SINGLE DADDY’S VIRGIN
By Claire Adams
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer's imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2017 Claire Adams
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Chapter One
Jake
“Kristen?”
“Yes, sir?” Kristen’s voice came through on my intercom.
“Get me Natsuo Hattori on the line.”
“Right away, sir,” she replied.
A few minutes later, I saw a green light flash on my office phone, and I pressed the little button next to it. “Natsuo?”
“Hello, Mr. Middleton,” Natsuo replied immediately in his thick Japanese accent. “It’s very nice to hear from you.”
“I wanted to discuss a new contract with you,” I said. “Hopefully, you can pass this conversation along to your boss. I think it will be mutually beneficial.”
“We are talking with other contractors at the moment, Mr. Middleton,” he replied, sounding reluctant.
“That’s because you haven’t heard our new rates,” I told him, spinning my tone into one I hoped was appealing. “Trust me, Mr. Hatanaka is going to be interested in hearing about this.”
“I…will see what I can do,” Natsuo said, at last.
“May I make a suggestion?”
“Of course.”
“Convince Mr. Hatanaka to attend the meeting that’s taking place in five days’ time at my corporate office,” I said. “It shouldn’t be too difficult, considering you are both in California at the moment.”
Natsuo paused for a moment. “How did you know that?”
“I make it my business to know these things,” I replied.
He laughed lightly. “Mr. Hatanaka worked with your company almost a year ago now,” he said. “He was not so happy with the job that was carried out. But I think…with you…it might be different.”
“Thank you, Natsuo,” I smiled. “Coming from you, that’s high praise.”
“I shall tell Mr. Hatanaka all about you—the Major CEO.”
“Is that what they call me?”
“It is unusual,” Natsuo pointed out, “for a CEO of a major maritime shipping company to have served in the army.”
“It’s my discipline that’s helped my climb so far, so fast,” I said, still trying to market myself in order to land this contract. “Be sure to explain to Mr. Hatanaka that he worked with this company before I was at the helm of it. That was the only reason he was unhappy with the partnership. It’s going to be different this time.”
“I shall tell him.”
“And the meeting?”
“I will confirm with your receptionist in two days’ time.”
“Excellent,” I nodded. “Thank you, Natsuo.”
“Of course, Mr. Middleton,” he said. “And if all goes well, it will be a pleasure to meet you finally—after so many phone conversations.”
“Well then, we’ll have to make sure all goes well, won’t we?”
He laughed, sensing my hint. “I shall do my best,” he said. “Good day to you, Mr. Middleton.”
I hung up and leaned back in my swivel chair. It had been a long day, and my back was aching, but I still had a meeting to attend to across town, and it would take me at least a half hour to get there. I poured myself a glass of water and sipped it slowly as I checked the time. It was already six o’clock, and the sun was sending violent rays of orange and red streaking across the sky. Some days, the view was my only solace.
I was just about to get out of my seat when I heard a knock at the door. “Come in,” I called, wondering if I should change my shirt before I headed to the meeting.
Kristen entered with an apologetic look on her face. When I had first hired the girl three months ago, she had struck me as too timid for the job. I had expected her to quit after the first week, but oddly enough, she had managed to fit in really well. She was well organized, efficient, and quick on her feet. She handled my brusque moods and complicated instructions without complaint and never forced me to repeat myself.
She had been my third receptionist in two months, and I was thankful that she had stayed, if for no other reason than to spare me the irritation of interviewing yet another candidate for the job. My friends and colleagues, however, assumed I was happy for another reason. But as I had assured them all repeatedly, Kristen’s looks had nothing to do with it.
Yes, she was tall, slim, and pretty, but there was also something about her that unsettled me. I could never quite put my finger on it. Her long hair was a rich summery auburn that brought out the gold in her hazel-brown eyes. Her smile was almost shy when it appeared at all, and I had noticed a few weeks ago that she had a dimple in her right cheek, but not in her left. They were odd observations, and I didn’t trouble myself to analyze them too deeply. I just needed her to get the work done and get it done well.
Still, every now and again, I found myself wondering what exactly it was that I found so unsettling about Kristen. It nagged at the back of my mind, but I never allowed myself enough time to dwell on it long enough to actually figure out what it was.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, sir,” she said.
She was wearing a dark pencil skirt, a white collared shirt with roll-up arm cuffs, and black heels that were exceptionally sensible. She had tied up her hair into a knot at the back of her head so I could see the heart shape of her face. Again, I felt that familiar little nagging that told me I was missing something obvious, but I pushed it aside and gestured her to come in.
“You’re not disturbing me,” I said. “I just finished my call. What’s the problem?”
“Uh…your babysitter is on line two,” she told me. “She asked to speak to you.”
Slightly annoyed, I nodded. “Thank you, Kristen,” I said. “I’ll speak to her now.”
Kristen backed out of the office immediately and closed the door behind her. I picked up the phone and accepted the call on line two.
“Janet?”
“Hi, Mr. Middleton,” Janet’s nasal voice spoke from the other line. “I was just calling to ask if you were on your way?”
I frowned. “On my way where?”
“Home, of course.”
I checked my watch again. “It’s six o’clock.”
“Um…six-twenty now, actually,” she replied.
“I won’t be home for another couple of hours, Janet,” I said.
There was a split second of silence from the other line. “Mr. Middleton, I spoke to you about this last Friday,” she said. “I told you that I would need to leave early today. I told you I would need to leave by seven at the latest.”
“Fuck,” I said before I could stop myself.
