Marianne looked at her with her eyes narrowed, inspecting her like a bug on a microscope. Stephanie kept her sugary sweet smile in place and then turned back to Keith. "Yes, I'm to start tomorrow. There is some paperwork I will need to sign." He looked pale like he was fixing to become violently ill.
"Okay," Marianne said slowly, hesitantly. "I definitely want to hear more about Keith's high school days, you'll have to fill me in, Stephanie." She turned and walked, a trail of some expensive perfume wafting behind her. Keith was silent until the door shut solidly behind her.
"Stephanie, I'm so sorry-" Keith began but Stephanie had already cut him off.
"Just shut up, Keith, from this moment on we don't know each other. We were never together, I never got pregnant, you never abandoned me. So just keep quiet and this will die down." Stephanie sat down in the teal blue chair in front of him. She just needed him to remain silent so he wouldn't jeopardize her new position here at T&A.
Five years ago she had been working fast food jobs, designing in her spare time when the unthinkable happened, Stephanie became pregnant. By that time Keith had been in his second year at university and started to keep their relationship quiet. There were no more invitations to have dinner with his family, their dates had become less frequent and if they did go out it was to a late movie. She could tell he was embarrassed by her. Who wouldn't be embarrassed dating a girl who smelled like fast food grease and usually ketchup splattered on some part of her clothing? When she took the test and it was a positive she kept it to herself until she could get to the clinic to see a doctor, once she had that confirmation she dreaded telling him.
On her day off, which was alternate Tuesdays she made arrangements to meet him at a local park for a picnic. She packed her picnic basket carefully, making sure all his favorites had been included. Fried chicken, potato salad, biscuits, and her apple pie made with her grandmother's recipe. She had folded a quilt and had the entire thing sitting by the door when he came in unexpectantly. He took one look at the basket and blanched.
"Stephanie, we need to talk." He told her with all seriousness. His mouth was a straight line, he didn't look her in the eye. He was avoiding looking at her at all, instead staring at the wall behind her like she didn't exist. She knew he was trying to break up with her but she also knew he needed to know about the baby.
"Keith, before you continue I have something I have to tell, you see I'm--" Keith cut her off mid-sentence.
"Stephanie, we can't be together anymore, I've met someone else and she's smart and beautiful. She goes to college and is studying to go into the medical field." She could still feel the pain of that long ago day he threw all that in her face. The humiliation as she stared down at her hands, where burn marks from the grease she handled daily scared her skin, her nails were broken and jagged. She rubbed her arms.
"Keith, we really need to talk about this, I have something to tell you-" Again he cut her off like she wasn't speaking.
"I mean it, Stephanie, try not to make a scene, it's over between us." He turned to open the door to walk out, knocking her basket over, her food scattering on the floor. She looked forlornly at the pie splattered all over the carpet.
"I'm pregnant, Keith."
Keith froze for a moment, not moving. He finally jerked the door open, turned around and literally yelled at her "Get rid of it!" before slamming the door behind himself.
And until this exact moment, she hadn't set eyes on him. All the pain and old wounds were reopened just looking at him squirming behind the desk. She wanted to throw everything at him, what she'd been through, what he missed, their daughter. But she wouldn't. She wasn't here for revenge, she was here for the opportunity to fulfill her dream.
She could see traces of her daughter in him. The eyes, a deep blue that almost looked purple. The way his lower lip puckered when he was trying not to look guilty. Inside she moaned with grief. Sadie was gone and there wasn't a way she could bring her daughter back. Her nerves were raw, she needed to get this reunion over with so she could go home and lay waste to a pint of ice cream.
Keith started gathering papers, his hands shaking. Finally, he stopped. Took a deep breath and looked up at her. "I know I hurt you, Stephanie. I never heard from you after that day." She knew he wanted to know what happened to the baby. He didn't deserve to know. He walked out, he left her by herself to pick up the pieces of her life he had shattered.
"It was long ago, Keith. Just let it go. You made your wishes clear, the decisions I made are my own and have nothing to do with you. I need to fill out that paperwork so I can get going." She stared into his eyes, Sadie's eyes. He broke contact and handed a stack of papers over to her. She began filling them out, rushing through them, trying to get everything filled in so that she could get the hell out of there.
She stood as she handed the completed papers over to him. "Keep to your side of the building, Keith. I definitely would prefer not running into you again." She turned and walked out. She could feel his eyes drilling into the back of her, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of turning back to look at him.
