Chapter 19
Elijah
Kendall had informed me she wasn’t able to book the bowling as we had anticipated, so we went back to the initial plan of a party, yet she had a surprise for me. I liked surprises. It wasn’t often I received one, or at least as far as I could remember.
I arrived back at the office and could see Kendall was busy attending to the catering company, I walked up behind her quietly and placed my hands on her shoulders.
“How’s it going?” I whispered into her ear.
“Okay so far, everyone has turned up, and most of the preparations are ready, just the food to finalize and the bar, then we are set.
“So, you going to show me my surprise?” I asked Kendall as I grinned.
“Yes, come with me,” she said leading me toward the conference hall.
She told me to close my eyes as she led me through the doors.
“Are you ready?” she said excitedly.
“Yes, I’m ready,” I replied with anticipation.
“One, two, three, open!” she said in excitement.
I opened my eyes, the hall was decorated in company colors, and the silk material was hanging from the ceiling, and there were hundreds of balloons high in the air close to the ceiling.
“It looks fantastic. I hope they enjoy it,” I said with a broad grin on my face.
“Look behind you,” she said as she turned me.
“Wow, you managed to get 10 pin bowling here? Wow, Kendall, how did you manage that?” I asked in awe of what she had done.
“I found one mobile company who was available. I thought why not combine both? It may be a better way to introduce a league into the company rather than doing it straight off,” she said pleased with herself.
“Good job, well done,” I said congratulating her. “Come on you deserve a rest, let's grab a drink and sit in the office for a while,” I said urging her toward the bar.
I grabbed the drinks, and we entered the office, we sat on the couch, and Kendall kicked off her shoes.
“I’m exhausted, it has been a long day,” she said as she scrunched her toes up to get her circulation flowing.
“So, you think this will win the employees over, and so they will see I’m not the person from before?” I asked quizzically.
“There is a good chance it will do, a few may think you are still a douche and that the party is just a scam, but I think even they will come around after a while,” she said.
“Tell it like it’s, why don’t you,” I said with a smile on my face. “So, did you ever think I was a douche?”
“I held no reservations, people are what they are and have reasons for being so, but, yes you said hurtful things, but that doesn’t make you a bad person. Maybe just misdirected; someone who has lost their way in life,” she said.
“Wow, that was deep, I wish everyone could have your insight and understanding, then the world would be a better place I think, and most of it should come from people in my position. If the bosses can’t appreciate their employees, how can they expect any respect back from them?” I replied as I felt the warmth of her company.
“Now who is being deep? I didn’t know you had it in you,” she laughed hard at her cheeky comment.
I told Kendall to rest for a while, the party wasn’t due to start, and she had time to nap. There we stayed as we laid our heads back on the couch and placed our feet on the coffee table and closed our eyes. Our conversation regarding the party continued as we discussed how the employees would feel as the night went on and they became more relaxed.
“As long as you are cool with them, I think they will be cool with you,” Kendall said as she slipped into a light nap.
I laid and thought of the party and felt nervous. Fuck, what happens if I can’t pull it off? Or if I end up saying something that makes them defensive toward me? Only time would tell, and that time was nearly here.
I gently shook Kendall, she opened her dark green eyes and looked at me.
"What time is it?” she asked a bit groggy.
“It’s party time!” I replied as I laughed at her sleepy face.
“I nodded off, I think,” she rubbed her eyes.
“That you did, I was left talking to myself for a while before I realized. Shall we?” I offered Kendall my hand.
***
We entered the conference hall. The disco lights were just about to gather momentum, then suddenly patterns set the walls ablaze with colors and shapes, the music starting to pump. We stood by the door and greeted the employees as they began to arrive with their partners.
“The bar is over there," I said as they arrived.
It wasn’t long before the room was heaving, the DJ took the music up a level, and many hit the dance floor, from classic hits like the Bee Gees to the current more popular trends in music. There was enough to please everyone.
After a while, Peter arrived and made his way over to me.
“Glad you could make it,” I shouted over the music.
“I wouldn’t have missed it for the world, my little brother coming out from his defensive shell,” he said with a grin plastered on his cheeky face.
“Have you not come with a date?” I asked.
“Nah, it’s okay. There are a few here I can chat quite comfortably with,” he seemed eager to mingle.
“Well I’m going to see what's happening,” I said to Peter as I grabbed a drink and headed off into the crowd.
I started talking to a few of the employees, at the start I thought it might just be the drink that made them open up to me, but I realized they could see me in a different light and that I wasn’t the same person I was before. Many also said they loved the idea of the bowling league and that an intercompany tournament was an excellent idea.
