I woke up the next morning with a migraine. I closed all of the blinds because the heat from the sun burned. After I climbed back in bed, I pulled the extra pillow over my head and left it there, trying to even block out the sound of Chelise's soft snoring. The only time she actually liked mornings was when we were heading out for a run, and it was not one of those days. By some miracle, I managed to go back to sleep despite the migraine and stayed asleep until Chelise lied on top of me to beg for breakfast. I had hoped the migraine would have gone away after some more sleep, but I was wrong.
Sighing, I physically rolled out of bed and onto the floor. Running my fingers down my face, I shook my head in an attempt to banish my drowsiness. Chelise came to sit in front of me, licking my face. I shoved her away with a groan, stood up, and walked down the hallway to feed her. After dropping food in her bowl, I pulled my personal phone off its charger on the kitchen table and lowered to the couch with the flip phone in m hand. Someone had called me yesterday afternoon, and my phone rang once more that night. Same number, interesting.
When the phone rang again in my hand, I shrieked and ended the call a couple seconds after the first ring. The noise hurt my pounding head; I wanted nothing to do with anyone, but I checked the number anyway. Kat. Probably checking in to see whether I was as hungover as she was. I was not because I had been careful. The migraine was unrelated, or at least I thought it was. I would call her back later. Right now, I needed to redial the number which had called me twice last night.
Memorizing the numbers as my phone said them aloud, I quickly typed them in and pressed "Call" before I could forget the number. I had a good memory, but the migraine was making it hard for me to think straight. Someone picked up after two rings, but the other end of the line remained silent. There was only one person who I knew would wait for the other person to talk first.
"Thaddeus?" I asked.
"Where were you last night?"
"The Philharmonic," I said. "If this is a business call, it's really going to have to wait till tomorrow. Or at least...later today, when I haven't felt like I've been run over by a truck."
"Are you hung over?"
"Would you care if I was?" I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead. "Don't answer that. I already know the answer."
"I would care if you're working on my projects in an inebriated state," he said.
"I just have a migraine. A particularly bad one. I'll be fine; I just need to take it easy." I opened my eyes. "So you figured out my business card. I feel I must comment on the fact it took you longer than I thought it would."
"I had—"
"More important things to do," I finished for him with a smile.
"Yes."
"Did you want something, or are you calling to have an actual human conversation?" I leaned back so my back was up against the couch cushion, head on the armrest. "I fear I'm really not in the mood for either."
"We can touch base tomorrow," he said. "Rest today. That's an order, Miss Hamill."
"Aww, that's sweet, you almost sound concerned." I smiled.
"You're coming close to crossing a line, Miss Hamill."
"And yet you haven't hung up." I smiled again. "Admit it; I make your life more interesting."
"I will never admit something that isn't true."
"Oh, but you just did." I rolled over onto my stomach.
"Feel better."
"Email me what you want me to do, and I'll try to peek at it in a couple hours."
"I don't think so."
"I never thought I'd hear you trying to convince me not to work. Are you sure you're not feeling ill?"
"I am," he said.
"You're feeling ill? Or you're sure you aren't?" I smiled again. "There are some benefits to saying more. Not every word is a waste of energy."
"I am well aware." He paused. "I am sure I am not sick."
"Good," I said. "I'd be worried if you were."
"You need not worry," he said. "I have to go."
"And again...you have not hung up." The smile on my cheeks grew wider. My head was still throbbing, but this was the first time I had actually a somewhat civil conversation with Thaddeus that did not revolve around work.
"I thought you had a migraine."
"I do."
"Yet you have not hung up either." I thought I sensed the tiniest hint of tease in his otherwise dry tone, but it was hard for me to tell. It could have simply been my imagination.
"I am taking advantage of our apparent truce," I said. "I don't know how much longer it's going to last."
There was silence at the other end of the line.
"Aaaand, apparently it's over." I sighed. "I mean it, though. I'll look at whatever it is you wanted me to look at after I can get this migraine under control. Just send it to me."
"You can work on it tomorrow," he said.
