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What was it about Hudson that transformed me into the most inferior version of myself? Okay, I’d always been outspoken and more than a little crazy on my own, but usually, I was more competent at hiding it. Not with him. I’d vomited all my inferior qualities out since the day I made contact with him. I had no filter around him. No sign of it coming back either. I was blunt, but it had at no time been a problem for me. I didn’t blurt out offensive or hurtful things. One thing about me, I had many quirks. Why must I sabotage myself?
On my lunch break, Lacey called, and I filled her in on what happened last night. She laughed nonstop for the next ten minutes. I wanted to punch her. Why was it so humorous? Why didn’t she tell me he was my neighbor? I could have been more prepared.
“Laurel, I swear your life should be a sitcom.”
I’d always been able to hide my craziness until at least the fourth or fifth date. I always waited to unleash it. “I got to get back to work. It could be my first and last day.”
“How’s the first day?”
I didn’t want to talk to her anymore after she laughed hysterically at my situation last night, but the clock showed I still had ten minutes. I didn’t remember to bring lunch, so my stomach was gurgling loudly. “Did you know he has a prosthetic?”
“Absolutely not. Although you have occupied more time outside of the office with him than I have.”
“I detected it last night during our debacle. The metal stroked my thigh. I almost asked him about it last night but refrained.”
“Good. Only you would ask someone you barely know a personal question like that. Well, hopefully it gets better. One piece of advice though: only speak to Hudson if he invites you in his office. He hates to be interrupted.”
“Thanks, sis. Time to go.”
Before lunch, I managed to get Hudson’s office cleaned and all of his papers organized. Optimistically, it would influence him. It was the first thing he mentioned before my time started here.
As I was leaving the breakroom, Andrew walked in. They all seemed to be put off by my flirtatious personality, but no actual flirting was intended. Depending on Hudson, they may never see me again after today.
Walking back to my temporary desk, I ran into Hudson, almost knocking him down. “Boss, I’m sorry. I didn’t you coming around the corner.” I glanced down and noticed his coffee had spilled all over his pants, making him look like he peed himself.
“Damn it, I have a meeting in half an hour. I can’t go like this!” he yelled, pointing at his crotch.
What he didn’t realize was he just invited me to stare. “Would you like me to stall for you while you go home and change?”
“Absolutely not. I keep a suit in my office just in case. I’ll go change.”
Walking into his office, I could tell quickly he was upset. “What the fuck happened here?”
“I tidied up a bit. This morning you said you wished your office was cleaner, and now it is.”
“Who said you had permission to go into my office?”
I tried everything in my power not to roll my eyes, but I failed. He should be appreciative, not upset. All his files had been alphabetized, the floor cleaned, and all objects dusted. His office looked immaculate. Why was he so livid, nostrils flaring and face beet red? “Calm down. I wouldn’t have done it had I known you were going to be so upset. However, you never told me I wasn’t allowed in your office.”
He was becoming unstable and getting angrier by the second. When he started yelling at me, heat traveled up my spine and flushed my face. I wanted to scream at him so badly, but I wanted this job.
“Hudson Lee Finnegan!” A woman yelled his name. I turned the other way to find an elderly woman and one around my sister’s age.
“Mom, what are you doing here?”
I couldn’t keep my laughter inside. Hudson darted his crazed eyes at me, informing me to shut up without using words. I couldn’t help it. You could tell he listened to her. A few of the guys were laughing and mocking him now.
“Why are you yelling at this poor young girl? I raised you better than that.”
He apologized to his mom and then to me. His mom gripped my arm and steered me to the breakroom.
Once she sat down, I urged her to reveal to me all his most embarrassing moments. Instead of giving me what I wanted, she said, “I got a message from Andrew saying a woman walked in and demanded a job. I wanted to witness it for myself but seeing him yelling at you is great.”
“You enjoy the fact your son was yelling at me?” My resting bitch face gave up my anger.
She smiled. “My son doesn’t convey emotion. In fact, since he’s been back, he hasn’t lost his temper until you showed up. He’s quite the control freak too. Most of us do anything to rile him up, but he doesn’t laugh or smile.”
Taking all this in made me very depressed. Emotions were part of human nature. How could he function? “So, are you saying he is always this broody?”