Stephanie made it all the way back to her car before she finally broke down. She sat in the driver's seat and wept. Wept for the girl she had been, the opportunity that had been given to her, and her sweet Sadie. Sadie's smile, her little hand that clutched at hers whenever they went somewhere. The child had smelled like cookies and happiness. And then the moment she was told that Sadie was gone. That a drunk driver had jumped the curb and smashed into the playground at her pre-school. The moment she had to claim her 4-year-old daughter's body.
Hot tears streaked down her face. Seven months ago she buried her daughter.
Stephanie swiped the tears from her cheeks and put the car into gear, she had to get home and take a nap, the only thing to make a day like this any better is to turn off the lights close the curtains and crawl into bed with a cup of hot cocoa and a heating pad.
She drove slowly home, all the while thinking of her daughter and the situation she now found herself in. How in the hell was she going to manage to juggle Keith, the new job, grief and her reaction to Mr. Sutherland all without cracking under the pressure?
Ten minutes later she pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex, the little dilapidated building sat nestled in between a major high way and shopping center. It wasn't a desirable place to live but she had called it home for more than three years. Grabbing her purse from the seat next to her she locked the doors and began climbing the three flights to her apartment.
Once she was inside, she placed her purse on the hall table and strode straight into the kitchen to turn on her Keurig for hot water. She definitely needed that warmness coursing through her veins. Stephanie went into her room and stripped down, and slide into her fuzzy robe. She made her way back to the kitchen to check on her hot water, it had already started to pour into her Care Bears mug. She smiled as she added spoonfuls of cocoa the hot water. The smell of chocolate wafted through the air.
She slowly stirred her chocolate as she made her way back to her room. She turned down the bed, set the chocolate on her nightstand and was about to climb in when she heard her purse start to sing about girls just wanting to have fun, she hurried down the hall, dug through her purse and answered breathily "Hello?"
The number had been unrecognizable.She had no clue who would call her, usually, the only people she heard from were Bill Collectors and her mom. "Ramy? This is Sutherland here. I just heard about the unfortunate incident that is Keith in HR." Stephanie's heart stopped in her chest, please God don't let her lose this opportunity. "It's not a problem, Mr. Sutherland-" He cut her off like he had in the office.
"It damn well is a problem, I can't have my employees at odds with one another. So this is how this is going to go down. Your new HR handler is going to be Rose, Rose is about 70 if she's a day and I doubt you have a past relationship with her. If so, then please let me know." Stephanie looked at the phone like it was a snake, was that a joke? Should she laugh?
"Um, thank you, Mr. Sutherland." She heard him sigh.
"You are welcome, I just want you to be comfortable here at T&A. See you bright and early, Stephanie." He hung up without waiting for her goodbye. She closed her phone with shaking hands and slowly made her way back to her room, as she crawled into bed, she sent up a thank you to whoever was listening. Not having to deal with Keith was definitely a blessing, and not losing the opportunity was a gift.
Her eyes fluttered down and she fell into an exhausted sleep.
She woke up extremely early. Why Stephanie couldn't remain asleep until her alarm went off, she didn't know. All she could do was lay in bed and stare at the ceiling. Her mind darted from one subject to another. Her daughter, seeing Keith again for the first time in years, her odd reaction to her new boss. She did have to admit to herself she had a reaction to the man. He was hot, no holds barred. A girl likes that kind of thing in a man and she was no exception. It had been years since she experienced anything like that. She would just have to keep a lid on those feelings because nothing was going to jeopardize her job with T&A.
She rolled her eyes at herself as she got out of bed and to head toward the shower. Her first day on the job was going to be great, she assured herself how could it not?
-----------------
Stephanie limped into the downtown offices of T&A an hour late. How could this have happened she wondered? Of all the days for everything to go wrong, her first day had to be the worst. Murphy's Law was very much at work and riding Stephanie's back.
First, the hot water wouldn't come on so she had to take a freezing cold shower, then once she got into her little car it decided to take 10 minutes to start. Once it started and she was finally on her way to work, she still had a good 30 minutes to get there and she was only 15 minutes away, disaster struck. A red BMW decided she was going to slow darted around her in hopes of passing her by, saw a transfer truck heading directly toward him, he swerved and side-swiped her, sending her little car into a spin. She tried to regain control of the wheel but it was too late she slammed into the median wall going about 60 miles an hour in a circle.