"Thank you." When there was no answer, I continued. "What number is this, by the way? I don't have it saved in this phone, obviously, or my work phone. Or at least I don't think it's stored there; I don't know how to use the ridiculous thing."
"It's my personal," he said.
He trusted me enough to give me his personal number rather than one associated with one of his several work phones. Why was that making me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside? Stop beating faster, heart. I did not need to deal with its antics at the moment.
"Ooooookay," I said, filling the silence. "I'm just go—"
"You're going to go," he said. That time he was definitely amused. I could have sworn I heard it, even if most people would not have. The pitch of his voice had raised infinitesimally. On a musical scale, it would have been smaller than a half-step up, smaller than the gap between a B and a G-sharp on the treble clef. But it was there. I heard it.
"Yes." It was futile to stop the bubbles of laughter which traveled from the depths of my heart out to my throat and lips. I cringed at the movement. "Don't make me laugh; it hurts."
"That was not my intension," he said.
"I'm going to try to go back to sleep," I said, failing to keep the smile out of my voice. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"You will. Our meeting is scheduled for 9:00AM. Don't be late."
"Do I faze you as the type of person to be late?"
"No," he said after a moment of hesitation.
"I won't be late. Anyway, if there's anything you need, call this number. I'll usually answer it a lot faster than my work one." I rolled back over onto my back. "Goodbye, Thaddeus."
I was pulling the phone away from my ear when I heard what I never thought I would hear from him.
"Bye, Liliana."
The call ended.
---------------------------------------------------------
His office was huge, bigger than the entire living room space in my apartment. No matter how many meetings I had with Thaddeus, the sheer size and organization of this floor never ceased to amaze me. When the elevator door opened, I stepped out into the reception area. I could hear his personal assistant typing on her keyboard. The sound paused as she looked up toward me and quickly resumed. Crossing to her desk after a couple clicks, I put my hands on the edge of the hard, wooden surface and leaned over, partly wishing I had not left Chelise in my own office on the thirty-first floor.
"Yes?" Her voice made it sound like I was interrupting her from an important task.
"I have an appointment with Mr. Andino at 4:00PM," I said with my sweetest smile. "Could you let him know I'm here, please?"
"Your name?"
"Liliana Hamill." I matched her dry tone with one of my own.
"Take a seat. He'll be out to get you when he's ready."
"Thank you." I stepped backward several steps, wandering to the leather sofa which was up against the wall to the left of his office door. There was a bookshelf to the left of me and another leather chair in front of the couch.
I was much more of a morning person than an afternoon or night one. It was also a Friday, and I desperately wanted to return home. The only reasons I had come into the office this week at all were because of my meetings with Thaddeus; this 4:00PM slot was the only one which was empty on his calendar. I had yet to learn from Thaddeus why he wanted these biweekly meetings to continue. Although I did not think he would ever admit it, I believed he appreciated having another person's input. I was able to give him a perspective not many in the office could. He wanted to ensure Andino Incorporated's new products were accessible to everyone, and what better person to ask than the only blind individual which AI employed? Sometimes he would institute my suggestions. Other times, he would completely ignore them, but I tried not to be offended by his often blunt and abrupt commentary. We worked well together. We were very different with very different ideas. We argued—or rather, I argued. Thaddeus just gave me looks that said "Are you out of your mind?"—but ultimately, we reached a conclusion of some sort at the end of every meeting...no matter how long it took. Which could mean I was in for a long night.
When his office door opened, I immediately stood and reached out my hand as I always did. Thaddeus took it, shook it twice, and dropped quickly. As soon as I was in his office, he closed the door and went back to his desk. His chair creaked as he sat, and I took that as my cue to lower into one of the chairs across from him. I pulled the recorder from my pants pocket and placed it on his desk after I pressed the "record" button.
It was my suggestion that we start recording our meetings. The recordings were beneficial because we could go back and review all we had discussed. Not only that, they kept us from arguing about who said what, as that had been a challenge at first. Thaddeus had Antonia transcribing all that was said then emailing us with the completed file. I could have sworn she purposely sent the files to me sometimes in formats my computer could not dictate, but I had no definite proof of my suspicions. Not only that, I wanted to give her the benefit of a doubt...although a majority of me believed she just did not like me for some reason unknown to me.
