He gave her his best impish grin.
“What’s so funny?”
“It’s hard to take you seriously with all that mascara smeared around your eyes.”
Laurie groaned and stomped off to the bathroom. When the door closed behind her, Finn let his body sag. Feeling weaker by the minute, he knew he was coming down with some sort of infection.
Though Laurie had guessed correctly, he didn’t want her to find out. His personal assistant covered every home or hospital stay with an appropriate story to explain his absence. Branson and Cole could know the truth, but no one else. Especially Laurie Fields.
CHAPTER 9
“I can’t believe it!” When the memo came in right before lunch, Laurie had marched up to Finn’s office to confront him, but his PA informed her he was already gone. “Where did he go?”
“I’m not allowed to give the details, Ms. Fields. We must respect his privacy.”
“He couldn’t have taken the time to tell me himself?”
“Ms. Fields…” Frederick’s condescending expression pressed on her last nerve. “This opportunity arose suddenly—he called it ‘the chance of a lifetime.’ He couldn’t waste time running all over the building to tell everyone he was leaving. You should feel honored that he sent a personal note.”
“I got a memo on my computer. You call that a personal note?”
“As opposed to a group email, yes, I do.” He crossed his arms, drumming his fingers on his starched white shirt.
“He shouldn’t be going anywhere, least of all on some exotic vacation. He’s on the verge of getting sick already. Didn’t you notice how pale he looked? How much he was coughing?”
“I would never presume to give Mr. Anderson advice concerning his health, Ms. Fields.”
He may be right, but he’s still a presumptuous turd.
“What am I supposed to do about the LA Fundraiser? First Mr. Alvarez. Now Mr. Anderson. I’m beginning to think they want me to fail at this job.”
“I believe Mr. Miller or Mr. Knight will be stepping in to provide assistance.” He lifted his chin and looked down his nose. “Mr. Anderson also suggested he might call you each day in case he could help out from wherever he is, via phone or email.”
Frederick’s glare told her he disapproved of the plan, but Laurie assumed Finn was doing it to assuage his guilt. She imagined him, wearing sunglasses as he lounged in a hammock on the beach. He spoke into his cell phone between sips from his fancy drink with a pineapple flag. “Can you talk a little louder, Laurie? I can’t hear you over the sound of the ocean waves crashing on the beach.”
Still fuming, she returned to her office and called Stephanie to unload all the frustrations of her morning. Steph answered on the first ring.
“Laurie, I’m so glad you called. I just got off the phone with Branson, so I heard all about Finn. I’m sure you’re freaking out.”
“I am. And you don’t know the half of it. My morning started off with a phone call from Mom.” She swallowed, barely holding her tears in. “She did it, Steph. She got back with Tyrone, just like we thought she would. She begged me to talk to him.”
“I hope you told her no.”
“I did, but you can guess how that went over. It’s a good thing I never told Mom I changed my name. I think she’d do anything for that man, even betray her own daughter.”
“How can she trust him after all those years when he treated the two of you like dirt?”
“Of course, I’ll have to call her tonight and apologize.” Laurie sighed. “It’s so pitiful that she’s ready to forget everything he’s done and run back to him.”
“Maybe he’ll be different this time. Maybe he’ll treat her like he should’ve all along.”
“I hope so. Nothing would make me happier than to eat my words about him. Poor Mom. She deserves a little happiness. But I’m certainly not holding my breath.”
“Yeah… a sure way to suffocate,” Steph said. “You’ve had a terrible day. You started off with Tyrone. Now the bad news about Finn. And of course we just found out Jarrett’s cancer is back.”
What bad news about Finn? Had she missed something? She probed for information, attempting to sound as if she knew what Steph was talking about. “Yeah, it’s bad. Finn told me about Jarrett this morning.”
“You saw Finn today? Were you at the hospital?”
Hospital? Every drop of saliva disappeared from her mouth.
“He was at the office first thing this morning,” Laurie answered, vaguely.
“Wow, I can’t believe they admitted him that fast. I guess it’s pretty bad.”
“Yeah. I was really surprised when I found out.” She didn’t mention that moment was a few seconds ago. “Maybe you heard more details than I did.”
“Branson only said his temperature was 104 when he checked in.” Stephanie lowered her voice, as if someone might be eavesdropping. “You know not to tell anyone he’s sick, right? Because Finn doesn’t want all the employees to know about it.”
“I wouldn’t tell a soul.” Laurie moved on wooden legs to her desk chair, trying to keep her tone light. “Not only am I not a gossip, but I’ve hardly met anyone at work. Haven’t had time to make friends.”
“Well, you certainly have a friend in Finn Anderson. I know you don’t want to be his buddy, but at least he cares about you. He called from the hospital and spent thirty minutes on the phone telling Branson what he had to do to help you with your project.”
Laurie felt about three inches tall… maybe two. Of course Finn wouldn’t desert their work to go on some extravagant trip. How could she have believed such a farfetched story?
“He needs to concentrate on getting well,” Laurie said. “I hope Bran told him not to worry about me and the fundraiser.”
