A Sibling's Dilemma

by Molly V. Lovell

  “Now fist-bump contracts are sacred so don’t sack poor Eleonore.”

  Chapter Nine

  The next three weeks were largely uneventful. Cassie busted a few more cheating spouses and found herself in a hotel room with Logan twice a week, Edric tried to improve the virtual reality game, Ellie worked, Violet tinkered with machines, and Owen went to school. The only thing of note that happened was Ellie got her final grades back and she graduated at the top of her class. This even surprised Ellie—she thought that her busy work schedule would have surely interfered. With her new job, she hardly had time to study for her exams.

  One day in early June, Ellie arrived at the office at eight-thirty sharp. Much to her surprise, she arrived to a largely empty office. “Mr. Kensington?” She called out.

  No response. Ellie shrugged and sat down at her desk. I did everything he asked me to do yesterday. I guess I’ll wait until he arrives at the office.

  She sat patiently sat at her desk, deciding to do the work Edric would probably want. After that, she systematized some of her work to save both her and her boss from any hassle in the future. Cassie’s instructions for Ellie, to look into Edric’s files when he wasn’t there, were floating in the back of her mind. But every time the thought about it she shook her head gently and moved onto completing another task for the office. Going through the company files seemed wrong to her—especially since her boss apparently placed quite a bit of trust in her.

  After about two hours of doing busy work and no sign of her boss, Ellie began to worry that something was seriously wrong.

  It’s ten thirty and he’s still not at the office. I checked his schedule three times and there’s nothing here. He’s not traveling either. I don’t understand.

  Ellie decided to venture out of the office and investigate.

  Maybe Mr. Kensington’s at home. What if he’s sick?

  There was a soft knock at the door. She instinctively rushed over to the door and answered it.

  A man in his early thirties was standing at the door. Ellie recognized him as one of the receptionists.

  “Mr. Kensington called in sick. He told me to tell you to go home.”

  “Is he all right?”

  “Huh?”

  “Is Mr. Kensington okay?”

  “I’m sure he’s fine. He’s probably just worn out and overworked.”

  “It’s just that he’s never called in sick before. I mean, I haven’t been here long but…”

  “You can go home, you know. It’s not like you’re going to be paid any less for going home”

  Ellie gently nodded her head. “Okay.” She grabbed her beige cross-body bag and headed towards the door. “Oh. Um. Thank you for letting me know.”

  “No problem.”

  “Bye…” With that, the petite woman rushed over to the elevator and pressed the button to the parking garage. As she walked over to the car, she faced an internal dilemma: whether to go home or to check on her boss first.

  Ellie sat in her car for a solid five minutes trying to decide on what to do. I always try to help people and do the right thing. I shouldn’t change that just because Mr. Kensington is intimidating. Ellie let out a determined huff and decided she would check on him. Or at least try to.

  It only took Ellie about ten minutes to drive over to the large skyscraper, which famously housed Edric’s palatial penthouse. Lots of other wealthy business owners and celebrities lived in the apartment building.

  She stood outside the skyscraper and gulped. There’s probably no way I’ll get let inside.

  Gingerly, she made her way inside the lobby and walked over to the elderly man sitting over by the desk.

  “May I help you?”

  “I’m here to see Edric Kensington. I’m his assistant.”

  “Then you must be on his visitation list. May I see some identification?”

  Ellie opened her bag and placed her driver’s license and work badge on the table. The man glanced at it quickly and smiled back at her. Ellie knew that she had a distinctive look about her. It’s not like he had to examine her license too thoroughly to check to see if it was her or not.

  “Thank you, Eleonore,” he said as he handed her ID and badge back. She slipped it in her bag. “Mr. Kensington’s suite is on the top floor.”

  “Thank you, sir.” She bowed slightly before walking over to the elevator and clicking the button, and then stood fidgeting with her hair and straightening her suit. Finally, the elevator dinged and she was at the top floor. She walked down the hallway and gingerly knocked at the door.

