Found by Love

by Jennifer Bryan Yarbrough

  “I’m listening. What would your one condition be?”

  “That we never bring work home. Okay... Obviously we will have to bring work home from time to time but what I mean is that we never fight about work. What happens at work stays at work. Okay? Do we have a deal? Oh and first order of business for the day is that YOU get to sit in with me while we interview candidates for the secretary position." That seemed to get him rather excited by the look on his face.

  “Can she be hot? I’m all about hiring a hot secretary.” Oh hell no! There’s no way in hell that I’m going to stand by and watch him try to get it on with the secretary right under my nose!

  “Well of course she can… as long as she’s a HOT lesbian. Go get all professional looking because your first day starts today.” I winked at him and pushed him out of my room so that I could start getting ready for our first day of work together and I realized that I have no idea what I’ve just gotten myself into but this could very well be quite an interesting day.

  ***********************

  Caleb and I decided to drive to work together seeing as how we would be going back home together and there was no need in taking two vehicles. I walked in and turned the security alarm off and I noticed that he hadn't moved past the main entrance and was standing there looking around with a shocked look on his face.

  "What's your problem? Are you just going to stand there all day?" He shook his head and continued to look around with his mouth gaping wide.

  "I'm just amazed at how much you did to this place while I was gone. All of our hard work of painting and adding walls for offices to this place really paid off."

  "Oh... Yeah. It's pretty cool huh? Did you see my name on the door? How cool is that? If you're nice to me I might think about adding your name below mine." Would love to have him naked under me in the physical sense but oh well... Oh my God! What in the hell is wrong with me today?! My mind is in full throttle dirty mind mode today!

  "I would prefer to be above you." Can he read my mind or what? "My name that is. Hahahaha. The look on your face right now is priceless... Hold on... Let me take a picture real quick! Your face just turned beet red!" He pulled his phone out of his pocket while I'm leapt towards him and pushed him into the wall.

  "No phones at work... Condition number 2! I'll take that please. Ha, ha, HA!" I started heading to the kitchen area to make a pot of coffee to get ready for the first applicant of the day.

  "You seriously just took my phone from me? What is this, High school? Claud... Give me back my phone." He traps me against the counter trying to grab it from me so I put it in my pocket.

  "What's wrong Caleb? Are you afraid that I'm going to find out about your porn stash? Hmmm... Let's see what kind of pictures you've got in here." I pull his phone out and look for his photo album and before I'm able to click on his album he snatches his phone out of my hands.

  "Nuh uh! I'll only show you mine if you show me yours... I bet you have way more interesting pictures than I do."

  "You're so not fun anymore! So how was Africa? Did you hook up with any hot doctors or nurses while you were over there?" Please say no, please say no.

  "Maybe... But a gentleman never tells.” He winked at me and walked out. Grrrr.... I used to be able to control my jealousy but it seems to be getting harder every time he comes back home.

  It doesn't help either that I'm constantly dreading the moment he comes home and tells me that he's met someone and is getting married. That will probably be the day I have myself committed because it'll be my own damn fault for never telling him the truth about…. EVERYTHING!

  The door dinged letting me know that our first applicant was here. I make Caleb and me a cup of coffee to get ready for the interview and pray we find someone today and it doesn't take all week to get some help with the extra work. I walk into the lobby and I hear an annoying cackle of a laugh and right then and there I knew that there was no way that I could handle listening to that laugh all day long. I sat down at the table and smirked at Caleb who had been flirting with the applicant who looks to be 14 years old but by her application is actually 30.

  "So-" I forgot her name so I looked down again to see what it is. "America?" Seriously? Did I read that right? She nodded so I guess I did. "How many years of experience do you have as a receptionist?"

  "None. I saw that you were hiring and figured I would apply." She seemed more interested in filing what little bit of nails she had left on her fingers than my questions.

  "I see... Did you not see that the ad in the paper mentioned that office experience was a must with some legal knowledge?"