"What's on the agenda for today?" I asked.
He listed ten different subjects in a monotone voice. The papers fluttered as he replaced them on his desk.
"We're going to be here all night." I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead. "Let's just get started."
We talked until my digital watch buzz, alerting me it was time to feed Chelise. Someone had actually brought her up from my office (along with my computer bag), so the golden retriever was lying up against the side of my chair with her head on my foot. She whined once, but I quieted her with a low, quick shh. If only my stomach were so obedient; it growled louder than Chelise had whined. I gripped my abdomen in an attempt to silence it, but it was too late. Thaddeus had definitely heard the almost feral noise and had stopped speaking.
"What? It's seven o'clock. We've been at this for three hours already. I skipped lunch. I'm hungry." I reached down to pet Chelise's head. "My dog is, too, but she's used to eating at abnormal hours."
"We still have much to do."
"I understand that," I said, standing. "But it's not like we're speaking of anything confidential. I vote we move this discussion to the Italian restaurant around the corner."
"You don't have a vote."
I put my hand on my hip. "I have been here since 8:00AM. That's 11 hours. Your average employee works 8:00AM to 5:00PM, with an hour lunchbreak. I did not take a lunchbreak. If you want to continue this talk, we take it someplace where I can get some food. Surely you're hungry, too."
He said nothing.
"This isn't a date or anything like that, so don't worry. You won't have to pull out your wallet to pay for me." I stopped the recorder and put it in my pocket. "You can either stay here, or you can go down that elevator with me, walk two blocks, and eat some food while we talk. I'm getting food either way."
"Fine." Thaddeus stood and pulled his arms through his primly tailored suit coat. "But we take the back elevator."
"Whatever you say, sir," I said, adjusting my grip on the bar of Chelise's harness. "Lead the way. Chelise and I will follow."
That was exactly what he did. He barely waited for me at all, even walking in front of us down the street and around the block until we reached the restaurant. When I walked in, he was already being taken back to a private dining room near the restaurant's kitchen. I scrambled to follow, eventually sitting across from him at a small table in the corner of the room. Chelise immediately settled under my chair, her head once again resting on my foot.
"With speed like that, people might think you're hungry, too," I said to Thaddeus with a smile.
When he did not answer, I clicked my tongue to see what he was doing; he appeared to be reading the menu. Mimicking him, I picked mine up from in front of me and held it before my face.
"Oh, that looks good," I said, pointing at a random place on the menu. I turned it around and tried to put my finger near the same spot. "What do you think?"
"You are pointing at empty space," he observed.
"Really? I couldn't tell." I smiled at him. "The whole menu looks blank to me."
He said nothing.
"You can either help me by reading some of your favorite things off the menu, or I can wait until the waiter gets back to ask him the same question. Which would definitely take up more of your precious time, which we wouldn't want to waste, now would we?"
His coldness coursed through me from across the table, but it only made my smile grow wider.
"What will it be?" I asked.
He acquiesced, reading off the names of five different plates and the list of their ingredients. He had just finished when the waiter returned, at which point I ordered something entirely different than any of the plates he had said to me.
"I've been here before," I said.
"Then why did you ask." I pictured him raising a brow, although I thought it unlikely he actually performed the action.
"Favorite foods tell a lot about a person." I leaned back and took a sip of my water. "As do things like favorite colors, favorite movies, favorite childhood memories, favorite books..."
"What's your favorite book, then?" He challenged.
"Easy. Pride & Prejudice." I set down my glass.
"And why is that?"
I leaned forward a little. "The romance is nice, of course, but that isn't why I like it. I like it because it's about two characters, learning to love each other despite their faults. The story starts with them basically detesting each other's values and lifestyles, but it slowly turns into something more. They learn to see beyond the exterior. They learn that life isn't about finding or loving the perfect person; it's about learning to love an imperfect person perfectly. Elizabeth is outgoing. Intelligent. Ambitious. Filled with dreams for herself but also for her sisters. She refuses to settle and refuses to sway from her convictions. She's very set in her ways and in her prejudices against Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy. But as she learns more about him and the things he's done...she learns to bend. And he learns to bend, too. I just find their story far more believable even compared to Jane and Mr. Bingley's romance in the same book. Elizabeth and Darcy both learn to compromise. They learn to bend, both together and as individuals. It's what makes their relationship work. It's by no means an overnight process but a gradual one which occurs over an extended period of time."
