“I told my brother to be nice to you.”
“Wait, your brother?”
“Oh, shit.” The private detective threw her hands up in the air. “I forgot to let El know that you’re her boss’s sister.”
This time it was Violet who blushed. “I’m sorry for Rick’s behavior. He’s a good brother but he can be a bully sometimes to those outside of his home and you’re seem like an easy target.”
Ellie clutched Spots even tighter than before. “Um…well. He’s okay.”
“He seems like a jerk to me.” Cassie interjected.
“N-no. He’s not. I mean. Um. He gave me his lunch the other day when I didn’t have one.” Ellie blushed. Poor Spots was pulled even tighter to her chest than before. His mistress’s tiny arms wrapped around him like a boa constrictor. The hairless Chinese Crusted managed to wrangle free. He hopped down to the floor and walked over to the mechanic, who reached down and scratched him behind the ears.
Violet smiled at Ellie.
The doorbell rang and started the three women, and Spots, who barked and then rushed over to the door.
“Pizza’s here!”
“Let’s eat. You’re going to love this.”
Chapter Seven
Ellie tip-toed into the office at six-thirty on Thursday morning with the knowledge that she had a lot of work to do. Putting a whole week’s work into nineteen hours was a daunting task. But, it was an especially so for Ellie, since Edric was so demanding.
She slinked into the office early that morning—at about seven, to be precise—to brew a fresh pot of coffee for her boss and to start organizing his schedule for the day.
One thing caught Ellie’s attention. Edric’s three o’clock meeting with none other than Cassandra Kent.
That’s right. Cassie is testing the Kensington Group’s virtual reality program. Should I let Mr. Kensington know that we’re sisters? I don’t know. What if he gets mad at me for talking about something frivolous?
At about seven thirty, Edric arrived at the office. Ellie wished that she had a different office than him; his presence put her on edge. He didn’t even acknowledge her when he walked into the room. The first thing he did was take off his suit jacket and throw it on the back of his chair and then he turned on his computer. His square lips were pulled into a tight frown and he looked so focused. If he were anyone else, she would have said good morning but she lacked the courage to utter even a cheerful formality. It was Edric who broke the silence.
“You’re here early.”
“Yes.” Per usual, Ellie’s cheeks became flushed. “I-I brewed coffee for you.” She pointed at the pot in the crook of the office.
The tall man sauntered over, pulled out a mug, and poured himself a cup of coffee before returning to his desk. Ellie watched him out of the corner of her eye—every movement that he made seemed purposeful. Ellie observed that his hair was slightly damp. She assumed that he took a shower right before work.
Once Edric’s computer was fully on and his files were in order, he took the pewter mug to his lips and took a small sip. He furrowed his brow and put the coffee cup back down on the coaster.
“This coffee is terrible, too weak.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll do better next time.”
“Don’t bother. Judging from the luncheon you planned yesterday you don’t have a modicum of taste.”
“I can try—”
Edric raised his hand. Ellie immediately stopped talking and looked at the floor. “And don’t come in before eight thirty. I like my mornings peaceful and your jittery presence irritates me.”
Ellie’s cheeks burned bright-red. She stood up, wanting to cry. She did a little bit—her voice cracked and she blinked quickly to stop the tears from flowing. “I’ll leave.”
I guess I am terrible. So much so that I’m hated for existing…
“Don’t bother. You’re here already and there’s work to be done.”
“Okay.” Ellie swallowed hard and grabbed her nearby water bottle. She took a few sips of water to ease her throat and she hoped the sensation would distract her from openly weeping. She did well, for the most part. She was able to cry silently, swooping up the few stray tears with the heel of her hand.
Edric scoffed. After a minute, he looked over and saw Ellie shaking slightly and wiping away her tears. He frowned. For a good thirty seconds, the white-haired woman silently cried as he watched her with lips pursed and arms folded. Finally, he pulled out a twenty-dollar bill from his wallet and handed it to his assistant. “Take this and get me a cup of real coffee and a scone. Get yourself a tea and muffin or whatever it is you have for breakfast too, okay?”
Ellie nodded silently, took the twenty-dollar bill, and scurried out of the room. As soon as she left, she allowed herself to sob openly. She was glad that no one else was at the office as she made her way to the coffee shop across the street.
***
As soon as Ellie left, Edric shot up from his desk and paced the room.
Why do I feel guilty? I’ve made many people crack and break down before and I never felt guilty before. Maybe it’s because she seems too frail, or because she’s nice or because she reminds me of Violet with her jitteriness? I don’t understand… A small voice in the back of his mind spoke up: It could be that you like her. Edric immediately banished that passing thought.
He continued to pace about, lost in his own thoughts, trying to pin-point why he was feeling the way he felt. When he did sit down and started scrolling through his morning email, his mind continued to focus on Ellie. Ironically, she is an unwanted distraction first thing in the morning. I have shit to do. I don’t have time to think of my assistant’s feelings.
After about fifteen minutes, Ellie returned to the office. Her face was dry and, besides the redness in her eyes, she looked normal. She handed Edric the coffee and the scone. “T-They had several different types of scones so I got you blueberry.”
