Chapter 13
CHAPTER 13
E lijah. Monday
I had just stepped out of the office when Leo showed up. He waved at Barbara, then called to me, “Hey, Elijah, where are you headed? You remember that meeting we have in fifteen?”
“I know. I was just going downstairs to look in on the interns,” I told him.
Leo laughed. “The interns? Seriously? You’re going down to see them without any prompting, after you just looked in on them last week? Barbara says they’re doing just fine.” He tilted his head at her.
“They are,” Barbara confirmed. “No worries.”
“I was just thinking, we don’t pay enough attention to what goes on down there. And if I go and look in on them now, you won’t have to come ‘prompting’ me about it.”
A funny look passed between Leo and Barbara. Barbara just smiled and shrugged.
“Okay,” Leo chuckled. “Fair enough; if you say so.”
“Go on ahead to the meeting,” I said to him. “If anyone shows up early, let them know I’ll be right there.”
“The interns must be doing well if you want to stop in on them again so soon. Especially that new young lady, Corinne. Isn’t she just the sweetest girl?” Barbara was just old enough to remember the days when female workers in an office were all called “girls,” a practice that was going out of style before I even went into business.
I laughed, remembering the long-haired brunette who looked to be perhaps ten years younger than I was. “We had a funny moment last week. She was having a conversation and I spoke up, and she said something to me like, ‘Excuse me, I’m talking.’ The poor kid almost keeled over when she found out who I am.”
Barbara broke out giggling like a schoolgirl. “Well, it’s about time someone put you in your place. Imagine if you had tattoos all over your arms and onto your hands and she saw that! The child would end up thinking, ‘What kind of man am I working for?’”
As Leo laughed, as amused with that idea as Barbara was, I only said, “Well, considering my past life, it’s a wonder I’m not covered with tattoos. At least we’ve spared her a sight like that. ” I squirmed a bit inside, recalling my chance meeting with Kathleen and the uninvited return of Kane to my life.
On the floor below, I entered to the sound of voices chattering away, people assisting customers, and pictured Corinne sitting in her cubicle, being pleasant and efficient with some caller. I wondered what she was wearing.
Just before I rounded the corner into that room with the cubicles where our associates and interns dealt with customers’ problems, I stopped myself in the hallway, startled at what I’d just thought.
I had actually wondered what an employee was wearing.
Granted, she was a very beautiful employee, but it was not exactly the most appropriate thought for a boss to have.
There was, however, no working around the fact that Corinne was very beautiful. She was lovely, a word that I wasn’t accustomed to using, but it fit her.
Corinne wasn’t beautiful in the way Kathleen was. She wasn’t “magazine cover” beautiful. She was lovely in that quiet, wholesome, small-town, Girl You Take Home to Meet the Folks kind of way. Corinne was the kind of girl a guy takes to bed after he’s slain a dragon or fought off an ogre or something. It took me totally by surprise that I was thinking of her in these terms. She worked for me!
But having caught myself thinking of her that way, I really wanted to see what she was wearing. I naturally couldn’t expect her to be dressed up in some delicate, flowing gown like a princess in a storybook. But whatever she had on, I could only guess she must look like the gentlest, loveliest thing…
There was that word again. “Lovely.” Guys with the kind of past and background that I had didn’t think of things as being lovely. Next thing I knew, I’d probably end up thinking of her as graceful.
My God, Elijah, I wondered to myself, what the hell is happening to you?
Corinne’s cubicle was along the row right around the corner leading into the room. I could have a discreet look around the corner, just to get a glimpse of her. That was all I wanted.
I felt such a total disconnect between who I was and the way I was behaving. I was the co-owner of a billion-dollar corporation with responsibilities to match the position, and I was actually creeping around like a naughty kid. I was recognizing myself less and less by the moment. But just the same, I peeked around the corner, looked down the row of cubicles…and there she was.
Corinne was sitting with her side to me, headphones on and talking away to some customer, putting the smile in her voice. I couldn’t make out what she was saying because she was using a normal tone and there was too much hubbub around her. But, I could see the way she was saying it. Whoever was on the other end of the line , I thought, must be having a nice experience just interacting with her .
I could only guess that Corinne was good to interact with in all kinds of ways. She had on a dark purple sweater, with her chestnut-colored hair tumbling down the back of it. The sweater just showed off the pout of her breasts, especially when she sat up straight,
I suddenly whipped myself back around the corner and leaned against the wall, letting out a heavy breath, even more startled by myself than I was before. I had just caught myself admiring the pout of an employee’s breasts, for God’s sake! The kinds of things I was thinking right now have been known to get employers and companies taken to court. I knew I’d better stop this.
It all made me wish I had splurged in the design of my office. I should have had a shower put in there because just now, I could use a cold one. The meeting where Leo was expecting me would have to do for cooling myself off.
Shaking my head, I walked back to the elevator, leaving Corinne to her work, blissfully unaware of the boss copping a look at her just now.