Boss with Benefits_An Office Romance Page 28

  I had just put the kettle on when the doorbell rang. I knew it would be Hayden, and I was grateful to have something to keep my mind off everything. It took me a while to get to the front door, but I finally made it.

  “What the hell are you wearing?” Hayden said before even saying hello to me.

  I laughed. “Don’t lie. I know I look good. Even as a blind man I know how to dress better than you.” It still amazed me how I was able to find my sense of humor at a time like this. I was so grateful to have a friend like Hayden. It would’ve been awful to have someone that felt awkward around me.

  “You do actually look very good. Damn you. Well, I must say, I’m impressed. You’re all showered and changed. I was hoping I wouldn’t have to come in and help you shower. I mean, we’re close friends, but there’s a limit to how close I want to be with you.”

  I chuckled. “You’re a bastard; you know that? Anyway, come on in. Tank has been fed, and I was just about to make myself something to eat too. I’m starving. I hate to admit it, but getting ready this morning took forever.”

  Hayden took my hand, and I accepted it, and the two of us made our way to the living room. “Why are you taking me here?” I asked. “I need to make us food. Unless you’re planning on whipping me up a big bacon and egg breakfast? Because I wouldn’t say no to that. If I’m ever going to make the most of my new disability, it’s at times like this.”

  Hayden chuckled. “I’m not going to cook you anything.”

  “You’re so rude,” I huffed. “Don’t tell me you’re going to make me cook you something!”

  “Nope. Not that, either. I’m glad you haven’t eaten because I stopped by at the café on the way and got us breakfast. Bacon and egg croissants, and a cappuccino,” he said, and then handed me the coffee cup.

  I took a big sip and smiled. “Okay, you’re forgiven. I thought I smelled the food but I didn’t want to presume it was for me. Thanks, man, this is great. I…ah, I won’t lie, Hayden: I was dreading making something to eat. The whole thing seemed so overwhelming to me.”

  “But you’re doing so well. I didn’t expect you to be all showered and changed like this. And I was joking about what I said before; nothing is mismatched. You got everything right.”

  I smiled. “Well, thanks. Ha, I can’t believe that I’m getting compliments on getting showered and changed. I never thought that would ever happen.”

  “Ah… I didn’t mean…”

  “I know. I’m not complaining. I’m pretty impressed with myself too. Although, I couldn’t have done it without you and without Tank. He pushed my shoes to me this morning. He actually gave me my shoes. Like, how did he know I wanted them? This dog is amazing.”

  “He is amazing. They said so at the training school, too. He picks up on things really quickly. He’s so good, too. He’s on the floor now. By your feet. If you reach down you can feel him,” he said, and I did what he suggested. He was right; Tank was right by my feet. “Your croissant is sitting on the table in front of you, and he hasn’t even attempted to eat it. It’s like he knows it’s yours.”

  I grinned. “He has more manners than you and I ever did. Uh, would you mind pointing me in the right direction of the food? I’m starving.”

  “Of course,” Hayden said, and handed me the croissant.

  Eating in front of people was still something I was getting used to. It was a bit easier in front of Hayden because he was my best friend and I had a feeling he wasn’t judging me, but it still wasn’t the best feeling. Part of me wanted to ask him to go away so that I could eat in peace, but I knew I couldn’t do that. So I ate and tried not to think about whether or not he was watching me.

  “That was amazing, thank you. So, does that mean you’re going to knock on my door every morning with breakfast for me? Because you are more than welcome to do that,” I said with a grin.

  Hayden laughed. “Not quite. I do have some news for you. I said I was going to get you some help, and I managed to find someone for you. I haven’t met her yet, but she came highly recommended to me. I know you didn’t want a nurse, but I have found you a personal chef. You know, just to stop you from reaching out and eating Tank’s food when you think it’s your own,” he teased.

  I laughed. “Oh yeah, because apparently I have lost my sense of smell and taste along with my sight. So, tell me about this chef. What’s the deal?”

  “Like I said, I don’t know her, but she’s agreed to come and meet us. She seems pretty interested in the job. I know it’s going to be a bit strange for you at first, but I’m sure you’ll get used to it, and apparently, her food is amazing.”

  “She’s coming now?”

  “Yeah, sorry, I know I should’ve warned you, but the whole thing happened quite quickly, and I figured you wouldn’t really want to wait. Is that okay?”

  I nodded. I wasn’t really concerned about the girl in question. I knew that Hayden wouldn’t send some weirdo over to cook for me. And I knew that I needed someone to help me in the kitchen. I wasn’t all that good at cooking before I lost my sight, either. “Yeah, that’s totally okay. Thanks so much for doing this, Hayden. I know I’ve got a long road to go, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’m going to have to rely on people now.”

  I didn’t want Hayden to know how nervous I was, so I continued making jokes with him while we waited for the girl to arrive. I was nervous though, more than I even cared to admit to myself. This girl would be the first person that I would fully depend on, and the idea made me more uncomfortable than I liked to admit. I’d always been such a strong and independent person, and this was going to take some getting used to. Thankfully I had my sense of humor, and that made me look a lot less nervous than I really felt.

