Catering to the CEO (8 page)

“I have to admit, that was a lot faster than I thought it would be.  Dr. Jackson seems pleased that she got everything.”  Pulling the window blinds closed as she spoke over her shoulder, Lauren continued, “You have to take it easy for a week.  Kate’s got your weekend event covered so you can relax.”

“By Sunday I should be fine,” Cassie mumbled.  Her stomach was sore from the tiny incisions and the last thing she wanted to think about right now was work. 

“Doctor’s orders.  Don’t make me stick around here and lock you in your room.” 

“Okay, okay, geez…”

“Get some sleep; I’m just going to be in the living room studying for a test.  If you need me, just call out, okay?”  Cassie nodded and her eyes were closed before Lauren had even shut the door.

Getting settled on the sofa, Lauren set up several textbooks in front of her on the coffee table when she heard Cassie’s cell phone ring.  Not hesitating, she walked over and answered.  “Hello?”

“Hey, Cassie, it’s Grace.”

“Hey, Grace, this is Lauren, Cassie’s sister.”

“Oh, hi!  Is Cassie available?”

“Actually, she is sound asleep.  Can I take a message?”

“Is she okay?”

Lauren told her about the surgery, remembering that Grace was Adam’s assistant.

“Oh, my!  Is there anything I can do?  Does she need anything?”

“She seems okay right now.  We just got home a little while ago.  The doctor said that she should be back to normal within a week.  She’s got some serious pain killers for the time being but by this time next week, she’ll be as good as new.  Do you want me to leave her a message?”

“No, no…I was just calling to tell her how much everyone enjoyed the event this weekend.  She was a hit as usual.”  Lauren could actually hear Grace’s smile.  “Please tell her that I’m thinking of her and that I’ll give her a call in a few days.”

“No problem.”

“Thanks, Lauren.  Bye!”

As soon as she hung up the phone, Grace immediately placed a call to her florist and arranged for a large bouquet to be sent from the company.  “That’s right, I want the card to say ‘Get well soon’ or ‘Wishing you a speedy recovery’, either one of those and sign it from ‘Your friends at L.S.S.”  She paused and listened.  “Yes, that’s perfect.  I’d like them delivered today.”  Another pause.  “Yes, please put it on our account.  Thank you!”

She hung up and nearly fell off her chair when she turned and saw Adam leaning on her desk looking thoroughly annoyed.  “Who’s ill?”

“What?  Oh, Cassie is.  She had surgery today and I wanted to send her some flowers.”

“On the company’s account?”

Uh-oh.

“Well, um…she does work for us quite a bit and while I realize that I should have checked with you first, I didn’t think you would mind.  I mean, with Cassie soon to be family and all, I thought it would be okay.  Plus, you were on a call and I wanted to place the order in time for it to be delivered today.   So…”

“Your babbling, Grace.”

Darn it, he was right but she knew that look on his face and knew that if she didn’t distract him and plead her case quickly that he could get nasty.   Fast.  “I could call back and cancel the order, if you’d prefer.  Or I could just change it to put it on my own credit card…”  Turning her back on him, she picked up the phone and began to dial.  Adam reached across the desk and snatched the phone out of her hand and hung it up.

“That won’t be necessary,” he snapped.  He took a deep breath and had to force himself to speak calmly.  “It’s a very nice gesture and I thank you for doing it.  Now, if I could get you to find me the Cairo contract, I need to make some adjustments.”  He turned and walked back into his office. 

Once at his desk he had the urge to pick up the phone and call Cassie to see if she was okay.  She hadn’t mentioned the surgery but then again, when would she have had the time?  He didn’t speak to her at all on Saturday and that was the last that he’d seen of her.  Adam looked at his calendar and saw that his schedule was pretty full, but maybe he could find time to stop by her place tomorrow after work.  He’d have to call his mother and try to find out if anyone was staying with her; he hated to have to play twenty questions with another family member like he had with Katie on Saturday morning.

