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Jared
It’s six o’clock and I’m in my office looking out the window down at the people below. I think back to this afternoon. I did notice Lacey as I was talking to David. Her name came to me about five minutes after I left her and David in the hallway. Then as I walked back to my office it struck me that she was the woman playing pool the other night. I was sure of it. Even in her casual clothes that woman had the same hair and figure.A very nice figure.
The sound of shuffling takes me away from the window. I glance down the hall and see Diane gathering her things. I step out and walk down the short hallway to her desk.
“Diane, this is the second night you’re here late. Is everything okay?” I ask, hoping there isn’t something I need to sign or return to her that is making her late. I try my best to get everything back as fast as possible but if I’m honest sometimes the day gets away from me and I forget.
She smiles at me. “Oh no Mr. Whitmore. I’m just getting a head start on tomorrow. Are you heading out soon? Don’t forget to eat.”
And there’s the real reason Diane is sitting here late. She’s making sure I don’t stay too late and that I have a plan to feed myself. A part of my chest aches. I don’t want anyone worrying about me, especially my assistant.
“You’ll be happy to know I’m meeting Shane for dinner in a half hour,” I say.
Diane’s face beams at me with delight. “Oh good! I’m so happy to hear that. Well you have fun and I’ll see you tomorrow Mr. Whitmore.”
I’ve tried over the years to get her to call me Jared. After ten years of being my assistant I hate that it still feels so formal. But she refuses to do so, so I don’t push the subject anymore.
“Thanks Diane. See you tomorrow.”
Shane and I get in my SUV and decide where we are going to eat. We need a place that’s not too noisy so we can talk about the new project.
Shane looks over at me from the passenger seat. “Let’s go to the other side of town. There’s that great Tex-Mex place over on Mountain View. I haven’t been there in ages and tacos sound really good right now.”
“I’ll never say no to tacos.”
I drive through the busy streets and cross over the bridge to the west side of town. It’s not as busy over here but there’s a good array of shops and a few places to eat that warrant attention. The Happy Avocado being one of them. I sometimes totally forget about this place, but once you have their guacamole it never leaves you. I slow as we turn on the street looking for a place to park.
Shane and I stuff our faces with more chips, tacos and guacamole than any person should. It was great to toss some ideas about the new project with Shane at the same time eating food that didn’t taste like a boxed frozen dinner. As I turn the corner and slow to a stoplight, Shane points to the right up a few blocks.
“Has that place always been there?” I see him squint trying to read the sign. “Baked and Sugared. Huh. Must be a bakery or maybe a cake place of some sort right?”
I don’t recall the name of the shop, but it’s painted bright pink distinguishing itself from the other shops on the street. A bakery seems like an obvious answer.
“Pull over. Let’s stop in and get something,” Shane says motioning to an empty parking spot just outside the building.
Shane has always had a sweet tooth. When Diane brings in cookies, she purposefully brings in an extra tin just for Shane. She puts his name on it and everything. At Christmas his brother sends him a box of assorted candy from a store near his hometown back on the East Coast. He generally eats it within days. How his body functions with all that sugar is beyond me.
We get out and Shane opens the door. A soft bell chimes and I am hit with the aroma of freshly baked cookies. My stomach growls. We look down at the cases. They are full of various pastries, cookies and brownies. Everything looks perfect as each item sits on a little paper doily and is organized in a neat straight line. A woman emerges from the back wiping her hands on a towel. I do a double a take. It’s that woman again. I blink a few times as my brain snaps into gear.Lacey.
She glances at us looking just as surprised. “Oh, hello Mr. Whitmore.”
“Hi. Lacey right?” I say knowing that is her name but wanting confirmation anyway.
“Yes. The new senior financial analyst,” she says.
“Right. We were just driving by and Shane couldn’t resist,” I say, looking at Shane who has been eyeing each case a little too eagerly.
“Have you met Shane?” I ask.
“Oh, I don’t remember. I mean, I’ve met so many people since I started, it’s hard to keep track.”
I nudge Shane. “Shane is our Chief Operations Officer.”
Shane breaks his brownie trance and gives Lacey a smile. “Hi there. Nice to meet you. I’m sure we’ll cross paths more at work. So, what do you recommend? Everything looks amazing.”
Lacey laughs. “Well, thanks. Um, if you like chocolate I’d go for the ganache brownies, if you like peanut butter the deluxe peanut butter cookies are great, or um, if you like fruit the linzer cookies are one of my specialties.”
I can see Shane starting to salivate. I’m guessing everything she just mentioned Shane would eat.