  After about ten seconds, an elderly lady answered the door. She was dressed in a practical-looking navy-blue dress. It had an apron in front of it and she wore sensible black sneakers. Her long grey hair was pulled up in a bun and she could tell by her wrinkles that this woman was in her mid-sixties.

  “Hello, I’m here to see Edric Kensington. I’m his assistant. Does he live here?”

  “You must be Eleonore Kent.”

  Ellie was taken aback. “Y-yes.” She stammered. She could feel her head heating up from nerves and embarrassment. She knew that her cheeks were bright-red at that point.

  “Edric’s sick.”

  “I heard that and I thought that I should um…see if there’s anything that I can do. Not that I can do much.”

  The older woman pursed her lips together and looked up at the ceiling. She looked like she was making some sort of a mental calculation in her head. “Come with me.”

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  “I’ll have none of those formalities. It’s Rosemary.”

  “Thank you, Rosemary. I’m Ellie. But um…you already knew that.”

  The two shook hands.

  “Now follow me.”

  Rosemary took off into the house and Ellie did her best to follow her, while soaking up the atmosphere of the enormous penthouse. The foyer was large and open—everything was in shades of white or beige and it had a distinctly modern feel to it. Every area that she walked through had a distinctly modern feel to it—even the ballroom that they cut through had a glass spiral staircase instead of an old wooden staircase like other homes.

  How big is this place? The young woman had already crossed through a foyer and multiple rooms and two hallways. She saw a kitchen, and an office too from the corner of her eye too. Finally, her journey through the house ended—she entered a dimly-lit room with all the curtains drawn. It was a lovely sitting chamber with leather furniture.

  “How’s it going, Rosemary?”

  Is that Edric? He sounds so relaxed and casual.

  “I have company for you.”

  Ellie could hear her boss swearing through the door. She immediately regretted deciding to visit him until she heard the woman’s retort.

  “Language.” Rosemary called out.

  Ellie giggled at the thought of Edric being scolded by this older woman, who was probably one of his maids. He always seemed so formidable at work.

  “You got me there. All right, send him in.”

  “I’ll leave you to it.” The maid said to Ellie. “If he gives you any grief, see me.” She spun around on her heels and left, closing the door and the brightest light source behind her.

  Ellie squinted and wandered over to the couches, her eyes taking time to adjust to the dim light.

  Finally, she saw Edric laying on the couch. He was wearing black sweatpants and a white tee shirt, she wasn’t used to seeing him dressed so casually. His usually neatly-combed hair was wild and messy, and there was a wet, cold compress resting on his forehead that some of his chestnut brown hair was sticking to. He was gently massaging his temples. There was a cup of coffee and a large bottle of water on the table in front of him and a container of ibuprofen laying on the floor.

  Edric looked very human at that moment, dressed in comfortable clothing laying down on the couch. He seemed far less intimidating than when he was dressed in an expensive suit. She couldn’t help but notice how muscular his arms and to
rso were. During the entire time he hadn’t opened his eyes once.

  It took Ellie about thirty seconds to work up the courage to say anything. “Mr. Kensington?”

  Edric’s eyes shot open and he pushed himself up into a sitting position. The cold compress fell off his forehead and onto his lap. “Eleonore? Why the hell are you here?”

  She took a step back, alarmed with her boss’s sudden movement and harsh tone. “I heard that you were sick and I um…wanted to see if you were okay; which obviously you’re not because you’re sick but I hoped that I could help.” She ran her fingers through her white hair and bit her lip. “Is there anything I can do?”

  Edric stared at her intently. She recognized that expression, it was the same look that he used when she gave him the cookies nearly a month ago—one of bewildered disbelief.

  “No, Eleonore. I just need to let nature run its course. You can take a seat, if you’d like. Or you can go and enjoy your day off.”

  She quickly sat on the nearby chaise, perching herself on the far edge of it.

  “I don’t think it’s right for you to be alone in the dark while you’re sick.”