I noticed Kendall as I roamed around the floor, she just oozed sex appeal, but in a good way, she didn’t appear to use it to her advantage. She was polite and could hold a good conversation with anyone who she spoke to. It was like wherever she was in the room, the spotlight was on her, or was it just my focus. She was such a beautiful woman.
“Who are you looking at?" Jefferson asked.
“No one, I was just watching everyone enjoying themselves,” I replied in a white lie.
“I don’t think you’re being truthful with me," he said as he finished his drink.
I turned my gaze back to Kendall, she was gorgeous, and I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I looked back at the bar, Jefferson was talking to Peter. And he seemed to be leaning a little closer than I thought natural for a "not so close" acquaintance. Was this what seemed strange about Peter that I couldn’t put my finger on. I had an inkling that Jefferson was homosexual, but Peter?
The party had so far gone well, the food had been excellent, and the music had been great. Then the DJ announced we would be finishing soon, with just one more time to grab your loved ones and hit the dance floor for some loving soul music.
I just had to do it. I approached Kendall who was by the bar, she was busy smiling and watching the other couples standing to dance.
“Can I take this dance Ma’am?” I asked Kendall as I offered her my hand.
“You can good Sir,” she said with a curtsy and a smile.
I took her hand, and led her toward the dance floor, she placed her hands on my shoulders, and I placed mine on her hips, I held her close but not too close. I didn’t want the staff to think she was getting extra special treatment.
I could smell her perfume, and held my head close to her neck. She had a graceful rhythm, and her body felt good in my hands. We danced oblivious to everyone who was watching, and maybe it was this one little thing that changed their minds about me.
I noticed Hayley at the bar, she was alone, and the song was close to finishing, the DJ announced one more song, and that would be it. I bowed out from Kendall’s clutches, and grabbed Hayley, she wasn’t going to be left out of having the last dance, and what a last dance it would be.
I held Hayley and could immediately feel there was a difference with Kendall. It was purely just a dance with a friend maybe, but Kendall felt different. As we danced, I noticed a few people had left. With Peter and Jefferson being two of the first to go, but, I didn’t notice if they left together.
The DJ finally called it a night. Kendall and I stood by the door to see everyone off, and we thanked them for coming.
The last person left, and the DJ had long gone; Kendall and I just looked at the mess.
“You tired?” she said.
“Not at all, wide awake,” I replied.
“Come on. Roll your sleeves up, and we can do a bit of cleaning,” she said as she gave a wink.
I started to go around the tables collecting glasses, while Kendall grabbed all the plates.
“How do you think it went?" I asked.
“It went great. There were a few who said they had misunderstood you and would look at you much differently now." Kendall beamed a perfect smile.
“I’m glad and happy they enjoyed it, we’ll just have to see how it differs in work time and that it’s just not a one-off episode,” I said.
“Just be yourself, like you were tonight, you were warm and caring and most of all polite. And that was one thing they hated was the rudeness from you,” she was so beautiful as she spoke.
“I just have to be careful because work is a different beast altogether, I still have to be the boss as well as approachable,” I replied.
She shrugged and winked.
“I’ll be soft and weak,” I said laughing. “Talking of soft and weak, did you spot Peter and Jefferson leave?" I asked.
“I saw them talking closely, but never saw them leave, did they leave together?” she quizzed.
“I’m not sure, but they seemed close, they were there one minute and gone the next,” I said.
“Thank for the dance ...” Kendall started to say.
“I enjoyed it also," I replied cutting her off mid-sentence.
“With Hayley, I was going to say?” she replied with a laugh.
“Oh, I gave the game away there, didn’t I? Now you know, the cat is out of the bag." I wanted to be with her.
"You’re funny, Elijah."
“Did I mention the flashes I have been having more of? Most of them have been about my father, and what we did when I was a kid. Most of them concern the office. Yeah, it must have been a place I came to a lot of the time,” I said.
“Maybe it’s a sign your memory is returning. It can only be a good thing that you are remembering?”
“I hope so, but I don’t want to slip back into the person I was before, that would be devastating,” I replied.
“Yes, but this time you have me with you whereas before you were alone,” Kendall said as she stretched out her arm toward the broom.
Without noticing, I also grabbed for the broom, my hand hit the top of hers, and without pulling away, we looked into each other’s eyes; we held our firm gaze. I released my hand and ran it up against Kendall’s arm. I pulled her close to me, I could feel her body pushing against mine. It was better than perfect. Her breasts pushed into my chest as I leaned forward and kissed her in passion.