Time to Control (9 page)

“Sweetheart, taking care of you is my job.
 
Let me do it, okay?”

“We should probably save money when
possible, then.
 
Like just getting
one hotel room, instead of one.”

“Yes, it would make good financial
sense.”
 
He nodded solemnly.
 
“Especially since the room is expensed.”

Eddie looked to where his watch
would be, but it wasn't there.
 
“I
should get a pocket watch.
 
I can
probably wrap things up about two o'clock.
 
Do you want to go to the hotel room now, and wait for me there?
 
We can go shopping afterwards.”

I shook my head.
 
“I don't have a laptop anymore,
remember?
 
I wouldn't have anything
to do in the room.
 
I'm not
accomplishing anything anyway; they can dock me a vacation day if they want,
but I'm just looking online for apartments this afternoon.
 
Making lists, too, of what all I need to
get.
 
'Everything' is a bit on the
broad side.”
 
I stood up, and began
to put my clothes back on.
 
The
bottom of my sweatpants were stained from the dirt and muck, but I scraped as
much off as possible.
 
Eddie's
clothes had mostly dried from his dip in the river, thanks to our lovemaking
activities.
 
We looked as decent as
we could, for returning to modern times.
 
But honestly, we had to find a better way to do this.

Chapter Four

Eddie kept hold of my hands when we
returned to modern times.
"What happened to your
hand?" He asked, only now noticing the bruises on the knuckles, rubbing
them gently with his thumb. "You didn't punch Alan and I missed it, did
you?"

I pulled my hand from his before
anyone saw.
 
"I knocked a
little too vigorously on my neighbor's door to wake them. I'm fine."

He frowned and looked like he
wanted to say something else, but the surroundings kept him from it.

"I'll send you that document
right away," I told him for the benefit of the salesman who entered the
kitchen, and ducked under Eddie's arm and walked back towards my office.

True to my word, I avoided work for
the next few hours, and instead checked out apartment complexes.
 
Ideally I would just move into a new
apartment in my current complex, but they told me earlier that morning they
were all full.
 
They were hesitant
to let me out of my lease without paying an early termination fee.
 
Instead of getting angry like I had in
the morning, I let it go.
 
I'd just
sic Eddie on them.
 
The lesson he
taught me earlier paid off, and still fresh in my mind; my chair was rather
uncomfortable.

“Oh my God, have you seen the
consultant?”
 
Dylan, my best friend
at the office, came in and sat down.
 
“Wait, of course you have.
 
You were with him in New York.”
 
Dylan fanned herself with a folder.
 
“He is so hot!”

I considered, then leaned over my
desk to stage whisper to my friend.
 
“Last week?
 
He was voted one
of the top eligible bachelors in New York.”
 
Course he's not a bachelor anymore, I
finished to myself.

Dylan slumped back in the
chair.
 
“Ah, heavenly.
 
Think he'd be interested in me?”

“I think he'd imagine you're
taken.”

“Darn.
 
Tammy said she saw you two holding hands
in the break room.
 
What was up with
that?
 
Is something going on?”

I hid my left hand under my desk
guiltily, and held up my right.
 
“He
was just admiring the bruises from waking up the upstairs neighbor.”

My friend nodded; she had heard the
full story earlier that morning.
 
Dylan pulled herself up out of the chair stiffly.
 
“Sorry, gotta go.
 
The baby keeps kicking my bladder.
 
One more month, then he is so outta
here!”

“Go!” I giggled after her.
 
Dylan wore the glow of pregnancy well,
and the love for the baby and her husband of five years showed on her face too.
 
I looked down at my wedding ring,
realizing that could be me in the not too distant future.
 
A grin grew across my face.
 
That wouldn't be so bad.

It wasn't long after lunch when I
saw Joseph go past my doorway into Alan's office.
 

“Alan,” Joseph said loudly with the
door open.
 
He had to know I could
hear.
 
