Cameron

Usually, I managed to maintain a fairly cheerful attitude at work. The words desk bound had negative connotations attached to it, and I understood why. There was a reason why the body I hid under a suit every day wasn’t quite as attractive as my face and hadn’t been since I’d stopped hitting the gym and spending every spare second with Noah.

Office jobs had you sitting at a desk a lot, but truthfully, I didn’t mind it - I never had. Jittery limbs, impatience, boredom and difficulty focusing - none of that plagued me. The sore back and neck were unavoidable, but aside from that, desk work didn’t bother me much.

Still, as Chloe had reminded me many times, “Sitting all day is bad for you and we have a gym in the building. Why don’t you use it?”

Since I had ignored her just as many times as she had told me that, Chloe had settled for scheduling me for an occasional meeting outside my office or an inspection at another location that often could have been handled by someone else. I didn’t argue… because she was right. I needed to be out and about. Despite the opportunity for exercise, I was the CEO and showing face was often a good thing.

Today, I had one of these inspections. I was heading across town to visit one of our building renovation projects. Suppressing a grin, I grabbed my coat and headed toward the elevators - right past Diana’s office.

The day after I had kissed her - God, I still can’t believe I did that, what was I thinking - I’d walked into the building with the gripping terror that I would find a letter of resignation on my desk. Or, worse, another court document. This one informing me that I was being charged with sexually harassing an employee.

After a quick scan of my desk had assured me the two drastic possibilities hadn’t come true, I had to wonder... What would happen the next time we saw each other? We hadn’t really said much after her adorable, witty parting remark. A lot of half-formed, illogical fears floated around my head because of this, but it only took one cautious, friendly smile from Diana to drive them away.

She didn’t hate me. In fact, every time I walked past her office for the next couple days, I was greeted by a smile when she looked up at the sound of footsteps and saw they belonged to me. That smile brightened my day, and I made sure to walk past her office at least once before lunch and once after if I could find a reason… and occasionally when I couldn’t.

I wanted to stop and talk to her, but that was entirely different from just walking past her office. What reason could the CEO possibly have to go to the office of his assistant’s secretary?

None at all, so for now, my brief glances as I mosied past her office door would have to be enough to sate my sudden craving to taste more than just those perfect lips.

Recently, I had been integrating a few basic chores in our daily schedule that let Noah feel valued and helpful. Watching me cook and helping set the table were a few of those things. We both needed to eat out less, and the time together with my son always brightened my day.

Noah had just happened to watch a show where kids took lunch to school, and he got it in his mind that his daddy needed to take lunch to work. He had been impossible to satisfy until we made a couple of sandwiches, an apple and two cookies and packed them in my work bag - allowing me the perfect excuse to visit our employee lounge where Diana often ate lunch.

When I walked in, thrilled to see her, I sent Diana a smile like the ones she usually showed me. She returned it, but hers was tired, fleeting. What happened? Something had to be wrong. Tired, busy, focused - I’d seen all of Diana’s smiles over the past few days, and this was a new one. An I-have-nothing-to-smile-about smile.

“Hello, Diana,” I greeted her, aware there were two other people in the room taking their lunch break; although it seemed they were finishing up. I had to know she was alright. “Are you still interested in nannying?” No one would associate that with financial problems.

“Yes, actually.” I didn’t know what she thought I would say, but she looked slightly relieved.

“Perfect.” One woman stood up, packed her Tupperware into her bag, and walk back toward her office, leaving only a man reading a book. Leave. Please? I begged him silently. “I need a nanny for three nights again, starting Wednesday night of next week. If you could be there in the morning until my flight gets in on Saturday, too, that would be fantastic.” Yes! Relief coursed through me as the man put a bookmark between the pages and stepped out of the room. As soon as he was gone and the door swung shut, I asked: “How’s your mother, by the way?” like I hadn’t been counting the seconds until we were alone.

Diana’s quick glance around told me she’d been thinking the same thing. “Not so good,” she admitted, shoulders drooping. “She was doing great when I visited her the day after you got back from San Francisco, but she’s relapsed a bit. Her blood pressure is up and the doctors can’t say why, but I just know it’s because of the mortgage payments. The bank called her again.”