Her car was then dragged off by a wrecker service and declared totaled, the BMW had two scratches and he was screaming at her like she held a gun to his head and made him try to pass her before totaling her car! Idiot, she thought. She then had to take two buses to get here and she was exhausted already. She was sore in places she didn't think she should be sore in. She refused to go to the hospital saying she was fine, however, she knew she should have gone but she was already late.
On top of all that, during the wreck her coffee spilled on her cute white dress and now she looked ridiculous with her hair out of place, her makeup smudged and a huge brown stain on her left side. She side when she passed a mirror and caught a glimpse of herself.
Mr. Sutherland came around the corner, stopped dead in his tracks and looked her up and down. "What the hell happened, Ramy?"
She sighed leaned against the wall and said "What didn't happen, Mr. Sutherland? Some moron pushed me into the wall."
"Why are you here, then? Why aren't you at the hospital?"
Her eyes filled with tears as she put pressure on her right leg. "It's my first day..." she trailed off and he took her arm and guided her to the front door. "What are you doing?" She gasped as he walked her toward the parking deck.
"We are going to the hospital. First day or not you need to be seen by a doctor." He gently guided her over to a parked Maserati. Nice car, she thought idly as he unlocked the car and helped her in. He ran around the other side and slid behind the steering wheel.
She could see traces of her daughter in him. The eyes, a deep blue that almost looked purple. The way his lower lip puckered when he was trying not to look guilty. Inside she moaned with grief. Sadie was gone and there wasn't a way she could bring her daughter back. Her nerves were raw, she needed to get this reunion over with so she could go home and lay waste to a pint of ice cream.
Keith started gathering papers, his hands shaking. Finally, he stopped. Took a deep breath and looked up at her. "I know I hurt you, Stephanie. I never heard from you after that day." She knew he wanted to know what happened to the baby. He didn't deserve to know. He walked out, he left her by herself to pick up the pieces of her life he had shattered.
"It was long ago, Keith. Just let it go. You made your wishes clear, the decisions I made are my own and have nothing to do with you. I need to fill out that paperwork so I can get going." She stared into his eyes, Sadie's eyes. He broke contact and handed a stack of papers over to her. She began filling them out, rushing through them, trying to get everything filled in so that she could get the hell out of there.
She stood as she handed the completed papers over to him. "Keep to your side of the building, Keith. I definitely would prefer not running into you again." She turned and walked out. She could feel his eyes drilling into the back of her, she wouldn't give him the satisfaction of turning back to look at him.
Stephanie made it all the way back to her car before she finally broke down. She sat in the driver's seat and wept. Wept for the girl she had been, the opportunity that had been given to her, and her sweet Sadie. Sadie's smile, her little hand that clutched at hers whenever they went somewhere. The child had smelled like cookies and happiness. And then the moment she was told that Sadie was gone. That a drunk driver had jumped the curb and smashed into the playground at her pre-school. The moment she had to claim her 4-year-old daughter's body.
Hot tears streaked down her face. Seven months ago she buried her daughter.
Stephanie swiped the tears from her cheeks and put the car into gear, she had to get home and take a nap, the only thing to make a day like this any better is to turn off the lights close the curtains and crawl into bed with a cup of hot cocoa and a heating pad.
She drove slowly home, all the while thinking of her daughter and the situation she now found herself in. How in the hell was she going to manage to juggle Keith, the new job, grief and her reaction to Mr. Sutherland all without cracking under the pressure?
Ten minutes later she pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex, the little dilapidated building sat nestled in between a major high way and shopping center. It wasn't a desirable place to live but she had called it home for more than three years. Grabbing her purse from the seat next to her she locked the doors and began climbing the three flights to her apartment.
Once she was inside, she placed her purse on the hall table and strode straight into the kitchen to turn on her Keurig for hot water. She definitely needed that warmness coursing through her veins. Stephanie went into her room and stripped down, and slide into her fuzzy robe. She made her way back to the kitchen to check on her hot water, it had already started to pour into her Care Bears mug. She smiled as she added spoonfuls of cocoa the hot water. The smell of chocolate wafted through the air.