Eddie slipped down the hall
and into my office and perched on the edge of a seat, finger to his lips for me
to keep quiet.
 
“Do you know why
Schroeder is wearing sweats today?”

“Because she's a selfish little
brat who doesn't think about the good of the company.
 
She knew Mr. Valenti-Kirby was coming
today, and didn't bother dressing up.
 
Trying to prove that she's above us all.”
 
We could hear the sneer in his
voice.
 
I rolled my eyes.

“That's what she told you?”

“I didn't ask.
 
No need.”

“Did she try to explain?”

“I don't need to hear excuses.”

“Then you may be interested in
knowing that her apartment burned down this morning, and she has no other
clothes to wear.”

“That's not true.
 
Where did you hear that?”
 
Eddie and I both winced for Alan.
 
Bad thing to say.

“From her.”

“She's lying, then.”

“Think, Alan, why would she lie
about that?”

There was silence.
 
“That's just what she does.”

“No, that's just what you do.
 
Make things up, and not get the full
story.”
 
I could hear the controlled
anger in Joseph's voice.
  
“As
you know, we're in the process of being bought out.
 
Our new investors are looking into us,
and it is imperative that everyone here be behind IDI and the company
philosophy one hundred percent.
 
We
pride ourselves on taking care of our people, and you aren't living up to
that.
 
Your services are no longer
needed with the company.”

“What?
 
You're not firing me.
 
Not over that bitch.”
 
My husband's face grew hard at the
insult.

“You're being fired for poor
interpersonal skills.
 
I'd suggest
you work on those, and your language, before finding a new job.
 
Good luck.
 
Security will supervise your packing of
the office, and will escort you off of the premises within ten minutes.
 
Don't visit this building again.”

I wiped the big grin off of my face
before Joseph stuck his head in my door.
 
He didn't say anything, just grinned at the two of us and gave a thumbs
up.
 

Eddie got up to leave, but bent
down to whisper in my ear first.
 
“See?
 
Told you there was
nothing to worry about.”

Two o'clock couldn't come soon
enough, and the elevator down was crowded as it hit the scheduled smoke break
time.
 
Eddie was going down in the
same car, and moved into the back corner; I went to stand near him to make room
for more people to enter.

Two people near the elevator doors
started joking loudly with the rest of the people in the car, getting
everyone's attention.
 
Eddie took
advantage of that to give my bottom a squeeze.
 
There wasn't room to move away, and
besides, any movement in the car would draw attention to us.
 
I took the groping, face flaming from
being in public.

“I'll pick you up in front of the
hotel,” I whispered as everyone left the elevator.
 
Dylan's office looked over the parking
lot, and I didn't want Dylan seeing Eddie get in my car.
 
Better to pick him up on the other side
of the hotel, where no one in the office could see.

I drove around, and got out of the
car at the hotel.

“Shoe store first, please,” I
asked, pointing to my bare feet.
 
“Driving
with no shoes on is really uncomfortable.”

He laughed, and got behind the
wheel.
 
I gave him directions to my
favorite shoe store on the other side of town, and we drove there to get me a
couple pairs.

“Apartment hunting went well,” I
said to break the silence.
 
“There's
some newer complexes around the office, and I'm trying to get my current
apartment to give me a good recommendation.”

“Are you sure you want another
apartment?” Eddie asked, looking over at me while changing lanes.

“I don't have the money for a
house,” I answered.
 
He glared at
me.
 
“Right.
 
I'm married to Mr. Moneybags.”

“That's not what I mean,
actually.
 
We should talk about
where we're going to be once the buyout's completed.”

I shifted in my seat to face him,
surprised.
 
“What is there to talk
about?
 
I was just going to get a
month-to-month lease.
 
After the
company is sold and everything handed off, I move in with you in New York.”

“What about your job?
 
You don't want to keep working
there?
 
I thought we just discussed
this?”
 

I pointed to the exit, and he took
it.
 
“He with the bigger paycheck,
wins.
 
