Chapter 10
Daniel
I know I’m supposed to carry my ladder to the other side of the room, but when she stops in the middle, I stop with her, and now, I seem to be caught in her eyes, which I would have laughed about even an hour ago, but I can’t seem to get myself to move.
I want to say something. Something personal. Ask if I’m the only one feeling this way, but that doesn’t seem appropriate.
She hasn’t been acting like it, but this has to be a huge weight on her shoulders, getting this put together. It could be really big for her career. Samuel is my brother, but he’s also a billionaire, and I know that people rush to please him. I like that while Amber obviously did not turn down the opportunity to work with him, she also is not willing to mow down anyone who stands in her way in order to impress him, the way I’ve seen many people do.
I clear my throat and reluctantly break eye contact with her, picking up my ladder and walking away.
“So have you ever met your boss?” I ask casually, knowing that most people who work for Samuel have not met him but are dying to.
“No. I’ve seen pictures of him, and I might have seen him once or twice around town, but I’ve never spoken with him.”
“So is that why you’re here? Hoping to forge a relationship with him?”
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t hope this job would lead to more and better jobs. Perhaps I wouldn’t mind being the head decorator for every event that happens here at the mansion. I mean, that would be pretty much a dream job. Being able to work in Christmas Tree and do what I love.”
“I see,” I say, and her answer does not disappoint me. But maybe she’s holding back. Maybe it’s not just about the work. Because I can’t blame her for wanting to do this job to turn it into more. Of course.
“I heard he’s single,” I say offhandedly as I set my ladder down and walk back to Amber, who is holding the first long string of tinsel.
She shrugs. “I guess I don’t really care about that. I mean, I do know people who are interested in him solely because he’s a billionaire, but I guess that’s just not the way I work.”
“You hate money?” I say as I stop in front of her and take the tinsel from her hand. Our fingers brush, and I don’t turn away right away. Rather, I’m looking at her face as she answers, and I can see nothing but honesty on it.
“Of course not. We all need money. But I guess I just am not interested in a man because of his bank account. I’m more interested in what we were talking about earlier. Character, integrity, how he’s trying to improve himself, and how he puts those things in practice.”
I jerk my head up and start to walk away.
“Kind of like you,” she says, and I stumble. I catch myself and look over my shoulder.
“Me?”
“Yeah. Look at you helping me, when you don’t have to, no one asked you to, and you volunteered to do the outside of the room because you thought it would be harder. I mean, people like that don’t just drop off trees.”
Tell me about it. I know exactly what she’s talking about, and I am feeling the same way about her.
“That’s the exact same reason you were going to do the outside of the room,” I say casually as I make it to the ladder and climb up.
“True,” she says, sounding dismissive as she climbs up on the ladder and finds the hook at the end of the tinsel.
“I don’t know if they left the hooks in all of these, but I kept wondering why I was catching my fingers on the sharp hooks, and I bet there’s a hook there toward the end for you,” she says, and sure enough, as the tinsel slips through my fingers, I feel the loop that goes over the hook on the wall.
“You’re right,” I say. “What about that?” I step down from the ladder and step back, admiring her first tinsel.
“I wondered how we were going to get the drape to be perfectly even, and I don’t think it was something I even needed to worry about,” she says, and there’s no mistaking the excitement in her voice.
“You just need to find the side with the hook and keep it with you,” I say as I walk back toward her. I’ll have to move the ladder up eventually, but I can probably do two or three more where it’s sitting right there.
“That’s right. I still think it’s going to be midnight until we’re finished, but for the first time since I saw the tinsel, I feel like we’re going to get it done.”
Her excitement is contagious, and this time, as I take the tinsel from her, I deliberately brush her fingers with mine while I’m watching her face. Her eyes widen a bit, and her expression says exactly how I feel. Neither one of us mind at all.