The Job Offer (21 page)

Looking at the clock, he saw that it was
much later than he thought and that he only had one hour to check out before he
had to leave for the airport.  That would not give him much time to find Anne.  He
would try calling her first.  Rolling out of bed, he sat up and dialed the
front desk.  He did not know the number of Anne's parents' house and asked the
front desk clerk.  The man connected him directly, but the phone rang until the
answering service picked up.  He would try Anne's cell phone, he decided, and
went into the sitting room to check his computer for her resume.  Then he saw
the necklace on the table sitting next to his laptop and groaned in pain.  It
was worse than he thought.  She was going to cut him out of her life entirely
if he did not act soon.  He needed to apologize this morning while he still had
a chance.  She would shut him out forever, otherwise.  But she did not answer
her cell phone when he called, and he left a message asking her to call him.  That
would not be enough.  He needed to see her in person.

After quickly showering and haphazardly
throwing his clothing and bathroom kit into his suitcase, he went to the lobby
to check out.  Seeing his family in the dining room, he went inside to see if
he could spot Anne.  She wasn't there.  He did not want to waste time talking
to anyone else and did not go over to his family's table even though they waved
him over.  Anne had to be around somewhere.  He decided the best place to start
looking was at her parents' house.  He knocked several times on their door but
no one answered, and he eventually left.  Then he went down to the dock, but
did not see her.  He even checked the log bench further down the shore. 
Knowing he was running out of time, he went back to the inn’s main building.

He ran into Jim coming out of the office
door when he walked into the main building through the back way.  Stopping him,
Ben asked Jim if he knew where Anne was.

"I wish I could help you, Ben, but
I thought she was with you."

"No.  Is she at your house?"

"No, she's not there.  At least she
wasn’t when we got up."  Ben looked at the time and swore under his
breath.

"Look, Jim, I have to leave.  My
flight back to Seattle will be leaving soon, but I need to talk to Anne.  Can
you tell her to call me?"  He pulled a business card from his wallet and
wrote his personal cell phone number on the back with a pen he saw sitting by
the fax machine.

"I'll give her the card, Ben."

"Thanks, Jim."  Ben walked
back to the lobby, disappointed that he would not see Anne before he left.  He
would feel much better if he could talk to her.  His family came out of the
dining room and walked outside onto the veranda.  The car that would take them
back to the airport had arrived, and the driver was packing their luggage in
the trunk.  After looking around one last time inside of the inn, Ben finally went
to the veranda and climbed into the vehicle.  She would call him, and when she
did he would tell her that he loved her and beg for forgiveness, if necessary.

*  *  *  *  *

Anne returned to the inn late that
afternoon after a long day on the water kayaking.  The sky was overcast and she
could feel rain in the air.  Fitting, she thought.  She would not have been
able to stay at the inn and watch Ben leave, and she also did not want to face
her parents, so she left early that morning.  She and Ben said their goodbyes
the night before and a whole lot more.  She was not up to seeing his derision
today when he looked at her.  Over the course of the day she went through every
minute of their time together, and her heart ached with pain.  She honestly had
had no idea that he was Benjamin Stanford, and it hurt her tremendously that he
accused her of using him to get a job with his company.  Then she went and fell
in love with the man she thought he was, the grown boy from her youth.  That
should teach her to follow her heart.  Whenever she overrode her logic, she
always got into trouble.

She walked into her parents' empty house
and went to the kitchen for a bottle of water.  She had not eaten anything
since last night and only had a bottle of water during the whole day.  She was
dehydrated, hungry, and had a terrible headache from caffeine withdrawal.  Deciding
to make herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, she went to the counter by
the silverware drawer and saw a business card with the Stanford Enterprise logo
on it sitting on the counter.  Looking at the front, she saw Ben's, make that
Benjamin Stanford's, contact information at the office printed in neat
lettering.