I hate blueberries.
Edric took the coffee and the scone. He was tempted to announce his hatred of blueberries to Ellie but, after seeing her with her watery eyes and her shaking hands, he decided against it.
“Here is your change.” Right before Ellie reached into her pockets to pull out the eight dollars in change, he raised up his hand to stop her.
“Keep it.”
“But it’s…”
“Keep it, Eleonore. I make more money in a month than you probably ever will in your entire life.”
“Thank you.” Ellie muttered before retreating to her tiny desk and resuming her work.
“Did you get yourself something?”
She looked up, startled. This was the first time he asked her a question of a personal nature. She paused and looked over at Edric, who was still staring into his laptop.
“I-I got a small cup of tea.” She curled the hot beverage to her chest. “Thank you.”
“What type?”
“Pardon?”
Edric sighed. His prior guilt started to vanish and it was replaced by irritation. If there was one thing he hated, it was repeating himself. “What type of tea” He asked in a pointed, curt, tone.
“Peppermint.”
Edric nodded his head. From there, the conversation withered off and died for the next several hours. Periodically Edric would bark an order and she would turn red, stammer a ‘yes,’ and do the work.
***
The afternoon creeped by. At several points through that very long day, Ellie considered opening her mouth and saying that Cassie—his three o’clock meeting—was her sister. Every time she worked up the courage to say something, she would look over at her and he would be deep in his work, frowning dramatically at his laptop, or he would get a sudden phone call.
After a couple of hours, she worked up the courage to speak up; She decided that she was going to tell Edric that Cassie was her sister after all.
“Mr. Kensington?”
No response. Edric was too busy typing away at his computer.
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br /> “Mr. Kensington?”
Still no response. The young woman’s face flushed. She slunk over in her chair. Finally, she took a deep breath and spoke. “Mr. Kensington.” She stated at a normal volume. To her it felt like a shout.
Edric looked over at his assistant. Her face was bright-red, per usual. Once he looked over, she averted her eyes to the ground.
“Yes?” He asked impatiently.
“Your three o’clock meeting. Um…”
Edric sighed and rolled his eyes. “I don’t have all day.”
“Your three o’clock meeting with Cassandra Kent. Um…Cassie’s my sister. I just figured that I should inform you.”
“I’m well aware.”
“How?” Ellie asked, genuinely curious. After the question left her lips, she felt a twinge of embarrassment and scolded herself for asking such a personal question. “I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have—”
“Violet told me already.”
“I shouldn’t have asked…”
Edric sighed again and shook his head. “Stop panicking, Eleonore. I don’t bite. Your jitteriness is annoying.”
He sighed again and shook his head before he returned to his work. Not a word was spoken between the two until Cassie burst through the door.
Ellie perked up and smiled ear-to-ear. Immediately, she felt relieved. Her champion had arrived. She relaxed in the chair and slumped over. Her blush subsided and she let out an audible sigh of relief. After she sighed, she realized it was probably loud enough for Edric to hear and she felt a fleeting twinge of embarrassment and fear, but she hoped that her sister’s visit would make him forget all about her sigh of relief.
“Cassie!” After seeing Edric from the corner of her eye, Ellie slunk back in her chair and turned bright-red once more.
“How is work?”
“It’s going well.”
“How was the VR game?” Edric interjected.
The private investigator shrugged. She grabbed one of the leather chairs and spun it around so she straddled it and hugged the back of the chair. “The graphics were amazing. I actually felt like I was in another world. But…”
Edric raised an eyebrow.
“The plot was hokey. The medieval shit is stale and boring and your characters are two-dimensional. There’s no real likable characters. It’s all overdone. It’s like everything’s great, except for the stuff that people actually want in a game.”
Ellie cringed.
Edric leaned back and folded his arms. “You do realize we hired world-renowned writers and art designers for this project?”
Ellie held her hands up in front of her face and cringed even more.
“Hire new writers. Your game sucks.”
“It does not—”
“Suck? Your game sucks! Have you even played it?”
“I’m busy. I have a company to run.”
“Test your own friggin’ product.”
“The game does not suck.”
“How would you know? You haven’t even played it.”
Ellie shrunk further behind her desk. She moved from hiding behind her hands to holding up a folder in front of her face, hoping that it would turn her invisible.
Edric leaned back in his chair. Ellie couldn’t read his facial expression. He didn’t look obviously upset but he didn’t look amused either. His set expression was hard to read.
“You wanted my honest feedback and you got it.”
Edric drummed his fingers on his large desk, bit his lip, and then gazed up at the tiled ceiling. After about thirty seconds, he heaved a sigh and looked at the private detective sitting across from him. “All right. I got your feedback. Come back in a week. I’ll play the game tonight and make alterations personally tomorrow.”
Cassie stood up and walked over to the door. While in the doorway, she pointed her finger at the CEO. “Good. And you’ll thank me because I’m saving your ass from a shit-ton of embarrassment.” With that, she slammed the door closed and walked off.
Much to Ellie’s surprise, her boss let out a haughty laugh and shook his head. His good mood seemed to fade quickly and his expression reverted so he was brooding slightly. The oppressive atmosphere was back. For twenty minutes, at least, until Edric finally spoke up again.
