Page 64 of Lorna's Savior
“We may, Eric Larson happened to stop in when Finn, Silver, and I were discussing it, and he said that he would stop shaving today, and play the part. I think he would make a great Santa. The only thing we would have to do is add padding.” They shared a laugh and finished eating. By time they finished, they were stuffed and satisfied.
“Put five stars in the book for this one.” Lorna grinned as she picked up the empty dish and carried it to the sink. Together they cleaned up from the dinner, the only leftovers were the salad, which Andy put in a small dish and looked at her.
“Take that for lunch tomorrow.”
“Thanks, I think I will. As much as I loved the Beef Wellington, it was heavy. I’ll need something light tomorrow.” They settled in the living room, and instead of doing any work, they opted to watch TV. Two hours later, Andy picked a sleeping Lorna up, and carried her to the bedroom. After stripping her down, he climbed in bed behind her, wrapped his arms around her, and fell asleep with her in his arms. His dreams that night were centered around miniature Lorna’s running around outside on a huge lawn, laughing and playing with a chicken.
Chapter 26
“Lorna,” Finn said as he knocked on her door. He stood there until Lorna looked up, and acknowledged him.
“Yes?”
Finn entered the office, shut the door behind him, and walked over to take the chair before her desk. After sitting down, he studied her intently.
“Finn? What’s wrong? Is it Ronnie?” Lorna asked in alarm. When he reassured her that Veronica was fine, she then asked, “You’re not taking Silver away from me, are you?”
“No, no, nothing like that. This has nothing to do with Veronica nor Silver. Actually, it has nothing at all to do with work. This is personal.”
“How so?”
“I’ve received a call from someone that would like to have a sit-down personal meeting with you. They wouldn’t tell me the nature of the meeting, but they said if you preferred, I could sit in on it.”
“Who is requesting this meeting?”
“Mr. Marvin.”
Lorna tossed her pen on her desk, leaned back in her chair, and laughed. “What do you want to bet he’s upping his game of asking me to come work for him? Bringing his campaign onto my turf.”
“Over my dead body!” Finn jumped to his feet and paced. “I’ll triple what he offers you.”
“Finn, calm down. I’m not leaving Larson’s anytime soon. I love what I do. I love that you give me the freedom to do these fundraisers as I see fit.”
“If this hospital fundraiser even does a tenth of what the aquarium one did, then I’ll give you free rein on everything from now on.”
“Thank you. Now when does Mr. Marvin want to meet with me? And…” she looked at him sternly. “I’m inviting you to be in on that meeting. I don’t want to be accused of playing one against the other. I want you to hear me again tell Mr. Marvin that I won’t leave Larson’s.”
“Thank you, and the meeting is at two.”
“Then, we have plenty of time. Have a seat and I want to tell you what I came up with for the theme for the hospital fundraiser.” They sat down and Lorna began going over her ideas. Fifteen minutes into the meeting, Silver knocked on the door and slowly opened it.
“I’m sorry, Lorna, but there’s a woman on the phone that won’t leave a message. She’s insisting on talking only to you.”
“What line?” Lorna asked.
“Three.”
“Okay, but stay here.” Lorna pointed to the chair beside Finn, and after she saw her settle she put the phone on speaker, then answered.
“This is Lorna, how may I help you.”
“Where the hell are you?” came the irate voice over the phone. Lorna instantly groaned and put her forehead in her hand.
“I’m at work, Mother, where did you think I’d be. It’s the middle of a workday.” She saw Silver wince at the tone Lorna had used. She had spoken in her best bitch voice, and if she had to measure it, the temperature in the room had just dropped about twenty degrees. It was the only way Lorna had been able to deal with her mother, by being a cold-hearted bitch to her. But Finn leaned over and whispered to her, and Silver grinned and nodded.
“I need you to pick me up. I have no idea where Murphy is. I’m been calling for over an hour. This is atrocious. I’ll dock his pay for this. I’m hot, tired, and want to get home. You need to come get me.” She whined this to Lorna, then started in again, “How soon before you can come get me?”
“Mother!” Lorna asked sternly. “Where are you?”