He probably stopped by wanting to rake
her over the coals again or threaten her with legal action if she declined the
job now that the contract was signed.  That’s probably what his phone message
was about earlier.  She did not want to answer it and turned her phone off when
she saw that it was him.  She was just not in the mood to deal with what he
would throw at her next, and knowing that when she finally saw him again, it
would be at a distance as boss and employee, she picked up the card and threw
it in the garbage.  If he wanted to talk to her, he had her cell phone number.

"Put that box over there,
please."  Anne was in her new rental home, the blue Cape Cod down the
block from Carla and Gary, directing the movers when she saw Carla and Gary
show up.  She smiled as much as she could these days, which was not much since
she left the inn two weeks ago, and went to welcome them.

"You’re finally here," Carla
said as she gave Anne a hug.  She looked closely at Anne’s face noticing the
signs of sleepless nights and stress.  "Are you ok, Anne?"

"I’m fine, Carla.  Just a little
tired is all.  It was a long trip and a stressful move.  I should have just
hired the movers to do everything instead of just moving my boxes and furniture
here.  Come in."

"That’s what you said two weeks ago,
Anne.  The being tired part.  You are happy about moving back, aren’t
you?"  Carla looked at Anne closely then at Gary who was frowning at Anne
as well.

"Of course I’m happy to be back. 
I’m thrilled.  Now stop asking questions and help me unpack."  Anne led
Carla to the kitchen where Anne’s mother was busy working, and then went back
to Gary in the entryway to give him instructions about what to do.

There really was not that much to do. 
The movers brought everything in.  She and Gary just needed to set up her bed
and arrange the furniture pieces where she wanted them.  Anne would take care
of hanging up her clothes, hanging pictures, and a bunch of other little things
she needed to do to set the house in order.  She just wished that she had more
energy.  The breakup hit her hard, and that, combined with moving clear across
the country, exhausted her.  She also knew she was not eating right and her
clothing was beginning to hang on her frame.

"Anne, the kitchen is set up, now. 
Gary and I bought some steaks for all of us.  You and your mom come on up to
our house and relax now.  What the two of you need is to sit down and
relax."  Carla came out of the kitchen with Anne’s mother on her heals. 
Both women looked a little dusty from washing down the cabinets and floors
before putting items away.  "We figured that since you are just moving in
that you would not have had the time to pick up any groceries.  And I really
cannot stomach fast food right now, so no one is making a food run.  Plus it’s
the Fourth.  With it being the Fourth, we need to barbeque.  Anything else
would be un-American."

"Well, young lady..." Anne’s
mother said to Carla with a thankful smile, "...I for one appreciate
that.  Fast food is all we’ve eaten for several days straight, and some of your
home cooking would be nice.  Don’t you agree, Anne?"

"Yes.  Thanks, Carla.  Thanks,
Gary.  Mom and I will be up in a few minutes.  Thanks for all of your help
today."  Anne gave a tired smile that did not reach her eyes.  Carla
looked at her closely again with a worried frown on her face.  She did not say
anything, though, but told them to come on up in a few minutes to relax and
eat.  Then Carla and Gary left, leaving Anne and her mother alone.

"Ok, Young Lady.  Are you going to
tell me what happened between you and Ben?  This just isn’t like you, Anne. 
You are not the brooding type, and that is all you’ve done on the entire trip
west.  You are also not eating.  I’m worried about you, Sweetheart."

"There’s nothing to tell, Mom.  We
broke up.  That’s all, and I’m ok with it."  Anne knew that her mother was
worried about her, but there really wasn’t anything to worry about.  Anne’s
broken heart would eventually heal, and things in her life would settle down.  People
get their hearts broken all of the time.  She just wished that she would not
have to see Ben in a few weeks.  The thought of that made her sick to her
stomach.  He had not even called.  Not once.  There was no apology, even.  She
forgot about his cryptic call to her cell phone on that Sunday morning.  He
really did believe those things he said about her.  Her hurt pride still
suffered from that, but even more, her heart hurt and she missed him terribly. 
How can she miss him after they were only together for a couple of days?

