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“I need you to go to the symphony.”
Landon dropped his pen and tilted his head, furrowing his eyebrows. “Sir?”
“The firm sponsors the symphony. And we have a block of tickets. Some of the senior account managers were going to attend, but they’re all tied up with other matters. We can’t let the seats go empty. It would look bad on the firm,” Mr. Benton said.
“Of course,” Landon responded.
“We don’t want them to think we just throw them some money to look good and we don’t care about the arts.”
“Absolutely not,” Landon said, even though he was pretty sure that was the truth.
“So will you go and represent us? Take some friends if you want, or dig up a date.”
“Yes, sir. When is it?”
“Tonight.”
“Oh,” Landon’s hand flew to his forehead as he glanced at the clock and saw that it was already three o’clock.
“My secretary has the tickets. Just stop by and get them. And take yourself to dinner on the firm.”
“Yes, sir.” Landon heard the phone click and dropped the receiver back into its cradle. He stared at his desk for only a moment before he grabbed his cell phone. There was only one person he wanted to take to the symphony.
“Hey,” Hailey’s voice sounded so sweet over the phone.
“Hey, I need you to get a babysitter for tonight.”
“What?” Hailey’s tone went from sweet to confused.
“I have to go to the symphony tonight to represent the firm. I have tickets, and I want to take you. So I need you to get a babysitter. Do you think you can do that?”
“Um…” Hailey’s voice trailed off, and Landon could just see her biting her lip.
“We can go to dinner before. I’m sorry it’s last minute. I literally just found out. It will be fun.”
“Yeah, it sounds nice. I just, I’m not not sure about the kids. They’ve already picked out a movie they want to watch tonight.”
“Well, they can do that. Could your parents come? Or your sister? I’ll order pizza, and then they can watch the movie.”
“Yeah, I guess that would work. Let me see. But they might have plans.”
Landon could hear the defeat in her voice. “I know you don’t like changing plans at the last minute. I’m really sorry. I would have said no, if I could. Pizza and a movie sound great to me. But I have to do this.” He paused and took a breath. “I would really like it if you could go with me.”
He heard Hailey let out a breath on the other end of the line. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Perfect. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.”
The next thirty minutes of work were excruciating. When Hailey finally texted and said her sister was coming over, Landon couldn’t sit anymore. He clapped his hands together as he stood and gathered his things. His boss would understand that he needed to leave a little early to prepare for the unexpected evening, but Landon knew it would feel nothing like work.
Just after five o’clock, he knocked on Hailey’s door. It immediately opened, but it wasn’t Hailey.
“Hey,” her sister Claire said. “I just walked in the door. Come on in.”
“Thanks,” Landon said. He cleared his throat, suddenly feeling awkward that Claire knew he was taking Hailey out for the evening.
“This is great, you know,” Claire said, giving him a knowing look. “Hailey needs to get out more, and she could use a break.”
Landon nodded. “I think so too.”
