The Assistant (22 page)

“Well, that’s good, I guess.”

She nodded.  “I’m thankful to still have a
job but I’m hoping that this Edward guy is a little more easy going than Gerald
was.  At the very least, I’m hoping he’ll get his own damn coffee.”

“Maybe he’ll be young and handsome,” I
teased.  “Then you’ll know exactly what I’m going through.”

She laughed.  “No, thanks.  One – unlike
your company we have a very strict policy on inter-office dating and two – even
if we were allowed to date our coworkers there’s no way in hell I’m getting
involved with my boss.  That’s just asking for trouble.”

She paused before saying, “No offense.”

“None taken,” I said.

“Besides, there’s a super cute guy on the
train that I’ve been flirting with for the last few weeks.”

“Ooh, give me the details,” I said.

“There’s not much at the moment.  His name
is Josh and he’s a financial consultant.  He’s got dark hair and hazel eyes and
he’s about my height.”

“Sounds promising.”

“I think so,” Kate replied as a fat
grey-coloured tabby wandered into the kitchen.

As it brushed past me, I reached down and
stroked its back.  It hissed balefully at me before swiping at me with its
claws and flouncing from the kitchen.”

“I see Chicken is as friendly as ever.”

Kate laughed.  “She’s complicated.”

I rolled my eyes before eating the last of
my sushi.  “What time are mom and dad getting here?”

“Around three.  Dad had to work this
morning but he was finishing up early so they could beat the traffic.  Are you
going to tell them about Aiden?”

I shook my head.  “No, not yet so keep it
to yourself, okay?”

“I will.  Olivia wants the four of us to
come over around three on Saturday.  Apparently Jon is barbequing.”

“You know there are perks to living in
California in the winter,” I laughed.  “Barbequing in the middle of January
being one of them.”

Kate grinned at me.  “Mom and dad are
having coffee with the Rickards tonight.  Are we hitting the bar or what?”

“I’m up for it if you are.  Maybe you
should invite Josh.”

Kate shook her head.  “I don’t even have
his number yet.”

She leaned forward and took my hand. 
“Lina, are you sure you want to date your boss?  This is real life, not some
romance novel, and this kind of thing rarely works out.”

“I’m sure,” I said.  “Stop worrying,
Katie-did.  It’s going to be just fine.”

I scanned the crowd of people standing at
the arrival gate a little nervously.  Before I’d left, Aiden had offered to
pick me up from the airport and I had gratefully accepted.  Friday and Saturday
we had texted off and on and Saturday night I had called him after Kate had
gone to bed, just to chat.  Everything had seemed fine but today I hadn’t heard
from him at all.

Relax, Lina.  You’re not joined at the
hip for God’s sake.  He was probably working. 

Yes, probably.  But it didn’t stop the
little niggle of worry that was growing in my belly.  The worry grew when I
finally spotted Aiden.  He looked tired and upset and I hurried toward him.

“Hi, Lina.”

He gave me a brief hug and a peck to the cheek. 
I frowned at him when he stepped away from my embrace.

“Hi.  What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said.  “Do you need to pick
up any luggage?”

“No,” I replied.  “I just have a carry-on.”

He took the heavy bag and slung it over his
shoulder.  “Daisy and King are waiting in the car.”

I took his hand and he squeezed it briefly
before dropping it.  My worry turned into full-blown anxiety as we walked
silently out of the airport.

* * *

“Aiden, please tell me what’s wrong,” I
said quietly.  We were standing in my kitchen and Aiden was watching blankly as
Daisy and King padded in circles around me.  Both their tails were wagging and
I winced and pulled my foot free when King sat on it.

The drive home from the airport has been
filled with thick, tense silence and not even Daisy’s obvious excitement at
seeing me could break it. 

“I can’t help you if you won’t tell me
what’s going on,” I said.

“My father called me this morning.  He and
my mother have separated again and this time, they’re getting a divorce.”

“I’m sorry,” I said.  I pushed past the
dogs and wrapped my arms around Aiden’s waist.  “I’m so sorry, honey.”

“I asked my father if he had cheated on her
again,” he said dully.  “He didn’t get angry, he just said that he had been
faithful to her and that he still loved her and didn’t want the divorce.  I
didn’t believe him.”

He suddenly laughed bitterly and pushed his
way free of my embrace.  “I called my mom and – you’ll love this part – it
turns out that she’s been cheating on him.  Has been for the last two years. 
She and her lover are moving in together, are getting married.  She said it
wasn’t a retaliation for what happened years ago but I know that isn’t true. 
She never really forgave him.”

“Aiden.”  I tried to take his hand and he
shook his head before backing away.

