Chapter Nine
Harrison
I sat in the study at my house doing research on an oil company that was looking for a brand new building to go up in the heart of downtown. Brian had been doing an excellent job bringing in new contracts, and since I made him the project manager, the business’s profitability had increased by leaps and bounds. He was a killer when it came to closing deals, and every time there was a meeting, I trusted him to close it. Laymar Oil was a new company who had just settled into Cottonwood a year ago, and they were looking to expand their company.
Sarah’s picture sat on top of my desk as I searched the internet for information about the company. I ran my finger along the edge of her frame, then pulled out my cell phone to listen to another one of her voicemails.
“Hey Dad, just calling to say… hey, Dad… oh, and um, I know you are probably thinking that I am calling just to ask for money, but this time, I am just calling to tell you that I love you. So, that’s it. I love you, Dad, and thank you for everything you’ve done for me. I’ll call you later. Muah!”
Right when the voicemail ended, another call came through. The number wasn’t saved in my phone, so I wasn’t sure who it belonged to. “Hello?”
“Hi. Is this Harrison?”
“Yes.”
“Hi, Harrison; this is Caroline.”
I smiled. “Oh, Caroline. Hey. I had your name saved under a different number.”
“Yeah, I had to get a new phone a few days ago. I dropped mine in some water, and I couldn’t save it, so I just decided to get a new phone. I was due for an upgrade anyway.”
“I see. Well, how are you doing?”
“I am good. I was just calling to see if you still wanted to go out to dinner to talk about the opportunity you had for me. I think it was a temporary job or something.”
I leaned back in my chair and put my foot on the desk. “Oh, yes, that. Right. Well, if you have the time, we can get together this weekend. If you can’t though, just give me a time–”
“No, this weekend is fine. I am literally not doing anything around here. I just moved into an apartment not too far from Cottonwood. It is pretty much in the same area I grew up.”
“Oh, alright. Yeah, that’s not far at all from me. Do you want me to come to your place?”
“Either way, it doesn’t matter.”
“OK. I’ll come and grab you, then we will go from there. What do you want to eat? Chinese? Italian? Indian?”
“Umm, I’ll leave it up to you. I am not picky, and I will pretty much eat whatever is in front of me. Wait, did that make me sound like a pig?” She chuckled. “Because I’m not, I was just saying that I’m not picky. I think I am rambling now. I am so sorry.”
I laughed. “Caroline, it’s fine. Trust me. But I’ll pick you up Friday evening? Say, 8 pm?”
“OK. That is fine. I’ll be ready by then.”
“Alright, sounds good. See you then.”
“Bye, Harrison.”
“Goodbye, Caroline.”
I hung up the phone and slid it onto my desk. It stopped just in front of Sarah’s picture. I shook my head and leaned forward in my seat until my feet were flat on the floor. “Now, Sarah, I know what you are thinking, and that is not the case. Yes, she is pretty, but I am just looking out for her. She needs a job, and I know you would want me to help your friend.”
On the picture, she smiled the same way she did every time I gave in to her spoiled desires. I grabbed the picture, kissed her on the forehead, then placed it back in its spot as I went back to work. Friday came in a blur, and before I knew it, I was parked outside of Caroline’s apartment. I called her phone to let her know I was outside, and she asked me to come up while she finished getting ready.
She opened the door dressed in blue jeans, a tight black T-shirt, and black heels. I stood 6-foot-2, and even with her heels, she was still just a few inches shorter than me. Her hair was combed straight down, and her lips were touched with a hint of gloss. A strong fragrance of watermelon danced in my nostrils as soon as she invited me in. “Thanks for coming up. I’m sorry. I tried to be ready by 8 pm, but I just can’t get my hair to do what I want it to do.”
“No,” I said as she closed the door behind me. “It looks great to me. You look great.”
“Really? You’re just being nice.”
“No, really. You look great. Absolutely.”
She blushed. “Well, thank you for that.” She brushed her hair behind her ear. “I guess, if you don’t mind, you can just take a seat out here. Sorry for the blandness of the décor. I just moved in earlier this week, and I haven’t had time to shop for anything to make these walls and my tables a little more appealing.”
I sat down on the couch and folded my hands in my lap. “No, it’s fine. I’m a man, though, so I see things differently. As long as I have a television and a couch in my front room, I am gold.”
