The Boss (5 page)

Later that evening, Erika’s phone rings at home. She doesn’t recognize the number and answers, “Hello.”

“Erika? It’s Abbey.”

“Everything OK? It’s kinda late.”

“I just totaled my car. I’m in the hospital.”

“Oh, my God. Are you hurt bad?”

“Just a little bruised up. They’re getting ready to do x-rays. I was wondering if you could meet me here.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I’ll be right over.”

Erika heads to the hospital fifteen minutes away. She knows this is a call Jake would have taken if he was still in Abbey’s good graces. She arrives at the ER to meet Abbey.

“Thank you for coming, Erika.”

“No problem. You’d have done it for me.”

“I’d like to think I would.”

“A few months ago I might not have thought so. But you’ve changed, Abbey.”

“I know. I don’t like it. Look what’s it’s done for business. Being nice isn’t helping.”

“Yes it is. That’s why we’re all stayin’ around, ya know.”

“I didn’t know that.”

“You want to know why business isn’t what it used to be?”

“If you know, of course I do.”

“It’s Jake.”

“Oh, come on now. He didn’t make that much difference.”

“He did, Abbey. A lot of clients went elsewhere when they found out he wasn’t still here.”

“Why?”

“Why do you think?”

“I really don’t know.”

“You have a reputation of bein’ a hard ass. Jake was the one who softened things up and kept the clients comin’ back.”

“Nonsense.”

“I’m telling you, it’s true.”

“So what do I do?”

“Hire him back. Only I think it might be too late.”

“That’s OK, because I probably wouldn’t do it anyway.”

“He’s happy in his new job.”

“Doing what?”

“He travels the world on a private jet taking photographs for travel sites.”

“Figures he’d get something easy. I bet he’s got a new girl already, too.”

“I didn’t ask, but if he does, I think he would have told me. Why? You still got a thing for Jake?”

“Do I look like I need Jake?”

“Right now, I think so.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. No one needs to be deceived like I was.”

“You want to know something, Abbey?”

“What?”

“That man was head over heals in love with you. You know why he did what he did?”

“To get what he wanted.”

“Because he’s been in love with you for years. Only you wouldn’t give him the time of day. He saw an opportunity, and he went for it. It almost worked.”

“Jake’s been in love with me for years? Come on, I would have seen it.”

“No, you were always too busy being the boss.”

“How is it you know all this?”

“Jake’s my closest friend.”

“Why is it you two never dated, anyway?”

“See, that’s how little you know about me. Bet you didn’t even know I was a lesbian.”

“No, I didn’t know that. But it answers my question.”

“You’re the only one in the office who didn’t know.”

“Am I that out of touch?”

“On personal things, yes.”

“So what am I supposed to do? Go crawling back to Jake to save my company?”

“Of course not. But letting yourself back into his life might at least give you an opportunity to be his friend again. And who knows what might happen? He loved you once. He can love you again if you let him.”

“I’m not so sure I want that.”

“He’s still got you in his heart. But I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before that changes, too.”

“Truth be told, I still care somewhat for him.”

“Then damn it, boss, you better let him know.”

“Maybe you could tell him?”

“No, Abbey. Some things you just gotta do on your own.”

“I have a trip next week. Maybe I’ll call him when I get back.”

“Why don’t you call him while you’re there? Still got his cell number?”

“I think I can find it.”

Abbey lands in Seattle a few days later. Without Jake, she allows more time to get to places on her own. She arrives a full day ahead of time. Somehow she manages to find her way to the Space Needle. It’s something she’s always wanted to see close up.

It’s an hour before sunset, the perfect light for photographs. Abbey pulls out her camera phone from her bag. She fumbles to figure out how to put it in camera mode. Not having done it before, she isn’t having much luck. She turns to the crowd looking for anyone with a camera who might help her. She spots someone twenty feet away who is taking pictures of the Space Needle with a rather large camera. She figures this person will know how to help her. She approaches from behind and waits for him to take the shot. Then she asks for help.

“Excuse me, can you help me with this?”

He turns around to see who is asking.

“Jake? What are you doing here?”

“Abbey. Oh my God. How are you? I was just on my way back from Alaska.”

They reach out to hug each other, but it’s a strictly friendly hug.

“I’m really well, Abbey. How’s it goin’ back home?”

“Better than ever.”

“So I guess you don’t really miss me much?”

“Maybe a little.”

“Not me.”

“Oh really? That hurts, Jake.”

“It’s the truth.”

“You don’t miss me, even a little bit?”