"Anne?  You’re brooding again. 
Have you tried calling him?"

"No.  He would not want me to call
him.  He’s in Asia right now anyway.  Mom, I really do not want to talk about
Ben.  And please do not say anything to Carla.  She’ll just keep at me, and I
really don’t want to discuss him."  She knew she sounded like she was
pleading, but she did not care.  She just was not ready to talk yet.

"Ok, Sweetheart.  I won’t say
anything.  But if you ever want to talk, Anne, just call me.  I know what it is
like to have a broken heart."

"Ok, Mom.  Let’s go get something
to eat.  We have a long drive ahead of us if we plan on getting you back to the
inn before tomorrow."

"I know, Anne.  With the holiday
and a wedding on Saturday, there is no good time to be away from the inn during
the summer.  You’ll spend the night with us, tonight.  Are you planning on
staying through Saturday?"

"No, I’ll come back tomorrow and
finish setting the house up.  Thanks for coming out, Mom.  I love you."

"I love you, too, Anne.  Let’s get
cleaned up and go get some food.  I’m starving."  They both used the
bathroom to wash the dust and grime from the trip and unpacking from their
faces and hands.  Then after locking up the house, they walked up the street to
Carla and Gary’s house for a Fourth of July barbeque.  After they ate, they
once again climbed into Anne’s SUV hybrid and took off north on Interstate 5
until they reached the inn well after dark.

Anne waited the required time before she
checked the second stick.  The results were the same as the first time.  She
sat down heavily and looked out the window at the rainy Seattle day.  She felt
numb inside.  Fitting that it would be raining on today of all days, she
thought, because it mirrored her life.  Out the window, she could see the gas
barbecue grill her landlord decided to leave on the deck.  It was still covered
with the grill cover.  She had not used it once since she arrived.  She had
left her bicycle on the deck last night after her ride, too tired to put it
away in the garage.  She watched as the rain water dripped from the frame.  She
sat there until the numbness began to start to wear off.  Then she put her hand
on her belly and looked down feeling both a mixture of awe and panic.  What was
she going to do, now?

She was pregnant.

Two tests both showing the same results
could not be wrong.  She took several deep breaths to calm herself and looked
at herself in the mirror.  She did not look any different, but everything about
her was going to be different from now on.  Well, sitting here won't make any
difference on her current state, she thought, and she stood back up to go into
her bedroom to dress for work.  A wave of morning sickness struck her, and she
fought it down until she could reach her bedside.  There she grabbed a saltine
cracker and ate it to settle her stomach.  It did not work and she ran back
into the bathroom and lost her meager breakfast.  Once she emptied her stomach,
she felt better and stood to brush her teeth again.  That was the first time she
actually vomited.  Usually eating something or munching on crackers helped stem
the nausea.

She was beginning the fourth week of working
at Stanford Enterprises today and her seventh week of being late with her
monthly flow.  When she did not get her period when she was due, she thought it
was just the stress of her breakup with Ben, the move, and starting a new job
that was causing the delay.  But they were not the reason she was late, and she
finally stopped at the pharmacy last night because she had to be sure.  Now she
was sure that it wasn’t just stress causing her symptoms.

It was easy to see why she was at first
confused.  After all, there was a tremendous amount of stress in her life right
now.  She moved, started a new job, and every single day she tried to work
herself to exhaustion so that she could sleep at night and forget that she
loved Ben and that he did not love her in return.  It did not work.

It was not difficult to stay busy during
the day, though.  She was thrown into the deep end at work once her first week
was completed, and she loved it.  Dr. Scott Rudolph, her new boss, put her in
charge of a team to begin searching for a new compound solution for the problem
of counteracting crude oil in marine water.  They hoped to create a natural
solution to quicken the sea water’s natural ability to absorb oil so that when
future spills happened, the sea would recover faster.  The key was in also not
making something that would ultimately hurt the very thing they were trying to
save.  She found the work, so far, to be challenging, and she liked her
coworkers.