Dorothy Ewels

Leila

Five Years Later

 

A sound coming from the doorway has me looking up to find Edgar Mason, Chief Financial Officer Extraordinaire — or at least that’s what he thinks — standing in my doorway. I have to work hard to suppress a shudder as I take in all that is the insipid, arrogant, ick-inducing asshat.

From the time I started here at StanCorp, there’s just something about the man that gives me serious off vibes. I can’t quite put my finger on why I feel the way I do, but I wouldn’t trust him with my goldfish let alone my company’s financials. But Phillip Stanton — the company CEO and my boss — seems to trust the man. So I tolerate him.

“Leila.” The nasally twang of his voice grates on every last nerve ending, as always, and it’s a constant fight to keep the utter dislike I have for the man off of my face.  The disdain that usually drips from his every word doesn’t endear him to me either.

“Edgar,” I reply, waiting for him to state his business and then, please God, be on his way.

“Is Phillip in his office?”

“He’s just popped down to Research and Development. I’m sure he won’t be much longer. I can ask him to call you as soon as he’s back.”

A weird something passes behind his washed-out blue eyes, something I can’t identify that makes me uneasy, nonetheless. But then he shakes his head. “No. I’ll contact him later.”

And, with that, he takes himself off to who knows — or cares — where. Releasing a nervous sigh, I shudder. Man, he gives me the heebie-jeebies. I push all thoughts of the creepy Edgar out of my mind as I get back to my enormous to-do list.

Sometime later, Phillip returns to the office, annoyance clear in the stiffness of his posture.

“Hi,” I say, smiling up at him as he stops at my desk.

He takes a beat before his face softens into an answering smile, his body relaxing some. “Hey.”

“Rough visit?”

“No, good actually. Just ran into Edgar on my way back, and he’s in a mood. Honestly, I have no idea what’s going on with him lately, but he’s really starting to get on my nerves.”

It’s on the tip of my tongue to say that he’s been grating on mine since day one but think better of it. Phillip and Edgar seem to get on well enough, and I don’t really want to get into a whole discussion about our weird Chief Financial Officer.

“Can I get you some of that superb new coffee you got, to soothe those irritated nerves?”

“That sounds like an excellent idea.” Phillip grins. “Grab your notebook on the way into my office. I’ve got some things I need done before we leave on the cruise next week.”

“Sure thing. I’ll be right there.”

Phillip Stanton is ten years older than my own thirty-two years, but he’s handsome in a polished way and in pretty good shape for a desk jockey. Exactly the kind of man I thought I wanted until one night in a crowded bar turned that belief on its head. To be honest, I’m surprised some socialite hasn’t snapped up this eligible bachelor.

Before thoughts of Kyle Jackson, or Merlin as his teammates call him, can sour my mood, I get up to make my boss’s coffee, grab my notepad and pen, and head into his huge corner office.

There’re a million little things that I need to finish before we go sailing the seven seas — or one of them, at least — next week, and Phillip’s just added a ton more to my list. So, when my phone rings just as I’m walking back into my own office, I can’t hold back the frustrated sigh that escapes.

But I feel it ebb as I answer and hear Sheri Henderson’s cheerful voice on the other end. Sheri was the person who got me through when Kyle broke things off with me and I thought I wouldn’t make it. There were so many days I just wanted to curl up and die, but despite her own devastation at having just lost her husband, she dragged me back into the light. Sheri was single-handedly responsible for me having made it through some of the darkest days of my life.

“Hello, you gorgeous thing you. How’s your day going?”

“Fine until Eerie Ed appeared at my door. But now that I’m talking to you, I’m fantastic, thanks. How about you?”

“Good, thanks. Well, great actually,” she replies.

“Ooo, do tell. That sounds intriguing.”

“I don’t have time — I’m about to dash out the door to fetch the boys, but I wanted to see if you had any plans for tonight.”

“Not a single one. I was going to go home, run a bath, savor a glass or five of wine, read my hot new novel, and then grab some shuteye.”

“Sounds scintillating. Wanna come over and have dinner with me and the boys instead?”

“Hell, yeah. I’m always down for that.”

“Fabulous. I’ll see you around six thirty then?”

“Yup, I’ll be there.”

Hanging up the phone, I tackle my to-do list with renewed vigor now I have something to look forward to at the end of my day.

The day simply flies by, and it’s a little after five when I check the time. Wanting to stop by the store on my way to Sheri’s place, I quickly pack up and make my way over to the connecting door that leads into Phillip’s office.

