By My Side

It had been almost a week since the hospital experience with her little boy. True to the doctor's words, Jake had mended quite quickly after several hours of bedrest and multiple cups of orange juice and water. He had recovered to speedily, in fact, that Phoebe was able to go back to work at both of her jobs by the end of the same week.

Tiring as her busy schedule was, she liked it. It kept her from having too much time on her hands to think about Cole. She had not heard from, nor talked to, him since the hospital incident with Jake. Phoebe knew that she should be happy, grateful even, that he had finally stopped asking her out, but she wasn't happy. She was actually quite disappointed. When Cole had come to her rescue that horrible night, she thought that there was a possibility that his feelings for her were real; that a relationship might actually be possible. The fact that he had done nothing more than politely node in her direction since that day made it pretty clear that he was no longer interested in an employer/employee relationship with her. She couldn't blame him. After all, how many men wanted to get involved with a single mother? Let alone a single mother who had a hard time making ends meet?

She had to give Cole, credit, though. He had come through for her in her moment of need – both helping get her sick little boy to the hospital and helping her to be able to pay for said services. She wasn't sure how she was going to be able to pay him back for this help, but she was determined to do so, no matter how long it took or how hard it became for her.

After resolving to do just that, Phoebe turned back to her computer and attempted to concentrate on the document in front of her waiting to be typed. She was so determined to keep her mind on her work that she was startled to hear Cole's voice call to her from within his office just down the hall.

"Phoebe, would you please come into my office for a moment?" Cole tried his best to contain his anger, but traces of it still lingered in his voice.

Nervous to find out the reason behind Cole's ire, and the catalyst for his having finally broken his silent spell, Phoebe laid her papers on her desk, took a deep breath and calmly made her way into his office to stand patiently beside his large wooden desk. She noticed that Cole was standing by the picture window on the far side of the spacious office with his back to her and his arms tightly crossed over his astonishingly broad chest. She could see that he was extremely displeased, but she couldn't figure out the reason for his displeasure. He was silent for so long that Phoebe wondered if he was planning to speak at all.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Cole turned from the window until he was directly facing her. It was then that Phoebe noticed that Cole's weren't angry, but were, instead, filled with a displeasure so great that Phoebe could almost feel his pain.

"Mr. Jargen, are you okay? Is there a problem?" Phoebe questioned nervously. "Is this about my job performance? Are you not satisfied with it? Or...or is this about the hospital bill? I assure you, I have already spoken with HR about deducting it from my..."

"What? No, no. That is not what I called you in here to discuss, Phoebe. Wait, you spoke to HR about a payroll deduction? Without talking to me about it first?" Cole's previously pained eyes glittered with anger and annoyance.

Phoebe quickly pressed on, not sure if she was attempting to avoid the issue or get to the bottom of it, "Please, Mr. Jargen. Please explain the issue you called me in to discuss."

"Phoebe, as you know, you were just hired on as a temporary secretary until such time as my normal assistant, Carla, was to return from maternity leave," Cole paused in his speech, not quite meeting her eyes.

"Yes, I am aware of that fact and I understand that my employment will cease here in two weeks time," Phoebe cut in.

Cole gritted his teeth, placed his body into his leather captains chair and steepled his hands to cradle his now aching head. He took a few moments before meeting Phoebe's concerned eyes once again.