The Boss’s Unconventional Assistant

by Jennie Adams

  Bella said quietly, ‘This was unexpected, but there’s nothing much else that needs to be said and I imagine this is a working day for Soph when all is said and done.’

  ‘It is, but if Sophia can’t cope…’

  ‘I’m fine.’ Soph’s spine straightened. She could cope. She could leave him with dignity too, though she might need a chance to separate herself a little from this afternoon’s emotional impact first.

  Bella watched her thoughtfully but, in the end, nodded and sipped her tea.

  Chrissy set her cup down. ‘I’m sad for them. They really don’t understand what love and family is about.’

  ‘They wanted to use you and Bella.’ Soph had to make sure her sisters understood that. ‘I don’t believe they’d have sought any of us out if it wasn’t for that woman attending one of Bella’s fashion shows.’

  ‘It impacted on their career possibilities.’ Chrissy paused to think for a moment. ‘That’s really kind of crazy, isn’t it?’

  ‘We did our best to leave the past behind and make new lives for ourselves.’ Bella set her empty cup aside. ‘In a way, this situation has given us a chance for a greater closure. We’ve seen them now, adult to adult. We’ve answered the question that maybe stayed hidden just a little in all of our hearts. Would they come back? Would they realise what they’d lost and try to regain it?’

  ‘It wasn’t like that, though.’ Soph toyed with the rim of her cup while she fought a war between her conscience and a natural feeling of rejection. Her conscience won, perhaps by no more than a flicker. ‘Bella’s right. This is our chance to tie the loose ends. I think we should do it by inviting them to family counseling—a formal opportunity for all of us to address their past behaviour.’

  It was a radical suggestion, but her sisters both slowly nodded.

  ‘I don’t believe they’ll accept the invitation.’ Chrissy pursed her lips.

  Bella gave a thoughtful dip of her head. ‘I don’t believe it either, but it gives them a chance to own their past actions. We should do it through a solicitor, have him send a letter. We’ll have the letter delivered so we know they get it. And we’ll give our parents two weeks to respond. I see no reason to drag it out.’

  No, they would all want to get on with their lives. Soph got to her feet and quickly cleared away the teapot and cups, washed them and set them on the draining board to air dry. With this plan in train, she felt marginally better.

  They all moved to the door. Chrissy paused and smiled, with the first sign of humour since this had started. ‘Nate will be surprised when I tell him what he’s missed on his business trip.’

  ‘I know exactly how Luchino will react.’ Bella straightened the silk scarf around her throat. ‘I believe there’ll be some swearing and threats to rip our parents apart if they so much as upset us even slightly more than this. He’ll be home from the auction tonight. I must make sure to tell him when Grace isn’t in the room. She doesn’t need a story about her father going ballistic to tell her school friends.’

  They hugged and her sisters left. Soph felt a little forlorn, but it had been a tough afternoon; she was probably entitled. Now she had to get back to the rest of the difficult stuff. ‘Let me call a taxi and lock up. I’d like to just quickly check on my landlady and then we can leave.’

  Though Grey still looked tense enough to snap, he nodded and waited for her to make the call, and then accompanied her while she reassured her landlady. It was a relief to climb into the taxi. ‘I’ll be pleased when our cars are returned to us. It’s a nuisance having to do this all the time.’

  ‘I meant to tell you. They’ll be delivered tomorrow morning. I paid to get a transport truck through the lowest flooded area.’ He paused and let his gaze drift to the window before he looked at her again. ‘They’ll bring all your things, and mine. I didn’t want you to have to go without.’

  ‘That was kind.’ It shouldn’t have made her emotional, but it did.

  ‘Soph—’ He reached for her, but she shook her head.

  ‘You don’t have to worry, Grey.’ She could look after herself. She would survive her parents’ unexpected appearance and ongoing lack of interest just as she would survive loving him. ‘I’m fine. I promise you.’

  She turned away so he wouldn’t see the sheen of tears that came to her eyes, blinked until she got them under control and then kept looking out of the window because it was easier than looking at the man she loved and had to leave.

