I had worked a couple of days with Peter, and I could already see he was a decent man, and maybe it was his gay side that made him sympathetic, but I had not let him know that I was aware of his secret.
I arrived at the office and was looking forward to a weekend off after what could be described as a grueling week emotionally. I sat at the desk and finished the daily schedule when Peter called me into his office.
“Kendall, can you come here please and close the door?” he called out.
“Be right there, Peter,” I called back to him as I put the phone onto divert.
“Yes, what can I do for you?” I asked.
“Please Kendall, take a seat, I just want to talk with you for a while,” he said as he gestured me to sit.
I sat in the chair and leaned toward him, “What’s it you want to talk about?” I asked.
“It’s nothing to worry about. I was just wondering what your long-term plans are? You know, I mean do you plan on staying here or moving on? That sort of thing,” he said.
“I’m happy here, and a job has never bothered me that much. I just want a happy life, you know us country girls,” I said with a giggle.
“Well, I have not had many dealings with country girls, so I’ll take your word for it,” he replied. “I’m just asking, because I have to consider all options and look at all aspects where the business is concerned, and I don’t want to just find in a short while if you decide to up roots and head off back home.”
“Peter, I’ll try and put your mind at ease, I’m not power hungry, and money is no real motivation, I’m quite content to just to lead a happy life. That is my driving force more than anything, but this isn’t to say I have no motivation. I have a lot of it,” I responded.
“So, you wouldn’t just leave on short notice?” he asked.
“God no! I would always give plenty of time for a replacement to be found. Between you and me, I had actually considered leaving Elijah before he had his accident, but I stuck it out, and that came out bad… look what happened to me,” I said stupidly.
“I know what you mean, and that situation is slightly different, and we both know that,” he said as he laughed.
“I’m quite happy here with you, the work is interesting, and there is no real pressure compared to Elijah’s place, so as far as I can see, I’m rooted here,” I said with a grin.
“I’m happy to hear that, that is one thing I hold close to me. Honestly, once you have that, everything else comes easy in my book,” he replied.
“So, how are you coping so far with the Elijah situation?” Peter asked.
“So far so good, I have tried to remain occupied and not dwell on it, it’s in the past and has happened, so there is nothing I can do to change that,” I explained.
“Well, I have not heard from, him in the last couple of days, so I have nothing to report, and as they say, no news is good news,” he said.
I returned to my desk and thought about the conversation I just had with Peter. It was obvious something had crossed his mind to do with me, and I wasn’t totally sure. He could just be over cautious.
I sat at my desk and ran through how I did feel about Elijah now, and I realized that I had kept myself occupied, I had let the situation bother me less, even though I did think about it at home. I had a lot of feelings for him, but it was no longer dictating the way I thought about things.
I looked at the clock, and it was nearly time to wrap things up for the week, it had been a short one for me since I had only really started work on Wednesday, and the past couple of days had flown by, which I was thankful for. But for tonight, I said I would pass by Mandy’s house and keep her updated with the events of the week.
***
I arrived at Mandy's house, and I could see she was excited as she was stood in the driveway waiting rather than with her face pushed against the glass of the window.
“Come on, quick, quick, get inside,” Mandy said hysterically.
“Relax girl, you are overacting,” I said.
“I know, it has been nearly a full week since you have spoken to me, I just want to see how you have been doing?” she asked as she curled up on the couch with a large cushion.
“So, when was the last time I spoke to you?” I asked.
“Last Sunday was the last time you were here, yet you called me briefly and said something about him being in your driveway, what was all that about?” Mandy asked.
“You mean, I didn’t tell you properly?” I asked.