  Edric chuckled in response.

  “What are you sick with?”

  “A migraine. I get them from time to time. I’ll be all right by tomorrow.”

  “Do you want me to let some light in here?”

  “No, lights and loud sounds make my migraines worse, usually.”

  “Oh, I hope my voice isn’t adding to it.”

  “You’re not loud enough to do that. If you were your sister, on the other hand, that would be a different story.”

  Ellie chuckled lightly as Edric smiled.

  “Besides,” he continued, “it’s nice having something to think about besides how my head feels.” After finishing the sentence, he relaxed onto the couch—half sitting up and half-reclined. “You can make yourself comfortable. Violet usually sits where you are.”

  “Oh, I can sit somewhere else.”

  “She’s not going to care. You can sit in her seat and kick your feet up, too.”

  “Where is Violet?”

  Edric shrugged. “Probably at the lab. Or at her mechanic shop. Or at Cassie’s. They’ve been spending a lot of time together. It’s hard to track Violet’s whereabouts nowadays, which is a good thing.”

  “Cassie makes a good friend.”

  “I know. She might be annoying as hell but she’s good for Violet. My sister doesn’t make friends easily.”

  “Cassie’s a good person…”

  From that point, the conversation died down a little bit. Edric slumped down further on the couch so he was back to laying down with his eyes closed. Ellie, on the other hand, still sat rigidly upright in the leather chaise.

  “Eleonore, what do you do?”

  “Pardon?”

  “I’ve known you for about a month or so but I don’t really know the first thing about you as a person, other than you work hard, feel a need to please others, and are painfully shy.”

  “I um…I watch movies with Cassie sometimes. I spend a lot of time with my dog and I help out at the soup kitchen after work two days a week. I guess that’s all I do for pleasure.”

  “I’m not surprised. You seem like the type of person who views volunteering at a soup kitchen as a hobby.”

  “I know I’m not a fun person,” she said, unable to hide the sadness in her voice.

  “There’s nothing wrong with volunteering at a soup kitchen, Eleonore. It’s a good thing.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah.”

  “W-what do you do?” Ellie stammered.

  Should I be asking him such a personal question?

  He chuckled again. “Nothing so altruistic as you. I spend time with my siblings, particularly my brother Owen.”

  “How old is he?”

  “Twelve, going on twenty-one. He’s a very rambunctious kid. You’re probably wondering how he’s twenty years younger than I am. He’s from my father’s second marriage.”

  “He lives here with you?”

  “Yeah, he does. It’s a complicated situation that I’d rather not get into right now.”

  “I understand. I’m sorry to have brought it up.”

  “You didn’t; I brought it up.”

  “Oh…um…okay.”

  The CEO looked over at his assistant and smiled lightly. “You can relax, you know.”

  Silence fell between them once more. Ellie leaned back in the chair, as Edric opened his eyes and looked at her. For once she didn’t blush. It was a small victory that mentally she took great pride in.

  “What kind of movies do you like?” Edric asked.

  “Oh, action, adventure, romance, thriller. I like horror movies but I get too scared at night to watch them.”

  He laughed.

  “I’ll still watch them with Cassie though. Although she hates watching films with me.”

  “And why is that?”

  “She says I talk too much.”

  Edric burst out laughing, It was a sincere laugh that sounded a lot different than his chuckles or scoffs. “You? Talk too much? I can’t say that I’d ever think that of you.”

  “Well, when something doesn’t make sense, I feel the need to point it out.”

  “I see you have a fondness for sound logic.”

  “I do. I hope everyone does.”

  “You’d be surprised at how many people don’t.”

  “When I was a kid, I taught myself symbolic logic.”

  Edric laid on his side and propped himself up more. “Really? I taught myself symbolic logic too. It’s what sparked my interest in coding.”

  “I’ve never met anyone else who’s done that before.”

  “Me neither.”