  I looked over at Caleb and his head was down and I knew that he was trying not to laugh which made me want to kick him under the table.

  "Yes I did but people say that all of the time and they usually hire you if you're called in for an interview. What would my hours be because I don't have a baby sitter after one on Tuesdays and Thursdays?"

  The laugh that Caleb was trying to contain slipped out and I kicked him... Hard! So hard that he straightened up in his seat quickly. I look over at little uneducated and misinformed America and hissed at her.

  "America? I'm sorry but this interview is over. Thank you so much for wasting our time. Have a nice day." The girl's chin dropped in absolute shock and I wondered to myself what rock she crawled out of.

  "Are you kidding me?? So that's it? I don't have the job?” I did the only thing I could do and that was stare at her to let her know that yes indeed I was very serious. “Well ya know what?? That's fine because I wouldn't want to work for a bitch like you anyway! You're really rude ya know that?"

  "Yes and you're right... I am a bitch. Goodbye now and have a nice day!" I pointed her to the door in case she had already forgotten how she got into my office. She turned around and flipped me off before she walked out the door. As soon as she was gone Caleb laughed his ass off so hard he fell out of his chair.

  "If you don't shut up I'm going to kick you again!"

  "Oh my God, Claud! Where did she come from? What paper did you put the ad in? Was the job put under the headline ‘Illiterate misguided bimbos please apply’? Hahahaha... This is going to be fun, I can already tell. Who's next?" I'm ready to fire him already. Some big help he turned out to be in the interview.

  "This better not be how this day goes because after that mess of crazy I'm at the point to where we can answer our own damn phones and do our own filing!" I could let him be the secretary if he keeps it up.

  "How many applicants do you have coming in today?" I looked down at my folder of applicants.

  "We have three total for this morning, that THING was the first one. The next one will be here in a few minutes and her name is-" I look down and for some reason the name sounded familiar but I couldn't seem to place it. "Her name is Margaret Simmons. Does that name sound familiar to you? It sure does me." I looked at him and he seemed deep in thought.

  "Yeah... It does sound familiar... Oh man... It's not-" The door dinged and the next applicant walked through the door and we both looked at her and then looked at each other. My blood started boiling immediately and I stormed over to her but he grabbed my arm and turned me around behind him to stop me from doing something stupid.

  "Claudia... You were just going to go get us another cup of coffee weren't you? I'll handle this one, okay?" I looked up into his eyes and I knew there was no way that I could tell him no by the serious stare that he was throwing back at me.

  I looked over at Miss Margaret aka Maggie Simmons and gave her a smirk and walked away. This is the woman that called my best friend Olivia, Caleb's sister in law; a lot of very hateful names at last year’s New Year's Eve party and slapped her because she wanted Cash all for herself.

  Yes, Olivia handled it herself by punching her in the nose and I hope broke it but because of Maggie, that night ended up starting even more drama between Olivia and Cash because that was when I broadcasted to the world that Olivia was pregnant and Cash didn't even know yet
. I felt like I had betrayed my best friend's trust because of my temper and I didn't think she was ever going to forgive me but she did thank God. Caleb walked into the kitchen area and leaned back against the counter and folded his arms across his chest.

  "Well... She left. She had no idea that this was your office and she said that she never would have applied for the job if she had known. She also apologized for the New Year's Eve incident and informed me that she was very, very drunk that night and realized that she had a drinking problem. She even went to rehab for three months and is trying to change her life around. So... Do you think that you could handle yourself if you ever see her out in public again? She seemed genuinely sincere."

  "Yeah right! Are you sure she's just not trying to get brownie points in with you?" Maybe she has changed but as vicious as she was to Cash and Olivia, I seriously doubt it.

  "What? You think she's switching her infatuation to me instead?" I nodded because that's exactly what I was thinking. "Nah... That’s very unlikely. Just let it go and she really did seem genuine in her apology. So... We've been here an hour already and have already had lots of drama! Haha... Surely that's it for the day."