To say that his mother was surprised when she heard his voice on the phone was an understatement.  “Adam!  How are you, sweetheart?  This is a wonderful surprise!”  Adam rolled his eyes. 

“I’m fine, mother, just fine.  I was just calling to…um, see how you were?  I realize we left things…well, things were a little awkward when I dropped you off that night after dinner and I wanted to make sure that you were doing okay.  How’s Stephen?”

“Oh, he’s fine, thank you for asking.  We’ve been having a wonderful time.  We babysat for Ella last weekend while Katie was working that event that Cassie did for you.  We had such a time!  I had forgotten how exhausting babies can be but I loved every second of it!”

Great, pretty soon she’d be hounding him about getting married and having kids.  Just what he needed.  “Sounds like fun.”  His words lacked any form of enthusiasm and he knew he’d hurt her feelings by the way her tone changed.

“Yes, well, anyway, how’s business?”

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes and counted to ten.  Dammit, it shouldn’t be this hard to have a conversation with his own mother!  “Business is fine, mom.  The retreat went well and I think we’re going to have another great year ahead of us.  Listen, I was wondering…Grace just mentioned that Cassie had surgery today.  Is everything all right?”

Pleasant mom was back.  “Lauren’s with her right now and the doctor is very pleased with how it went.  They found a couple of small cysts and took care of several lesions but they believe that they got everything and Cassie will be up and around in no time.  We were all relieved to hear that there was nothing cancerous.”

“Was that even a possibility/” Adam asked, concern lacing his voice.

Bev relayed the story of how Cassie’s mother had died young of ovarian cancer.  “I think that’s why Cassie waited so long to have this surgery; she was afraid of what they’d find.”  She paused.  “Such a sad story.”

And not one that Adam wanted to dwell on. 
“So Lauren’s staying with her?”

“Just for tonight.  Actually, she had to force Cassie to let her stay.  We’ve all offered to go over and stay but she wouldn’t have it.  Tomorrow, Lauren’s got some big test so Katie and Ella are going to go over for lunch and spend some time with her.  Stephen and I were going to go over for dinner but he’s got a late meeting.”

“So are you going to go alone?”

“No, no…I guess I still feel a little new to all of this and I don’t want to overwhelm her.”

Adam was baffled.  How could his mother overwhelm anyone?  “Why would you say that?”

“I just don’t want Cassie, or any of the kids for that matter, to think that I’m swooping in and trying to be their mom.  I know that I’m marrying their dad but this is still new to all of them and it’s been a long time since their mom passed and I’m sure that they’re trying to…see what my role is going to be.  I want to give them time to get to know me.”

This was all a little too emotional for him.  “I don’t think you have anything to worry about, mom.  They’ll all like you just fine.” 

Bev sighed.  The business whiz was a complete dud in the encouragement department.  “I’m sure you’re right.  Anyway, Cassie’s going to be fine.  She’s a little sore but really, we’re all just concerned that she’s going to over-do it somehow and hinder her own recovery.  She hates to sit still.”

“Well then maybe someone should be with her,” he suggested.

“Adam…she is a grown woman.  She’s well beyond the age of being babysat for.  For the next twenty-four hours she’ll have people with her; after that she’s more than capable of taking care of herself.”

He knew his mother was right but he also knew that he would make the time to stop over and see her tomorrow night after work.  Maybe he’d return the favor and bring her dinner.  Just as the thought of flowers entered his head, Adam cut himself off with disgust.  “Yeah, sure, she’s a trooper.” 

Why the hell was even thinking of going over to Cassie’s?  They were done!  She finished with the event and that was all he needed her for.  If he never hired her again, she’d just have to deal with it.  No, he had done what he’d had to do; he kept Cassie on to make sure that the fall retreat went off without a hitch and now their business dealings were done. 

The image of Cassie sitting across from him at the dinner table, laughing and smiling at him filled his mind.  More and more Adam found that his mind wandered to that night that they’d dined together at Cassie’s apartment and the need to see her again unsettled him.

