Page 11 of His Secret Virgin
Chapter 5
Christopher
“Sounds great, Mr. Lee.” The Skype meeting had been successful, and the men had been able to show me enough of their operations to prove the quality of their organic crops right then and there. No trip to China would be necessary, but they wanted to come meet me sometime in the near future and tour our facility. “We’ll set up a trip for you two soon.”
Mrs. Kramer wrapped up the session as I walked out the door to head back home. I’d turned my cell on silent for the meeting. Taking it out of my pocket, I saw I’d missed a call from an old friend from my college days.
It had been many years since I’d seen Sebastien Hancock. The call piqued my curiosity, making me wonder what he could possibly be calling about. Meeting my driver outside, I got into the backseat and called Sebastien back right away.
“Hey there, old buddy.”
His tone was happy as he said, “Christopher, glad you called me back.”
“Of course. It’s nice to hear a friendly voice.” I couldn’t even count the number of years that had passed since we’d seen each other. “What’s it been, five years? Ten? How’s Celeste doing?”
“She’s doing fine. As beautiful as ever.” He sighed. “I’m one lucky son of a bitch, and I know it. And how’s Lisa doing?”
Well, this conversation was off to an awkward start. “We divorced five years ago when I found out she was cheating on me every chance she got.”
“Shit.” Sebastien sounded shocked. “I’m sorry to hear that. Did you guys have any more kids? How are the girls doing? They must be pretty grown up now.”
“No, just the two girls. They’re twenty-five and twenty-three now.” I watched as my driver pulled into the garage and saw that neither of the girls’ cars was there. “They live with me now, but they’re hardly ever home. And did you and Celeste have a brood of kids?”
“Not hardly.” He chuckled. “We’ve just got our one daughter. She just turned twenty and is trying to act thirty if you know what I mean.”
“Oh yeah, I do.” I knew he called for more than a little catch up, so I cut to the chase. “So, what has you calling your old friend, Sebastien?”
“I suppose it’s best to get right to the point and not skirt around this.” I heard him take a drink of something, maybe to work up his courage. “I lost my job. The entire company just went belly up. It was a shock to me and everyone who worked under me. I’m looking for a job, buddy. I’ll take whatever you can give me.”
My heart went out to the guy. I’d seen many companies close in my time. That’s precisely why I worked as hard as I did to keep mine in business. “What were you doing at that company?”
“Managing the warehouse,” he answered. “Getting paid really well for it, too, after giving them my life for the last twenty or so years.”
“That is tough, Sebastien.” I thought about what I could offer him. He’d been a great friend back in our college days, and I didn’t want to let him down. “With that experience, I’m sure you could be a great help to me.”
“Glad to hear that,” he sounded relieved. “I’m a fast learner, so anything you’ve got, I can learn.”
“I’m sure you could.” I had a couple of guys I could move around to fit my old buddy in. “Tell you what, how about I get my human resources department to give you a call tomorrow morning, about nine or ten. I’ll talk to them and see what we can offer you. Will you be able to relocate here?”
“I can. We can put our house on the market, and my family can stay here until it sells. I’ll stay in a motel until then.” His voice went a lot quieter as he continued, “It’ll be the first time I’ve been away from them for any length of time, but they’ll be okay.”
The thought of him having to separate from his family didn’t sit right with me. “Is your daughter still living at home too? Hasn’t she gone off to college? Maybe your wife could come to stay in a motel with you if your daughter’s away at school.”
“That’s not the case. Emma is still living at home. I don’t mind though; I like having her close.” I heard him take another drink before saying, “I’ll just have to do what I have to do is all.”
Maybe because my earlier conversation with Mrs. Kramer was still lingering in my brain, but I suddenly found myself putting forth an uncharacteristic offer. “I’ve got a house you can stay in. I bought a small home when I left my wife. Nothing too fancy, five bedrooms, six baths, only a four-car garage, but it does have a pool in the back and a hot tub too. I left all the furnishings in it, too, once I bought my new place on the lake. You’re all welcome to stay in it.”
“That would be awesome!” His excitement was obvious. “What do you want for rent?”
“Rent?” I couldn’t charge him anything. “No, there won’t be any rent. Hell, if you like the home, you can buy it from me directly, and we can take the payments out of your check. But until you decide, you’ll be my guest. I’ll have my staff go over there and make sure it’s all cleaned—make sure the yard’s taken care of and the pool is up and ready to use too.”
Now that the offer was out there, I felt great about it. The fact my old friend would be around made me lighthearted and happier than I’d been in a very long time. I’d been avoiding people for much too long. Maybe this was the beginning of a change for me. Perhaps I could make room for at least one close friend in my life.
“Christopher, that’s more than generous. I’m sure your HR department and I can come to an agreement on the job and the money. And let me tell you that my family will be over the moon with this news.” He seemed very happy, and that made me happy.
“I can’t wait to see you and Celeste again. And meeting your daughter will be nice too.” I thought about my girls. “You said she’s twenty, right?”
“Yeah, she’s twenty,” he said. “But she’s really shy.”
