4

“Hello, I’m Colin McLaren.” I let go of Elise’s hand and took his hand in a handshake.

“Hello, Eve Bailey,” my voice came out as a whimper. If he noticed, he hid it well.

“Nice to meet you,” he replied. “We will work closely together and I look forward to it. Brandon provided some references from your college years and they were impressive.”

“Thank you,” I mumbled. I felt like a charity case for getting a job without even interviewing for it. Made me wonder what exactly Brandon shared.

Elise interjected proudly. “She was excellent at finance and made enough money to pay for her tuition. Everybody was disappointed a bit when she decided not to pursue it full time.”

“Well, I’m happy to have you on my team,” Colin beamed. “Are you ready to start? I can show you around or take you straight to work. Which do you prefer?”

I didn’t want to see people so I retorted quickly, “Straight to my desk, please. And a general idea of where the bathroom and kitchen are.”

His laugh bellowed across the room. “My kind of girl. Shall we then?”

“Ok, I’m going to go.” Elise pecked me on the cheek, reminding me of the time she took me to my first day of Kindergarten. She made me feel like a little girl all over again. “Want me to meet you at the end of the day and we can grab dinner?”

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I’d make it all day, but I kept that to myself. Instead, I just replied in a soft voice. “Maybe we pick up dinner and eat at home?”

“Perfect.” She beamed and gave my hand an encouraging squeeze.

I watched her as she left after one last glance at me, concern evident in her hazel eyes. It took everything I had not to run out of the building and leave.

“Ready?” Colin asked in a gentle voice, a comforting smile on his face.

“Yes.” My voice was raspy. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Yes, please”

I felt panic rising through me but I tampered it down with what I hoped was a small smile on my face. It’s been so long since I even pretended a smile I wasn’t sure I knew how to do it anymore.

Within five minutes, I knew where the bathroom and kitchen were. Just as I preferred, he showed me to my desk and I even had a small office, which was situated right next to his.

He kept me busy all day but I barely saw him or anyone else, which I was thankful for. I didn’t want to make new acquaintances. He gave me some data entry spreadsheets to update, documents to scan into a filing drive, and other miscellaneous tasks. It made me wonder exactly how big of a favor Brandon called in to have me work with a family member of McLaren enterprise.

It was almost three in the afternoon when Colin McLaren came into my office. I glanced up from the spreadsheet to see his kind smiling face.

“So,” he started, “...how did you like your first day?”

“Good,” I replied curtly. It had been a while since I talked in anything but short answers.

“That doesn’t sound like it was good.” He chuckled with a little frown.

“It was good,” I attempted to elaborate.

I wasn’t sure if that was a better answer. But it was probably the most I’ve said in one reply in over eight months, if you didn’t count the lashing out at Elise I did earlier in the day.

“You did really well,” he beamed.

I just nodded. I used to take pride in my job, any little task. Now, the words of praise left me feeling flat.

“Eve,” I heard my sister’s voice and she peeked her head at the door.

“You are early,” I commented, glancing at the clock on the wall.

“No,” Colin replied. “I’d say she is right on time.” I frowned trying to remember if anything was said to meet up early.

“Our working hours are eight to three,” he added.

“Isn’t that awesome?” My sister was beaming like she got a job here.

“Yes,” I mumbled, unable to share in her enthusiasm. If she thought it was so awesome, she should really strive for a job here.

“How was your first day, sis?” she asked in a cheerful tone but I sensed her worry underneath it. Her motherly instinct always kicked in around me.

“Good,” I repeated my earlier answer.

Colin chuckled softly. “Well, I’m glad her answers to you are just as to the point as to me.”

The two of them shared a look I couldn’t quite decipher as they smiled.

“Ready?” Elise asked.

I grabbed my purse and made my way out the door and towards the elevator, then stopped abruptly.

My manners! Where did my manners go?

I turned around and saw Elise and Colin were right behind me, keeping up.

“Sorry,” I mumbled to Colin. “I didn’t say bye.”

“That’s quite alright,” he answered goodheartedly. “I am the same way when it’s time to go.”

We stood there in silence. I didn’t know what to do or say. It was pretty apparent my social skills had suffered over the last eight months.

Should I say thank you? I could see he was a kind man, and I didn’t want to seem rude or ungrateful.

“You’ll come back, right?” he asked in a gentle voice, like he was trying to tame a wild animal.

I nodded in reply and my sister added, seeing I’d stay muted. “Yes, thank you so much Colin.” She was her chippery outgoing self. “Same time, right?”

“Yes,” he replied but his eyes were on me. “Have a lovely evening, ladies. Eve, I’m looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

We left the McLaren building and walked to my apartment grabbing dinner on our way. Elise talked the entire time, and I didn’t mind it today. It was her way of releasing stress, and I knew I gave her plenty of it. I needed to be more considerate of her.

As she set up the table for dinner, she placed the third plate and I raised my eyebrow glancing at her.

“Brandon is joining us,” she mumbled hesitantly. “Is that ok?”

I nodded and her happy smile instantly brightened her face.

My poor sister, maybe she had it the worst. She wanted to be with her husband and was stuck here with me, scared to leave me alone. She didn’t deserve all this, and neither did Brandon.

Her husband came shortly before dinner, greeting me with a kiss on the forehead as he always did since he started dating my sister twenty years ago. They were high school sweethearts. He’d known me so long he acted like my big brother. He even roughed up a few boys in high school that made me upset, just like a real big brother.

As three of us sat together for dinner and it was almost like the old days. Except we weren’t home and I wasn’t happy anymore.

Now I felt like a shell of a person I used to be, staring at the food I couldn’t stomach. As if from a distance, I heard Elise and Brandon chat about stuff I couldn’t quite catch. Occasionally, they’d throw me a worried glance and I wanted nothing more than to tell them to stop worrying. But that would make them worry more.

I stood up abruptly and both of them looked at me.

“I’m going to bed,” I mumbled, then added for justification. “So I’m not late for work.”

I must have said something right because both Brandon and Elise had relief wash over their face. It was way too early to go to bed but I needed to be alone.