“No, Abbey.”

“Why not?”

“Because I miss you a lot.”

“Really? I mean, you never called.”

“You made your intentions pretty clear the last time I saw you. I figured you were over me for good.”

“I tried. I really did.”

“What happened?”

“I’ll tell you if you take me to dinner at the top of the Space Needle.”

“You’re on, girl!”

Jake grabs his camera bag. Abbey and Jake make their way to the restaurant at the top of the Space Needle. They are seated with a southern view of the downtown cityscape, which in the waning daylight is
 
ablaze with the incandescent glow of the city lights set against the blue shadows of the skyscrapers below.

“Jake, the view is incredible.”

“The cityscape is not bad, either.”

“And the lighting.”

“The golden hour. Would you mind if I squeezed off a few shots as the sun goes down?”

“It’s your work, right?”

“Yes.”

“Go ahead. I’ll be here.”

“Hope so. I’ll only be a minute.”

Jake walks to the window with his camera to grab his shots of the setting sun from several angles. It is the sunlight beaming off the face of Abbey that interests him the most, and he catches several shots of her from across the room before she notices and smiles. He gets the perfect picture of Abbey before sitting back down with her.

“So tell me, what have you been up to? All I know is you’re a jet setting photographer.”

“That’s about the crux of it. It’s a great job. A real dream for me. They treat me first class all the way.”

“Still flying?”

“Mostly as a passenger now, but I get enough left seat time to stay current.”

“You look good, Jake.”

“So do you, Abbey.”

A waiter comes to take their order.

“What’s good, here, Jake? I assume it isn’t your first time here?”

“I was here yesterday.
Dungeness crab is
to die for.”

“Crabs it is, then.”

“Crabby Abbey.”

Abbey and Jake both order the crab.

“Crabs two nights in a row, Jake?”

“Not really. Last night I ate alone.”

“Oooh. Nice way to win me over.”

“You know me. Couldn’t pass that one up.”

“I know you, alright.”

“Abbey. Is that a little tear in your eye?”

“Just the light in my eyes, that’s all.”

“Right. Wanna tell me about it?”

“I don’t know where to begin.”

“How about from when we almost fell in love?”

Abbey wipes her eyes, thinks for a moment, and decides to come clean with Jake.

“I was so mad at you. I mean, when I thought I could have had a night in a warm hotel instead of freezing out on the beach.”

“You see, Abbey, that’s where we differ. That night on the beach was the best part for me. I wouldn’t trade that for anything. All I could think about was the moment I saw that look in your eyes in the light of the pale moon. A look of happiness I had never imagined you could feel. I pictured in my mind for years what that might look like, if it could even be, but I never thought I’d be the one to see it. And there you were, just like me, at the onset of falling in love.”

“Oh, Jake. You assume way too much.”

“We’re here, aren’t we? I assume your not mad anymore?”

“No, Jake. I’m not mad anymore.”

“I know. I can see it. I can see a huge change in you, Abbey.”

“At the end of the day, I’ll always be the bitchy old boss to you, though, won’t I?”

“Maybe last month. Not so much now. You’re just the girl I’ve dreamed of falling in love with for the last six years.”

“Six years?”

“In my mind, yes. That’s why it’s seems so easy for me. I lived it in my head long before it happened.”

“If I had only known.”

“I tried to find the right moment. But it just took six years.”

“When did you know?”

“When the engine sputtered.”

“Really?”

“The thought that went through my head first was to keep you from seeing the island. I tilted the plane so you couldn’t see it. I wanted you to think I was the only one on the island that night. I wanted to be the one who took care of you. I knew I’d never get a better opportunity than that.”

“You weren’t concerned about our safety? Or crashing and not living through it?”

“No.”

“Why not? I was.”

“I trained for this many times during flight school. I knew what to expect. The mechanics of landing the plane came easy. The hard part was dealing with you.”

“So you knew you were going to make your big conquest?”

“Believe it or not, that was actually the last thought on my mind. At least for that night. All I expected was to soften you up a bit in hopes you’d see I could actually be more than just your employee. I hoped we’d leave as friends, and things would blossom from there.”

“No hopes of our romantic interlude?”

“The way you were back then? Not a prayer. That was something I didn’t predict would ever happen until years later, if ever. No, girl. My mission that night wasn’t your body. It was your heart.”

“Lucky you, then. You succeeded at both. Just not in the time frame you predicted.”

“That’s OK. I’m in no rush.”

“I wish I knew you like this six years ago.”