“Excuse—”
“I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “I’m just… I completely forgot. I thought you said tomorrow night.”
“I didn’t,” she replied crisply. “I have a doctor’s appointment to get to, Mr. Middleton.”
“Right,” I said. “You said your father is going through something.”
“Cancer,” Janet said tersely. “He’s going through cancer.”
“Of course, I’m sorry,” I said quickly. “The thing is… I can’t get away today. I have two important meetings that start in five minutes, and it’s absolutely necessary that be there.”
“Mr. Middleton—”
“I’ll double your pay for today,” I said, cutting her off before she could tell me off.
“Mr. Middleton—”
“I’ll triple it,” I said.
There was another second of silence, and then I heard a loud sigh. “I suppose I will have to call my sister and ask her to go with my father for chemotherapy.”
“Thank you, Janet,” I said, sighing in relief. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“I gave you a week’s notice about this, Mr. Middleton,” she said, and I knew she was upset. “I expected you here by six.”
“I know,” I said, trying to control my own sense of irritation. “And, I understand you have an emergency. But when I hired you, I made it very clear that I would need you on call twenty-four seven. You promised me that you would make yourself available to me whenever I required your services.”
“That was before my father was diagnosed,” Janet replied curtly.
“Again, I understand. It’s just... I pay you extremely well, Janet,” I said. “I’m paying you double what full-time au-pairs are being paid in France’s richest homes. And, I made it very clear what I expected of you when I hired you.”
“I suppose we’ll have to come to some sort of understanding in the future,” Janet replied. “Or I will have to move on.”
There was nothing veiled about that threat. I gritted my teeth and forced myself not to reply. Her father was going through cancer; she was obviously going through a hard time, and I didn’t want to seem like a complete asshole. I was pretty sure I had crossed the asshole line a few sentences ago, however.
“We’ll discuss it later… When I’m home,” I said.
“Alright.” I sensed the suppressed anger in her tone.
“Is Noah around?” I asked.
“Hold on,” Janet said.
I heard a few seconds of static as the phone was passed over and then I heard a clear, high-pitched voice that made me feel sad and happy all at the same time.
“Daddy?”
“Hi, buddy,” I said, hating that I wasn’t there to see his face. I imagined him sitting on the stool by the phone in his dinosaur jammies, holding the phone with both hands, as he had grown accustomed to do.
“I ate noodles today,” Noah informed me.
I frowned. Janet was a decent babysitter, but she was a lazy cook. I gave her an allowance each week for food and groceries, but she spent it all on microwaveable meals and instant noodles because that meant she could avoid cooking something that was actually nutritious.
“Again?” I asked.
“Uh-huh,” he replied. “I poured the packet in. Janet let me.”
He was talking about the flavor packets that came with the instant noodles. I had already spoken to Janet about not feeding Noah those noodles last week. Obviously, she had chosen to ignore me. The sad fact was that I was so hard up for a babysitter that I had no choice but to swallow my words half the time and accept certain things as necessary sacrifices.
“What are you up to now?” I asked.
“Watching TV,” Noah replied.
Again, I gritted my teeth. “It’s after six, buddy,” I said gently. “You’re not supposed to be watching TV.”
“But I wanna see the Ninja Turtles.”
“Why don’t you play a game with Janet, instead?” I suggested, hoping to tempt him away from the television.
“She’s sick today.”
“What do you mean?”
“Her head is hurting.”
“She’s got a headache?” I asked.
“Uh-huh.”
I frowned, but I didn’t say anything else. Instead, I suppressed my reservations and put on a light tone. “I’m sorry I can’t be there to tuck you in tonight, kiddo… I’ll make it up to you, okay?”
“Okay,” Noah said agreeably.
I smiled. He was a sweet kid and was always ready to forgive. He had my dark brown hair and my blue eyes, and even at the age of four, he was a looker. I was intensely proud of him, but there were moments when parenting weighed heavily on my shoulders.
“Goodnight, buddy.”
“Goodnight, Daddy.”
I hung up and sighed, wondering what I was going to do about Janet. It was obvious that she was unhappy babysitting, too. Apparently, no matter how great the money was, it wasn’t making up for anything. She had come highly recommended. She even had a degree in child psychology, but I was starting to realize that all the qualifications in the world didn’t actually inspire a love for children or the ability to look after them properly.
I changed my shirt and left my office. Kristen was still sitting behind her desk, her head poured over paperwork. She looked up when I passed.
“Goodnight, sir,” she said.
“Shouldn’t you have left at six?” I asked, realizing that she was usually gone by now.
“I wanted to organize all the files for the Milton collaboration, sir,” she replied. “It’ll come in handy for the meeting next week.”
Impressed with her work ethic, I gave her an approving nod. “You’ve been doing a really good job,” I told her.
Her face ironed out into intense relief, and then she gave me a brilliant smile. Again, I noticed the dimple on her right cheek. When she smiled, she looked younger and more beautiful.
“Thank you, sir,” she said. “I really appreciate that.”
“Not all my previous assistants have understood my military management style.”
“Well, that’s understandable,” Kristen smiled. “Considering your background.”
“Right,” I nodded awkwardly. “Well, anyway… I better get to my meeting.”
“Of course. I’ll see you tomorrow, sir.”
I nodded and headed out, wondering what it was about her that I was missing. She was uncommonly pretty, and I realized with a sharp pang that I found her very attractive. Perhaps that was it. Perhaps what I found unsettling about her was my own feelings in relation to her. Maybe it was nothing more than guilt.