“This day isn’t about you.” Fordham spoke in a stilted tone as if he weren’t moving his lips. “We’re here for Carly. You, of all people, should understand how it feels to walk the stage when your father doesn’t bother to attend.”
As Fordham urged him forward, a firm grip on his left elbow, someone brushed past him on the right. Pulse racing, Bran planted his feet.
“Where’s Stephanie?” he hissed.
“Your tireless PA is in the ladies’ room,” Fordham said. “I hope you can survive without her for sixty seconds.”
“I’m paying her overtime to be here.”
“It’s the funniest thing.” Fordham shoved him sideways, hopefully out of the line of traffic. “You informed me that you hired Stephanie solely because she was a single mom whose daughter had cystic fibrosis. You said that you intended to (and I quote) promote her to a new position at Limitless or Phantom within four to six weeks. Yet here it is, almost six months later, and she is still employed as your PA... a dead-end job if I’ve ever heard of one.”
“She became more proficient at her job than I anticipated.” Bran’s anger wasn’t helping his heart rate. “And she hasn’t asked to be promoted.”
“You can justify it all you like, but you must admit you’ve become quite dependent on her,” said Fordham. “And if she’s more than a PA to you, perhaps you should treat her as such.”
“I admit I need her.” Bran leaned close to Fordham and lowered his voice. “But I have no special affection for her, if that’s what you’re implying.”
He would never threaten their employer/employee relationship with a declaration of feelings, even if he had them. He had dated enough to know that no woman would ever be attracted to him... not really. As Shakespeare had said, “The eyes are the windows to the soul.” Yet Bran’s prosthetic eyes led to nothing. What woman would fall in love with the horrifying vista of an empty soul?
No one.
The only sage bit of advice his father had ever given him was this; “Take it from me. Marriage is a business transaction. No woman will ever love you for anything other than your money. But that’s okay, because you have the money to buy all the love you want.”
Until six months ago, Branson had often sworn that true love didn’t exist except in fairy tales. But Liam and Carly had certainly proven him wrong. Their selflessness and the strength of their commitment to one another rivaled or maybe even surpassed the bond Branson had forged with Finn, Cole, and Jarrett.
“I’m back.” Stephanie’s warm hand slid into the crook of his arm, somehow stilling the surrounding noise with her touch.
“Thank goodness,” Fordham said, his voice laden with sarcasm. “I’ll leave him to you, Stephanie, with my condolences. Carly’s friend, Nora, has acquired seats for us in Section 5A. I’ll meet you up there, assuming your boss retains the ability to climb stairs.”
Her merry laughter echoed in what felt like a vast foyer. Voices came from every direction, bouncing off the hard walls. Bran’s head swam.
“Are you ready to go?” At Steph’s words, he shifted his focus and breathed in deeply, taking in the sweet smell of her hair. His pulse slowed, the pressure in his chest fading.
Steph kept a running description of their surroundings, with way too many details about the architecture and colors and what people were wearing. But her melodic voice somehow calmed his nerves. He suspected the effect would’ve been the same if she’d read from the Farmer’s Almanac.
Together they navigated down a long, wide corridor, his cane warning him before they started up a ramp. At the top, the sounds spread out, and he sensed emptiness straight ahead.
“We’re inside the auditorium now.” Steph confirmed his perceptions. “We’re going around on my side and up the stairs behind us.”
“I’ll be glad when this is over,” Bran muttered. He knew he was grumpier than usual. But he judged his fear as a weakness and despised himself for it. “You’re awfully cheery about attending a boring graduation ceremony.”
His cane found the first step, and they started up.
“I’m cheery because I’m excited. I’ve never met any of your friends.”
“You haven’t missed much.”
It was no accident that Finn, Cole and Jarrett had never had the opportunity to meet Stephanie. Bran’s bantering buddies had a habit of tormenting him every time he happened to hire a single, female PA. In the past, their teasing comments hadn’t bothered him much. And if he wanted to shut them up, the solution had always been simple... to hire a new PA.
But there was something different about Steph... something that made him determined not to lose her. So he’d simply arranged for her to have vacation time whenever any of the guys had visited the estate.
“I see Fordham,” Steph said. “Our seats are up a little higher.”
Bran had almost balked at the graduation invitation but had reasoned that Liam wasn’t the type to tease him about relationships. Before he’d started dating Carly, Liam’s experiences with women had been exactly the same as Bran’s.
“Here we are.” Steph edged him to the right. “We have the two seats on the end.”
“You’re here!” exclaimed a female voice. His left hand was suddenly clasped between two small ones, and the woman bounced up and down, holding it. “I’m Nora, Carly’s roommate. I’m so excited you came!”
“Nice to meet you.” He extracted his hand from her grip, trying to compose himself enough to look pleasant.
“You guys are the bomb for coming! Get ready to yell your heads off when they announce Carly’s name. Liam’s on stage, so there are only the four of us out here. And I swore to Carly we would be the loudest ones in the auditorium.”
Bran tried not to grimace, Nora’s description of her expectations lining up closely with the worst nightmare he could imagine. He could feel Steph shaking with laughter at his elbow.
As she guided them into their seats, Steph leaned toward him, humor dancing in her tone. “Don’t worry... I’ll be the cheer squad for the three of us. I know you’re not going to yell. And if Fordham started hollering, I might wet my pants.”
A smile fought its way onto Bran’s face.
“For that, I might offer Fordham a bribe.”
Steph laughed, and her hand left his arm. Already missing her touch, his lungs contracted painfully.
It’s not that I’m attracted to her in any way. I’ve simply grown accustomed to using her presence as a calming tactic.
Bran knew that he would never develop a relationship like the one Liam and Carly had together. Liam had informed Bran that he and Carly were in love, a phenomenon that had no part in Bran’s future.
And that’s fine with me. I have my work and my well-ordered life. I don’t need anything else.
