Chapter 46

There was no wet spot. There were no internal bruises either. I held her in my arms and we both napped.

When I woke up she was looking at me.

"Hi."

"Hi yourself."

"I like watching you sleep. It was all I could do to not kiss you."

"We can kiss now and not wake me."

We did. The kisses stopped and Jennifer said, "I've thought about the job you offered. Could we get a phone hook up here for your office number?"

"I think so."

"Then I can make and take calls for you freeing you to do whatever it is you do. If you have a computer I can sit at a computer and do typing for you and take care of your books. I don't need to walk to do any of that."

I spent the next day getting a handicapped office set up in my bedroom. I got a chair that Jennifer could transfer into from the bed, a cheap desk, moved my home computer to it, and had the phone company tell us how to have the office phone ring in both places.

Jennifer took over as my office manager/secretary/girl Friday the next morning. I had a cell phone and our plan was that she would answer all calls. If it was a call I needed to take she would dial my cell and let it ring twice. If she needed to speak to me she let it ring three times.

I got to the office and started doing the neglected reports and things. The phone rang and I jerked to answer and it didn't ring again. Forty minutes later it rang again and less than a minute later my cell rang twice. I picked up the office phone and said, "This is Nick."

The client complimented me on my new secretary. We handled our business and he hung up. I called my own phone from my cell. Jennifer answered on the first ring.

"Nick Levy and Associates. May I help you?"

"Yes. I'd like you to know my customer likes my new secretary. You're good for business."

"Thanks. So far I like working for you."

"And just what is it you like about working for me?"

"Well, for one thing I get to work naked if I want. For another, I like the way the boss chews me out." We both laughed.

We both went back to work. At lunch I brought her a deli sandwich and a pickle. I went back to my office and made a lot of progress getting back to where I was before my car accident. Jennifer handling the calls helped a lot.

At five o'clock the cell phone rang.

"This is Nick," I answered.

"It's time for you to lock the door and come home."

"What would you like for dinner?"

"What I'd really like is you, inside me. Then, a salad. I need to be careful or I'm going to gain weight. I'm not getting enough exercise."

"OK. I'll stop on the way home and get a salad for us."

On the drive home I wondered how many secretaries said that what they wanted for dinner was their boss, inside them. Probably more than I had ever considered.

Meeting her ex.

On Friday of that week I got my car back. The insurance paid for most of the repairs and I paid for a little. My last errand in the rental was to Mike's Auto Body. There was a woman working in the office who looked a lot like Jennifer. I asked to speak to Mike and she called him to the office.

He was exactly the guy someone would call if they needed a picture of a biker. A bandana on his shaved head, big moustache, tattoos on his neck and both arms, wearing a very dirty torn tank top with the Harley logo on it and black Levis.

"Can I help you?" He stopped a few feet inside the office.

"Yes, I think you can. I've been hired to bring this letter to you." I held out the envelope.

"Is this some notice you're suing me or something?" He didn't reach for the envelope.

"No. A Miss Olsen is asking that her clothes and personal items be boxed and that I pick them up from you, for her, as soon as possible."

"And why doesn't she come ask for them herself?"

"She was in a bad car accident and sustained injuries that will have her off her feet for some weeks."

The girl behind the desk stood up. "How bad was she hurt?"

"I can't say for certain, but I know she was in the hospital for days."

"Is she still in the hospital?"

"No. I was told she was staying with a friend until she can get back on her feet."

"Wait a minute." Mike said, "She doesn't have a car."

"She was hit by a car as she was walking along the sidewalk."

"And, who are you?"

"I was hired by Miss Olsen's lawyer to assist her with a few loose ends while she heals."

His reaction to the word lawyer was to stand taller and take the envelope. He read it and handed it to the young woman.

"You wanna wait while she gets Jennifer's stuff for you?"

"How long would that take?"

She answered, "Ten minutes tops. Mike lives just a block away."

"Ok, I'll wait. Do you want me to drive you there? That way we can load her things right into my car."

She grabbed her purse, stood, tugged her skirt down and we walked out to my car. In the one block she didn't say anything except how to get to Mike's and where to park. I followed her into the apartment. Against one wall of the bedroom were four cardboard boxes. All of Jennifer's things were in the boxes. I carried three of the boxes and she carried one. Back in the car she asked how she could contact her sister.

"When our business is concluded I have an envelope for you from your sister."