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Paige’s mouth sags as she lifts her pen off the clipboard. “You can’t swim?” she asks.
Her dangling blue-jeweled earrings shimmer as she moves her head. They match my tie perfectly today, though I shouldn’t be surprised. When my soaked suit from yesterday was delivered to my suite this morning, freshly cleaned and perfectly pressed, the employee offered me two ties as well: blue and black stripes or blue diamonds on black.
I chose diamonds. When I made my way downstairs, I found Paige waiting for me with speckles of blue hidden throughout her latte-colored suit like sapphires; her earrings, her bracelet, a thin, fashionable scarf tied off around her neck, and let’s not forget the usual faded blue hidden within the frames of her glasses.
And thus began the beginning of the end of my reluctance to go full corporate. She’ll match us whether I like it or not.
I shake my head as I turn back to my file. “Never learned how,” I say.
“Why not?” she asks.
“Just never did.”
“How is that possible? You ran a building with a pool on the roof for years.”
“I never had to clean it myself,” I joke, and she laughs. “You’re telling me there’s no common survival skill out there that you never learned how to do?”
Paige pauses, glancing up as she thinks it over between the tall stacks of boxes marked cloth napkins in the restaurant stockroom. Seven long hours of counting and verifying and auditing books have left my head spinning, but it’s somehow gone by quickly thanks to the constant flow of friendly conversation between us.
For a second, I think that maybe Graham was on to something here. Having an assistant might not be so bad of an idea after all.
But only for a second.
After a moment, Paige hums softly. “I guess I never learned how to light a fire with two sticks or whatever,” she says.
I laugh as I purposefully look her over. Clearly not the outdoorsy type this one. “You?”
She holds up her hands. “I know. It’s a shock,” she quips. “Can you do that?”
“I can,” I answer as I mark out a finished task on my form.
“Really? Do a lot of camping in your day?”
“Now and then.” I take a wide step down the line of pristine tablecloths folded neatly on the shelf. “You?”
She snorts. “Not really, though I do like the idea of it. Hang out with mama nature. Cut off from the world. Sleep beneath the stars. It actually sounds kind of fun... assuming I still had clean water and soap and a warm bed to sleep in.”
“And a place to shower?”
“With hot water!”
I chuckle. “Maybe a cabin getaway would be more your style, then.”
“Do they put cabins on the beach?” she quips, though I doubt she’s kidding.
“Sure,” I say. “If you like ice fishing.”
She bristles as her cellphone chimes from the pocket of her jacket.
“Excuse me,” she says as she pulls it out and answers without a glance at the screen. “Hey, Mom. … Yeah, I’m working.”
She looks at me and I give her a nod to show that she can take the call.
“New York,” she says, giving me a grateful head bob as she turns around and walks out of the stockroom. “Uh-huh...”
I adjust the roll of my sleeves as I take a quick break as well. Three days into this trip and her mother has called three times that I know of. My assumption that they must be close seems to be quite the understatement, as Paige instantly answers each time whether or not she’s on the clock; a strange trait for Paige “by-the-book” Landon for sure.
Paige returns with her head high and shoulders rolled back, ready to get back to work. “Okay,” she says, exhaling a heavy sigh. “Where were we...?”