“Eleonore. I’m going to the testing room. Have my schedule prepared for tomorrow, and book a meeting with my design team. Call IT and have them send up a heavy-duty coding PC to this office for me to make some modifications myself.”
“Yes.”
With that, Edric stood up and left the room.
***
Ellie finally finished all the tasks that Edric had given her. The design team meeting was called. IT installed the computer in the office. Her tyrannical boss’s schedule was prepared. The young woman was exhausted. She looked at the clock. It was nine o’clock at night. She had been at the office for fourteen hours now. Ellie blinked slowly. She could have fallen asleep at the desk if she closed her eyes long enough.
I think I’m done here. Hopefully.
Ellie pressed the elevator button and rode it to the basement parking garage. She rubbed her eyes and wandered through the near-empty parking garage over to her car, hopped inside, put the keys in the ignition, and turned the keys. Nothing happened. Ellie turned the keys again. Again, nothing happened.
At that point, she remembered driving with her headlights on when she came into the office at six-thirty. Stupid Ellie, you left the headlights on again.
The young lady gently banged her head on the steering wheel and groaned in frustration.
No one’s here. Cassie’s at work. What do I do?
Ellie drummed her fingers on the steering wheel and assessed her options. I could wait around for someone to come so I can jump-start my car. Since it’s so late though, it’s unlikely anyone else is going to arrive. I could try to get hold of my sister, but she’s at work and I’d feel really bad taking her away from her job and making her have to start all over again with her clients. I could wait here for her to finish? But she could be gone all night…I guess my only real options are to stay at the office or to walk five miles to go home.
For a split second, Ellie considered going back upstairs, laying down on the couch in Edric’s office, and taking a nap. But then she remembered how cross he was with her this morning. She had visions of being asleep on the couch and Edric storming in and unceremoniously firing her. Those visions made her shudder.
If Mr. Kensington was this mad at me arriving early, then I can’t imagine how he’d react to me sleeping in his office. I’m going to walk.
She hopped out of her car and walked across the parking garage, stepping outside into the busy city streets.
It was raining hard and the wind was howling. Even though it was early May, it felt like it was March since it was about forty-five degrees outside. Ellie considered turning back and going upstairs but she really, really didn’t want to face Edric and have a repeat of this morning.
The young woman marched onward into the rain. She took off her jacket and held it over her head, trying to use it as a makeshift umbrella.
Ellie was completely alone on the streets at night. Cars buzzed by her and the wind whipped at her, cutting through her like a knife. One car drove by the petite lady and charged through a large puddle of water. This caused a wall of water to hit her and drench her completely—jacket and all.
She pulled the jacket down by her side, since it was now useless as an umbrella. She pressed onward. Her whole body shivered and her shoes began to squeak from being soaked with water.
What a day… Ellie thought. I got chewed out by my boss, had to stay late, my car broke down, I’m soaking wet, walking late at night. Alone. Cold. Drenched. She only allowed herself to wallow in pity for a minute. But I have a job that pays well. I’m graduating. I have a sister who loves me. I have a home to go to. Life is good. Think of all those who have less. It’s okay.
Ellie repeated that mantra to herself with every step she too
k. After about a half a mile, that mantra faded from her mind and all she could think about was how cold she was.
In the corner of her eye, Ellie noticed a black car pull up next to her. She immediately quickened her pace, trying her best to ignore the car. Her low heels clicked on the sidewalk and she tried to make as much distance between her and the car as she could.
“Eleonore!”
The voice boomed from the car. Ellie. She took a few steps back towards the car but she stayed close to the buildings trying to ensure that she was as far away from the car while still being able to peer in the windows to see who was calling out to her. Due to the window tint, she was unable to identify the voice from the vehicle. The car door popped open and a black umbrella stuck out the car first and it was then followed by the silhouette of tall man standing underneath it. Ellie squinted her eyes and saw that the figure was that of Edric.
Ellie slowly walked over to the car. He was the last person she wanted to see. Every time she saw him she felt like she was on trial for something and that nothing she did was ever good enough.
When Ellie stood right next to Edric and his car, she took a minute to examine him again. He looked so put together in his expensive suit, combed-back hair, tall and muscular physique, and his fine-smelling cologne. She felt like a small, drowned rat in contrast. Her wet, translucent, clothes clung to her skin, her white hair clung to her scalp and her makeup ran down her face. To top it all off, she couldn’t stop shivering—Ellie was chilled to the bone.
“Get in the car.”
“But.”
“Eleonore. Get in the car.”
“But I’m drenched.”
“And so will I be if I continue arguing with you outside. Get in the car.”
She slowly nodded her head. Edric impatiently gestured to the car door. The young woman ducked over and entered the black town car. She felt guilty dripping water all over the backseat of the expensive car. Ellie made herself as small as possible in the far corner of the back seat to both contain the amount of water dripping in the car and to warm up her tiny body with her own body heat.
Edric collapsed his umbrella, wiped down the water from his seat, and sat down. Per usual, he sprawled out in his seat and leaned back.
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