A Christmas Proposal: A Hidden Threat Short Story (10 page)

Cali looked down at the clock on her computer. It was almost five. She wasn’t even close to finishing for the day. The pile of paperwork on her desk had managed to grow bigger since she’d started.  Her morning had consisted of two meetings back-to-back, one with marketing, and one with human resources. Alvin Stanton was a big believer in communication, so he met with all of his department heads and managers once a week to touch base and address any problems they were having. It was a great idea but time consuming. 

When the second meeting ended, it was time for lunch. The problem was, she didn’t have
time
for lunch. Luckily, Lisa was used to Alvin having the same problem and had ordered some food in for her. At this rate, Cali was going to have to ask Jessie to start making her a sack lunch every day. 

Cali worked through the noon hour and the rest of the afternoon. A few client calls broke up the monotony of the rest of her day that consisted of paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. What happened to becoming a paperless society? Hunched over the latest sheet of numbers, she looked up when her computer beeped, alerting her to a new e-mail. 

Pressing her fingers to her temples, she sighed before moving her mouse to click on the message. Nothing happened. She clicked again but with the same result. What in the world? Turning her full attention to the computer now, she made sure her mouse was still working and tried again. Nothing. 

She hated to do it, but she needed help. Pressing the intercom button, she said, “Lisa?”

“Yes, Cali?”

“I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m having some trouble opening an e-mail, and I’m not sure why.”

“Who’s it from?”

Good question. Cali moved the mouse to the left to reveal the name. Matthew Andersen. She closed her eyes. She’d gone almost the entire day without thinking about him.
Wonderful!
Cali thought sarcastically. 

“Cali?” Lisa asked when met with Cali’s silence.

“Sorry. It’s from Matthew Andersen.” 

“Ah,” Lisa said as if all the pieces were making sense. “You have to enter your password. It’s a private message.”

“A private message?” Cali asked skeptically. 

 
“It’s a message ‘for your eyes only.’ Sometimes they send new security procedures that way so they can keep track of who has received them.”

“Oh,” Cali said. 

When Cali continued to sit in silence, she continued, “If you click on the little lock icon in the right hand corner, a box will pop up for you to enter the password.”

“But what’s the password?”

Lisa laughed. “I can’t help you there. Matthew was very insistent that no one share their password with anyone else, not even their assistants.”

“Okay. Thanks,” Cali said, clicking off the intercom. With a sigh, she opened up a line and dialed the extension of the one person she really hadn’t wanted to talk to today.  

Matthew’s line was busy so it forwarded her to his assistant, Mariana. She was nice enough but unable to help her. She offered to take a message, but Cali declined. It was five o’clock, and she needed to get out of the office. Packing up several folders for some “light” reading tonight, she hastily made her way out of her office and into the elevator. As the doors closed, she pushed the button for the thirtieth floor. If he was still in his office, maybe she could catch him. If not, the message would still be there tomorrow. 

Matthew hung up the phone, and ran his fingers across his scalp. Looking at his computer, he still had over twenty e-mails to open. With the luck he’d had today, he’d be there all night, answering them. 

Hand poised above the intercom, he noticed the time on the clock. Five after five. Great. Mariana would already be gone. Pulling up his calendar, he made a note for tomorrow and went back to his inbox. This was the first opportunity he’d had all day to take more than a quick glance at his incoming mail, and even that was only long enough to make sure he hadn’t had any messages marked urgent. 

The first e-mail was the security list from the previous day he always reviewed. Of course, that usually occurred at the start of every day, not the end. Shaking his head in resignation, he saved the message and attachments to his flash drive. By the third e-mail, he knew what he’d be doing with his evening. 

Matthew had just opened e-mail number four when there was a light knock on his door. Thinking it must be Jason, he called a quick, “Come in,” but didn’t take his eyes off the monitor in front of him. 

The door closed softly, and footsteps too soft for his brother walked across his office. Glancing up, he found Cali Stanton standing only feet from his desk looking at bit disheveled. He felt an impulse to run his fingers through the loose tendrils of her hair and tuck them behind her ear. 

After a moment’s silence, he realized her lips were moving. She was saying something. He forced himself to focus on her words. They were something along the lines of, “Sorry if I’m bothering you.” 

“No, no. Not at all.” He paused for a moment and forced his palms flat on the desk. “What can I do for you, Ms. Stanton?”

“You sent me an e-mail today.”

Yes, he had, but he still didn’t understand her presence in his office. “Yes.” He watched her teeth worry her lower lip, and the impulse to kiss her bloomed in full force, causing him to press his fingers into his desk so hard they began to turn white. 

She tucked one of the loose pieces of hair behind her ear before she spoke. “Apparently, what you sent me is password protected,” she sighed, and then he understood. 