“And I wish it was seven.”

“You once told me you’d never hurt me.”

“I remember.”

“Still feel that way?”

“More than ever.”

“So if I decided, you know, I mean, is there anyone else now?”

“To be honest, there were a few girls I took out, yes. Nothing happened. I knew then you had my heart, because being with them, all I could think about was what we started that night on the beach. And nothing with any of them could ever come close to the image of you in the moonlit hut we made together. So I decided I would wait to figure out where your heart was before moving forward. I’m glad I waited.”

“Did you know I’d be in Seattle”?

“No clue. I’m on a tour of the west coast from Alaska to California. This is my midway point.”

“Erika didn’t tell you I’d be here?”

“No, she didn’t.”

“What did she say?”

“That you missed me.”

“I never told her that.”

“I know. She saw it herself and knew. I figured you would have thought Erika and I would have been with each other.”

“I would have, until she told me why not.”

“That was the only reason. She’s a great friend in every way. I hope you can see that.”

“I do. I’m glad you have a friend like her.”

“She can be a friend like that to you, if you’d let her.”

“One thing at a time, Jake.”

“That’s fair. I imagine you’re already a little easier on everyone at work.”

“She noticed that, too.”

“I’m sure everyone did.”

“You think so?”

“I do. When you make a change this big, Abbey, people notice.”

“Would you ever want to come back? To the office, I mean?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“New job that good?”

“It is. But that’s not why.”

“Why not, then?”

“Because of tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“What we have right now, this moment. I would never want to jeopardize this by coming back to work for you. It wouldn’t be worth the loss if you got mad at me again for somethin’ stupid like coming in at noon or squirtin’ someone in the ass with water.”

“I understand. But someday I wish you’d consider it.”

“Now if you made me an equal partner -”

“- Oh, here it comes. I knew it.”

“Abbey, I’m in love with you. Head over heels in love.”

“God, Jake. I don’t know if I can process all this in one night.”

“You don’t have to, Abbey. We have a lifetime for you to catch up.”

“How can you feel this way so fast?”

“I already know what I want. I just have to wait until the day you do.”

“I don’t know when that day might be.”

“Whenever it is, Abbey, it is. I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

“You’re really willing to wait?”

“Long as I know you’re headed in this direction, yes. All I ask is if you don’t want this, tell me. I’ll understand.”

“What did I ever do to deserve this?”

“See, that’s the thing. It isn’t what you did or didn’t do. It’s who you are at the core of your heart. I can see it in your eyes, and that’s what makes it worth waiting for.”

“My being bossy for seven years, that didn’t ruin it?”

“Just slowed it down, Abbey, that’s all. Believe me, if that’s all I thought you were, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

“What do you say we have those crabs now. Here they come.”

“It’s about time. This has to be the slowest service I’ve seen anywhere.”

Abbey and Jake enjoy their meal together, sharing casual conversation and laughs like old friends. The meal is finished, and Jake picks up the tab. They leave the restaurant and head down to the lobby together.

“What’s the rest of your evening look like, Jake?”

“Dark with a chance of daylight in the morning.”

“OK, let me rephrase that. What are you going to be doing in the next few hours?”

“Going back to my room, looking over the pictures I shot and emailing the best ones back to the office servers.”

“Ohhh, sounds exciting. Can I watch?”

“That would mean you’d have to come to my room. You sure you wanna do that?”

“To witness you working, yes.”

“Don’t get too excited. This doesn’t take all that much time, really.”

“Is this the way you worked for me when I wasn’t watching you?”

“I worked harder for you. I wanted to impress you so you’d like me.”

“Did it work?”

“No. That’s why I had to wait six years for the Bimini adventure.”

“So let’s go take a look at those great shots of yours.”

Abbey follows Jake to his hotel room a few blocks away. He’s staying in a four star hotel, a far cry from the accommodations he was forced to endure when Abbey was footing the bill.

“This is quite a suite for a photographer.”

“See, that’s the thing. You see me as a photographer. The company sees me as a revenue producer. It isn’t just pictures. Anyone could do that. It’s waiting for the right lighting that shows the viewer the same old places in a brand new look they won’t see anywhere else.”

“How is it you can do this?”

“That’s my trade secret, Abbey. If I revealed that, then I couldn’t have the job I have because anyone could do it. Think Ansel Adams. He wasn’t just a photographer, even though all he did to the casual observer was take pictures with a camera. What I do sells dreams to thousands of job weary people looking for an escape to some place they don’t see in the everyday lives they live.”