Chapter 9
Nora
I was hugging Katie tightly, refusing to let go. We were sitting on our small, humble couch in the apartment, and I had just about managed to tell her everything that had happened today.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine, these things happen to everybody,” Katie tried to placate me. I drew myself away from her and stared at her with hope.
“Really?” I asked. Katie bit down on her lip and then shrugged her shoulders.
“I guess not,” she said, and I stood up from the couch and started pacing around the room.
“I can’t believe I said all those things to him. To Felix Stone!” I ran my hands through my hair. I couldn’t sit, I couldn’t eat anything…everything, every word I’d said was rushing back to me now and they were like repeated slaps across the face.
“Okay, Nora, honey, you need to sit down here and just calm down.” Katie patted the seat beside her on the couch.
“I can’t calm down, Katie! This was my first day on the job, what’s going to happen tomorrow?” I cried.
“Nothing! Nothing’s going to happen tomorrow. You’re going to march back in there and just pretend like today’s been forgotten. Didn’t he say he spoke to that Jackson guy already? So, it’s all been taken care of,” Katie argued and I shook my head.
“What was I thinking? Who speaks to their boss like that? Not once, but twice…I just kept trying to lecture him on what to do with his kid!” I exclaimed and collapsed down on the couch, exhausted.
“Well, he deserved it! The girl doesn’t even know her father’s name!” Katie cried and we shook our heads at each other. I rolled my eyes.
“I shouldn’t care. I just shouldn’t have bothered. What does it matter to me if that kid has dinner with her daddy or not? I’m never going to see her again. And now, I’ve gone and pissed off my boss…and who knows? Maybe tomorrow I’ll find out that I don’t have the job after all!” I threw my hands up in the air with exasperation and Katie shifted closer to me.
She threw her arms around my neck and knocked her head against mine.
“If that man has any common sense, he will realize that you meant well,” she said softly.
“I don’t think he will look at it that way. I’m his employee and I tried to lecture him on parenting skills. I’m twenty-three years old, what made me think I know anything about being a parent…and about being a single parent? What is wrong with me!” I cried out and Katie hugged me tighter.
“Just don’t overthink it, please! Just get up in the morning, go to the hotel and see what the day has in store for you. Maybe he’ll forget about it, maybe you won’t see him much anyway. I’m going to go get us some plates for the pasta, okay?” Katie stood up from the couch and I watched her go to the kitchen.
Maybe she was right, I tried to tell myself, maybe I wouldn’t have to see Felix Stone again and then I could stop feeling this miserable.
But I had that nagging feeling inside me somewhere, that I did want to see him again. As embarrassing as that would be. His sparkling green eyes were etched into my brain. I remembered exactly the way he moved, how broad his shoulders were and how gorgeous he looked when he smiled. Not that I’d seen him smiling much, they were just polite half-smiles, more like grins.
Katie returned with two plates of steaming cheesy pasta and she handed me one.
“I can’t believe you went to Felix Stone’s house, though. Was it amazing?” she asked as she settled down beside me again.
“Yeah, it was beautiful, like a palace…a cold marble palace, but beautiful anyway,” I replied and Katie sighed.
“He’s one of the richest men in America…like a multi-billionaire or something,” she continued and I tried to force the food down my throat.
“So today, I told off my boss, who also happens to be one of the richest men in America, in his own house, after attending a fake tea party with his six-year-old daughter,” I said, and Katie burst out laughing.
“I’m sorry, I know it’s not funny…it’s just when you say it that way,” she tried to say through her laughter and I rolled my eyes.
“I feel like a complete idiot,” I added and Katie patted my hand.
“It’ll be fine, don’t worry. If he was going to fire you, he would have done it already. Just keep your nose down, be a good girl and avoid trying to think of new lectures to give him the next time you see him,” Katie continued, still trying to control her giggles.
I arched my eyebrows at her and she laughed some more.
“By the way, I’ve heard that he’s like super sexy. Is he?” she asked, stopping midway in her laugh. I gulped down the food and kept my face turned to the plate, in the hopes that she wouldn’t notice how bright red my cheeks had become.
“He’s okay, he’s good-looking I guess; I didn’t really notice,” I said meekly and when I looked up, Katie was staring at me with her head tilted to the side.
“Oh my God, you’re attracted to him!” she squealed and I shook my head.
“Don’t be crazy. He’s my boss! I was worried about his daughter.” I tried to back out of it, but she had seen it in my eyes already.
“You think Felix Stone is sexy. You can’t stop blushing!” Katie was still squealing.
Could my day get any worse than this? The last thing I wanted was to admit that I was constantly having fantasies of my boss in my head.