Contractual Obligation

Chapter Five

Gorden led Doug from the coffee shop to the private parking garage that took up the third through fifth floors of the building. He showed him to a black Mercedes CLS550 sedan. Doug was almost afraid to get inside it.

Gorden looked at him. “What’s wrong?”

“Is this yours?”

“Company car. But Harper promised it to me when I retire.” He grinned. “I heard her on the phone ordering yours this morning.” Gorden slid behind the wheel, leaving Doug standing there, gawking at him.

When Doug finally got into the passenger seat he said, “She ordered me a Mercedes? You’re kidding, right?”

“Nope.” He started the car. It purred to life. Doug never knew cars really could purr, but this one did. “Harper believes in treating employees right. In return, they almost always, without fail, take on personal ownership and pride in the company. Someone believes in them, they believe in themselves, and it inspires them to keep the cycle going. She doesn’t keep employees who won’t take personal pride and ownership in the company.” He slipped on a pair of mirrored sunglasses that, for some reason, made him look twenty years younger and thirty years cooler. “She believes in you.”

Gorden drove them over to International Plaza, near the airport. Doug had never shopped here, even though he’d passed it frequently on his way to Target or Walmart. Most of the shops in the mall weren’t even in the same country as his bank balance, much less the same zip code.

“I hope you brought your credit card,” Doug quipped as they headed inside, “because I can’t even afford to window-shop here.”

Gorden laughed. “Don’t worry. Pretty soon, this will feel like slumming it.”

Three hours later, they left the mall with their arms full of shopping bags and Doug completely refitted in high-dollar office wear. As they stowed everything in the trunk of Gorden’s car, Doug stared down at his new clothes, including a pair of leather Burberry brogues, which cost almost as much as a month’s rent on their Gainesville apartment.

“I can’t believe this,” he said.

Gorden closed the trunk lid. “Believe it. And enjoy it while you can.”

“What do you mean?”

“She wasn’t kidding when she told you she can be a bitch to work for.” They got back in the car and Gorden continued. “I love her like a daughter. Hell, I’ve known her since she was born, before her mother died. My wife and I stood in plenty of times when Harrison had to go out of town on business. I can’t tell you how many Christmases she woke up in our guest room to find Santa had remembered to bring her gifts to our house. After a while, we just went ahead and decorated the guest room for her so she would feel like she had a home. She spent more time with us than she did her own father.”

Doug didn’t know what to say to that, so he thought it wise to keep his mouth shut. He’d always had his family’s love and support. He didn’t know what it was like not to have that.

He was worried he might find out if they ever knew the truth of why he had to break up with Tate.

Gorden wasn’t finished speaking his piece. “You’re going to go to bed some nights cursing her name. Until you return to work the next morning to find out her mood has shifted and she’s back to the same lovable woman you were glad to go to work for. What you have to remember is that, no matter what, you must stay calm. I’m not at liberty to discuss some things. But there are reasons for her mercurial moods sometimes that have nothing to do with you or with the quality of your work. Maybe one day she’ll be able to open up to you as her confidant. You will become her anchor, her rock. She will rely upon you to do your job and be there for her.”

Gorden looked at him before pulling out into traffic. “And if you disappoint her, I guarantee you you’ll be a thousand times harder on yourself than she will be. So don’t fuck up.”

Doug pondered Gorden’s last statement. Until the older man had dropped the F-bomb on him, he hadn’t thought Gorden would have said fuck if he was in the middle of actually doing it with his wife. One thing he’d quickly learned about Gorden, he was usually a man of few words, and what he said meant something.

Back at the office, Gorden showed him where his temporary office would be after helping Doug stash the new purchases in the trunk of his own car. Once Gorden retired, Doug would move into his office, right next door to Harper.

“Can I ask you something?” Doug said.

Gorden snorted in amusement. “I’d think you were brain dead if you weren’t constantly asking me questions. Go ahead.”

“Harper is an unusual name. Where did it come from?”