  When her car arrived she would go.

  Tomorrow… When she could do it and keep her chin up.

  They went inside the house in silence. Grey cast one frustrated, tense glance at her and disappeared.

  Soph took a deep breath and went into the kitchen, determined to get busy and stay busy.

  Grey brought Alfie and plopped him into her arms, and then he just stood there in front of her and finally stroked her arm, just once, before he dropped his hand. ‘Your strength and your giving attitude both humble me. I wish—I wish I could match those things.’

  Her arms closed around Alfie and she hugged him close and let the feeling of his warmth and simple acceptance ease at least a little edge off her tension. ‘You’ve reached out to Leanna—’

  ‘Yes.’ But his gaze told her he hadn’t meant his relationship with his stepmothers, and Soph knew that, of course.

  ‘We’ve both learned things since we met.’ She had learned that when love came, a person couldn’t do anything about it—couldn’t shut it off or control it—and it just grew and grew until it took you over anyway, even when the person didn’t love you back.

  ‘I need to get on with dinner.’ She sat Alfie on the floor and pulled an edge of lettuce leaf out of the fridge and gave it to him, then turned to wash and dry her hands. ‘I’m hungry, aren’t you? I think I’ll make three courses tonight. It will take time. You’ll probably want to work in your study now you’ve got the all-clear to ease back into all that.’

  It was a dismissal, clear and simple, and she was doing it to him in his own home, as his employee. She prayed he would let her, because all she wanted was to burst into tears and throw herself at him and beg him to love her the way she loved him. And Soph couldn’t do that, couldn’t let him see even a hint of what she was feeling.

  ‘I’ll go, then.’ He hadn’t wanted to.

  She’d seen the resistance and, yes, the pain for her in his eyes. But he did go.

  Soph set about making the best, most interesting meal yet, refusing to think about the fact that it would be one of the last they shared.

  The cars arrived just as they finished eating breakfast the next morning. Soph drew a deep breath as Grey stepped outside to complete the transaction with the delivery people. She lifted the phone extension in the kitchen and dialled the number of the employment agency.

  She threw herself on the mercy of the recruitment supervisor. She had thought she might get struck from their books, or at least have a lot of trouble acquiring further positions. But fate intervened by way of an urgent and last-minute need.

  ‘I hadn’t thought to go back into hairdressing but yes, I’ll take it and, I promise you, nothing like this will happen again.’ She had cited personal reasons but had not explained them.

  If the woman on the other end of the line guessed, she kept her thoughts to herself. ‘You’ll need to be at the wharf no later than three hours from now. Can you do it?’

  ‘Yes.’ Soph drew a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She would have to ask Bella to take Alfie for her, drop him off, drive her car to her flat and then pack and get a taxi on from there. ‘I can do it.’

  She had to, because she couldn’t stay with Grey any longer, and her courage now was as good as it was going to get to say goodbye.

  When Grey stepped into his house twenty minutes later, Soph met him at the door. He’d heard her go to her car, but he’d had his back turned, speaking with the delivery people. He’d assumed she had taken some of her things out of her car as the keys had s
till been in the ignition, the doors unlocked.

  It hit him now that she wasn’t unloading her belongings. She had Alfie in his basket in her arms, a small travel bag and her tote bag slung over her shoulder.

  Before he could do more than register the hard lump that had formed in his stomach, she drew a deep breath and spoke. ‘I’ve taken another job with the agency. It’s an urgent one, last-minute. They can’t do without me and the truth is, you really don’t need help any more. You’re doing so well, so there’s no reason I shouldn’t go early.’

  ‘You didn’t mention anything.’ It was all he could think to say. He felt stunned, shaken, and…he didn’t know how to fix this. ‘You can’t go. Your contract here isn’t over. I still need you.’