  "Oh I hope so... I hope the next applicant is Mary Poppins and we can hire her on the spot!" He started rolling at my comment. I didn't realize how hard it was to hire a secretary.

  "Did you think about calling a temp service? They could have sent someone over already and we wouldn't have to deal with this mess." I looked over at him and rolled my eyes.

  "Yes of course I THOUGHT about it! I'm not a complete idiot! I just figured that it would be better to know who I hired first instead of the temp service sending someone over and the person not working out. I think I want to hire someone to interview the secretary. Do they have anyone that could do that?"

  "Yes! The temp service!" Ugh! He's so not helping me here.

  "Oh shut it! Let me go over some files with you of some clients that recently hired me. The next applicant won't be in for a couple of hours and we have some work to do. Let's go to my office."

  I'm so not feeling this day. When the day starts out crappy it usually stays that way. There's no telling what kind of.... CRAZY... Will show up for the next interview.

  "Okay partner! Let's get to work. I'm stoked!" I looked up and he was pounding his chest with his fist like King Kong which put a smile on my face. Gosh he's adorable! Maybe this day will get better.

  CHAPTER TWO

  A couple of hours later we heard the bell at the door letting us know that someone was here. I realized that it had to be our next applicant by the time on my watch and I couldn't believe how engrossed Caleb and I had gotten into our work.

  Letting him join my firm was definitely a good idea because I could already tell that we had a lot of the same thoughts and ideas. We decided to divide the clients by last names. He'd have A-L and I'd have M-Z unless there was someone that we absolutely didn't want and then we'd flip for it. I know... A childish way to decide but we both came up with it so it worked.

  "Claudia? Where are you dear?"

  Oh no! It's Amelia, Caleb's mother. What is she doing here? She can't stand me and I'm scared to death of that woman.

  "Mother?" Caleb and I walked around the corner into the lobby and she saw Caleb and quickly walked up to him and gave him a hug.

  "Oh, Sweetheart! I thought you were getting in tonight? How long have you been in? Your father or I would have picked you up if we had known."

  "I got in early this morning and I didn't want to wake anyone up so I took a cab home to Claudia's. What are you doing here?" She looked behind him and looked straight at me and grinned. I couldn't help but grin back but I was curious as to why she was grinning at me and what brought her here to my office.

  "I came to talk to Claudia about the receptionist job that she has in the paper."

  Do what? Oh no... How do I get out of this? I know she can't stand me so why would she want to work for me? How could I be HER boss? She's the matriarch of the flipping family and I'd be afraid to tell her to make me coffee!

  "I didn't realize you were my next applicant. I could have sworn it was someone named Amy. Oh... Is Amy supposed to be short for Amelia?"

  "Of course not! I wanted to come in and talk to you face to face. Have you hired anyone yet?"

  I looked over at Caleb and I could tell that he was deep in thought and I'm praying that he is thinking the same thoughts that I'm having and that it wouldn't be a good idea.

  "Mother? I thought you were enjoying retirement and spending time with Cash and Olivia's kids? It would be kind of weird asking you to go make a pot of coffee for us when clients come in. Well... I mean... You do when I visit but being my mother's boss just seems really weird to me if you want me to be honest." Bravo Caleb! I'm glad that he was thinking along the same line that I was.

  "What? I thought Claudia was the boss? You mean you're working here to? Does that mean that you're through traveling? You're finally going to settle down? Oh I'm so happy!" She jumped into his arms and hugged him again and kissed him all over his face which had me laughing. "Maybe now you'll meet someone so that you could give me some more grand babies!"

  She looked over at me and winked. Well holy crap! That's what her problem is with me. She knows about my little lie and how crazy Caleb has always been about me and blames me for him not settling down. Hmmm... I bet it was Cash that told her. Cash and his stupid big mouth!