“This isn’t going to work, Lina.”

“What?”  I whispered.

“Us.  Dating, having a relationship.  I was
a fucking idiot to think it would.”

“Aiden, stop,” I said.  “What’s happened
with your parents is terrible and I’m sorry for you, but I’m not your mother
and you’re not your father.  Just because their relationship is dysfunctional
and broken, doesn’t mean that ours will be.”

He didn’t reply and, fear blooming in my
belly, I gripped his arms tightly.  “You’re not a teenager anymore.  You’re a
grown man who is intelligent enough to know that every relationship is
different.  Don’t give up on ours just because your parents’ isn’t working.”

“We’ll end up hurting each other,” he
said.  “Maybe not because of cheating or lying but there’ll be something that
destroys our happiness.  And then we’ll both be alone and miserable.”

“That’s not true,” I said.  “Plenty of
couples are happy.  It takes work and I can’t promise you that it’ll always be
sunshine and ice cream, but love is never easy.  If it was, there wouldn’t – “

“Are you in love with me?”  He interrupted.

“Yes,” I said.  “I am.”

Confusion, mixed with anger and
helplessness, crossed his face.  I tried to cup his face and he jerked away
from me.

“Don’t, Lina.  I have to go.”

“Please don’t walk away from me,” I said.

“I have to,” he said.  “I don’t want to
hurt you.  Don’t you understand that?”

“You’re hurting me now,” I said quietly. 
“Don’t you understand
that
?”

“I’m sorry, Lina,” he said hoarsely.  “But
I can’t be with you.  It’s over.”

He whistled for King and I watched numbly
as the man I loved walked away.

* * *

“Daisy?  C’mon, girl, get your lazy bones
out of bed.”

Daisy yawned and stretched stiffly as I sat
on the bed and pulled on my boots.  She gave me a reproachful look as I stood.

“I know it’s early but it’ll do us both
some good to go for a walk.  Let’s go, girl.”

She followed me slowly out of the bedroom
and to the front door.  It had been a week since Aiden had broken my heart and
other than not sleeping, not eating and the random bursts of pathetic sobbing,
I thought I was handling it okay.  This morning I was even feeling like the
depression that surrounded me in a thick shroud had lifted a little.

“Of course,” I said to Daisy as I zipped up
my jacket and grabbed her leash, “that’s probably because I only have a week
left of seeing Aiden every single fucking day.  And, listen, I know you had a
little affair going on with King but trust me – it’s better for you not to see
him.  When the weather warms up I’ll take you to the dog park and you can find
yourself a new boyfriend.”

I grabbed my keys, clipped Daisy’s leash to
her collar and stepped into the chilly air.  It was just after seven and the
sky was grey and dull.  Daisy made a low whine of disapproval and I tugged
gently on her collar.

“Get moving, lazy bones.  I need to get in
some exercise.  My new job will have me moving a lot more and I don’t want to
be crippled after my first day.”

Monday morning, I had immediately started
looking for a new job.  By that evening I had emailed seven resumes to various
companies.  To my surprise, the very first place I had sent my resume to – a
large industrial factory that was looking for an assistant for their warehouse
manager – had contacted me Tuesday afternoon.  We had set up an interview for early
Wednesday morning and when Dan, the warehouse manager, had offered me the job
on the spot, I had accepted.  Dan was pushing sixty and he had proudly shown me
the picture of his wife on the bookshelf behind his desk before pulling out his
phone so I could see the pictures of his granddaughter.  I had liked him
immediately, he had an easy-going manner that was completely different from
Aiden’s, and there was no chance in hell of falling in love with him.

“Not that I’m ever going to fall in love
with a boss again, Daisy,” I puffed as we walked quickly down the sidewalk.  “I
don’t care if he’s a goddamn movie star with more money than God, I’ve learned
my lesson.”

I had placed my letter of resignation on
Aiden’s desk Thursday morning before he arrived at the office.  He had a client
meeting early that morning and by the time he got to the office around ten, my
stomach was rolling from nerves and I could barely stop from throwing up.  He
had walked past me, greeting me politely without looking at me like he had done
for the last three days, and disappeared into his office.

I had braced myself for his reaction,
waiting for his voice to call me into his office.  Would he be angry or happy? 
Would he try to convince me to stay?  I had no damn idea and my legs were shaking
so badly I was afraid I wouldn’t even make it into his office.  It turned out
that I hadn’t needed to be worried.  Aiden didn’t say a single word to me about
the resignation letter.  I would have wondered if he had even seen it if HR
hadn’t contacted me just after lunch to schedule my exit interview.

