He leaned forward and shuffled through the papers. Cathy watched him. The light-colored shirt he wore emphasized his dark good looks. She’d been around him so much, she barely noticed the scars on this face. As always he took her breath away.
Suddenly he straightened and stared at her. “I never thought to ask. Are you familiar with computers?”
She sent up a prayer of thanks for her lone indulgent purchase a little over a year ago. “Yes, I had a laptop. It was damaged in the fire. Eddie’s getting it repaired for me.” She moved to the desk and sat down. After feeling around on the front of the machine, she found the On switch and pressed it. The machine hummed to life.
“Good,” Stone said. “After you finish the letters, I’d like you to organize some information for me.” He pointed to a stack of folders on the floor next to her desk and grimaced. “I know, it’s a mess. I’ve been meaning to get to them for the past couple of months and I haven’t found the time. I’d like you to design a spreadsheet. One file for each client. I don’t have any idea on the best way to sort the information, so I’ll leave that up to you.”
He looked around. “I guess that’s everything. Oh, there’s a small service room across the hall. Ula keeps the refrigerator stocked with snacks and soda. There’s coffee and mugs. Let her know if you want anything else.”
“Thanks, I will.”
He gave her another smile. “Then I’ll leave you to it.”
With that, he was gone.
Cathy stared after him until he’d closed the door between their two offices, then she leaned back in her chair and covered her face with her hands. Now what? She didn’t have the first idea about where to start. The letters would be easy. When she’d first bought her laptop, the computer store had offered a couple of hours of free instruction so she could learn how to use different software programs. But a spreadsheet? She remembered a little about what the instructor had showed her on those, but not enough to be proficient.
“Start with what you know,” she told herself. “Try or leave. There’s no middle ground.”
She straightened in her chair. “Right,” she said. “I’ll do my best. No one can ask for more.”
She moved the mouse until the arrow pointed toward “Programs,” then she clicked. She read the display and was pleased when she realized the word-processing program was the one she was familiar with.
It took her an hour to write the letters and print them out. Fifteen minutes of searching yielded manuals for the various programs along with the physical equipment. She read the section on printing out envelopes, then took care of that. After a quick break for coffee, during which she found that Ula had left her fresh fruit and nonfat yogurt, she returned to her office and tackled the pile of folders on the floor.
The task was less daunting than she’d first thought. After sorting them by type of client—individuals versus corporate—and reading through Stone’s notes, she designed a simple spreadsheet to track the requested information. She was hard at work on entering data on the third account when their common door opened and he walked into her office.
“You look busy,” he said.
“I’m trying.” She pointed to the neat pile of letters on the corner of her desk. “I didn’t know if you wanted me to bring those in to you or wait for you to ask for them. I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“Good idea.” The praise was absentminded as he leafed through the letters. “Nice work. Very clean style.”
His praise made her glow.
He walked around the desk and peered over her shoulder. “What did you decide about these accounts? Hmm.” He moved the mouse and clicked to expose more of the spreadsheet.
Cathy waited, her throat tight, her stomach doing its usual line dance under her ribs. This wasn’t all about Stone’s close proximity, although she could feel the warmth of his body as his shoulder pressed against her arm. It was also because she wanted him to be pleased with her work.
“I wouldn’t have thought of sorting them this way,” he said as he straightened. “I like your way better. It’s simple and to the point. I’ll have everything I need without flipping through pages. Well done.”
She couldn’t help smiling. “Thanks.” She fingered the pile of folders left. “I should have these finished by the end of the day.”
He waved aside her comment. “You can get to them in the morning. This afternoon you have a couple of notebooks to work through. Human resources insists that all new employees complete an orientation. There might even be a video. To be honest, I can’t remember. Then there’s the piles of paperwork for the government and our records, not to mention picking the health-insurance package you want.”
“Just like a real job,” she teased.
“Exactly.” He moved around to the single chair opposite hers and sat. “Speaking of real jobs, how did your former employer take the news of your resignation?”
“Eddie wasn’t happy, but he understood. He said if I ever changed my mind to let him know.”
“I hope you’re not considering going back.”
“Not really,” she said. Not in a million years, she told herself. Her morning’s work had shown her she was capable, at least with the easy stuff. She would grow into the rest of it.
Ula knocked on the adjoining doors. “I’ve brought lunch. Do you want to eat in the conference room?”
Cathy glanced down at her watch and gasped. She would have sworn she’d been working for two hours at most, but it was already nearly one o’clock. The time had flown. At the answering service, every hour had been an eternity, except for the time she’d spent talking to Stone.