  "Whoa! Calm down Mother. Let’s deal with one thing at a time. Yes… I'm done with traveling overseas. They've found a replacement for me and I feel confident in his abilities and I guess you could say that Claudia and I are partners now. You never answered my question though. Why do you want to work here?"

  "Oh I love spending time with my grandchildren, don't get me wrong, but I have always worked and when Olivia mentioned to me that Claudia was looking for someone to help her run the office I just figured she needed someone that she could trust and it would get me out of the house. I can still go see the kids anytime I want but if the two of you do not want me here, I completely understand but I figured I'd give it a shot."

  Great! Now I feel like a jerk! I'd give anything to have my own mother here to help me with my office. Elizabeth, Olivia's mom, and Amelia, even though I'm scared of her, have been the closest people I have to a mother and I can tell that she really wants the job but I'm leaving it up to Caleb on this.

  I look over at him and he was looking up around the same time the door dinged and oh my! What walked into the office must be my next applicant, Amy. She looked like she just finished posing for the cover of Vogue magazine because she was THAT beautiful! I looked over at Caleb and I swear he’s drooling.

  "Hello... May I help you?" I nonchalantly walked in front of him and shoved his chin up because his bottom lip was hanging down. I guess it must have woken him out of his trance because he embarrassingly looked at me and cleared his throat.

  "Yes, I'm looking for Claudia Porter. I have an interview with her for the receptionist job." Oh my God! Not only is she sexy as hell but her voice could make her hundreds of dollars on one of those 1-900 numbers! Talk about sex on a stick! I extended my hand out to her and she smiled and shook it immediately.

  "Oh hello... You must be Amy. I'm Claudia; it's very nice to meet you. I'm so sorry to tell you this but we just filled the position."

  I pointed at Amelia and at first she looked taken aback but then she grinned from ear to ear and nodded her head at me. Caleb on the other hand frowned at me and walked up to Miss Sex on a Stick and shook her hand.

  "Yes... I'm so sorry but I do wish you well. If we think of anyone that needs a receptionist we will give them your number. Is the number you left Claudia the one where they can reach you at?"

  I notice her check Caleb out like the sex on the stick that he is and I want to knock the pretty off of her quick! I'm also not crazy about him flirting with her right in front of me because I know what he's doing! He’s trying to make me jealous! />
  "That's actually my home phone but I can be reached any time of day OR night on my cell phone." She reached into her wallet and pulled out a card and handed it to him. "Here's my business card with all of my information. I hope to...Um... Hear from... Someone…. soon. And your name would be? In case I do get a job with all of your help I would need to know who to thank." Oh my word! She's good, I can give her that!

  "Oh I'm sorry... How rude of me. Caleb Kingston. It has been a pleasure to meet you Amy. Hopefully... Someone will be in touch... Real soon." He winked at her as he flicked the card and pulled his wallet out and made a point to show her that he put it inside. She grinned and turned around and sashayed her hips all the way out the door! God! Who could compete with that?

  "So I have the job?" I had forgotten that Amelia was still here because I was ready to rip her son a new asshole! But why? I don't have any claims on him!

  "Yes, you have the job. Congratulations. Can you start today?"

  "Well of course I can! How about we go have lunch and celebrate. We do get an hour for lunch don't we?"

  I looked at my watch and realized that it was lunch time but I wasn't in the mood for lunch. I needed to go talk to someone because I was about to explode and I need to get a lot off my chest and rant and rave so that I can focus with all of my new current distractions.

  "You two go ahead, I need to go run some errands. Caleb, I hope you can ride with your mother because I need my car.” I pulled out an extra set of car keys and handed him my main set so that he would have a key to get back in if I’m not back in time.

  "Sure Claud... Are you okay? You're not mad about me flirting with Amy are you? It's probably a good thing we didn't hire her because I am definitely going to call her and that probably wouldn't have been a good idea with her working here. Thank you Mother for wanting the job because that could have been awkward with her working here."