Saved by Her Boss

Chapter One

Chapter One

Chase

Our dream of Whispering Waves Electric Company was finally coming to fruition. With the building done, it was time to get to work, innovating new ideas and products to harness the energy that the waves of the Gulf of Mexico had to offer.

That meant the majority of my time would be spent at work. With two German Shepherds at home and all the chores that came along with owning a home with pets, I would need someone to help out with my personal responsibilities.

My ad in the Brownsville Newspaper for an experienced personal assistant had been answered by no less than ten candidates. My day was full of nothing but interviews. I needed to hire someone that day — I couldn’t take another day away from the real work I needed to get doing.

With ten people vying for the job, I was sure that I would find someone I meshed with. We had to rub along well together since a perk of the job was living in my guest cottage — with the dogs, I needed someone to be at home with them most of the time, or they would get destructive.

Doing the interviews in my office at work, I pressed the button on the intercom to let my assistant know I was ready for the first applicant. “David, you can send someone in now.”

“First up is Eugene Brady, boss-man,” he let me know. “If you’ll check out your email, I’ve scanned and uploaded his resume and sent it to you so you can have it open on your desktop.”

“Smart thinking, amigo.” David and I had gone to school together. We hadn’t been the best of friends back then, but I knew he had an awesome work ethic, so he was an easy hire as my business assistant. “Send him in.”

Moments later, the door to my office opened, and in came a very tall, very thin man. The first thing I noticed was the lack of a smile on his face. He extended his hand as I stood up behind my desk. “Eugene Brady, Mr. Duran. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Shaking his hand, I nodded. “It’s a pleasure to meet you too, Eugene. No need for the mister stuff. Just call me Chase.”

He took the seat on the other side of my desk as I took mine again. “I prefer to keep things professional, if you don’t mind. You may call me Mr. Brady, Mr. Duran.”

Nope, this guy’s not going to make the cut.

I finished three more interviews before lunch and was beginning to worry. None of them were meshing with me as I had envisaged. One was obviously lazy as she showed up to the interview wearing house shoes. She said she liked to keep it real and that she was into being comfortable at all times. Another was super bossy, starting the interview with how he was going to change my life. Since I didn’t need my life changed, I saw no need to hire him for the job either.

After an hour lunch break, I walked into the reception area of my office to find six more people waiting for their interview. “Hello, everyone. I’ll try to make the interviews quick, so you don’t have to sit here all day.” I pointed at the mini-fridge. “Feel free to grab yourselves something to drink while you wait.” I pointed to the door on the left side of the room. “And feel free to use the restroom over there if you need.”

Out of the six people, four were men, and two were women. My eyes landed on one of them, and when she smiled at me, I lost my train of thought. “And you are?”

She looked at everyone else in the room before asking, “Me?”

Nodding, I let her know that I was talking to her. “Yes, you.”

“Oh, I’m nobody. I mean, I am somebody, but you wouldn’t know me. I’m new in town, is what I’m trying to say.” She was clearly flustered by my simple question, and I quickly noticed that she was the youngest of the group.

Deciding not to embarrass her any further, I turned to go to my office. “David, give me five minutes before you send one of them in.”

“Got it, boss.”

I sat down at my desk, then pulled up the email with the next person’s information. The resume was stellar. Ten years of military service. Three years of working in the hospitality industry. And even military dog training. Dawn Rutherford seemed like a dream come true.

I wonder if that’s the girl I noticed.

A knock came to the door, and it opened slowly as a woman — not my woman, but an older woman — asked, “Are you ready to see me, Mr. Duran?” This woman was much older than my woman.

Listen to me, calling her my woman. Good Lord.

Standing, I gestured to the seat on the other side of my desk. “Of course, Dawn. And please, call me Chase.”

“Chase it is then.” She took the seat.

The first thing I noticed was how professionally she was dressed. Starched white button-down shirt tucked into black slacks, and sensible black loafers too. Her short bob haircut hung to her chin, the blonde color slightly subdued as a hint of grey seemed to be coming in. I had to admit that she was the first great candidate I’d interviewed. “So, tell me why you think you would make a great personal assistant for me, Dawn.”

“When I read about the two dogs that would need taken care of, I knew I was the perfect fit for this job. I enjoy working with dogs. And I would love the chance to train them for you.”

“They have a trainer who comes over a couple of times a month to work with them.”

“That’s great. I can see what he does with them and keep up his training. Unless you find that mine is even better than his. I have trained dogs for the military, primarily teaching them to sniff out bombs.”

“Well, I don’t think I’ll need them to do that,” I said with a laugh. “But having someone to back up what my trainer does would be helpful.”