  Chapter 6

  Alice

  The idea of being a personal chef to someone had seemed like such a great idea at the time, but now I wasn’t so sure. I’d made the stupid mistake of doing some research and had come across some horror stories. There was one girl who said that the guy had tried to rape her. Another one where the man had made her sit and eat dinner with him every night. There was nothing sexual to that one, only that the whole thing had been incredibly awkward. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I had no idea what I was getting myself into. This man could be a serial killer for all I knew. What if he planned to eat me rather than my food? What if he had some weird fetish that he was going to show me over dinner each night? The more I thought about it, the more ideas came into my head, and the more freaked out I got.

  When I arrived at his house, I sat in the car for longer than I had to. I looked at the house and tried to figure out if a serial killer lived inside, but what on earth would that house look like? From what I could see, the house looked rather normal, but anything could be lurking within. I jumped when my phone rang.

  “Hey, I’m just wishing you good luck,” said Laurie. “I actually didn’t think you’d answer your phone. Aren’t you supposed to be in there already?”

  “Uh…I’m still in my car, wondering if I should go in.”

  “What do you mean? Why wouldn’t you?”

  “Well, what if he’s a killer? Or a rapist? Or some weirdo that makes me feel super uncomfortable?”

  Laurie burst out laughing. “Are you being serious?”

  “I am. I did some researching into the whole thing, and some people have had some horrific experiences.”

  She groaned. “Alice, you can say the same for any job! There are stories of sexual assault on a daily basis from companies all around.”

  “Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I asked her.

  “As a matter of fact, yes, it is. You shouldn’t worry about things like this, Alice. I wouldn’t send you to some weirdo. Anyway, you’re just meeting them today, aren’t you? If you don’t like him, you can just turn down the job. You’re not obliged to do it if you don’t want to, but you at least have to give it a try. Anyway, you better go; they’re expecting you. You don’t want to
be late on your first day. Now go, and stop being so ridiculous.”

  “Fine. Fine. I’ll go. But if you haven’t heard back from me tonight, you better come and find me.”

  I cut the call and drew a deep breath. She was right; I was being ridiculous. I’d always had a bit of an overactive imagination. I couldn’t help myself. It was a habit I’d developed from school. Whenever someone bullied me, I would retreat into myself. It was my safe place. The only things that had gotten me through school were Laurie and my imagination, and to this day they were the two things I still reverted to. I finally got out the car and made my way to the front door. I knocked and waited with bated breath.

  When the door opened, a tall, well-built man opened the door. It was hard to say how old he was because I was never all that good when it came to guessing ages, but I would assume around 30. In other words, he was not all that much older than me. Was this the man that I was going to be cooking for? I was expecting a much older gentleman.

  “Hi, you must be Alice,” he said, and held out his hand. “I’m Hayden.”

  Ah, this was the man I had spoken to on the phone. This was not the man I would be working for. “Good to meet you, Hayden, and thanks for having me.”

  He led me to the living room and offered me a cup of coffee. While I waited for the coffee to be made, I looked around the house and wondered who lived there. Was it Hayden’s father? That seemed to be the most likely story. I wondered why I hadn’t asked for more information on the phone. Or why I hadn’t asked Laurie to get more information for me. I had come into this meeting feeling completely blind now, and I was simply just going to have to wing it. Hayden seemed nice though, so that was a good start.

  He handed me a cup of coffee and sat opposite me.

  “Well thanks for coming today, Alice. Especially on such short notice.”

  “It is no trouble at all. This is exactly the sort of job I’m looking for,” I said. It wasn’t a complete lie. If the guy was nice, then this really was like a dream job for me. I loved cooking, but the thought of cooking at some restaurant where the food got pumped out too fast to worry about quality was something that had always depressed me. Cooking for one person meant I got the chance to do something great with my time.

  “Well, let me tell you a bit about what’s going on. Jacob is in his room getting a few things, but he’ll be out soon. I think he wanted to give me the opportunity to explain it all first.”

  I nodded. I shuddered at the name Jacob, as I remembered how the Jacob of my childhood had treated me, but I reminded myself that not every guy with that name was going to be like him. I’d come across a few others as an adult, and they’d been fine. Still, the name always sent shivers up my spine.

  “Jacob and I served in the navy together. He was my best friend in the navy and has since become my best friend out of it too. When you go through something like that with someone, I guess you can’t help but feel bonded to them. Jacob unfortunately suffered an injury during his service that left him blind. It’s…well…it’s been an adjustment for him, but he’s doing well. Better than I would be doing, more than likely, but he’s always been the strong one.”

  “He’s blind?” I said, and then immediately wished that I hadn’t said it out loud. I also felt bad that I was so worried about the man being a killer. These were men that had served our country, and there I was worried that he would eat me for dinner. I really did feel ridiculous now. I hoped he didn’t take offense to my outburst. I’d just been so incredibly surprised by it all, and very unprepared. Someone could’ve at least warned me. It wouldn’t have made a difference to me, but it would’ve been nice to know.