She slowly stirred her chocolate as she made her way back to her room. She turned down the bed, set the chocolate on her nightstand and was about to climb in when she heard her purse start to sing about girls just wanting to have fun, she hurried down the hall, dug through her purse and answered breathily "Hello?"
The number had been unrecognizable.She had no clue who would call her, usually, the only people she heard from were Bill Collectors and her mom. "Ramy? This is Sutherland here. I just heard about the unfortunate incident that is Keith in HR." Stephanie's heart stopped in her chest, please God don't let her lose this opportunity. "It's not a problem, Mr. Sutherland-" He cut her off like he had in the office.
"It damn well is a problem, I can't have my employees at odds with one another. So this is how this is going to go down. Your new HR handler is going to be Rose, Rose is about 70 if she's a day and I doubt you have a past relationship with her. If so, then please let me know." Stephanie looked at the phone like it was a snake, was that a joke? Should she laugh?
"Um, thank you, Mr. Sutherland." She heard him sigh.
"You are welcome, I just want you to be comfortable here at T&A. See you bright and early, Stephanie." He hung up without waiting for her goodbye. She closed her phone with shaking hands and slowly made her way back to her room, as she crawled into bed, she sent up a thank you to whoever was listening. Not having to deal with Keith was definitely a blessing, and not losing the opportunity was a gift.
Her eyes fluttered down and she fell into an exhausted sleep.
She woke up extremely early. Why Stephanie couldn't remain asleep until her alarm went off, she didn't know. All she could do was lay in bed and stare at the ceiling. Her mind darted from one subject to another. Her daughter, seeing Keith again for the first time in years, her odd reaction to her new boss. She did have to admit to herself she had a reaction to the man. He was hot, no holds barred. A girl likes that kind of thing in a man and she was no exception. It had been years since she experienced anything like that. She would just have to keep a lid on those feelings because nothing was going to jeopardize her job with T&A.
She rolled her eyes at herself as she got out of bed and to head toward the shower. Her first day on the job was going to be great, she assured herself how could it not?
-----------------
Stephanie limped into the downtown offices of T&A an hour late. How could this have happened she wondered? Of all the days for everything to go wrong, her first day had to be the worst. Murphy's Law was very much at work and riding Stephanie's back.
First, the hot water wouldn't come on so she had to take a freezing cold shower, then once she got into her little car it decided to take 10 minutes to start. Once it started and she was finally on her way to work, she still had a good 30 minutes to get there and she was only 15 minutes away, disaster struck. A red BMW decided she was going to slow darted around her in hopes of passing her by, saw a transfer truck heading directly toward him, he swerved and side-swiped her, sending her little car into a spin. She tried to regain control of the wheel but it was too late she slammed into the median wall going about 60 miles an hour in a circle.
Her car was then dragged off by a wrecker service and declared totaled, the BMW had two scratches and he was screaming at her like she held a gun to his head and made him try to pass her before totaling her car! Idiot, she thought. She then had to take two buses to get here and she was exhausted already. She was sore in places she didn't think she should be sore in. She refused to go to the hospital saying she was fine, however, she knew she should have gone but she was already late.
On top of all that, during the wreck her coffee spilled on her cute white dress and now she looked ridiculous with her hair out of place, her makeup smudged and a huge brown stain on her left side. She side when she passed a mirror and caught a glimpse of herself.
Mr. Sutherland came around the corner, stopped dead in his tracks and looked her up and down. "What the hell happened, Ramy?"
She sighed leaned against the wall and said "What didn't happen, Mr. Sutherland? Some moron pushed me into the wall."
"Why are you here, then? Why aren't you at the hospital?"
Her eyes filled with tears as she put pressure on her right leg. "It's my first day..." she trailed off and he took her arm and guided her to the front door. "What are you doing?" She gasped as he walked her toward the parking deck.
"We are going to the hospital. First day or not you need to be seen by a doctor." He gently guided her over to a parked Maserati. Nice car, she thought idly as he unlocked the car and helped her in. He ran around the other side and slid behind the steering wheel.
She sat silently beside the man as he swiftly maneuvered the car through the congested streets. She felt blood ooze down her arm and was terrified it would get on his beautiful heated leather seats and ruin them, she tried desperately to wipe at the sluggish trail of blood to no avail, there as just too much of it. She sighed and kissed the job she had wanted so badly goodbye. She had made a mess of things as usual.
"Mr. Sutherland, I'm so sorry.." She trailed off as a wave of dizziness swept over her, she closed her eyes.