"Adequate," he said.
"'Adequate?' That's all you have to say after my miniature monologue?" I raised a brow, leaning back to rest against the back of the chair. "You could have at least responded with a question, or with similar information. I think someone may need to go back and take a class entitled 'How to Converse 101.' Conversations are give and take; they require the participation of all parties—in this case, me and you."
"I would advise you, Miss Hamill, that you are not talking to a friend. Nor am I a family member or colleague. I am your superior, and—"
"Is that what you think of everyone?" I interjected. "Because it's not true. You may be my superior at AI, but you are not my superior in life. I am not afraid of you, Thaddeus Andino. Not anymore. You value too much what I bring to your company which you have tried so hard to build. If I were not a valuable asset to this team—if I had not excelled here—I never would have moved from Texas to New York to work at HQ. If I weren't succeeding now, I wouldn't still be here. I wouldn't be sitting across from you at this table. I could get another job, but I'm not. I like working for AI, and I like working for you. But you have to realize that your dismissive, egotistical attitude will leave you a very lonely man, and I wish that life on no one."
I had not spoken so bluntly to him since the barbecue. While what I said there was laced with bitterness and irritation, I spoke nothing but sincerity now. He drove me mad, but I valued Thaddeus too much as a person to watch him waste his life. He had all the money in the world to get whatever he wanted, do whatever he wanted, go wherever he wanted, but if he had no one to share it with...then what was the point?
The food arrived, and both of us spent the rest of the meal in silence. The only sound was the clicking of our utensils on our plates. When the waiter had taken away our empty plates, I risked speaking to Thaddeus once more.
"Do you read at all? Past the reports people place on your desk."
"No."
"I think you should try it." Somewhat hesitantly, I leaned across the table and put my hand on top of his. He tried to move his hand away, but I tightened my grip to encourage him to leave his hand where it was. My voice softened. "There's more to life than the company you've worked so hard to build. Read a chapter of Pride & Prejudice once per week. Then we can discuss it during our Friday meetings. Or we can continue doing these Friday afternoon meetings that transition into dinnertime discussion unrelated to work topics. I can't make you do anything, but I think it'd be good for you."
When I moved my hand away from his—I had no idea what compelled me to do that in the first place—I heard him move his own under the table. "I will take that into consideration."
"That's all I ask," I said. "I may not know you very well, but I still wish the best for you. As I do for everyone I meet."
He said nothing.
"Okay, well, almost everyone, but we won't go into that." I smiled.
Silence was my only response.
I pressed a button on my watch, the digital device immediately bleeping the time. I needed to go home to feed Chelise. She had been very understanding about everything, but I could only imagine how much her stomach was growling; I had fed her at 6:00AM. It was now almost 9:00PM. On any other night, I might have been in bed at this point. Sleeping? No. Thinking about work, mostly. Or trying to will the nightmares away before they could come.
The waiter arrived with the check. Before Thaddeus could speak, I requested that the check be split, and the waiter walked away to complete my request. I turned my attention back to Thaddeus.
"Life is what you make of it. If you're spending twelve hours a day at the office per day, and another eight thinking about the job, what kind of life is that?"
"A successful one."
"But a happy one?" I paused for a few seconds. "When is the last time you can say you were truly happy?"
"I could ask you the same question."
"Another easy answer. New York Philharmonic. You?"
Silence.
"Don't try to get out of this. Answer me honestly. Please."
"I don't know," Thaddeus said.
"Let me try to change that," I said. "Before you ask, I don't know why I'm doing this. I don't know why I'm offering. Kat thinks I'm crazy for feeling bad for you, but I do. And I want to help you. I want to be more than your employee, if you'll give me a chance."
"More?"
