Silly, too much information. He didn’t ask you about your connection with that crappy jewelry. Keep it cool. Why the hell was she telling him that? Not professional at all.
“I didn’t know you had a sister.” Rick said, standing up from the bed and putting both his hands into his pant’s pocket. She walked out of the closet wearing a T-shirt and shorts.
“Well, there are lots of things you don’t know about me.” She decided not to tell him that Hailey was only her foster sister. Their eyes locked again, and this time Clair was the first person to snap out of the connection.
Oh help me God. Girl, get a grip. You came here for work not to fall heads over heels for a man.
“That much is true. So let’s remedy that. I want to invite you for lunch in my little garden, so much we can get better acquainted.”
“I’m not sure that is a good idea Mr Silver.”
“Rick.”
“Rick.”
“Why not?”
“Because, it is not a very professional thing to do.”
“I beg to differ. Ms Fisher…”
“Clair.” She cocked an eyebrow at him and he threw her a small smile.
“Clair, I think it is a perfectly good idea. Because if we have any plans whatsoever of working together successfully in the future, then it is paramount that we establish a very amiable relationship between us.”
Well… he had a point. How I would give anything to see him when he has no point to give in support of his suggestions.
“Already then Rick. If you insist, I’ll be there.” Clair agreed. “Please can I get a notebook and pen, somehow, I forget to pack mine. It usually help me keep note of things I don’t want to forget.”
“Alright, I’ll leave you to rest and when I come back to take you to lunch I’ll bring the notebook.”
“Perfect.”
“Should I take the pendant with me, so I can get it cleaned for you?” He looked at Clair.
“Alright thank you. But I don’t want them to change the color or make it look new. I like it the way it is. But clean of course.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure nothing is changed, I know an antique when I see one. And this piece right here, It’s old” Silver said. What would he know about it?
“You into jewelry?” she asked, somewhat mockingly.
“Antiques and artifacts… that’s no tourist trinket. It’s a hand-crafted talisman. I’ve seen one like it before, a very long time ago”
“Really? like five years ago when you were 20? Isn’t it enough that at 25 you already make men that say they’re well accomplished rethink their lives.” Clair teased.
If only you knew. He smiled.
“See you in an hour.” Rick looked at her, smiled, picked up the pendant and left the room.
“See ya.” Clair called after his retreating figure. She shook her head, determined to remove thoughts about him far from her mind.
As if it was that easy. She humphed and went to change her clothes. But her choices of outfits were limited, so she decided to go with a white t-shirt, a dark grey baggy sweatpants and her domestic pink crocs. She went to check out herself on the mirror.
Damn! I look too cute for my liking. It must be the crocs. What to do now?
Lacking for much option, she had no other choice but to just go with it.
Clair spent almost fifteen minutes deciding whether to go with a scarf or face cap to cover her bandaged head, she finally settled on a grey pattern Georgia Armani’s scarf. She sat down on her bed and pick up her phone. The first Person she called was her office bestie, Stephanie Cole.
“Hey Steph,” Clair said what the person on the other end picked up.
“Clair darling. Oh my God. You gave me a fright. How are you? Where are you now? What happened? Can you hear me? Clair?” Stephanie’s voice was urgent. Clair couldn’t help but laugh.
“Really? Clair really? Ok, tell me What’s funny? Is it funny that I’m worried about your well-being?”
She stifled the rest of the laughter. “No Steph darling, it’s not funny that you care about my safety and health. What is funny is you sound like some sort of alien is going to envade the cake and cut it short and you wouldn’t be able to find out what happened. Just calm down, ok?”
“Ok. I’m calm. So can you tell me what happened before I develop telekinetic powers and break you head with a vase.” She shouted the last part.
“And here I was thinking you cared about me.”
“Clair, as we speak presently. You’re walking on thin line. Please don’t let my waning patience snap.”
“Ok, ok. Get you claws down. Clown.” They both laughed.
“So, I set off like I told you I would,” Clair began. “and when we landed, an escort came to take me to a private airport where Mr Silver was waiting. Everything was rather uneventful until it wasn’t. As we got to the airport, not long after we started walking down towards the private jet at the end of the airport, shots were being fired at us. To cut the whole story short, I wasn’t hit but the fright of the event caught me by surprise and I missed a step, fell and hit my head hard on the tarmac. I woke up four days later. The end.”
She waited for Stephanie to say something, instead her friend let out a high pitched scream. “Steph please can you stop.” But steph did not. She kept at it for like two more minutes before stopping.
“Are you satisfied now .” Clair asked.
“Yes, I think I am. Please tell me what you just narrated was a scene out of some movie because that is exactly what it sounded like.”
“Do I strike you as someone that would do such a thing steph.”
“Of course not Clair. But I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around what you just told me. Whew. You have been through a lot my love. So how are you feeling now?”
“Well, I’m getting better.”
“Have you met Mr Silver yet.”
“Of course, he’s the one that has been taking care of me all these while.”
“Wow, lucky you.”
“There’s really nothing lucky about my situation steph. I’d switch places in a blink with you right now”
“I wish that was even a tad bit possible, I would have taken you on your word. So tell me, is he as handsome as he looks on the tabloids?”
“Steph! You’re despicable.” Clair laughed, she couldn’t hate Stephanie even if she tried. “Well, if you must know, he’s even more handsome in person than the picture do him justice.”
“O. M. G. Clair, we really do have to switch places.”
“Get out of there, you whore from the pit of hell.”
