5. Henry
5
HENRY
J ust an employee?
I couldn’t stop thinking back to how my father declared Mia to be nothing more than a member of the staff. First of all, I didn’t understand how he saw her like that. She was always included at family things. She was often my assistant when I traveled for work. I’d driven her to the ER when she got food poisoning and she’d picked me up when I was in a fender bender. If we were each other’s person to depend on in times of minor crises, in things unrelated to work, how could she only be an employee?
Seated across from Ann Vance, the tall, overly peppy blonde my father insisted on my showing around, I thought about how Mia had reacted when Dad called her just an employee . She’d stiffened, freezing her polite smile in place, but I saw the hurt in her eyes.
Or did I?
I considered myself an expert at reading Mia. We knew each other that well. Yet, I couldn’t help but wonder if I was merely wishing that she’d want to be something more than just an employee.
She did look upset when he said that, right?
I couldn’t be certain, but if what he said had bothered her, then that would imply that she saw herself as more than just an employee. And if she considered herself more than another member of the staff, perhaps as wanting something much more with me, wouldn’t she give me a hint?
“You know what I mean?” Ann flipped her pin-straight hair back, dismissing the waiter with a curt flick of her hand as she beamed at me.
“Yeah. Yep.” I nodded. I have no fucking clue what you’re talking about.
I checked out of this conversation as soon as we sat down. Knowing I was supposed to be having pizza with Jason while we waited for Mia to meet us at the arcade, I figured anything on the menu at this posh, upscale restaurant would taste bland. Then once Ann ordered with the most rigid, uptight tone about her many requests, I realized I would never enjoy a second moment spent with her. I still wasn’t sure how we’d turned “showing her around” to eating dinner together, but the longer we stayed here, the smaller my hopes became about leaving and salvaging our arcade night.
Reminiscing about Mia was a far better expenditure of my attention. As long as I nodded and inserted hums or sounds like I was listening, Ann would blab away all night. Pretending to listen gave me a much-needed moment to collect myself and get my head on straight about Mia.
It wasn’t my imagination that she’d seemed off all day at work. Ever since my father made that comment about her “just” being someone Dunn Enterprises hired, she’d seemed aloof. More tired than usual, and dare I say it, down.
Does she think that she’s just an employee? I didn’t want to think that was possible. She had to know how much she meant to me. While I wasn’t brave enough to spill my guts and tell her the whole truth, that I’d been harboring thoughts about her that delved further from what friends or coworkers might feel, she had to be aware of how much I cared about her.
Worries about her reaction ate away at me, and I again debated that I could be misinterpreting so much just because I wanted her to reciprocate my feelings for her.
If she had stronger feelings for me, wouldn’t she say so?
I glanced up, feeling caught. Ann raised her brows higher, watching me closely.
Fuck. She’d asked me something.
“Um. What was that?” I asked.
“Don’t you think the weather is just terrible with this heat?”
You’re crazy. It’d been in the low eighties and manageably warm.
“Uh-huh.”
Wouldn’t Mia say something if she thought she was more than an employee?
I fell back into my thoughts, debating whether she would. Dunn Enterprises had hefty ethics rules. There was a solid expectation about no fraternization for a reason—me. Jason’s mother had been a coworker, and when she became pregnant with Jason then ultimately ran off and abandoned us, it seemed like a wake-up call for better policies at the office.
Maybe she won’t say a word or act on anything because of those policies. Those ethics rules were there for a reason, but I didn’t want them to apply to me and Mia. I didn’t want anything as an obstacle.
“Are you tired?” Ann asked, cringing a bit. “You seem distracted.”
“It’s been a long day.”
“We can take this somewhere cozier if you’d like.”
I would not like. I would like to go get my son and meet Mia at the arcade.
“I am distracted,” I admitted instead. “Just a lot going on.”
She nodded, then launched into all that was going on in her life, her woes of not finding the right house staff for her next home and her concerns about the “nasty” homeless in the city.
Zoning out, but attempting to look involved in the conversation, I wondered why I was so hung up on Mia in the first place. I had been for years. Since the day I met her, I’d been aware of her and how close she was. I was drawn to her.
“You got a little…” Ann leaned over the table to dab at my lips.
On instinct, I reared back out of her reach. She didn’t get to be familiar with me like that. And I doubted anything was on my face. She just wanted a reason to touch me.
I could slip up and hold Mia’s hand for a moment too long, but I would recoil at this woman trying to clear an imaginary smear off my lips.
What a difference. Ann was nothing like Mia. Not funny, not challenging, nor even mildly entertaining. She couldn’t compare to Mia, and I wondered if I would go through the rest of my life comparing every single woman to the secretary I couldn’t have.
Even that dancer at that seedy club, Danger. The mysterious dancer behind the mask. She’d captured my attention immediately, but I bet if I could meet her, she would pale in comparison to the one and only Mia Ferris.
God, I’ve got it so bad. I had to give it up. Mia would simply have to be the one woman who’d get away. If she wasn’t interested, it’d be a one-way attraction. And the ethics policies would always be a hurdle between us, anyway. I had no right wanting her, but it felt so wrong to agree with my dad that she was just an employee .
“Don’t you think that’s so weird?” Ann asked.
Dammit. I did it again. I wasn’t listening and she’d asked me something.
Fortunately, my phone rang at that precise moment.
Thank God.
“Excuse me.” I scooted my chair back, moving to stand as I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “I just need to get this.” I hadn’t looked at the screen to know who it was, but whoever was calling, I’d talk to them.
“Oh, no need to get up.” Ann put her hand on mine, and I felt awkward to rush away. Nor did I want her intruding on my privacy and listening to my call.
Seeing that it was Mia, though, I didn’t want to wait. If I argued with Ann protesting my leaving the table, I could miss the call.
“Okay.” I answered the call and looked at my plate. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Hey, you.” She sighed. “I know you’re out on your date and all, but?—”
“No. It’s not a date.” I furrowed my brow.
“Okay. Well. Maybe whatever it is can be cut short. Laura had a PT appointment for her shoulder. It was rescheduled for this evening so she could get the PT person she likes the most. Since this not-a-date that you’re doing popped up unexpectedly, it seems like you and Laura didn’t have times lined up.”
“Crap. I forgot.”
She laughed lightly. “Figured. Anyway, she brought Jason to the office, assuming you’d be here like usual. I told her that Jason could hang out with me since I was wrapping up paperwork.”
“Hi, Daddy!” Jason chimed in from the background.
I smiled, feeling the weight melt off me at just the sound of his little voice. Nothing could cheer me up like that boy. He was the light of my life, and I could relax in knowing he was safe with Mia.
“Could you bring Jason to the arcade, then?” I asked.
Fuck this dinner. Or not date. I hadn’t shown Ann around mostly because she wanted to redirect this into a romantic dinner. Ann wasn’t any fun, anyway. However, I immediately perked up at the chance to see Jason and Mia like usual. Like we did every week.
“Arcade?” Ann leaned forward and turned her head to the side, as though she strained to listen. “We’re going to an arcade now?”
Who said you’re coming?
“Are you sure?” Mia asked. “I can just take him home and watch him until you get there.”
Because she had a key. Because I trusted her. Because I knew she belonged in my life as more than just an employee.
“I’m sure.”
Screw wasting my whole night with Ann. When it came to Mia, I would always be sure about spending as much time with her as possible.
My father didn’t know what the hell he was talking about.
Mia was a partner I’d want to grow old with.
And if that wasn’t an option, I’d sign up for a routine game night with her and my son over a boring dinner date every time.
When it came to Mia, I was addicted to all she’d give me.