“Oh, that.” He smiled. “That was a source of contention between Harrison and his late wife, Harper’s mother. He is very fond of making deals. He said if their baby was a boy, his wife could name it.”

“Yeah?”

“He gave his baby girl a…well, it’s not just a boy’s name, obviously, but it’s certainly not very feminine, is it?”

“Not really.”

“It was her maternal grandfather’s first name. Harrison truly respected him and learned a lot about business from him. He worked for him before he married Harper’s mother. If you were to ask Harper some of her memories as a little girl of her and her father, she’ll tell you about him taking her to baseball and football games, teaching her how to fish, all sorts of things. And lots of time at the office. He really wanted a boy. Don’t get me wrong, he loves his little girl, and he’d die for her. But he wanted her to grow up tough so she could take over his business when she got older. He didn’t raise her to be Daddy’s Little Princess. She was more like Daddy’s Little Piranha. And, whether he likes it or not, he succeeded.”

“I take it he doesn’t like it?”

“Oh, he does. He’s extremely proud of her. But as she told you herself, I think now in his older age he realizes how misguided he was. He spent all these years teaching her the cutthroat world of business, and that’s all she really knows. He showed her how to work hard to get ahead, and she’s a natural at it. Now that he’s slowing down, he realizes maybe he should have stopped to smell the roses a little with his daughter instead of plowing ahead. Maybe tried a little harder to teach her to play as hard as she worked.”

“Which is why he’s now on her case?”

“Yep. Now let’s spend a few minutes before he gets here getting you prepped.”

At one point, Doug excused himself to the bathroom. There, he checked his phone for the call he knew he’d missed from Tate earlier during their shopping excursion.

“Hey, buddy,” Tate said, “it’s me. Tag, you’re it. Let me know how you’re doing. I’ll call you again after I get off work. Love you.”

Doug locked himself in a stall and allowed himself to silently cry for a few minutes before cleaning himself up. He called Tate back, knowing he’d get his voice mail.

“Hey, sorry, it’s been crazy here.” He swallowed hard. “This new job is…I’ll have to give you the details later. It’s a really intense, travel-heavy schedule at first, so hold off on the boxes for right now.” He closed his eyes. “I love you, too. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to talk much. I’m going through orientation and training. Love you, talk to you later.” He hung up, washed his face, ran his hands through his hair, and took a deep breath.

I can do this. It’s for my parents. And it’s helping Harper out.

It didn’t make him feel like any less of a shit.

Harper nervously tried to keep her focus on her work while Gorden and Doug were out shopping. She trusted Gorden to bring him back looking exactly the part. Not too flashy, not too much poor college boy. Her father was an idiot when it came to fashion, but overall appearance meant a lot to him.

She hoped if he met Doug and found him acceptable on the surface that he wouldn’t do too much digging right now. Meaning he wouldn’t raise any objections to Doug’s hiring.

Not that he would overrule her on his hiring, but she had to commit to the bit, as comedians said. And she was committed to getting her father off her freaking back.

She heard a heavy knock on her office door. Before she could say anything, the door opened and her father stuck his head in.

“Anyone home?”

She felt a mix of irritation and adoration. “Hi, Daddy.”

He smiled that handsome, winning smile of his and stepped in, closing the door behind him. “Hello, sweetheart. Is it safe, or do you still want to take my head off?” He cupped his hands in front of his groin. “Or something lower?”

“Yes, it’s safe.”

He walked over, and she stood to hug him. “I’m sorry, honey. I shouldn’t have gone after you like that at the meeting.” He held her at arm’s length, his gaze intent on hers. “But I meant it. I worry about you, sweetheart. With your health—”

She rolled her eyes. “Daddy, it’s diabetes, not cancer. I’m not dying, for chrissake.”

“I just worry about you,” he said again. “I love you. I only want what’s best for you.”

“I know you do, but I’m an adult.”

He smiled as he released her. “Yes, but you’ll always be my little girl.” Then his expression turned sad. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there more for you while you were growing up. And look, fine, don’t get a boyfriend, but at least take more time off. You and I can go travelling, or at least spend some time together.”

