Boss with Benefits_An Office Romance Page 29

  “Oh, uh, Hayden already made me some coffee. Thank you.”

  “Hayden made you coffee? Oh dear, I hope you’re still okay after that. He has a tendency to be a bit heavy-handed with the milk.”

  “No, no, that’s not true. Alice, I’ll have you know that Jacob here likes his coffee with only a drop of milk. It’s almost nonexistent. I don’t even know what the point is,” Hayden said.

  “Why don’t we let Alice be the judge of that?” I said. “Alice, how do you like your coffee?”

  “With a lot of milk,” she said, and I groaned.

  “Ah, my type of girl,” Hayden said, and for a brief second, I felt jealous that he could see her and I couldn’t. What did she look like? What was she wearing? I wanted to know everything. I would have to ask Hayden later, as much I wished I could ask him now.

  “So, Alice, tell us a bit about what you do?”

  “Uh, I don’t do anything right now,” she said. “I’ve been studying for the past few years and doing some odd jobs in between. I recently got my degree at culinary school, and now I’m ready to go out there and work.”

  “Wow, congratulations. I’m hopeless in the kitchen,” I said.

  “And he would’ve said the same thing to you before he became blind,” Hayden teased.

  “It’s true. It’s not my strong point. I hate to cook, but I love to eat. So, you’ve never been a personal chef for someone before?” I asked.

  “No, I haven’t. Were you looking for someone more experienced?”

  “God, not at all. In fact, I’d rather someone that isn’t experienced. It makes me feel better about the whole thing. This is all new to me, too. I’m not sure if Hayden mentioned it, but at the moment I have no idea what I really want out of all of this. I’m not sure how much help I’m going to need, but I have a feeling that it’s going to be more than I think, as much as I hate to admit it. But we can figure that out in due time. Oh, and this is Tank, by the way. Are you a fan of dogs?”

  “Oh yes,” she said, and I noticed it was the first time that she became animated. I could almost hear the smile in her voice. “I’m a big fan of dogs, especially this breed. I had one myself when I was younger, and he was the world to me.”

  “Tank is my world, too. Smartest dog I’ve ever known,” I said.

  “I’m not surprised. I happen to think that dogs are smarter than humans. At least, most of the time.”

  I chuckled. “I have to agree. Definitely smarter than Hayden.”

  Hayden laughed. “As you can see, Jacob feels like he can say anything to me now that he’s blind. He thinks I’m going to feel sorry for him. Which, clearly, I’m not. So, Alice, would you be interested in cooking us a meal?”

  “Hayden, you can’t ask Alice to do that. She just got here. And anyway, I don’t have anything in the fridge.” I couldn’t believe that Hayden had just asked her to do that.

  “I don’t mind,” Alice said. “I mean…I actually brought some ingredients with me, just in case you asked me to. I can make you some homemade burgers for lunch?”

  “Are you sure?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I mean, it’s what I do best,” she said.

  “Well, okay then. Thank you.”

  Alice went to her car, and while she was gone, I hissed at Hayden.

  “I can’t believe you asked her to cook.”

  “You have to see if you like what she makes,” he said. “She’s very sweet, and very pretty, but that doesn’t mean that you’re going to like what she does. I mean, for all we know, she could be obsessed with a raw food diet or something.”

  I laughed. “Well, clearly not, judging by her choice in lunch.”

  When Alice came back, we asked if we could help her, but she told us that she had everything under control. It felt weird to know that there was a stranger in my kitchen working while I sat in the living room doing nothing. If I wasn’t blind, I would be up there helping her. Although if I wasn’t blind, she probably wouldn’t be there. Hayden was making small talk, but I could tell he felt strange about it too. Eventually, he switched on the TV. I was used to listening to TV rather than watching it, but I knew that I missed out on a lot of things. Facial expressions could change an entire conversation, and I sometimes felt confused when Hayden laughed at something I hadn’t found funny at all. But I was grateful for the sound anyway, and it gave me a chance to stop thinking about Alice. I hated nothing more than feeling like I had lost control of my life, even though for the most part I had.

