The people here are amazing, and I’ve taken to the job like a duck to water. Not to toot my own horn, but I’m pretty damned good at it.
For the first week, despite what Amanda told me, I was convinced Remington Hale was going to pop up from behind a potted plant and yell, “Gotcha!” Followed by, “You’re fired.”
And I can’t let that happen because I need this job. Desperately.
I’ve finally calmed down and putthat manout of my mind. I avoid even looking at his photograph in the hallway, though goosebumps rise on my back every time I pass it, almost like those soulful brown eyes are following me.
With my whole sick leave plan, I’m fairly certain I can get away with never seeinghimagain. But you know what they say about the best laid plans…
“Mr. Hale, here are last quarter’s projections you asked for.” I stride into his huge office and set the folder on his desk.
“Thank you, Mindy,” he says, though his voice sounds strange, the words coming out more like, “Tank oo, Minnie.”
I focus on my boss, noting with alarm that his face is drooping on the right side.
“Mr. Hale, are you all right?” I step around his desk and notice he’s flexing his right hand.
Again, his words are a little garbled. “My han is sheep. Head hurs too.”
“Your hand is asleep, and your head hurts?” I ask gently, already reaching for the phone on his desk as he nods.
I press three digits, and a dispatcher answers, “9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”
Pushing down the rising panic, I keep my voice as calm as I can muster. “I need an ambulance at the Hale Cosmetics building immediately. Top floor. And hurry. I’m pretty sure my boss is having a stroke.”
I approach the hospital room that evening with a vase of flowers in hand, to find the twins, Helix and Phoenix, standing in the corridor with their wives.
Phoenix greets me with a hug and then introduces me to his wife, Jordie McNamara-Hale. She’s tall, blonde, and extremely beautiful in that effortless girl-next-door way. I already met Helix and Nicolette when they stopped by one day to have lunch with the big man.
“How’s he doing?” I ask.
“Good, thanks to you. They just moved him out of intensive care a few minutes ago,” Helix replies, giving me a shy smile. “Did you want to go in to see him?”
“If it wouldn’t be a bother.”
“Not at all. You literally saved his life,” Nicolette adds. “I’ll let him know you’re here.” She opens the door and steps into the room, returning a few seconds later. Taking my free hand, she squeezes it. “He said go on in.”
I enter and see two blonde women hovering around the hospital bed, cooing at the occupant. I’ve come to adore Haywood Hale the past two weeks. He’s the best boss I’ve ever had, kind and patient, even though the workload is demanding.
He looks up at me from the bed. His salt-and-pepper hair is plastered against his head from the woman slicking it back with her small hand. His wife, Rebecca.
But Mr. Hale’s smile is wide and even, not showing a hint of thedroop I saw in his office earlier. I hadn’t realized I was scrunching my shoulders in worry until they relaxed.
“There she is!” he crows with absolutely no slurring of the words. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he looked out of place in that hospital bed. His color appears good, and his blue eyes are twinkling. “The lady who saved the day. Come on in, Mindy.”
Before I get two steps into the room, I’m engulfed by thin arms and a mass of blonde hair. “Oh my god, thank you so much, Mindy. The doctors said you saved my dad’s life.”
I pat Perri’s back awkwardly as my cheeks warm. “I didn’t really do anything. I was just in the right place at the right time.”
“Bull hockey,” the man in the bed says, and I laugh as I disentangle myself from Perri Hale’s exuberant embrace. She loops her arm in mine and guides me closer to the bed.
“I really didn’t, sir. I just called emergency services like anyone would do.”
Rebecca Hale smiles from the other side of the bed. “Haywood said you gave him three aspirin to chew. The neurologist said that probably made all the difference in the world.” Her eyes fill with tears. “I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”
“Well, I need to keep him around. Job security and all that,” I joke, and everyone laughs.
God, it feels good to see Mr. Hale smile like that. I’ve been freaking out since it happened, though Phoenix was kind enough to send me text updates throughout the day. He’d ridden in the ambulance with his dad while I held down the fort at the office, fielding calls from the media about why an ambulance was seen arriving at Hale Cosmetics. Of course, I gave them the vague “There was a medical emergency in the building, and I have no other information to share at this time” reply.