She tossed me the remote control, “Oh. Well, in that case, you are right at home. Go ahead and watch what you want, but don’t get comfortable because I won’t be gone too long.”
“Alright. Take your time.”
I watched her backside as soon as she turned around. She had grown so much since the days that she would come around during her high school years. She was always a cute little girl, but now, she was an attractive young woman. I leaned back on the couch and put my arm around the back cushion as I flipped through the channels. It took her about 10 minutes before she came back into the front room. She looked the same, except her hair was pulled into a tight ponytail.
“Well, my hair wants to be an asshole today, so I just threw a little scrunchy around it so we can go. I know you don’t want to wait on me all night.”
“Take your time.”
“No,” she said as she grabbed her purse, “we can just go.”
I placed the remote on the table, grabbed my phone, and we headed out the door. She climbed into my F-150, and we headed downtown to a restaurant near my business. Maggio’s was a popular Italian restaurant my company did a lot of business with. We had built two restaurants for them, and because of that, we always got a discount off their food when I showed them the company card.
“Oh, I love this place,” she said as we pulled into the parking lot. “They have the best pasta in Cottonwood. I could eat it for the rest of my life!”
I laughed as I shut off the engine. “Well, we will make sure you get enough of it to hold you over for tonight and tomorrow.”
She smiled. “Now I see the reason that Sarah was so spoiled. You really gave her everything she wanted, huh?”
I exhaled. “Yeah, I am guilty. She was my sweetheart, and anything she asked for, she could have.” We sat in silence, and when the thought of Sarah became too much to bear, I grabbed the handle on my door. “Shall we?” She quietly nodded her head, and with that, we entered the building. The hostess led us to a seat near the back of the restaurant. Chandeliers hung from the ceiling like giant spiders descending on single strands of silk.
The room was dimly lit from one end to the other, adding to the mellow ambiance inside the restaurant. The hostess smiled as she extended her hand for us to have our seat. I pulled Caroline’s chair out, then took a seat across from her. “Your server will be with you momentarily. Enjoy your meal.” The hostess smiled at us, then made her way back to the front of the restaurant.
“Did you see how she looked at us?”
I grabbed the menu and pulled it open. “No, I can’t say that I did. I wasn’t paying attention.”
“She looked as if you were my sugar daddy or something.”
“Sugar daddy?”
She snickered. “You don’t know what a sugar daddy is?”
I smiled. “Enlighten me.”
“Well, a sugar daddy is an older man who wines and dines a younger woman. Pays for things like rent or cars and things like that. She gave me that sort of, ‘good job’ look when she seated us.”
“Wow,” I said, looking back at the hostess. “I don’t know whether to be offended that she thinks I am old or what.”
“No, it’s not totally a bad thing. I mean, I am surprised she pegged you for an older man anyway, especially since you don’t look a day over 30.”
She lowered her eyes to look at the menu as my line of sight went to her breasts. She was attractive, without a doubt, but I had to keep my mind on the reason I wanted to bring her out in the first place. I ripped my eyes away from her breasts and dug them into my menu. “So, the opportunity I was telling you about before. We have an open accounting position at my company. For some reason, we haven’t been able to keep that spot filled. We had one person, but they turned out to be a dud, and then the next person ended up moving away with her husband about two weeks after she was hired. That is your area of expertise, right?”
She lowered her menu. Her lips glistened under the dim lights as she propped her elbows onto the table. “Yeah, that is my area, but I don’t know. I don’t want to leave your company high and dry again because I still plan on moving to California in a few months. Things kind of got delayed once,” she looked to the right, then dropped her head. “Yeah. Things just got delayed.”
“I understand. Completely. But, how about this. We will keep searching for a more permanent employee to fill that spot, but in the meantime, you can just rack up the experience and put me down as a good reference. It wouldn’t hurt. What do you think?”
She tapped her fingernails against the table. They sounded like a tiny army, marching along the surface of the table. “I guess I can come by and check it out. A little extra money wouldn’t hurt during this time.”
“It sure wouldn’t.”
Just then, the waiter came to our table to grab our orders. I extended my hand to Caroline, prompting her to order first. As I sat back and listened to her order, I realized that she was much mature than I imagined. As natural as things felt between us, there was still a line that I believed I couldn’t cross.