  Alice was finished in no time, and the smell in the room was incredible.

  “Uh, I’m done. I have it dished up, too. Should I bring it to the living room?” she asked.

  “Yeah, and don’t forget to dish for yourself, too,” I said.

  “Oh, I’ve only made two.”

  “Can’t you make another one?”

  “I guess…”

  “Good. Join us.”

  “Well, okay then.”

  We all sat with the food in our laps, and I was grateful that she had cooked something that I could eat with my hands. This would’ve been a little bit embarrassing if I had to use a knife and fork. I’d eventually have to do it, but at least our first meeting was a bit more casual.

  “Okay, this is the best burger I have ever had in my life,” I said.

  “I concur. Seriously, Alice, this is amazing,” Hayden said.

  “Thank you. I appreciate you saying that. Uh…I’m not sure what you feed your dog, but I did make him a patty too, if you’re okay with that?”

  “Are you kidding me? That’s amazing. Tank is going to love you.”

  “Oh good. I wanted to check with you first. Some people are funny about what they feed their dog,” she said, and I heard her scrape her chair back. She must’ve given the food to Tank because I heard her giggle. I also heard what sounded like slobbering right next to me.

  “I take it he liked the food.”

  “He basically inhaled it.”

  “He’s a good critic,” I said. “I’m not joking here. He’s actually really fussy. I’m not surprised that he likes your food.”

  We spent the rest of the time talking among each other, but for the most part, it was Hayden and I doing the talking. Alice hardly said anything and only seemed to speak if she was spoken to. Luckily, Hayden had a lot of questions for her, but she never said much more than she had to. I wasn’t sure if she was always like that or if she was just nervous about the whole situation. There was something about her that I really liked though, and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was about her that seemed so familiar to me. I got the distinct impression that she didn’t feel the same way about me, though.

  “Well, Alice, that was amazing. I loved the burger, and I would also love to offer you the job. I’d actually like to offer you something full-time because I think it’s safe to say that both Tank and I need you in our lives.”

  “Oh, well, thank you,” she said in way that made it seem like she wasn’t expecting it. “Do you mind if I give it some thought? I never say yes to anything immediately. I always like to mull it over. I can let you know tomorrow. If that’s okay?”

  “Of course, that’s totally fine.”

  “I’ll just do the dishes, and I’ll head off,” she said.

  “No, leave it for me,” Hayden said. “We didn’t ask you here so you could cook and clean for us. You don’t even have the job yet. Let me do it this time.”

  “Are you sure? I hate leaving things like this.”

  “I’m sure.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “Let Hayden clean for a change.”

  She laughed and came forward to shake my hand again, her skin once again soft against mine. Then she said goodbye to Tank, and I think she gave him a kiss. I heard a little puckering sound, and I couldn’t help but think that Tank was a lucky dog. She had taken a big liking to him, and after the meal she had given him, it was obviously reciprocated.

  When she left, Hayden came to sit back in the living room with me. />
  “Well, what do you think?” he said.

  “I thought she was great, and I loved her food, but I have a feeling she’s not going to say yes to this job. Maybe it’s the blindness. Who knows? She was a bit quiet, wasn’t she?”

  “Yeah, she was. I couldn’t get a proper read on her. Well, who knows; she might surprise us. Maybe she was just nervous,” Hayden said, although I could hear that he wasn’t completely convinced by that.

  “Hmm, maybe. Or maybe we’re going to have to find someone else.”

  Chapter 8

  Alice

  I hurried out of the house as quickly as possible and got into my car. The moment I did, I couldn’t stop the rush of emotion that came to me, and I found myself crying like a lunatic. I started the car and drove off, just in case either of them was watching me from the window. Then I laughed maniacally as I realized that Jacob wouldn’t be watching me at all. Then I cried because I felt bad for him. Then I cried because I was annoyed that I felt bad for a man that had completely ruined my childhood. It was a rollercoaster of emotions, and as soon as I felt one, another one would hit me.