There would be no harm, however, to see her socially, as if they were family already, right?  He’d never had to deal with anyone on a family level other than Bev and well, outside of business he found that he actually liked Cassie so it wouldn’t be a hardship to stop by and visit her.  Like family.

“Adam?  Are you still there?”  He realized his mother had been talking the whole time his mind had strayed. 

“What?  Yes, sorry; I got distracted for a minute.  So, what else is new?” 

It didn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that that one simple question had absolutely done wonders for his mother.  Was he that much of a bastard that he’d never engaged in just social niceties or chit-chat with his own mother?  And why all of a sudden was he?

Ten minutes later he was off the phone, no worse for the wear and actually felt his spirits lifted a bit.  Maybe he had been too deeply entrenched in the business and had forgotten how to relax and just talk with people.  Like he had at Cassie’s that night.

Adam had no idea why he was having this change of heart and then the ensuing tug of war over what he was doing with his life.  He was in control of it all, dammit!  He could do whatever he wanted, talk to whoever he wanted, whenever he wanted!  Right now, with the confidence that he was legendary for, Adam made the decision that his business association was over with Cassie and that freed him up to see her socially; since she was going to be family.

Grace walked in with the file he’d requested and if she noticed that he seemed a bit more relaxed, she chose to say nothing.  Adam picked up the contract, made his notes and picked up the phone and went on with his day.

By three o’clock on Thursday afternoon, Adam was ahead of schedule.  His calls were completed and Grace had typed up everything that he’d asked her to.  To pass the time, he straightened his desk and made a list of possible new clients that he’d like to make contact with by the end of the month. 

Throwing his pen down in disgust, he knew what he was doing; busy work.  God, he was feeling pathetic.  Did he purposefully do work at home the night before to lighten his load today?  Maybe.  Did he deliberately cut a couple of chatty clients short in hopes of getting done quicker?  Perhaps.  The trut
h was he was feeling caged in in his office and wanted to leave. 

He paced.  He talked to himself.  He picked up the phone a half a dozen times and realized there was no one that he needed to call.  By four o’clock he gave up the pretense of trying to work and gave himself a pep talk. 

“I’m not leaving because of Cassie,” he said out loud, “I’m leaving because I want to.  I own the damn company and I can leave whenever I want to!”  Picking up his briefcase and keys, Adam strode across the office and yanked open his door.    Grace looked up from what she was doing and he gave her a searing look that almost dared her to question what he was doing. 

“Have a nice night,” she said cheerily, unwilling to engage in a discussion over the fact that in six years the man had never left the office before seven.

Adam gave her a curt nod as he walked by her desk and down the hall to the elevator.  He didn’t notice the shocked look on the faces of his employees as he strode with purpose.  He didn’t notice the people that merely stepped aside and let him pass.  By the time the doors on the elevator closed and he was safely inside, Adam found himself to be feeling something that he hadn’t in a very long time.

Nervous.

Why on earth should I be nervous?
He thought to himself.  He was just stopping by to see a friend.  A family friend.  A family friend who happened to be an attractive woman. 

Adam loosened his tie as he stepped off the elevator and made his way out to the parking garage and to his car.  He hadn’t felt this nervous or ridiculous since he was a teen. 

  He pulled up in front of one of his favorite Italian restaurants and went in to place his order.  Making small talk with the manager, he bided his time, trying not to be obvious by checking his watch every few minutes.

Figuring that Cassie may still be on pain medication, Adam bypassed the liquor store and opted for something a little less traditional that he thought would cheer her up. 

Pulling into the back parking lot, he figured she’d be by herself and then felt bad that he’d be making her walk down the stairs to open the door.  “Dammit,” he grumbled as he pulled dinner out of the car and walked to the door.  He hit the door bell and waited.

He hadn’t noticed the intercom before but suddenly he heard Cassie’s voice.  “Hello?”