Forcing himself to relax his hands, he pushed himself back into his chair and placed his fingers on the keyboard. Giving her a little smile, “Let’s see what I can do.” Focusing on the computer, he made a few clicks on the keyboard and entered the IT systems. 

He didn’t hear her come up behind him, but he felt her. She leaned over to see the screen. Clearing his throat, he pointed and explained. “This is the backdoor system, you could say.” He typed in a few more bits of information and scrolled down to find her security information. “Here we go,” he said. Without thinking, he turned. 

Her cheek was only inches from him, and when he turned to face her, his warm breath tickled her skin. Cali didn’t know what to do. She knew what she wanted to do. She wanted to turn toward those lips that made a starring appearance in her dreams for the last two nights. Her body seemed to respond without her permission, and her face turned. 

Their eyes met and held for a brief second before Matthew’s computer beeped, breaking the spell. They both jumped back quickly.  

Giving his head a small shake, Matthew made himself focus again and quickly pressed the print button. He didn’t waste any time. As soon as the paper was off the printer, he handed it to her. “Do whatever you need to do to memorize that tonight and then destroy it. Password protection means nothing if someone is able to get their hands on it.”

“Yes,” Cali said a bit awkwardly, rushing toward the door. “Thank you.” With her hand on the knob, she glanced back. “Goodnight, Mr. Andersen.”

As soon as the door shut behind her, Matthew let his head fall into his hands. He’d almost kissed her. What was wrong with him? He was a professional. A professional did
not
fool around with his boss. Period. 

His computer beeped again, and he silently blessed and cursed it. Taking a much needed breath, he went back to what he’d been doing before Cali Stanton walked through his door. 

Cali let herself into her father’s house and set the alarm behind her. The action, once again, reminded her of Matthew Andersen and, of course, her encounter with him. Mentally kicking herself for the thousandth time since she’d left his office, she threw her briefcase onto the couch before stalking into the kitchen to find something to eat. 

With plate in hand, she plopped on the couch and pulled out the first file. It looked to be a client complaint. Great. 

Thirty minutes later, Cali had finished off both her food and her response. It hadn’t been as bad as she’d feared. There’d been some shipping problems, no big surprise there, given the current situation. They just wanted some reassurance from the person in charge that something was being done to resolve those problems. 

Just as Cali was picking up the next folder, the phone rang. Reaching behind her, she picked it up. “Hello?”

“How’s my girl doing?”

She smiled. “Hi, Dad.” She leaned back on the sofa and curled her feet up under her. “I’m good. Knee-deep in paperwork at the moment, but good.” They both laughed. 

“Well if paperwork is all you have to contend with, then that’s good.” He paused for a minute growing serious. “Matthew and Jason filled you in?”  

“Yeah.”

“Good,” he said gruffly.

“Dad...why didn’t you tell me?”

“Nonsense. There was no need to worry you.”

“No need to worry me? Dad, you’re getting threats.”

He sighed. “Cali. I love you, honey, but—”  He started to say something, but stopped. “Matthew and Jason are very good at what they do. That’s why I hired them.” He didn’t give her a chance to respond to that, instead, he jumped in asking her if she was keeping Jessie on her toes. 

She knew better than to force her father into talking about a subject he clearly didn’t want to discuss, so she just went with it. They talked for almost an hour before saying their goodnights and hanging up. It was already after seven, and she’d only made it through one file. This was going to be a long night. Cali got up and put on some coffee before settling back on the couch with the next folder.

As Matthew drove into work Thursday morning, he remembered he still hadn’t talked to his brother about Lisa. He was not looking forward to it. Jason was his older brother, but sometimes it didn’t feel that way. As the two got older, their roles had changed a bit. While Jason was still strong, confident, and fiercely protective of his younger brother, he was also very impulsive. That trait served him well when he had to make split second decisions in tight situations, but it didn’t always mean he thought things through beyond the immediate future. 

    Matthew arrived early that morning, even for him. He’d been up until after one last night, and even then, he couldn’t sleep, his mind full of the events of his day. He’d made arrangements to drop off the surveillance tape to a friend of his in the police department. Needing to know who was hiding in the shadows of the parking garage as soon as possible was top priority with the shipment so close at hand. He knew that even if his friend could pull a few strings, it would be a long shot for them to have something by the end of the day, but he had to try. 

What bothered him more was what had almost happened with his boss. The memory of being so close to her and the feelings that closeness invoked in him was frightening. Obviously, there was a physical attraction. He could deal with that easily enough. The problem was, that wasn’t the end of it. The time he spent with her Tuesday had been quite enjoyable. Well that was until she’d suggested being there Friday and he’d lost his temper. He never lost his temper, at least, not before he’d met her, anyway. Since meeting Cali Stanton, he’d lost the hold on his temper twice; once with her and once with his brother. This was not good.