I'm that yahoo's baby brother and CFO of EVC."
Patrick McKinley, the taller and more attractive brother, offers his hand and offers me a warm smile that seems genuine. It's clear he's spent much of his life apologizing for his big brother.
"Nice to meet you, Mr. McKinley."
"Please, dear, call me Patrick. No need for formalities. We're all on the same team here."
"Thank you, sir. I'm excited to contribute to the team, and I hope I can be even half as competent as Evelyn. She's leaving me some pretty big shoes to fill."
"Oh, you're doing great, Olivia. You're going to breathe a breath of fresh air into this place," Evelyn says with a pat to my shoulder.
"I'm sure you'll do a great job. Evelyn doesn't give her approval to just anyone. Besides, your new boss was fortunate enough to get the family genes containing manners and common decency. At least you met my brother on a good day." He winks, letting me in on his joke. "Nice to meet you and welcome to EVC. I better go make sure he hasn't brought his son to taking the drink already. It's only eleven a.m. after all. We don't want him pissed before noon." He starts down the hall but yells over his shoulder. "But who would blame him when he's been left alone with Daniel for at least two minutes. That'd drive anyone to drink!"
He chuckles to himself before he joins his brother and apparently his nephew, in the lion’s den.
"Well, you've met the McKinley brothers." Evelyn smiles warmly.
"I sure have," I concur, wanting to ask why I didn't know that he was here. That bit of information gave me more of a scare than his cranky father did by a mile. I feel overtaken by dread, and I'm suddenly fidgety and anxious.
"You'll get used to Daniel, and luckily Patrick is usually there to balance him out. Never take his mood personally and you'll be fine. Patrick was right, though. Ronan takes after his uncle and not his father. I couldn't have been happier working for him, and if I didn't dream of traveling and spending time with my grandchildren, I may just stay forever. Now, where were we?"
Thirty minutes later, the elder brother passes by us wordlessly and walks out the tall glass doors that lead to the bank of elevators in the lobby. I think I prefer him walking by silently rather than him feeling the need to stop and talk. I have a feeling silence is golden when it comes to the elder McKinley brother.
Another ten minutes pass before the friendlier of the two is walking past the front desk.
"Olivia, hang in there and take good care of that nephew of mine."
Why does his request have a completely different connotation in my head than what am I sure he means?
"I'll do my best, sir."
Ugh...my mind is rapidly thinking of the many different ways I could take care of him.
Stop it, you perv! You don't even like the arrogant jerk!
He continues to the glass doors, and as he pushes the doors open, he pauses to shout in our direction. "Evelyn, don't you go and retire on us without a proper goodbye. You two ladies have a grand day."
As he walks out, a cute red-haired delivery guy from Tommy's Joynt, if his shirt doesn't lie, is here with a large bag of food.
"Hey, you're new here." The ginger wags his eyebrows and looks me up and down. "The name’s Aaron, and yours?"
Grabbing the clipboard from him, she doesn’t even have to look at the paper she’s signing and hands it back to him a second later. "Aaron, put your tongue back in your mouth and leave poor Olivia alone. Olivia, this is Aaron, and he works down at Tommy's Joynt, Ronan's favorite deli. He can be a handful, so we just have to do our best to keep him in line, don't we Aaron."
"Evelyn, this lovely little lass can keep me in line anytime she likes."
"Great first impression, boy. Give me the bag and be on your way." She holds her hand out, and when he doesn't move, she snaps her fingers to get his attention off me, but it doesn’t work. He continues to stare as he hands her the bag.
He walks backward toward the doors, and with his hand over his heart, he laments, "Until we meet again, my dear Olivia."
Evelyn shakes her head, and I can't help but to giggle. I have a feeling Aaron is a handful like