"Not like that. Not like you're thinking. I don't play the 'friends with benefits' game. I'm not interested. Now that I know you, though, I can't stand witnessing you just coasting through life. I'll shut up now, though, because I have a suspicion you tuned me out ten minutes ago."
"I didn't."
"Good."
The waiter returned with our checks, and we paid our respective bills. We both stood. I expected Thaddeus to leave just as quickly as he arrived, but he instead stayed a little closer. I did not know why. We stood at the edge of the street. I was about to call for a cab, but Thaddeus pressed down on my arm and lowered it back to my side. I jumped backward, away from his touch. I would have expected it to be more forceful, but it was no such thing. The movement was authoritative, yes, but there was also a tenderness in it that surprised me.
A car pulled up in front of us. Someone opened a back door, and Thaddeus stepped inside. Frowning, I hesitantly followed, clicking as I did so to visualize the small space. I sat as far from Thaddeus as I could, buckling my seatbelt and looking out the window.
"Mike needs your address, Miss Hamill."
"Right." I gave it to him. "Thank you."
"I was traveling in the same direction anyway. It hardly makes sense to use two vehicles."
"I suppose you're right." I rubbed up and down my arms. "Thank you. Again."
He said nothing.
We spent the drive to my apartment in silence, where I immediately stepped out with Chelise, my computer bag, and purse in tow. I was about to walk to the main doors, but I turned back to look at Thaddeus. "I'm not going to apologize for what I said. Thank you for the ride."
"You're welcome."
"I'll see you Monday. Maybe. If you plan on taking the lobby elevators. Change up your routine. If not, Tuesday at our next meeting. Let me know if I can do anything for you this weekend; you have my email and my number. Both numbers."
"I will keep that in mind, Miss Hamill."
"Good night, Thaddeus." I turned away and went through the doors of the building. When I turned back in the lobby, I clicked and managed to see Thaddeus' vehicle drive away.
Shaking my head, I took the elevator to my apartment floor, unlocked the two deadbolts, and entered the room. After turning off the alarm, I fed Chelise, changed clothes, and curled up in bed as soon as the golden retriever finished her dinner. Pulling the sheet up to my neck, I sighed contentedly.
It was a surprisingly good night. Thaddeus's company had not been extremely unbearable. I would maybe even go so far as to say I liked being with him. Possibly. Maybe. It was such a nice change from even Katherine and Joe. I enjoyed their company very much, but they were both loud and outgoing extroverts who often drained me of my energy after I had spent any time with them. Thaddeus, although he said little at all...his presence was almost soothing in some ways. The silences were not awkward with him. His personality did not overwhelm mine. We had mutual interests...well, one. Our jobs. We always had that topic we could fall back on, even when all others failed. I was shocked to discover in myself that I was actually looking forward to our meeting on Tuesday.
I was starting to like him. He was different. A breath of fresh air, and I appreciated that more than words could expressed. He allowed me to direct the conversation. He listened to me and valued my input. I felt respected. That was a sensation I had never previously felt. I was starting to think there may be a good man under the frosty demeanor. Maybe I could try to melt him down to reveal the treasure hidden underneath. Maybe, to a certain extent...he could do the same for me. Many treated me like porcelain. Others did not know how to be. Others avoided me. Thaddeus did not. To him, I was an employee, yes. But I was not necessarily a disabled employee. I was just...me.
I rolled over, pulling my old stuffed dog to my chest and kissing its head. I fell asleep that night with Chelise up against the back of my legs...and a smile on my lips.
//Apologies in advance for any grammatical errors in this. I just decided to post it without doing my usual editing. I'll go back and tweak things...later. Probably many times.
To those of you who've joined me on this journey thus far, thank you! Hopefully this hasn't been super disjointed for you all, or too slow-moving. I'll try to speed things up here pretty soon, partly because I don't want to get too much into the weeds. But mostly because we're hitting the NaNo point where I need to skip to some scenes which I already have figured out in my head and put not so much focus on filler things. Watch, though, I'll still put in all the filler stuff because I hate leaving dead ends...
Anyway, thank y'all again! I appreciate your support more than you know. :)