  ***

  Ellie and Edric chatted amicably for the next hour. As time progressed, Ellie’s blush faded and she laughed more. Edric noticed how beautiful her laugh sounded and how stunning she was when she smiled.

  The conversation progressed somewhat easily too—they talked about politics, history, art, the weather, their own personal lives. He’d never had such an in-depth conversation with anyone outside of his family and his wait staff before.

  After about two hours of easy conversation, Edric decided to ask a question that made him nervous. To prepare himself for asking such a question, he sat up on the couch and pushed his hair back, a nervous habit he had since childhood. “Eleonore, would you like to stay for lunch?”

  Her cheeks reddened. “I don’t want to intrude.”

  Edric crossed his arms. “I was just offering because you look like you’re going to pass out before you get back.” He scoffed.

  She brought her hands up to block her face and frowned.

  “I won’t collapse, Mr. Kensington. And…” Ellie faltered for a minute. “And I wish you didn’t talk to me like that. It makes me nervous and hurts my feelings.”

  Edric never saw her blush so much before and her hands were shaking. Her voice started to crack too, on top of it. Before Edric could even reply, Ellie started speaking again, this time in a much more frantic tone,

  “I’m sorry.” she choked out, “You can say what you want about me. I mean, you’re my boss and…um…I’m sorry. I should go.” She shot up from her chair and grabbed her bag. “I’m sorry.”

  Edric had no idea how to respond but he knew that he had to say something when he saw Ellie with her shaking hands and her red face. “Eleonore, wait.” She stopped. He sighed. “I’m sorry, Eleonore. You should never have to apologize for asking to be treated better.”

  “I shouldn’t have said something. I just don’t like to be reminded that I look sickly.”

  Edric’s heart sank. Seeing his sweet, lovely assistant look so sad with her downturned eyes and hands covering her red face made him feel like shit. It was the coffee incident all over again. “You don’t look sickly, Eleonore. And I apologize for the way I treated you earlier when we first met. I bullied you and you don
’t deserve that.”

  She gently nodded her head. “Okay.”

  “Eleonore,” he sighed, “I would like you to have lunch with me. Not because you look sickly but because I’ve been enjoying our conversation today. You don’t have to stay though and I won’t hold it against you professionally or personally if you leave.” This time it was Edric’s turn to blush. He wasn’t used to being so candid about his feelings, even if it was just admitting something so simple as that he enjoyed her company. He felt as if he stood out on a branch and handed Ellie a saw.

  “I’ll stay.” Her blush began to fade and she smiled.

  “If I ever make you feel upset or nervous, let me know, Eleonore, all right?”

  Ellie nodded again.

  “Because I want to know. I mean,” he sighed, “I don’t like seeing anyone upset but it’s just…” he sighed again and smacked his lips together, “Just let me know.”

  Ellie ran her fingers through her hair. Edric exhaled loudly and rested his hands on his hips.

  After a light pause, he spoke in his normal tone. “What would you like for lunch?”

  “Pardon?”

  “What would you like for lunch?” He repeated. “You can have anything you like, Eleonore.”

  “Oh, I’ll have whatever you’re having.”

  “You must have a preference.”

  “Not especially. I usually just have half of a sandwich and tapioca pudding for dessert.”

  “I noticed.”

  “I don’t have any strong preferences about food.”

  “Well, you must have a favorite food of some sort.”

  “I like tapioca pudding, fig squares, tuna, and roasted cauliflower.”

  “That’s very specific.”

  “I-I don’t have any strong preferences though. Those are just my favorite foods. I’ll eat anything but shellfish. I’m allergic.”

  “Ah, good to know.” Edric pushed himself up off the couch. His head hurt a little less than before. All that was left was a dull ache that sat right between his eyes.

  “Are you okay to step into the hallway?”

  Edric nodded his head. “I’m fine, thanks.”

  He walked over past Ellie and pushed the door open and gestured for Ellie to walk through the door. Ellie looked up at Edric, blushed, and walked through the door. Edric smiled to himself.