Her Soul

Chapter 13 Gregg

Call me Gregg, really? That was the best he could do. Why was he trying? She was his employee, she was smart, clearly she was funny, if the laughing from the front office was any indication he had overheard when he was walking from a conference room to his office, and she was very beautiful. Gregg stopped himself, she is an employee and she needed help. That was his job, to take care of his employees. This is no different than anyone else.

Gregg smirked inwardly. You wouldn’t have Cindy at your place if something like this happened to her. Get over yourself. She is attractive, and you like to look at her.

“Mr. Hale, um, Gregg, I couldn’t possibly. I am sure your girlfriend wouldn’t appreciate me,”

Gregg almost barked a laugh, “Excuse me? I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I just thought, I mean, I overheard a conversation this afternoon, I thought you were on the phone with your girlfriend.”

“This afternoon?” Gregg thought back and then smiled, “You mean the phone call at the end of the day? That was my niece.” Gregg laughed again. “She is way more possessive than any girlfriend has ever been.”

Misty blushed. God, why was she so pretty when she blushed? “Sorry. I wasn’t trying to listen, I must not have shut the door all the way earlier, so the door was slightly open, and I could hear what you were saying on the phone when I walked back to wait next to the elevator.”

“Well, when I see her for our tea party, I will make sure she knows that my assistant called it a date. She will love that.” Gregg grinned at her.

Misty blushed again. At least she wasn’t losing it again.

“Ok Misty, I should have an extra T-shirt and sweats that you can use for tonight. Let’s get to my place. I am almost beat.”

Without another word, Gregg put the car in drive and started navigating to his house. He knew she was internalizing everything at this point, but he wanted to give her time to process. She deserved that much. He started planning his next steps. He could get her into a different apartment building until the unit they were supposed to look at today was ready.

That reminded him, he needed to sit down with his primary property manager and have them review the list of available units and make sure that all the building managers had a firm grasp of what units were available, and when any would be vacant. That situation was a little embarrassing to say the least.

By the time they pulled into his driveway, Misty looked like she had run a marathon. Her eyes were tired, her hair had started to fall from the tight bun she had kept it in, and her lips were full from chewing on them. Gregg had only been around her for a few days, but he had noticed how she tended to chew on her lips when she was trying to figure out a problem.

He parked the car and turned it off. He looked over at her before he got out of the car. “Hey, do me a favor, send your friend your location. Tell her that there was a fire, but you are OK, and you are staying here for the night. I know you don’t know me, and I want you to feel safe.”

Misty looked at him like he had grown a second head, then she blinked and realization crossed her face, “Right, sorry, I didn’t think about that.”

When Misty finished the text message, she placed her phone in her bag. When she went to grab the stack of folders from the back seat, Gregg put his hand on her arm, “There is no need for that tonight. You have had a long day and a rough evening, you don’t have to do that tonight.”

“I will need to get this done before tomorrow afternoon. You will need these for your one o’clock meeting.”

“I promise, it can keep for a day. You look exhausted. Let’s go in. I personally want some ice cream.”

He looked at her and waited for her to open her door and get out. She rolled her eyes, and grabbed her bag.

He watched her get out of the car. In the three days he had known her, he started to see her. She wasn’t one of the girls that just wanted a job to find a husband. He saw her putting in the hours. He saw the emails she sent back and forth with people to make the deals easier for him. He even overheard her on the phone holding her own when someone tried to bully her earlier today. He was impressed. This was her first job out of school, and he saw her working her ass off just to get her foot in the door. Maybe she would last longer than he thought.

Gregg got out and opened the door from the garage. She was almost floating like she wasn’t there. “Hey, Misty, are you OK?”

“Oh, sorry Mr.Hal, er um, Gregg. Thank you for doing this. I will get in touch with Katie tomorrow and stay with her till I can get another place.”

“It isn’t a problem at all, clearly I have the room,” Gregg smiled as he opened the door. “Now, let’s get that ice cream. I hope you like chocolate chip cookie dough.”