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P.S. Everything extraordinary about Josephine came from you.
Every word made me smile. I tapped out a quick text, though he was probably at dinner with his associates. That was how he spent his evenings when out of town.
Me:Are you implying Joey got her extraordinary burps from me? If you are, I protest. I’m a lady. I have never burped once in my life.
To my surprise, he replied by the time I had ordered my coffee and glazed donut.
Elliot:I would never accuse you of anything like that, sweetheart. Where are you?
I texted him a picture of my coffee cup and pastry. He replied immediately.
Elliot:Do you know how disappointing it is to receive a picture and you’re not in it? Try again. I’m jonesing for your big brown eyes, Catherine.
My stomach flipped. It was amazing he could give me butterflies from the other side of the world, and he had managed to do it every day he’d been gone.
I found a table and snapped a picture of me biting into my donut and sent it to him.
Elliot:Did you hear my groan all the way over there? I’m supposed to be heading to dinner, but if I walk out of my hotel room now, I’ll cause an international incident.
Me:Are you…hard?
Elliot:Jesus, now I’m going to have to take care of myself before I leave.
Me:If you call me when you get back from dinner, I’ll be on my lunch break. I can watch you.
Elliot:0823hiv23;,piugrviuqebiuew3ebgu’; You’re killing me. I wish you were here right now.
Me:I miss you too, you know.
Elliot:I’m sorry I had to extend my trip. I want to be coming home to you two, but some things can’t be helped.
Me:I understand, but I still miss you. Call me when you have the chance so I can hear your voice.
Elliot:I will. xx
With a sigh, I stashed my phone in my purse and pushed back from the table. With Elliot out of town, I didn’t have to be in the office quite as early as usual, but it was time to get my butt behind my desk, or Raymond and Davida would side-eye me.
When I turned around to head for the exit, I almost ran into another woman. She jumped back, laughing.
“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying atten—” She stopped, and we recognized each other at the same time. “Catherine! How are you?”
“I’m great. I was on my way into the office.”
Ann worked in human resources at LD. I didn’t know her well, but often saw her around the building in passing.
“Wonderful. I am too.” She held up her cup. “Just needed my morning dose.”
I raised my iced coffee. “Same.”
Laughing, she held the door and fell into step beside me. “I’ve been meaning to come talk to you in person about the terrible mix-up with your salary.”
I waved her off. “It’s my fault for not pointing out the error sooner.”
She shook her head. “No, no. It isn’t your fault. Things got lost in the shuffle.” She leaned into me, lowering her voice. “In the strictest confidence, it’s all Elliot’s fault. He really mucked things up by skipping normal procedure and procuring his own candidate for a job we hadn’t even advertised. Then he went and hired you on his own.”
I blinked at her, unsure what she meant. “I don’t understand. I saw the listing for the job. It’s how I applied.”
She patted my shoulder like I was a poor little lamb. “No, that was for an assistant position in marketing. Normally, our executive positions come from a different pool of candidates with much greater qualifications.” Her eyes narrowed on me. “Elliot never did tell me how he found you.”