“I don’t care,” I said to Daisy as we
turned the corner and headed back home.  “I don’t care that he doesn’t care
that I’m leaving.  Aiden Wright is a dickhead and I’m better off without him.”

Liar.

I blinked back the tears that were always
so close to the surface now and walked a little faster.  Yeah, I was full of
fucking bullshit but if I didn’t at least try and pretend it didn’t matter,
didn’t pretend that I didn’t miss Aiden so much it was killing me, I wouldn’t
have a chance of getting over him.

“I will be okay,” I whispered to Daisy. 
“I’ll get over it.  It’ll just take time.”

Fifteen minutes later we were standing at
the front door and I patted her head lightly before unlocking the door.  I
slipped off my shoes and unclipped her leash.  She wandered down the hallway
and disappeared into the kitchen as I hung my jacket on the hook.

“I’m just going to have a quick shower and
get ready for work and then you can have your breakfast,” I called after her. 
“Be a good girl and don’t get into trouble while I’m – “

Daisy’s low growling made my voice die in
my throat.  I had never once heard her growl and I knew instinctively that
something was wrong.  My heart thudding in my chest, I ran down the hallway and
into the kitchen.

“Daisy?  What’s wrong?  Why are you…”

I trailed off, staring in shock at the man
standing in my kitchen.  It was cold in the room, the hole smashed in the glass
pane of the back door was letting in the cold air, and my eyes widened when the
man dropped my laptop to the floor and yanked a knife from the block on the
counter.

He was dressed in thin pants and a dirty
and torn red jacket with a baseball cap pulled low on his head.  His face and
ears were bright red with the cold and, as his gaze darted from me to Daisy, even
from across the kitchen I could see the way his pupils were blown out.

Drugs, Lina.  He’s high on something and
that makes him very dangerous.

“We’ll leave,” I said shakily.  “You can
take whatever you want.  Okay?”

“Bitch, you stay right the fuck where you
are,” he snarled at me.  His hand clenched tightly on the handle of the knife
and a sob of fear escaped my throat when he took a step toward me. 

“You’re going to give me your wallet and
all of your jewelry or I will fuck you up.  Do you hear me, bitch?”

I nodded and took a step back as the man
advanced another step.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re
going?”  The man suddenly shouted.  “I told you not to fucking move.”

He started toward me, raising the knife as
he did.  “You think I was fucking joking?”  He shouted again.  “You think I
won’t – “

I screamed shrilly when Daisy, snarling
viciously, leaped at the man and bit him on the face.  He shrieked in fear and
pain and drove the knife into Daisy’s side.  She made a harsh cry of pain and
fell to the floor with a horrid thud, and I screamed again as the man staggered
back.  Blood was pouring from his face and he stared wide-eyed at Daisy lying
motionless at his feet before touching his torn and gaping cheek.

He turned, blood spraying from his face to
land on the wall and counter, and fled out the back door.  Crying loudly, I
staggered to Daisy and dropped to my knees beside her body.

“Daisy?  Oh, Daisy, oh, honey,” I sobbed.

She was whimpering and whining quietly and,
my arms were shaking so badly I could barely lift her.  I staggered back under
her heavy weight, struggling to keep my balance as Daisy made another loud
whimper of pain.

“You’ll be okay, honey.  Mama’s here,
you’ll be okay,” I whispered as, my entire body shaking from the exertion, I
lurched out of the kitchen and toward the front door.

* * *

“Good morning, Amanda speaking.”

“Amanda, it’s Lina.  I need you to do me a
favour.”

“If it’s picking you up a coffee, it’s
already done, my friend.  Although it’s probably cold by now.  Are you running
late?  Do you need me to make up an excuse for Mr. Wr – “

“Amanda, listen to me!”  I interrupted. 
“Can you tell Aiden that I – I won’t be in until later today.”

“Lina, honey, what’s wrong?”  Amanda said
cautiously.  “You sound upset.”

“S-someone broke into my house this morning
and – “

“Oh my God!”

“He, he tried to attack me and Daisy bit
him but he stabbed her.  I – I’m at the emergency vet with her right now.  Can
you let Aiden know I’ll be late?”  I was nearly sobbing into my cell phone and
I grabbed a tissue from the box the receptionist was holding out to me and
wiped at my streaming eyes as the emergency vet came striding into the
reception area.

“Of course I can.  Honey, are you okay? 
Did you get hurt or – “

“I have to go, Amanda,” I said.  “The vet
needs to talk to me.”

I hung up and, my heart in my throat,
stared fearfully at the vet.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, as I sat in the hard
chair and stared dully at my hands, the door to the emergency vet burst open and
Aiden flew into the reception.  He knelt at my feet and cupped my head.