shut as she ran to catch the ringing phone.
“Hi, Molly. It’s Ken. I was wondering if you were busy.”
She glanced at the time. Resigned to the fact that it might be days before she could do her errands at lunchtime, she had done everything right after work, and because of that, in addition to the need to do some serious housecleaning, she hadn’t eaten dinner yet.
The only reason she could think of why Ken would call her at home would be because he couldn’t read the notes she made at the meeting, although she’d tried extra hard to make them legible. She didn’t want to think that she’d be putting in endless hours of unpaid overtime during her allotted time as his assistant, but the guilt that his predicament was her fault nagged her. She didn’t mind spending some extra time with him, but she was starving.
“Yes, actually. I was a little busy… .” She let her voice trail off.
“Oh.”
Molly’s heart fluttered. He sounded disappointed. “Why do you ask?”
“I was hoping you hadn’t eaten yet and could join me for dinner.”
Molly glanced at the freezer, where her frozen meal was still stored. She hadn’t even turned the oven on yet. She ran one hand down her faded T-shirt and looked down to her ratty jeans with a hole in one knee. “I haven’t had dinner yet either, but I’m not dressed for going out. So, sorry, not this time. But you’re welcome to come over later.”
“How about if we order in? All you have to do is give me your address and the directions. Just remember to talk very slowly.”
Molly cringed. She couldn’t imagine trying to write with the wrong hand, but when she heard him typing as she gave him directions, she smiled. When she was done with the instructions, she heard him hit the print button.
As soon as she hung up, her first impulse was to change into something more presentable, but she didn’t have time. Instead of changing her clothes, she ran her brush quickly through her hair, then did a mad scramble to tidy up her apartment, which included folding her futon back into the couch, stuffing some of the clutter into her armoire, and kicking the rest under the couch.
She had just placed the last dirty glass into the dishwasher when the buzzer sounded. Ken arrived at her door with a large bag in his hand, but no briefcase. He was still wearing his suit, minus the tie. Inwardly, she cringed, wishing she had taken the few minutes to change, at least into jeans that didn’t have a hole in the knee.
“You brought Chinese food? I was expecting we were going to order pizza. How are you going to eat that?”
He smiled, showing tiny crinkles at the corners of his eyes, making Molly almost forget about how hungry she was. Now that he was here, she was relieved he’d shown up with their dinner in his hand, rather than having to wait even longer for something to be delivered.
“You don’t have to eat Chinese food with chopsticks, Molly. You’re allowed to use a fork. Honest.”
She tried to fight it, but Molly couldn’t stop a blush from creeping into her cheeks. “Come in,” she mumbled as she backed up, allowing him access.
“Nice apartment. Which way is the kitchen?”
She backed up one more step. Her home was a small bachelor suite consisting of one big room—the status of which depended on whether she had her futon opened into a bed or folded into a couch—plus a kitchen and a bathroom. “Over here.” Molly pointed to her right. She could only imagine what Ken thought of her apartment in comparison to Mr. Quinlan’s house, which she had seen when she drove Ken home from the hospital. Her entire apartment could fit into the Quinlans’ living room.
She’d already set the table, so after a short prayer of thanks, they quickly dug into the food.
“Have you lived in Vancouver all your life? Tell me some of the interesting things to see and do here. You’ve already mentioned Science World.”
Molly smiled. Tourists.
“They built it for Expo ‘86, but now the Sky Train is part of the local transit system, as is the SeaBus. I haven’t used either one a lot except for showing visitors around town, but it’s quite an experience, especially if you’ve never been on a monorail before.”
“I’ve seen it going down the track on Terminal Avenue.”
“I often take out-of-town friends and relatives to either Science World or the Lonsdale Quay, which is a massive marketplace, or sometimes to the IMax Theater and Gastown on the weekend. It’s a lot of fun. You can park at the Park-N-Ride, then get a one-day transit pass.”
“That sounds like a nice idea. I’d like that. Is it best to go in the morning or afternoon?”
“In the morning, definitely.”
“Great. Should I pick you up, or do you want to pick me up?”
Molly opened her mouth, about to tell him all about how they’d expanded the system since it had originally been constructed, but the words caught in her throat. She hadn’t been meant to issue him a personal invitation, but if he’d taken it that way, she didn’t want to hurt his feelings. “Are you sure you want to go to a market and go riding around town?” she asked, but what she really wanted to ask, and didn’t, was if he really wanted to see her on the weekend after being with her all week long.
“That sounds like a good introduction to living here.” He smiled again, and she wondered if he knew she couldn’t say no to him when he kept looking at her like that.
“Don’t your aunt and uncle want to show you around?”
His smile never faded, and she could have sworn his eyes twinkled. “I’d rather go with you.”
Molly forced herself to smile back. “Uh … okay… .” She stood and fumbled with the dirty dishes and piled them into the sink. “I guess we should go over those notes now.”
Ken’s smile dropped, and he blinked. “Notes?”
“You know, the notes from the meeting this afternoon.”
“The notes were very comprehensive. Did you miss something? I didn’t think you’d want to see them again. I left them at the office. We could go over them tomorrow if you want.”
Molly stared openly at him. If he hadn’t come to work, she didn’t know why he came. They hadn’t talked any business so far, and it didn’t appear they were going to.
“Besides your aunt and uncle, you don’t know anybody in Vancouver, do you?”
“A few people. Why?”
Molly continued to stare at Ken as she tried to figure out what was going through his mind.
“Would you mind if we moved to the couch? After sitting up in stiff office chairs all day with the weight of this cast, my back is killing me.”