"Ramy, don't apologize, we all have accidents, I wished you would have let the ambulance take you when they offered it seems to me that you are in pretty bad banged up shape and definitely need a doctor. Furthermore, please stop worrying about your job, I know that's what your active little mind is gnawing on right now, your job is still yours." He glanced over at her and noticed the way she was holding her damaged arm close to her body. He signed deeply as her pupils widened and body clenched as he went over a slight bump. She was definitely in bad shape. He had hired her on a whim, she came in and one moment looked so vulnerable he couldn't stand it, in another moment so damned defensive. He knew the clothes she was wearing were things she had made, he knew a sewing machine stitch from a commercial stitch a mile away. And she looked fabulous. She wasn't pretentious she knew exactly what her style was, he had to have her.
After that whole situation with the moron from HR, he thought he had lost her for good but she had stayed, determination and desire to fulfill her dream making her cling. She had secrets, she would give them up eventually. Stephanie was also going to make a splash with her new clothing line ideas and he was just going to sit back and let her go for it. Ramy sighed deeply and closed her eyes, she looked to be drifting off and he couldn't have her falling asleep. "Ramy, no sleeping on the job. You got to stay awake" Her eyelashes fluttered open as she gazed at him out of reddened eyes, not quite focusing on him.
"Thank you, Mr. Sutherland. I'm going to apologize ahead of time because I am going to throw up in your nice car. It's very pretty." With that, she turned green leaned over and vomited on his newly detailed passenger side floor.
He closed his eyes briefly and held back a smile, nothing like holding a woman's hair while driving down the road at breakneck speeds trying to get her to the emergency room before she passed out. He pulled into the ER drop off lane and a nurse came rushing out at the squeal of his tires.
"She was in a wreck earlier this morning and was too stubborn to go with the ambulance, but she's in pretty bad shape and definitely needs to see a physician." He told the cute blond nurse who was staring wide-eyed at Ramy's torn bloody dress and green complexion.
"Right away sir, she rushed back into the emergency room and came back out with a wheelchair, once they got Stephanie pushed inside she was escorted directly to a room.
"Mr. Sutherland, I'm so sorry.." She trailed off as a wave of dizziness swept over her, she closed her eyes.
"Ramy, don't apologize, we all have accidents, I wished you would have let the ambulance take you when they offered it seems to me that you are in pretty bad banged up shape and definitely need a doctor. Furthermore, please stop worrying about your job, I know that's what your active little mind is gnawing on right now, your job is still yours." He glanced over at her and noticed the way she was holding her damaged arm close to her body. He signed deeply as her pupils widened and body clenched as he went over a slight bump. She was definitely in bad shape. He had hired her on a whim, she came in and one moment looked so vulnerable he couldn't stand it, in another moment so damned defensive. He knew the clothes she was wearing were things she had made, he knew a sewing machine stitch from a commercial stitch a mile away. And she looked fabulous. She wasn't pretentious she knew exactly what her style was, he had to have her.
After that whole situation with the moron from HR, he thought he had lost her for good but she had stayed, determination and desire to fulfill her dream making her cling. She had secrets, she would give them up eventually. Stephanie was also going to make a splash with her new clothing line ideas and he was just going to sit back and let her go for it. Ramy sighed deeply and closed her eyes, she looked to be drifting off and he couldn't have her falling asleep. "Ramy, no sleeping on the job. You got to stay awake" Her eyelashes fluttered open as she gazed at him out of reddened eyes, not quite focusing on him.
"Thank you, Mr. Sutherland. I'm going to apologize ahead of time because I am going to throw up in your nice car. It's very pretty." With that, she turned green leaned over and vomited on his newly detailed passenger side floor.
He closed his eyes briefly and held back a smile, nothing like holding a woman's hair while driving down the road at breakneck speeds trying to get her to the emergency room before she passed out. He pulled into the ER drop off lane and a nurse came rushing out at the squeal of his tires.
"She was in a wreck earlier this morning and was too stubborn to go with the ambulance, but she's in pretty bad shape and definitely needs to see a physician." He told the cute blond nurse who was staring wide-eyed at Ramy's torn bloody dress and green complexion.
"Right away sir, she rushed back into the emergency room and came back out with a wheelchair, once they got Stephanie pushed inside she was escorted directly to a room.
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