the storeroom, I casually mentioned that I’d found another job helping another company for a couple of days a week. She didn’t seem to care. If anything, she seemed relieved to hear that I wouldn’t be at Redhill today and that I’d come in the day after. I only offered to work there for two to three days a week, and that’s two days too many. This whole charade is costing me a shit load of money, and it hurts.
“The things you do,” Emma says quietly.
“Don’t go leaving me. I rely on you. Also, I’m not hurting anyone.”
Her eyebrow raises. She annoys me when she goes all Zen-like on me.
“I’m not physically hurting anyone,” I clarify.
“Lies, lies. So many lies. One day, they will all catch up with you.”
“I’m not going to get caught.” I straighten my tie and sit up, ready to get to work. I have a lot of things to do in my office today, especially if I’m going to be splitting my time between here and Redhill. My businesses can’t go unattended. There is too much money, and there are too many investments for me to take my eyes off Hawks Enterprises for too long.
“I’m pleased to hear that you fed the homeless. It might do something to reset your karma.”
I look up and loosen my tie. “It’s not easy feeding the homeless. I could have caught something bad; fleas, pneumonia, bronchitis or even TB.”
“How worrisome for you.”
I blink at the lack of Emma’s sympathy. “You don’t know what it was like, dishing out the food, then refilling the containers. Then having to take everything back to the restaurants. Then we had to go back to the factory and finish off there. I was ready to drop when I got home.”
“My heart bleeds for you.”
“It should, because on top of that, I had to give up a really good steak.”
Chapter Eleven
KYRA
It’s quiet as I sit in the office, sipping my cup of coffee. I didn’t sleep well. Not only was it really late by the time I got back, but a thunderstorm rumbled and roared most of the night. I now appreciate more than ever just how quick and efficient Fredrich is at getting things returned after the food events, both to the restaurants and back at the office.
Not only did I not sleep, but my back is worse than before. I have to go easy on myself, but there’s too much to do, too many things to lift and move, and the food nights are always hard.
I don’t know what to make of the new guy. Sometimes he seems to want to help, and other times it feels that he’s begrudgingly doing something he would rather not be doing. I am grateful for his help but he’s no Fredrich. I’ve threatened Fredrich with no pay if he comes back and is less than one hundred percent. I need that man to be back to his normal fit and healthy state.
Brad isn’t coming into the office today, for which I’m thankful. I consider myself to be a good judge of character but I’m not one hundred percent sure of him and I can’t figure out why. I need more time.
“Good morning.” Simona breezes in and eyes the buckets in the corner with disdain. “It was heavy this time, wasn’t it?”
“It caught me unaware,” I say. We’re used to violent thunderstorms in the summer in the Midwest. It’s just a shame that they wreak havoc with the roof.
Simona takes off her coat. “No Fredrich?”
“I told him to take a week or two off. I need him to heal completely and you and I both know that he can’t sit still.”
She looks around. “Where’s Brad? Didn’t you hire him?”
“He’s coming in tomorrow, but he’s going to try to do three days at the start of each week. He’s got another job he needs to be at for the other two days and he’s going to see how he can juggle the two.”
“We should have taken him on the first day we saw him, maybe we could have had him for the whole week then.” By ‘we’ she means ‘me.’ She sits down and switches her computer on.
“That might have been too much. You’ll have him for a few days a week.”
“At least that’s something.” She pushes her silver-rimmed reading glasses up.
“I’m not sure we have much work for him.”
She coughs in exasperation. “You’re always drowning in work. Surely you can offload some things to him?”
Simona seems to have