  The moment I got home, I flopped onto the bed. I cried a little bit more. I tried to call Laurie, but she didn’t answer her phone. She sent me a message telling me that she was in a meeting and couldn’t speak but that she would meet me for dinner that evening. I still had the whole afternoon to go until I could talk to her, so I tried to watch TV to get my mind off what had happened. It didn’t work. My mind kept wandering back to the fact that I’d just seen Jacob again. I’d often wondered what had happened to him, but I’d done everything in my power to avoid ever meeting with him again. I wasn’t even on social media, for the pure fact that I was worried I’d come across him. I used to be on Facebook but a guy called Jacob friended me once, and I got so freaked out that I closed my account. I later found out that it wasn’t this Jacob at all, but it still made me not want to be on there. A lot of people stayed friends with their school friends, and I didn’t want to take the chance of ‘bumping’ into him, even if it was just online.

  I found myself crying again. Not because I had seen my childhood bully again, but because of all the things he had done to me back then, and because he had ruined so many years for me. I’d spent most of my adult life trying to forget about school, and the last thing I wanted to do was to be reminded of it again. I closed my eyes and tried desperately to think of something else, but the first thing that came to mind was a memory when I was only 13 years old.

  “Hi, darling; you look beautiful.”

  I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. I was wearing a lovely green dress that my mother had bought for me. We didn’t have a lot of money, and I wasn’t used to getting nice things, so when I did, I always treasured them. I didn’t often feel pretty, but the dress made me feel like a different person. I swirled the dress around and smiled.

  “Thank you, Mom. I will always look after it.”

  “I know you will. Now, are you ready to go?”

  I smiled. “I’m ready.”

  I’d been invited to my very first party. I was usually left out of all the parties, but that year I had been invited. Laurie couldn’t come to the party because she was sick, but I’d decided to go without her anyway. She’d warned me against it, but I was too excited to say no. I figured that maybe the kids were tired of bullying me and that this was their way of apologizing. It was Jacob’s party. He had just turned 14 and had invited everyone to some new burger joint that had opened up. He’d hired out the venue and told us that there was even going to be dancing. I couldn’t wait. I didn’t like the guy, but even I was impressed that he’d managed to hire out an actual restaurant for his birthday.

  “Mom, can you drop me off down the road?” I said to my mother as we arrived.

  She frowned. “Are you sure? I don’t like you going in alone.”

  “I know, but I’m trying to be cool. Anyway, you can see me going in from here, so you know it’s safe.”

  “Well, okay, darling. I’ll be back in a few hours to get you, okay? I’ll be right here again. Have a wonderful time.”

  “Thanks, Mom.”

  I got out the car and made my way to the restaurant. I was surprised to see a few people that I didn’t know walking towards the front door too. Who were they? I thought it was just going to be kids from school. When I got inside, I saw that the place was filled with regular folks and that no party seemed to be happening. I walked up to the waiter and asked him where the party was. He frowned.

  “Party? What party?”

  “For Jacob Coleman. He hired the place out.”

  “Are you sure you have the right place?”

  I got out the invitation and double-checked. Yes, it was right. But there was no party, and I now knew that I had been duped. “Oh, never mind. I made a mistake,” I said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Sure,” I said, and quickly walked out before the man could say anything.

  With nowhere to go and a few hours to kill until my mother arrived, I sat with my back against the wall outside and cried. I couldn’t believe it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Jacob showed up and took pictures of me. I’d actually spoken to some people at school about the party, which means he’d had the whole school in on it. Everyone except Laurie. I made a promise to myself not to tell my mother about what had happened. She had been so excited to see that I’d finally been invited to a party. I sat there, willing the hours away until it was time to go home.

  “Did you have a good time?” my mother asked when she showed up later that evening.

  I forced a grin on my face. “I had the best time!”

