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He picked up her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “You, sweetheart, are an optimist.”
It was true. She always tried to see the good in people. Even her mother who’d disappointed her more times than she could count.
They finished their breakfast and were headed out the door when she brought up their sleeping situation. Or rather, her clothing situation. “If Bradley’s going to be staying for a while, would it be okay if I moved some of my clothes into your room? This way I don’t have to pass by the kitchen in my robe or one of your shirts.”
Daniel paused as he opened the door to her car for her. “You want to move your things into my room?”
“If you’re not okay with that, I can pick out my outfit for the next day and just hang that up in your bathroom or something. I just don’t—”
He took her face in both hands and kissed her silent. “We’ll move your things into my room tonight when you get home.”
“You’re really okay with that?”
Daniel chuckled. “Yes, I’m okay with that.”
“Okay,” she whispered as his lips descended again.
He stepped back, allowing her to slide behind the wheel. “Have a good day at work.”
“You, too.”
Three hours later, she wanted to cry. She’d arrived at work to find her usual list of twenty things to do, only five of those twenty things were projects that would take her days to complete. Then, at nine, her boss had informed her he would be unavailable for the next four hours and that she was to hold his calls. Normally, this would be fine, but his phone hadn’t stopped ringing for more than five minutes since he’d forwarded them to her.
“Ms. Foster.” Grant Jacobson stood in his office doorway with a scowl on his face.
“Yes, Mr. Jacobson?”
“I’ve been trying to reach you for the last ten minutes. Why haven’t you been answering your phone?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Jacobson. I was on a call and—”
He marched to her desk and placed a stack of papers in front of her. “I need you to research each of these companies and have a report on my desk first thing in the morning.”
There were five companies on the list. She'd done this type of research before and knew what all it entailed. There was no way she was going to be able to do that, watch the phones, and make a dent in the list he’d given her that morning. “Mr. Jacobson, I’m not sure I can do that with the other stuff you’ve already asked me to do.”
“Are you refusing to do your job, Ms. Foster?”
“No, sir. It’s just—”
“If you want to keep your job, Ms. Foster, I suggest you figure out how to get it done.” He turned on his heels and disappeared into his office, closing his door behind him.
Ali bent over, clasping her hands to her knees. She couldn’t lose her job, but there was no way she could do this.
Panic began to set in as the phone rang again. With frayed nerves and a trembling hand, she pressed the button and answered the call. “Mr. Jacobson’s office.”
The caller needed to talk to her boss, of course, so she jotted down a message and let the person know she’d inform him of the call as soon as he was free. When she hung up the phone, she was shaking like a leaf.
Digging her phone out of her purse, Ali texted Kim.
Ali – I'm going to get fired
Another call came in, so she didn’t get to check her phone right away. This time it was one of the other executives—one she liked—vice president operations. After telling her what he needed, he asked, “Allison, are you all right? You sound upset.”
She wasn’t about to cry to another executive about her troubles, so she downplayed it. “It’s just been really busy around here today.”
“Well, if you need a break, forward your calls to one of my admins and go get yourself a coffee or something. You don’t want to burn out.”
“Thank you, Carl. I appreciate the offer.”