“You know it Clair. I’m not one to resist a good looking man, I won’t even try.”
“I know that.”
“Well, I’ve gotta run you know. Not all of us are having the time of our lives with breathtakingly handsome men. Catch ya.”
“Bye Steph.” The line went dead.
She made to call her foster sister Hailey but thought better of it. If she put a call through to Hailey now, then they’re probably going to be talking through the whole day. She decided to send her colleague John a text message since she didn’t see a need to call him back but she didn’t want to make it seem like she was a snob.
He was a nice guy after all. Heaven know if it was Mang or Jake, I wouldn’t even bother sending as much as a text message.
Hey John,
How are you doing? I saw your missed call, I was unavailable when you called die to some unforeseen circumstances but everything’s fine now. I hope you’re well. In case you want to contact me in the next few days before I arrive from my travel, just send me a text message or an email because I am currently unavailable for calls. Take care.
With the text sent, she then decide to call her boss, Benjamin Scaffold.
“Hey Ben.” Clair spoke when he picked after the second ring. Ben was the kind of boss that was hard and soft on his employees at the same time. When he knew the business was at risk or stood a chance of loosing an important investor if they made a wrong move, he tried his hardest to make sure his employees acted accordingly. But other than that, he was an easy going man with a knack for compliments.
“Well, see who finally remembered she had a job. I’m sorry about your accident. Mr Silver told me everything that happened. Hope you’re alright?” Ben said without a pause.
“Breathe man. I’m a little bit out of shape and I feel a little disoriented. I’m so tired as I speak to you. So, I was hoping to ask you if I could take some time off to myself, just so I could regain my health back.”
“Of course love, you can. And if you had not asked, I would have suggested it myself. You need as much rest as you can get right now. You know how important you are to us in this company, we can’t have any harm coming to you.” Ben told her.
“So, two weeks?” Clair pressed, crossing her finger.
“Take as much time as you want. A year if you please”
“You did not mean that.” Clair told him matter-of-factly
“Of course I did not mean that, but take as much time as you’ll require to become stable. ”
“Thank you so much Ben, you’re the best.” She made a kiss sound into the mouthpiece and ended the call. When she looked up from smiling at her phone, she saw Rick standing at the door.
Good grieve. You scared me. he was leaning on the door frame looking completely dashing. He had changed out of the initial formal outfit he was wearing when he came to see Clair earlier, now he was were a light grey sweatpants with a dark grey t-shirt the same shade as Clair’s. It was almost as if they had a common agreement to go with the same outfit style. Rick was wearing a brown leather slippers. He had both his hands in his pocket and steadily living up to his magazine model appearance. Clair could have sworn that poolyof drool were gathered at the corners of her mouth.
“Hey.” Rick said softly breaking the silence.
“Hey.” Clair replied
“You look good.”
“Thank you. You don’t look bad yourself.” They shared a private smile. Rick leaned away from the door and walked slowly toward Clair.
Clair bit her lips involuntarily and she saw Rick’s eyes flare. “So, you were talking to your boyfriend?” He cocked an eyebrow, but if clair didn’t know any better, she would have said it was jealousy she saw on his face.
A whole Rick Silver, jealous. Girl, you’re just way in over you head. Get a fucking grip.
“Boyfriend? Gods, no. That was my boss at work.”
“So, you don’t have a boyfriend?”
She looked at him through squinted eyes. “I didn’t say that.”
“So, you do have a boyfriend?”
“I didn’t say that either.”
Rick shook his head, he was by the bed now.”Here’s the notebook and pen you asked for.”
“Thank you,” Clair said as she collected it and put them into her purse.
“Well, what do you say we head out for lunch?” He gestured to the door.
“I say we should.” She smiled.
With her sunshades on and her purse in place, they both walked out of the room side by side. Rick guided her to the gardens where a large bouquet was already set out on the table.
**** **** ****
The botanical garden was a real sight to behold. There was a full collection of all kind of plants, shrubs and flowers. Clair was sure she has never seen as much plants in one place in her whole life on this earth. The whole place looked like tourism material. Not having a vast knowledge about plants, Clair however did recognya few of them.
There were azaleas and rhododendrons, lily ponds arranged in some a breathing sequence, dogwoods, and much more. Beside the pond, Clair could see an orderly arrayed line of tropical fruit pavilion, Montgomery Palmetum. There was also a giant waterfall exhibition at the center of the garden, the waterfall gave way to a water channel that veined the whole garden. The effect of the whole arrangement was nothing short of breathtaking. Clair was sure that jaw was already hitting the the floor. She couldn’t wait to tell Hailey about the place. If only to appease her sister’s anger, because angry she will be when Clair recounts the events of the past few days to her darling sister. Being the tourist that she was, Clair was sure she would do to visit this particular botanical garden.
“Wow, this is one hell of a masterpiece you have here. Your house should be a tourist center, because what!?” Clair commented. It was obvious she was awed by the environment.
Rick only laughed and put his hands on her lower back as he guided her to the side. She saw a large thatched canopy with a large long rectangular table in the middle. She could see that there was already food on the table and some people on uniform were standing beside the table.
The servers I suppose.
They entered the shade and Rick drew back a sit for her to sit on. He went to speak to one of the people waiting on them, the person he was speaking to was an elderly man. Clair used that opportunity to remove her sunglasses, she folded it and kept it on the table.
She looked back at where Rick was still in a conversation with a the elderly man.
Aelfric.