  I woke up with a start. For a brief moment, I breathed with relief when I realized it was all a dream. Then I remembered what had happened earlier that day and I groaned. It was hard to believe that I’d actually seen Jacob again. I looked at the time and saw that I’d been asleep a lot longer than I had intended to be, and it was almost time to meet Laurie. I hopped into the shower, changed, and headed out to the restaurant.

  Laurie and I loved meeting at this small Italian place down the road. I was very fussy when it came to my food, but this place knew exactly what they were doing. They made a pasta that I loved so much I refused to learn how to make it myself. It was nice to have somewhere to go and know what to order each time without being disappointed. The staff knew us by now and never bothered to bring us a menu. Laurie was already there when I arrived, and I rushed over to see her.

  “Oh man, I am so glad to see you.”

  She chuckled. “Well, that’s a nice greeting, but why are you so happy to see me? Sorry about earlier, too. It’s been a crazy busy day. But I want to know EVERYTHING about your meeting. Did you get the job?”

  “I got the job.”

  “Why do I get the distinct impression that you need a glass of wine right now?”

  I nodded. “Oh yeah, I need wine.”

  “You’re in luck. I already ordered some.”

  At that exact moment, a waiter came in and handed us each a glass. I took a big sip of the red wine and sighed. She was right: that was exactly what I needed.

  “Okay, tell me everything.”

  “So, did you know the guy is blind?”

  Her eyes widened. “Really? Oh, that’s interesting. I don’t know Hayden all that well, and he didn’t go into specifics, but that’s a pretty big thing not to tell me. Is that a problem for you?”

  I shook my head. “Oh no, not at all. That doesn’t bother me in the slightest. What bothers me is that I know the guy.”

  “You do? Do I?”

  I nodded. “Oh yeah. Jacob Coleman.”

  She frowned. “Jacob…” she said, as if trying to figure the name out. She gasped as the name rang a bell in her head. “Jacob Coleman? That little shit from school?”

  I laughed. “The very one.”

  “But you said he was blind?”

  “Yeah, he is. Which is seriously messing with my head
. I want to hate him, but it’s hard to hate someone that has gone through so much trauma. But I do hate him. Ah! It’s driving me crazy. And all the damn memories have come back. I went home and sobbed. It’s hard to forget what he did to me. Anyway, apparently, he lost his eyesight in the navy. He was there with Hayden.”

  “Ah, no way. Hayden mentioned something about that once, but I never realized it was this Jacob. Whoa. So, what happened? What did he say when he realized it was you?”

  “Well…I didn’t tell him. I mean, what was the point, really? Also, I was a bit too shocked to say anything. I’m surprised I kept my composure. It took everything in my power not to say anything. Problem is I felt so close to tears the whole time that I knew if I said anything, I’d just cry. And the last thing I wanted to do was for him to see me cry. Well, not see me, but you know what I mean.”

  “So what happened? Did you just talk?”

  “They actually asked me to cook for them.”

  “What? I didn’t expect them to do that. Did you do it?”

  “Yeah. I did. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I mean, I guess they wanted to know if I could cook. And Hayden was really nice about it. The two of them have a really cool friendship. They’re always joking around, especially about the blindness. I have no idea how they joke like that, but I guess it’s their way of coping. Anyway, in a way, it was good because it gave me something to keep my mind off everything. Then they asked me to eat with them, which was super awkward. They were quite chatty, but I barely said a word. I wanted to get out of there so quickly. I was so relieved when it was all over.”

  “How did it end? Did they say anything more about the job?” Laurie asked.

  “He just offered me the job.”

  “That’s amazing! You see, you’re good at this.” Laurie said.

  The food arrived at that moment, and we both chuckled because neither one of us had actually ordered anything. We smiled at the waiter, who looked at us both knowingly. They all loved it when we came over because our orders were so simple. I twirled some pasta around my fork and took a grateful bite. I was hungrier than I realized despite the big burger I’d eaten at lunch.