Carter

Shaking my head, I walked out of Starbucks and headed back to the office. “Immature idiots,” I mumbled to myself. I arrived at the office and told Breanna, my secretary, that I didn’t want to be disturbed. Today was already a shit show and I was going to explode if anyone else pissed me off.

“No phone calls and no disturbances, Breanna,” I scowled as I walked past her desk.

“Sure, Mr. Grayson.”

Slamming my office door, I took a seat behind my desk and brought up the projections on my computer for the shopping center I wanted to acquire. As I was in deep concentration going over numbers, my cell phone rang. It was Nora.

“Nora, I can’t talk right now.”

“I just wanted to let you know I fired that ratchet bitch of a nurse you hired,” she tiredly spoke.

“For fuck sake. Why?”

“Because I didn’t like her attitude. So, you’re going to have to find someone else.”

I sighed into the phone.

“She’s the third nurse in a month you fired. You can’t keep doing this!”

“Then find me someone with a personality and I won’t have to.”

“Is Sadie still there?” I asked.

“Yes. She said she’d stay until you got home,” she replied.

“Fine. I’ll call the agency right now and set up some interviews. I have to go. I’m very busy.”

“Carter, wait. I want to interview them with you. Conduct the interviews at the house. I need to get a feel for these people before you hire them. This is the end of my life and I refuse to spend it with an uncaring monster nurse!”

I took in a deep breath to calm myself.

“Fine. Now I have to go. I’ll see you later.”

As I threw my phone across my desk, my friend and vice president, Ross, walked in.

“Someone sure as hell pissed you off.” He smiled as he took a seat across from me.

“Now is not a good time, Ross.”

“Breanna warned me you were in a mood and didn’t want to be disturbed, but this can’t wait.” He threw a file across my desk. “Cecil Campbell upped the price of the Long Island property.”

I opened the file and looked at it.

“That son of a bitch. We’ve been working on this deal for the past six months. The property isn’t even worth this much. What the hell is he thinking?”

“I can guarantee that his gambling debt increased,” Ross spoke.

“Get Lucas on it right away and stall Cecil. Tell him I’m thinking about it and I’ll have an answer for him next week.”

“Okay. What was that phone call about?”

I sighed as I leaned back in my chair.

“Nora fired another nurse.”

“Again?” Ross cocked his head.

“Yep. As much as I love my sister, she’s really pissing me the fuck off. I don’t have time to deal with this shit.”

“I might be able to help you out,” he spoke.

“How?”

“My cousin, Reggie, hired a hospice nurse for his father-in-law who lived with him and Samantha, and he just recently passed away. From what Reggie said, this nurse was a godsend. She was amazing and took very good care of him right up until the end. And if you knew his father-in-law, he was a bastard. I can call him and get her number if you want. It might save you some trouble.”

“I guess. What does it hurt? Nora wants to be in on the interview since I seem to make piss poor choices in hiring nurses for her.”

He gave me a small smile before walking out of my office.

“I’ll go call him now.”

“Thanks, Ross.”

“No problem, man.”

About thirty minutes later, as I was leaving the office, Ross stopped me in the hallway.

“You leaving already?” he asked.

“Yeah. I need to get home to Nora.”

“I have that number for you. Reggie said you won’t be disappointed.” He handed me a white piece of paper.

I unfolded it and stared at the women’s name and number.

“Thanks, Ross. I’ll give her a call.”

“You’re welcome. I hope it works out.” He patted me on the back.

I climbed into the back of the Bentley and told Juan to take me home. Pulling out my phone, I dialed the number on the piece of paper.

“Hello,” a soft voice answered.

“Hello. Is this Zoey Benson?”

“Yes. Who’s this?” she asked.

“My name is Carter Grayson and I received your number from a friend of mine. I understand you’re a hospice nurse?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I’m hoping you’re available for an interview. My sister is in need of a hospice care nurse and you were highly recommended.”

“When would you like to schedule the interview?” she asked.

“As soon as possible. Actually, if you’re available, let’s say about an hour.”

“It depends, Mr. Grayson, what’s your address?”

“212 Fifth Avenue, Apt. 21A.”

“That’s perfect. I’m already in the city, so I can meet you in an hour.”

Her words caught me off guard. Didn’t she live in New York?

“I’ll see you then.” I ended the call.

She sounded young. Too young, in fact. Maybe she was just one of those women who sounded differently on the phone. As soon as Juan dropped me off in front of my building, I climbed out and was greeted at the door by Joseph, the doorman.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Grayson.” He nodded as he held the door open for me.

“Hello, Joseph. I’m expecting a woman by the name of Zoey Benson for an interview in about an hour. Just send her up.”

“Ah, I did see the last nurse leave here with her suitcase a few hours ago. Another one bites the dust, eh?”

I heavily sighed. “It seems no one can make Nora happy these days.”

I headed to the elevator and took it up to my penthouse. When the doors opened, I stepped out, set my briefcase down, and headed to the kitchen where Sadie was cooking dinner.

“Where is she?” I asked.

“In her room lying down.”

I headed out of the kitchen and down the hallway to Nora’s room. The door was slightly opened, and when I peeked inside, I saw she was awake.

“Are you okay?” I asked as I stepped inside.

“I’m really tired.” She turned her head and looked at me.

“I have someone coming here in a little under an hour for an interview. She came highly recommended by Ross’s cousin. Do you feel up to it?”

She gave me a small smile as her eyes slowly closed.

“I’m up to it. Just wake me when she gets here.”

“Okay. Get some rest.”

I walked out of her room with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Watching her condition deteriorate was slowly killing me inside. I was already dead and didn’t think that anything else could happen to make me feel the way I felt. The numbness inside me intensified as I was already a lifelong prisoner inside my own body.

I heard the elevator ding, so I headed to the foyer just as the doors opened and stood there in shock, as did the woman standing in the elevator.

“You have got to be kidding me,” I spoke with an irritated tone.

“You’re the man from Starbucks,” she spoke as her eye narrowed at me.

She stepped off the elevator and stood in front of me.

“Zoey Benson.” She extended her long, elegant hand.

“Carter Grayson,” I replied as I looked at her hand and dismissed it.

She looked at me and lowered her hand to her side.

“How old are you?” I asked.

“Twenty-five.” Her brow arched.

“You’re definitely too young, and at that age, I don’t feel you have enough experience.”

“Okay, then. Am I to assume this interview is over?” she asked.

“Carter?” I heard Nora’s voice coming from down the hall. “Is she here?”

Zoey shot me a look, and with a small smile splayed across her face, she pushed past me and walked over to where Nora was sitting in her wheelchair.