  “Yeah, I guess I should’ve told you that over the phone, but I wanted you to meet him first and give him a chance before saying no.”

  I frowned. “Why would I say no?”

  Hayden grinned at me. “I like you already. That’s cool of you to say. You’d be surprised by how many people would be bothered by something like this.”

  “I don’t really see what difference it makes to me, if I’m to be honest. It would be an adjustment, but it wouldn’t exactly be a problem.”

  “Thank you for saying that. He’s a great guy, too. I mean, I wouldn’t be best friends with him if he wasn’t,” he said, and laughed. “We’re still not sure exactly what we’re looking for in terms of workload. If you’ll cook every meal, or every day, or every week, or what. We’re still trying to figure that part out. But Jacob wanted to obviously meet you first and see if the two of you would be suited to this before making any definite plans. Is that okay with you?”

  “Sure. I’ll be honest: I’ve never done something like this myself, so I’m more than happy to test out the waters first.”

  “Great, well, let me go and get Jacob.”

  “Great.”

  I drank my coffee nervously, wondering if it was the right thing to do. I loved caffeine, but when I was nervous, it always made me feel even more so. I could feel my hands trembling ever so slightly. I took a few deep breaths and reminded myself that I was good at my job and that I had nothing to worry about. I was being silly. I loved cooking, and the opportunity to get paid for something I loved was wonderful. I was surprised to hear that Jacob was blind. Obviously, that wasn’t something that I was expecting, but it also didn’t bother me at all. If anything, I knew that he would be a harsher critic than most because he would only be relying on his taste. If you made a meal look good, then you could often fool someone into thinking it tasted good, but it was going to be different with Jacob. Instead of making me feel worried, it actually made me feel excited. I had great faith in my cooking skills, and having someone like Jacob around could perhaps elevate it to the next level.

  I was so lost in my thoughts that I barely heard them coming back. It was only Hayden’s voice that snapped me back to reality. The first thing I noticed was the dog. A beautiful cream Labrador with a kind face. They had always been my favorite breed. We’d had one as a kid, and I still hadn’t found myself able to get another dog. Every time I thought about it, I would worry that something would happen to it. I wasn’t sure I could go through that heartache again. My childhood dog had gotten me through some pretty rough times. Laurie was my best friend, and always had been, but there were times when I told my dog more than I told her. I used to pretend sometimes with her. Pretend like the bullying didn’t bother me when it really did. Not with Harry. Harry had known every single part of me, and he always sensed when I was sad quicker than anyone else.

  I smiled at this beautiful dog in front of me, happy to get the chance to be around him. Then I looked at his owner, and gasped. No fucking way! It was Jacob. The Jacob from my childhood. Thankfully, Hayden was helping Jacob walk towards me and didn’t see my reaction. I tried to compose myself. I was going to get through this meeting and then I was going to walk out this house and never come back again. My heart was pounding in my chest. I could not believe that after all these years Jacob was back in my life. I was so angry, with all the emotions from the past flooding back to the forefront of my mind, that I almost forgot he was blind. I blinked, trying to take it all in. Part of me should be happy that the bully from my childhood was now suffering this way, but it was hard to feel anything but pity for him.

  “Hi,” I said, and I was surprised how calm my voice was. “I’m Alice. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Chapter 7

  Jacob

  Alice had a nice voice. Very sweet, and timid, but with an underlying strength that most people didn’t have. If there was one positive about being blind, it was the ability to figure people out a lot quicker. They say that a person’s personality lies in their eyes, but it isn’t true at all. Stripping away one sense meant the others were a lot more in tune. I could always tell immediately what someone was feeling just by the tone of their voice. Alice wasn’t as easy to read as some of the other people I spoke to. I felt that she was holding something back and I couldn’t quite figure out yet what that was.
That intrigued me. I’d always been a sucker for mysteries. I wondered if she could tell how nervous I was. I was glad to have Hayden there. I always felt a lot braver with him around, probably because I was trying to show off. Without him, I’d probably be a bumbling idiot.

  “Alice, it’s a pleasure to meet you,” I said. “Oh, you’re absolutely beautiful,” I joked.

  Hayden burst out laughing, but I noticed that Alice didn’t. Perhaps she didn’t find things like this funny. Although I was more than likely just making her feel uncomfortable. I was never very good when it came to meeting women for the first time. It shouldn’t make any difference to me, but Hayden had informed me that she was absolutely beautiful in a very quiet and reserved way. I liked that. Showy people annoyed the hell out of me, despite the fact that I was just like that for most of my life. Perhaps that was why I didn’t like it now. Whenever I came across very loud and obnoxious people, it reminded me too much of the person I once was. A guy I very much tried to forget. I often thought that my blindness was a way for me to get what I deserved. That was why I battled to get angry about it. I believed I deserved it too.

  I reached out for her hand and couldn’t help but smile when she placed hers in mine. It was a good handshake, and her skin felt so soft and smooth against mine. The nurse had told me that I had hard hands, but that was because I was used to hard work. I wanted to hold onto her hand forever but didn’t want to make this meeting any more awkward than it already was for her.

  “Can I get you something to drink?” I asked.