chapter 4

The next several days were quiet. Mr. Phillips kept to himself. He had come in early the next day and saw the empty doughnut box under her desk and smiled. He knew she had to be in a lot of pain that night and he definitely didn't want that for her. Plus, he wanted this to come up on her unexpectedly. It wouldn't do for her to realize what was happening. He would have to play this very cool. Mr. Phillips had been surprised and very pleased with the way she could be persuaded. He knew that she had to have some sort of crush on him or fear that she would lose her job if she didn't comply. He just didn't know which.

Thursday and Friday he watched her shovel the watermelon in. There was no other food, so he knew she was recovering from Wednesday. On Monday he stopped at the grocery store and picked up a fruit platter. Most of the office ignored it but she looked at him like she was the most grateful secretary ever. She had lost the bump too, although her afternoon bag of watermelon still showed when she left each day.

Monday afternoon he heard her on the phone with her mother talking about the latte she had picked up over the weekend. Her mother must have suggested buying a latte machine because he heard her exclaim that it was just a treat and that a machine would gather dust at her house. Plus, she liked the whipped cream and sugar on top. They had spoken for a couple minutes more and then hung up, but it was long enough for Mr. Phillips to get an idea.

Tuesday morning when Miranda got into the office there was a small latte on her desk.

"Where did this come from?" she asked.

Mr. Phillips came out of his office. "I got it free this morning with my regular coffee. I thought you might like it."

She took a sip. "This is wonderful! Thank you so much!" she exclaimed, blushing. What she didn't realize is that Mr. Phillips never drank coffee, but this would give him an excuse to stop at the bakery and tempt her. She took another sip and smiled at him.

"Well then, I'll need this report by noon. I will also need you to attend a business luncheon with me today. Mr. Jackson is flying in just for this consultation and he wants me to meet him at Roulette's. I'll need you there to take notes, and of course you will be able to have lunch as well."

"I'll be ready", she said and turned to the report. Mr. Phillips felt a little bad for her. She wasn't going to be ready for this.