You make more than me, so we
go to New York.”

“That's not very fair to you,
though.”

“You don't think I can find a job
in New York?” I challenged.

“No, I--” he pulled into the shopping
center, found a space, and shut off the car.
 
He turned to look at me.
 
“I just think this is something we can
talk about more.
 
I don't have to
work in New York.
 
As long as you
don't mind me traveling, I can work from here.
 
And technically, I've got enough saved
up where neither of us needs to work if we don't want to.”

I played with my purse strap.
 
“I didn't think about that,” I admitted.

“That's what I'm saying.
 
We need to talk about the options and
what we want to do.”

I
don't really know him much at all, do I?
I thought as we walked into the
shoe store.
 
I don't know if he likes his job, or if it's a grind.
 
I don't know if he likes New York, or if
he dreams about living in the country.

When the salesman went in the back
to get the proper sizes in the shoes I picked out, Eddie turned to me and took
my shoulders in his hands gently.
 
“We should know all this by now, and we don't.
 
I'm sorry.”

“Yeah, me too.”
 
I put my arms around him and
hugged.
 
He kissed the top of my
head.
 
“I don't regret it, though,”
I whispered so softly I wasn't sure if he would hear.

“Neither do I.” He whispered back.

Three pair of shoes later, we were
leaving the store.
 

“And I thought I knew women,” Eddie
shook his head.

I laughed.
 
“I'm just not a shoe girl.
 
Casual sandals for everyday, dressy
sandals for more dressed-up days, and black heels for formal occasions.
 
I'm all set.”

“So what do you collect?
 
I thought every woman collected shoes.”

I thought about it.
 
“I guess books.
 
I'm not much for the library – I
like to reread books often.
 
I'll
buy at least one new book a week, sometimes more.
 
I have a lot of bookcases.”
 
I sobered.
 
“I had a lot of bookcases.”

He leaned over in the car and
kissed my cheek.
 
“We'll get you
more books.”

“You're going to need a bigger
apartment,” I warned him.

My favorite boutique clothing store
was a few stores down.
 
Except for
my unmentionables, and quirky t-shirts, the rest all came from the same
place.
 
I had an extensive wardrobe,
but even at that, only bought new clothes a few times a year.
 
I concentrated more on building a good
foundation of a wardrobe, with a few stellar pieces.
 
It had worked out well over the years,
and I thought it kept my clothing looking fashionable yet still affordable.

I tried not to drool over the black
leather jacket hanging at the front of the store.
 
I ran my hands over it – so
soft.
 
With a pair of jeans and a
white blouse, it would look wonderful, and classic.
 
I pulled out the price tag, and
winced.
 
$250?
 
Way too much, especially since I was buying
a full new wardrobe.

“Ow!” A stinging swat landed on my
bottom and activated prior tenderness.
 
Sweats weren't nearly as much padding as skirts and petticoats.

“No looking at tags,” Eddie
chastised.
 

“I was looking at the size,” I
lied.
 
He looked at me with a steady
stare.

“Shall we take a little trip down
memory lane?”
 
I wasn't sure if he
meant another spanking, or using the ring again.
 
Either way, I wanted no part of it.

“No thanks, I'm good.
 
Help me find a large, will you?”

Even though I didn't come often,
this was the store I frequented.
 
The sales girls all knew me and remembered me, and were glad to serve on
us.
 
Especially when they saw how
cute Eddie was.

I quickly found shopping without
looking at the price tags to be refreshing.
 
It took some getting used to, but once I
got the ingrained muscle reactions retrained it got easy.
 
The sales girl helping me came up to me
before I got halfway through the boutique store.

"Um, the dressing room is
pretty full, and I've put you in the biggest one we have.
 
I might recommend that you try things
on, and see what we can go ahead and move to the register."
 
I laughed delightedly -- this was a nice
problem to have!
 
Jill, the sales
girl, showed me back to the room she had set aside, pointing Eddie to a chair
outside the dressing room area along the way.