AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The weekend has ended, but I’m still relishing the aftermath of it.
I come into my office focused, chin high, and ready.
My new assistant Wanda is following me, reading me the agenda for today. She’s replacing my long-serving assistant, who took her maternity leave and decided not to return so she could be a full-time mom. Wanda is only twenty-two, but she’s a fast learner. Whatever Kylie, Rob’s assistant, has taught her, she’s put it to good use.
I hope she sticks around because apart from her bee-like efficiency, she’s someone who’s not afraid to tell things as they are and keep me in check. Her interview was an experience in itself. She was like nobody else in the queue of applicants. She wore a nose piercing and wasn’t afraid to show off her arm tattoos. Perhaps looking at the well-made-up, model-like candidates in the room with her, she came in thinking I was some rich pervert looking for young blood. At the end of the interview, she told me, ‘I’m here for a real job, Mr. Hartley. If you need someone who will accommodate you on the side, it won’t be me.’
“You’re late.” Rob notices me coming.
“Oh, brother! I’ve been here since eight.”
“It’s all rainbows and bunny-shaped clouds in Clayton’s sky then?” His lively expression tells me he knows something about the weekend. “My little informant told me.”
That boy! He still has to learn about loyalty. “What did Matty tell you?”
“He said he had a great time.”
“And?”
“You and Isabelle spent the night together at your house.”
I try to recall whatever I did after we put the boys to bed. I’m sure I shut my bedroom door. Did I?Shit!
Rob chuckles. “Don’t worry. You haven’t destroyed his innocence.”
“Clayton, General Adler on line one,” Wanda calls.
“Geez, what’s up with pilots being early today?” Rob remarks.
I give Rob a sign that I’ll talk to him later and answer the call. “General, what can I do for you?”
“We’ve received the VesslScope updates and installed them. It took a while, but there wasn’t a single error. You know I don’t usually say this, but I’m impressed.”
I clench my fist victoriously.
The general then reveals, “The testing has been brought forward. I need you at the base to start training our pilots.”
“Of course. When?”
“Saturday.”
It’s the day I promised Isabelle that I’d take her to Hartley Marine. But, much as I want to put love first, when the highest-ranking US Air Force officer says he needs you, you say yes.
“I’ll be there.”
“Good man.”
Adler ends the call. I get up from my seat, calling my big brother.
“He just went out,” Wanda says, handing me an envelope.
Private and confidential.
I take the letter to my desk. A subtle floral fragrance travels to me as soon as I tear the envelope open.
“Goddamn…”
So she did write it in a letter.