  He needed to hold her because the pain she’d faced yesterday had nearly killed him but she had locked him out of it. He needed more time…

  ‘No, you don’t need me, Grey.’ The words seemed to hurt her, but she tipped up her chin and forced her lips into a smile. ‘You have Leanna, Dawn and Sharon to help you get around until you’re fully fit again. They’ll jump at the chance to be there for you if you’ll just let them, and you’ll be busy reclaiming your place at work.’

  He shook his head, and she tightened her lips and stepped towards the open door. ‘This is best. We got too close and that wasn’t a good idea, and now we have to make a clean break of it, you know. Please, let me go.’

  It was the heartbreak in her words that silenced him, and in that silence she walked away, loaded the rabbit into her car and drove off.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  ‘THE agency has another project for you. It’s of the highest priority.’ Over the phone, the supervisor seemed to hesitate for a moment before she went on in a softer, less demanding tone. ‘Arrangements have been made to take you to your next employer. I’m afraid you won’t have a chance to go home first. If you make your way to the public transport area, a car will be waiting to collect you.’

  Soph was almost there now. Her cellphone had rung as she’d headed in search of a taxi. Her stint on the cruise ship was over. She was tanned, rested and healthy and had done a wonderful job filling in as a last-minute hair stylist.

  She had no idea what she wanted to do with her career path or her future generally, and she was utterly miserable. She had planned to go to her flat and collapse into bed for at least a day, and then maybe crawl out again to go and get Alfie from her sister’s place before she talked to the agency about possible future assignments.

  But she owed this supervisor, so she straightened her drooping shoulders and agreed. ‘I’ll go straight away. Is it here in Melbourne somewhere?’

  ‘No, you’ll be travelling out of the city.’

  ‘Well, I guess that will be fine.’ Maybe it would be easier not to think about Grey if she wasn’t here. Not that being out of Melbourne had stopped her so far, but it would probably be even worse if she stayed in the city, so close to him. No doubt Bella would agree to keep Alfie a bit longer, though Soph had really missed her pet.

  She glanced up. ‘Ah, there’s a man with my name on a placard over there. I guess I’ve found my lift.’

  The supervisor seemed pleased to end the call. Soph realised too late that she hadn’t received any instructions really, but it would have to wait now. The man was already taking her bags from her and hustling her into his car.

  He drove without speaking, though he cast the occasional curious glance her way.

  She was deposited beside a helicopter before she could blink. Well, virtually. She’d forgotten to ring Bella. She would have to contact her sister later.

  The driver handed her luggage to the pilot and the pilot helped her into the helicopter and then they were off. It all felt a bit surreal and Soph still just wanted to close her eyes and stop thinking and not start again until she could do it without aching for Grey.

  Four weeks on a cruise ship seeing the most beautiful islands and ocean imaginable, and she hadn’t managed to forget him in the slightest. She stared morosely out of the window without really seeing anything.

  ‘We’ve set down, love.’ The pilot’s words impinged on her bleak thoughts.

  ‘Oh. Yes.’ She turned to stare at him blankly. ‘Thank you. I’ll just get my bags, then.’

  But he got them organised for her and, by the time she’d climbed out, they were waiting for her and the helicopter had lifted off and there she was, in the middle of a meadow.

  A meadow full of spring flowers, deeper into bloom than before, all that excess water dried up and disappeared, but, oh, she recognised this place.

  ‘I was afraid you wouldn’t come.’ Grey came forward—no, he strode forward without any apparent ankle difficulty. He swung two healthy, unencumbered arms as he moved and came to a stop in front of her.

  ‘You’re the assignment who needs me?’ She couldn’t make sense of it, so she shook her head. ‘Didn’t you tell them? You can’t want me.’ I can’t be here. I can’t do this again.

  ‘Would you mind very much if I needed you, Sophia?’ He asked it so sincerely and his eyes seemed to look so deep inside her, as though he needed an answer only she could give him, an answer to something more than the words that made up his question.

  Her heart jumped and she wished that just once she could be stronger, could overcome these desperate feelings. It had all meant so much to her, but that didn’t mean it had to him.