“If you give me the job, you can expect all your clothes to be starched and ironed as well. I love to do laundry,” she let me know. “I’ll even starch your skivvies.”

I wasn’t a fan of stiff clothing, and I wasn’t sure what skivvies were. “Skivvies?”

“Underwear,” she said with a wink. “I’ll do your bed linens as well. I run a tight ship.”

“I’ve got a housekeeper who takes care of the house and the bedding. I wouldn’t expect you to do my laundry either. I drop that off once a week at the dry cleaners’ so that Flo can fluff and fold it for me. I’ve never been into starched clothing anyway. But thanks for offering.”

“You’ll get used to it,” she assured me. “It really makes a person pop. And with me as your personal assistant, you will pop. I’ll make sure of it.”

Not good at following orders. So, she’s not so great for this job after all.

More hours went by, filled with people I just could not imagine being so engrained in my life. And then the tenth interview came. The youngest of them all, the cute dark-haired young woman with piercing blue eyes I’d noticed earlier. “I’m Arabella Loren,” she introduced herself shyly before taking a seat.

“And I am Chase Duran. Call me Chase, Arabella. I have to tell you, that is a beautiful name. Were you named after someone in your family? A grandmother, maybe?”

“No, nothing like that.” She smiled sweetly and looked around my office. “This is nice.”

“Thank you.” I opened the email on her that David had sent me and found a resume with nothing more than what she’d accomplished in high school. “So, Arabella, you don’t have to answer this question, but I would like to know how old you are.” There was no date for her high school graduation. If it had been recent, then I could understand her lack of employment.

“I’m twenty-three. How old are you?”

“Thirty-five,” I answered, finding it odd that she would ask that of me. But I found it oddly charming. “You have no experience in anything, Arabella.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “I don’t have any experience at all. But I am a fast learner. And I follow instructions well. I follow them well, too. And I need a job, so I’ll do anything.”

“Did you read the whole ad?”

“Yes. You have two dogs and need someone to help you with personal tasks and chores. I think I can do that.” She didn’t look very secure about that, though.

“Do you like dogs?”

Shrugging her narrow shoulders, she c****d one perfectly arched eyebrow. “I’ve never been around any. But I’m not afraid of them. I’ve seen videos of dogs, and I think they’re smart and most of them are cute too.”

“Mine are as smart as they come. They’re on the large side, though. Do you know what a German Shepherd is?” I wasn’t sure she would like my dogs. And whoever got the job had to love them.

She nodded her head. “I don’t know much about dog breeds, but I looked up some pictures to be sure. They look friendly.” She smiled shyly. “Well, except the pictures I saw of them when they’re defending someone. They look fierce then. But I think that as long as you’re nice to them, they will be nice to you.”

“So, you don’t feel that you would be afraid?”

Shaking her head, she laughed. The sound was angelic. “Heaven’s no.”

“The tasks I would need you to do aren’t hard at all. You would do the grocery shopping, and you would take my dogs to their veterinarian appointments from time to time. You would do things like dropping off and picking up my laundry. I did want my assistant to make dinner a few times a week for me as well. Do you know how to cook?” If she couldn’t cook, it wasn’t a deal-breaker. I could pick up dinners if I had to.

“I make excellent Italian food.”

“Can you clean up after yourself?” The maid only came once a week. I didn’t want dishes piling up a week at a time.

“I will clean up after myself. I won’t be of any hassle to you. I promise you that. I will do the things you want, as you want them, without complaining.”

She seemed more than ready and willing to accommodate me. But she also was young, and that meant she might be interested in going out to party. I couldn’t hire someone who was going out in the town every night. I needed someone to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed all day long.

“Arabella, it’s been my experience that people your age tend to go out a lot. So, I’m not sure you would be the best choice for this job. It requires someone who can be attentive at all times of the day. No sleeping in after a long night out. No long naps to make up for the lack of sleep from a night of partying. Hangovers and chores don’t go well together, is what I’m getting at.”

She relaxed in the chair, her teal dress wrinkling at her midsection. “Oh.” Lifting her head, she said, “Well, I don’t do that sort of thing. I don’t know anyone here. I just moved here a couple of weeks ago.”

“Oh?” I exclaimed. “Where did you move from?”

Immediately, her eyes left mine as she looked to one side. It seemed as if she were trying to think a bit too hard about her answer, which was definitely strange. “The east coast area.”

“Like New York?” I asked, trying to narrow it down a bit.

Shaking her head, she said, “No. Not New York. More like, um, Maine.”

“So, you come from Maine?”

“Not exactly.”