Page 5 of Daddy, Sir

Stashing the box in the fridge, Tatiana turned her attention to the groceries. It had to be Captain Murphy again. Soon her fridge, freezer, and cabinets held all the staples—bread,lunchmeat, eggs, coffee, chips, crackers, flour, sugar, coffee—even chocolate chips and treats like chips and mint chocolate chip ice cream.

She grabbed the spoon from the set of plasticware from dinner and ate several bites of the creamy frozen mixture before putting the slightly soft dessert into the freezer. Tatiana wrapped her arms around herself and twirled in a circle until she was dizzy. Crashing into the countertop, she regained her balance as she smiled at her silliness. For the first time in months, she felt… secure.

Forcing herself to leave the kitchen, Tatiana turned off all the lights and made sure she’d locked the door. After brushing her teeth, she jumped in the shower and headed for bed to read. It was still way too early to go to sleep, but she’d enjoy one of her favorites before she crashed.

After choosing a blue book from her stack, Tatiana crawled onto her mattress and leaned against the wall. She read for a couple hours before she couldn’t focus anymore. Setting her old-fashioned alarm clock, she climbed under the worn blanket.

Chapter Three

After an early morning meeting, Jack headed for his office. He didn’t want to admit to himself how much more eager he was to get to his desk than just—Jack checked his watch—twenty-six hours ago. As he walked down the hall, he heard a soft voice singing in his outer office. A smile curved his lips. Tatiana.

“I was just coming to tell her she’s causing a disruption,” Mercedes hissed from the intersecting hallway.

“You have extraordinary hearing to have picked that up three hallways from her and past the copiers,” Jack noted.

“I was delivering a file on this side.” Mercedes covered for herself.

“Leave her alone, Mercedes. After one day, I can tell she’s the best admin I’ve had in years. I will consider any future unpleasantness as a personal attack. Perhaps it’s best to have someone else transport files to these hallways.” Jack hoped his tone conveyed his opinion that she’d already stepped way over the line.

Mercedes opened her mouth then snapped it shut. She spun on one stiletto and headed back down the hallway. Jack noted her head bobbing from side to side and knew she was bitching under her breath. Sloughing off her negativity, he thankedhis lucky stars he’d picked up on her personality when she’d interviewed for Tatiana’s job. He headed into his office.

“Was she still out there?” Tatiana asked. She stood next to her desk, twisting her hands together nervously.

“She’s been there for a while?” Jack asked.

“Or has made a number of trips by the office. I keep hearing her voice as she makes comments or speaks to others.”

“That stops now. I’m glad to see you didn’t run away.” He changed the subject.

“Of course not. Um…” Tatiana looked down at the industrial carpet before meeting his eyes. “Thank you for the groceries and the meal. I’ll pay you back when I get paid.”

“You will not. Consider it a preventative measure to keep you from fainting under the extreme workload. What are you working on now?”

“There were a few responses back about budget items. I’ve organized those and now I’m working on a stack of what seems to be random requests for your attention to different projects.”

“You didn’t indicate I would work with those, did you?”

“No, Sir. They conflict with the schedule we organized yesterday. I created a blanket,I’m afraid I can’t assist in this endeavor,response. It’s in your email for your approval and then I’ll send it out,” Tatiana informed him.

“Perfect. I’ll review it. Before we send each rejection, run the project by me. Sometimes, something urgent does slip in that I need to contribute to,” Jack told her.

He looked at her face. She had more color today. He wondered how bad her situation was. “Would you order some coffee from the coffee shop for us? Whatever froufrou concoction you want as well as a large Americano for me. I have an account there and will pay for both. Do you mind running over there to pick it up?”

“I’d be glad to go get it. Could you tell me where it is?” Tatiana asked.

“I can do better than that.” Jack pulled a new smart phone from his pocket and handed it to her. “Here. I stopped and got an extra phone on my account last night. It costs me nothing and you need a phone. Now, I can message you information from meetings. I’ve listed my phone number inside. Your new number is on a sticky note in the box.”

“Captain Murphy, this is too much.” She looked at the phone and shook her head in total bewilderment.

“You can return it when you get your own. Think of it as a loaner like your computer.”

Her expression changed. His statement seemed to take the weirdness out of the gift. Jack didn’t ever plan to get that phone back. The world had become so used to being connected, he couldn’t imagine what it was like to be cut off without one. There weren’t any payphones readily available anymore. And landlines? Forget it.

He switched the subject back to the requests for his participation. “Come in at ten and let’s review those projects and your email.”

“Perfect. I’ll be ready.”

Jack walked into his office and closed the door. He had a phone call to make to HR that Tatiana didn’t need to hear. When he finished, the HR director was completely appalled and had asked him to detail both encounters in writing. Jack quickly sent a letter with the bullet points.

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