  So maybe he just simply wanted help again and wanted her because…because he liked her cooking or he knew she could type or something. ‘You need someone again? Is it to work here for you while you supervise the repairs to your house?’

  ‘No, those have all been done.’ He lifted her luggage and started to move away with it, back towards the house, and when he got there he climbed the veranda steps and set her things down outside the front door.

  The vines about the veranda poles had tiny white flowers all over them. Soph stared at them and at the familiar house and remembered finding heaven in Grey’s arms, and she fought to swallow over the emotion that clogged her throat.

  Words choked out of her. ‘I can’t work for you again.’ She wouldn’t be able to hide her feelings. Now she was stranded here. Panic rose in her throat. ‘The agency didn’t explain it was you.

  ‘I’ll call one of my sisters. Get them to come and collect me. I can wait by the road and be gone before you know it. I’m sure the agency will find a suitable replacement when I explain things to them.’

  Soph was over feeling bad about relying on her sisters. That was what family meant and it went both ways. She had come to terms with that much, at least, as her sisters had reported back to her while they’d gone through the process of offering their parents reconciliation, and had their offer ultimately ignored. Well, no surprises there, really, and it had only hurt a little—because they had done their grieving years ago.

  ‘Would you mind if we talked first before you make any decisions about going? There are some things I want to tell you.’ He moved down the veranda steps and away from the house. ‘I thought we could go back to the meadow, to the spot we visited before. Now that my ankle is better and the cast is off my arm, I rather like to get out of doors and…I thought you might enjoy the flowers. They’re bright and beautiful, in full bloom now.’

  Her heart twisted. Grey had once said that he liked her brightness, but being liked wasn’t enough. Maybe he felt things had ended abruptly when she’d left. If so, he deserved the right to say whatever he wanted to, she supposed.

  ‘You’re welcome to say anything that’s on your mind, but let me phone one of my sisters now so they can get started in their car.’

  ‘Of course.’ He didn’t meet her gaze as she drew her cellphone from her bag.

  It seemed wisest to try Bella, but Soph couldn’t contact her at the shop or at home. She left messages and tried Chrissy but got the same result. It was a whole lot of bad luck, and Soph felt panicky again.

  ‘Don’t worry about it for now.�
�� Grey made the suggestion in a gentle tone that was almost her undoing.

  He took her arm and coaxed her into the middle of their meadow. No, it wasn’t their meadow. It was a place where they happened to have had a picnic once.

  But there was the same bright blanket and a basket exactly where they’d sat the last time. She almost turned and ran away.

  He gestured towards the blanket. ‘Will you sit with me a while?’

  I would sit with you for ever, but you wouldn’t want me to stay that long.

  ‘As neither of my sisters appears to be around right now, I seem to have the time.’ She curled up right at the edge of the blanket and waited for him to sit on the other side.

  He moved the basket out of his way and sat beside her instead, and then turned to face her. ‘I don’t have the close relationship with my stepmothers that you have with your sisters.’ For a moment he paused and seemed to be gathering his thoughts. ‘Part of that is my fault because, after thinking they had each deserted me, I put up shields and refused to let them near again.’

  ‘They do care about you.’ She rushed to say it because it was so obvious to her. Because she wanted him to have a loving family and all the happiness he deserved, even if she couldn’t be the one to give it to him, and she thought he had been on the way to that. ‘Has something happened?’

  ‘No. Only good things.’ He cleared his throat. ‘I care about them too. I’m trying to show them that now, and I’ve realised they’ve all been bored so we had a family council like you did with your sisters that day, and came up with a solution.’

  She leaned forward, just a little, just because she was happy for him, happy he had hope about this aspect of his future. ‘What is it?’

  ‘I’ve asked them to set up and run a charitable arm of the company.’ He leaned closer, until their thighs were almost touching, and she could hear the soft sigh of each breath he took. ‘They’ve taken to the idea with enthusiasm. I think it’s going to really change them, and they seem to want that, to be occupied, to have goals and responsibilities.’