“Will you let me give you some of the money for nannying in advance?” I offered immediately.

Shock flitted across her face, then refusal. “No, no. What if the court dates change or something? I can’t let you give me that much this far in advance. Anyway, it’s fine. The bank isn’t actually going to do anything yet, not since we showed them we can and will catch up on payments.” Diana straightened up in her seat. “It is another court date, right?”

“Right.” Memories of that round room with its dozens of chairs and tense atmosphere made me wish I could hold Noah right now. “My attorney thinks this one will go better than the last, though. Noah’s sleeping by himself, he’s not as shy and he’s socializing better at school.” I tried not to play up how much he had actually improved. I didn’t need to rub my good news in Diana’s face.

Diana latched onto my words, forgetting her own troubles for a moment to smile widely. “Wow, that’s great! So this trip could be the last one?”

“My attorney seems to think so.” Again, I tried not to sound too optimistic. If this was the last time I needed an overnight nanny, Diana would have to find more work somewhere else… Although, her pearly smile and genuine delight showed she wasn’t thinking about that at all. “Hey,” I started, then shifted uncomfortably. Somewhere in all the meaningless sexual escapades, I’d permitted myself to enjoy, I’d forgotten my feelings - and how to talk about them. “Can we talk about when you came over? To see Noah?”

Her smiled faded slowly into a nervous nibble of the lower lip. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s a good- ”

The door handle moved. I turned to the coffee machine quickly, reaching recklessly for a cup and almost sending the whole stack flying. I heard rustling behind me and guessed that Diana was in the midst of the age-old diversion all women used - searching through her bag for something imaginary as a diversion.

“Hello Diana,” Chloe said from behind me.

“I was just about to head back to the office,” Diana responded, and I turned just in time to see her lift her bag onto her shoulder.

“No rush. I left a couple documents on your desk.”

“Thanks. I’ll take care of it right now.” Her hair swept out behind her confident walk as she departed.

“Coffee for you, too?” I asked, trying to be casual. Chloe didn’t need to know she had interrupted a conversation that meant as much to me as my position of CEO.

“I’m glad you were talking to her. I could tell something was up all day, but I didn’t feel like I should ask.”

“We didn’t talk about much. It was just polite conversation…” I trailed off, quailing under Chloe’s disapproving glare.

“Please. I heard you talking outside. If you want to be secretive, talk more quietly.”

I could keep denying it. If I did, Chloe would politely - though irritatedly - stop bugging me about it and pretend she’d never heard anything. She was discreet like that. But… maybe this was a good thing. Maybe Chloe had walked in at just the right time. Discretion worked in all sorts of ways.

“Okay… fine. I’m a little worried about her and this situation with her mother. She helped me out a lot by being flexible when I needed a nanny unexpectedly, and Noah likes her very much.”

“I have reports to compile,” Chloe sighed with resignation. “What can I do to help?”

“Will you look into the situation with Diana’s mortgage? She doesn’t want to talk about exactly how much it is or how much she owes.”

The look my executive assistant gave me said clearly: “What are you going to do with that information?” but she just nodded. “I can probably do that. Personal financial information isn’t usually easy to acquire, so it might take me a few days.”

“No rush.” The tone of my voice said the opposite. “Thanks, Chloe. Really.”

“As long as this will make you happy.” Chloe took her cup of coffee and herself out of the break room.

I sat a heavily in a chair, finally unpacking my lunch. Her words reminded me that no matter how coarse or blunt Chloe spoke or acted, she still genuinely cared for me as a friend and wanted me to be happy. She was even willing to take time away from her other work to handle a personal request. What would I do without her?

Start eating lunch five minutes earlier. Suddenly ravenous, I dug into one of my sandwiches. Maybe Noah had a future as a professional chef because this was the best sandwich I’d ever tasted. Or... maybe it was a secret ingredient that only a father and son could add. Love, contentment, happiness… something like that.

Either way, I needed to start bringing lunch to work more often. When I did, I could eat food made by me and my son, stay inside out of the cold, and…

I might see Diana again.