“Julia won’t mind?”

A dark cloud seemed to pass over him. “I don’t give a shit what she thinks.”

She arched an eyebrow in surprise. Harrison Wells rarely swore in front of his little girl, even though she was almost thirty. “Wow. What happened?” Harper knew Julia Carson had her sights set on doing something no other woman since her mother had managed—becoming Mrs. Harrison Wells.

Harper had hated her upon first sight when they met six months earlier. The feeling had been completely mutual.

He waved her concern away as he turned to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk. “I did a lot of thinking after our meeting. I called Julia up and ended it with her. I decided I needed to take my own advice. She wasn’t a long-term prospect.” He looked at her. “Don’t think I don’t know what her angle was. I know you didn’t like her. I’m sorry I let her take so much of my attention from you.”

She perched on the corner of her desk. “Daddy, I’m not a little girl anymore. You need a life as much as I need one. I didn’t hate her because she had your attention. I hated her because she was a gold-digging bitch after a chunk of your money.”

He scrubbed his face with his hands as he sat back in his chair. This was her Daddy, the man she loved and practically worshipped. Unlike the tough businessman she ran afoul of a few days earlier. “Sweetheart, I’m an old dog. Too old to learn new tricks. I loved your mother, and she always supported me and understood when I had to work long hours. I didn’t deserve someone as loving and generous as her. But you’re young enough not to make the same mistakes I did.”

Wow, Gorden nailed it on the head. She didn’t speak, just listened.

“Let’s plan a father-daughter trip,” he continued. “Remember last Christmas we talked about taking an Alaskan cruise? It’s one place neither of us have been. We can take a long vacation. I can have it booked in an hour.”

“When did you want to do this?”

“We can leave in less than a week.” He smiled.

“You’ve been researching, haven’t you?”

He nodded as he sat up. “Yep. What do you say?”

“Well, I’d love to—”

“But.” He laughed.

“No, Daddy, it’s not like that.” She only called him Mr. Wells in front of their employees. Any other time, it was always Daddy. “I just hired Gorden’s replacement.”

That piqued his interest. “Oh? I’ve only been bugging you about that for the past year.”

“I know, and so has he. You know the job fair this weekend at the convention center?”

“Yes?”

“Well, I talked to Carmen in HR. Asked her to keep a lookout for potential candidates.”

“And she found you one?”

“He seems perfect. Young, just out of school, and eager to learn and work.” And broke as shit, she thought.

“Tell me more.”

“You’ll get to meet him here shortly.” She glanced at the clock. “Gorden’s been working with him today, getting his feet wet. His first official day is Monday.”

“Young?” A smile curled his lips. “Handsome?”

“Daddy!” She hoped she portrayed the right amount of shock. Inside, she was already laughing. He fell for it.

He chuckled as he waved her objection away. “Relax, I promise not to play matchmaker.” He sighed. “You’re right, though. That does make it a little tougher to plan a trip right now.”

She felt a little guilty. “What are you doing this weekend?” It’d been four months since she’d taken off a full day, much less an entire weekend.

His grin returned. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“How about a weekend at the Boca house?” Her father owned a beautiful waterfront house on Gasparilla Island, in a little community called Boca Grande, nearly two hours south of Tampa. “Do you think the tarpon are running this weekend?”

He jumped to his feet with a huge smile. “Probably not, but who the heck cares! We can still go fishing, right?”

She loved seeing her father like this. Happy, excited. “Absolutely, Daddy.”

He rounded the desk and hugged her. “Let me go check in to make sure no one needs me this afternoon, and we’ll leave today after you go home and pack.”

“Don’t forget to come back to meet Douglas.”

He turned at the door. “Right!” He grinned playfully. “Any chance he wants to learn how to fish and—”

“Daddy!” She pointed at the door. “Go!”

He laughed. “All right, all right. Can’t blame me for trying.” He left. She sat down and let out a deep breath.

So far, so good.