“I’m headed out, anything I can get you before I leave?” I ask.

He looks up from the papers he’s got strewn across his desk, a small frown creasing his brow. “Hmm? Sorry, I missed that.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb. I just wanted to let you know I’m about to leave and to check if you need anything before I go.”

“No, I’m good thanks,” he replies after some consideration.

“All right, well don’t forget you have that charity thing at seven this evening, and Mike will be here to collect you at six so you can go home and change.”

“Okay, good. Thanks.”

“I’ve set a reminder, which will alert you at five thirty, and then five forty-five, and then six again.”

This time Phillip laughs. “You always take such good care of me. Right from the very first day. I have no idea what I would do without you.”

I’m taken aback, not just by the words but more by the soft look on his face as he looks over at me. So thrown, in fact, I don’t know how to answer him.

“What are your plans for the evening?” Phillip asks, changing the topic.

“Oh, um, I’m having dinner with my girlfriend and her two boys.”

He nods. “Well, have a good evening, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Have a lovely evening too,” I reply, before hurrying out of the office.

My thoughts are reeling as I make my way to the parking level of our building. In the four-and-a-half years I’ve worked here, this is the first time Phillip’s looked even remotely at me like that. For an uncomfortable moment there, his look was more that of a man interested in a woman than a look a boss would give an employee.

And honestly, it shook me a little. Yes, he’s a good looking-man, nicely built, polished, and a gentleman to boot. I’d be lying if I said that I wouldn’t have been interested in a man like him in the past, but Kyle spoilt me for all men.

We were amazing until we weren’t. One minute I had a hot Navy SEAL treating me like a queen, and the next I was alone and broken. I still have no idea why he simply walked away without so much as a backward glance.

The man had a talent for making me feel as if I was his entire universe, the only important thing in his world. So when he broke things off, I never saw it coming. True, he’d been a little distant, not his usual self for the couple of weeks between Maverick’s death and the day he shattered my heart. But I’d simply put it down to him losing his best friend.

Turned out, he was distancing himself in readiness to leave me. Blindsiding me in the process.

A sound to my right pulls me out of my depressing thoughts, and I turn to scan the area. One of the many things Kyle taught me was to stay aware of my surroundings, to stay safe. Getting lost in my head was neither staying aware nor safe.

Not seeing anything out of place, I stayed alert as I cautiously made my way over to my car, only releasing a sigh of relief once I’d locked myself inside my treasured Audi. Today’d certainly turned out to be a weird one.

Edgar being more Edgar than usual, Phillip being less Phillip than usual, and thoughts of Kyle rioting through my head unlike I’d allowed myself to do in a long, long time. With another sigh, I put my car in gear and pull out of my spot, eager to get to Sheri’s house.

Thankfully, it doesn’t take too long to get through traffic this evening, and I’m grateful. Dashing through the store, I’m back in my car within fifteen minutes and at my destination fifteen minutes after that. And, as I pull into Sheri’s driveway, I feel muscles I was unaware were so tense relax.

I’m guessing she must have been keeping an eye out for me, because as I climb out, I see my sister of the heart standing in her front doorway, a happy grin on her face. I grab the stuff out of the back of my car and hurry up the walk and into Sheri’s open arms.

“Hello, gorgeous,” she murmurs as she wraps me up in her tight embrace.

“Hello, your own gorgeous self,” I reply, returning the hug equally.

“Aunty Lee’s here,” Sheri calls out as she ushers me into her beautiful home, and I hear the clatter of running feet upstairs. And then, there they are, my two sweet godsons.

“There’s my handsome boys,” I say, bracing as they come racing toward me.

I feel myself settle as the boys fling their arms around me, one on each side, hugging me just as tight as their mom did. Looking down at them, I feel a pang in the region of my heart. They’re miniature cutouts of their dad. Luke, at eight, and James, now six, resemble their father so much I sometimes wonder how Sheri’s heart doesn’t break every time she looks at her sons.

“You hungry?” I hear her ask from behind me.

“Yeah, I could eat.”

“Come on then. Boys, go wash up, it’s dinner time.”

“Yay, dinner time!” James yells, tearing off to do as instructed, Luke not far behind.

A shiver wracks my body as, out of nowhere, a premonition of something bad coming washes over me. In an attempt to shake it off, I follow Sheri into the kitchen.

“Wine?”

“Yes, please,” I reply, hoping the alcohol will dispel my unease. “After the day I’ve had, I could use a glass.”

Accepting the proffered glass, I settle at the counter to visit with my friend, pushing any dark thoughts out of my head.