Babygirl and the Mean Boss (12 page)

             
Nicole felt like she was being swung around in a circle like a kid on one of those playground torture devices.  Gasping, she clutched at the nearest thing to her, which happened to be Marty.  He was holding her in his arms a look of fear in his eyes.
             

             
“Marty?”

             
“You f
ell.  When I came in you were l
ying on the floor.”  She reached up ignoring the straining in her shoulder and felt the back of her head. 
It didn’t feel any more sore tha
n normal.

             
“I’m taking you to the hospital.”  He said breathlessly as he hurried to the door.

             
“No.”

             
“Nicole-
”

             
“STOP!”  He did, surprised.  “Put me down.”  Reluctantly he did. 
“Marty, I didn’t hit the back of my head.”

             
“Let me see.”  He said, moving behind her and pulling
aside sections of her afro
.  Tentatively he touched her head
with his fingertips
.  “
Maybe you didn’t
.”  He
sighed and she
decided not to tell him about the
excruciating
pain or he really would make her go to emergency.

“
Nicole…
that’s it.
”  His eyes narrowed.  “I am not leaving you alone again.”

“Marty-”

He stalked away from her and walked back into the kitchen, picked up
a fallen
bar stool and angrily slammed it onto its legs. 
One minute she was risking a blackout in
the shower, the next she was l
ying on the floor.  Her head could have…

Nicole just stood in the doorway because his attitude
reminded her of the tomato incide
nt, when he was so angry at her.
  But this wasn’t her fault!
 

He
g
l
anced at her
and then hesitated
.  “I’m not mad at you, Nicole…but I am pissed.  I am so mad at that lady that hit you!  I am pissed that she left you there all alone.”  He raised his hands
palm up.
  “And really, all I can think of doing is …is-” He sat on the barstool silently
feeling useless
. 

Nicole sat down next to him. 
“I understand.” She realized that she finally did understand.

~
***
~

For the next
few
days Marty did stay close to Nicole.  He took her to her doctor’s appointment. He gave her his hands to squeeze when the Doctor removed the stitches from her scalp.  He asked the
pertinent questions about her seizures and blackouts and headaches and anything else he could think of. 
He made her healthy meals and even convinced her to go for walks around the neighborhood and eventually through the park.  Donning sunglasses and a hat she was even persuaded to go out to a casual seafood restaurant that Marty loved.  In the evenings they settled down to watch a movie on the home theater or she would do a few hours of schoolwork in his den. 

Their routine was very comfortable and Nicole knew that she would never be able to see Marty the way she had prior to her accident.
She wondered what it would be like once she went home and they had just a working relationship again.  She’d miss him, that was for sure. 

Although they never discussed work or each other’s past, she had grown to know him well, and he her.  There was no more of the flirting but at times the sexual tension w
as
nearly overwhelming
. They both recognized that there was a mutual attraction.  And they both knew that it was dangerous to play a flirting game.

By Tuesday morning Nicole’s bruising had virtually disappeared and she was becoming anxious to get back to work.  She glanced at Marty who was scrambling eggs wearing a pair of loose fitting athletic shorts and a worn t-shirt
with the sleeves cut off
.  He had just finished working out and his muscles seemed very pumped.  With a swallow, Nicole tried to suppress her rising desire.

“Marty.”  He raised a brow without answering.  “Let
’
s go to work today.”

Silently he scooped the steaming eggs onto their plates.  “Okay.”

She smiled
,
“Really?”  He put the skillet back on the stove then sat down next to her. 

“Yeah…But, Nicole.  I think it
’
s too soon for you to start working-”

“But-”

“Hear me out.  It’s just been a week since the accident.  Three days ago you had a seizure.  Let
’
s see if you can go the rest of the week without one and I’ll consider it.  Deal?”

She hadn’t had any other incide
nts
since
; no black outs, no seizures, not even a significant headache.

“I guess I can stay here and work on the computer-
”

“I don’t think so.  There’s a computer in my office at work.”  He hadn’t been kidding when he swore never to leave her alone again.  Even when she took a long bath he’d knock on the door after fifteen minutes or so to check on her.

Her sigh of frustration was real.  “
Marty, w
hat’s everyone going to think when they see me sitting in the office and not working?”
  Really, if he was intent on keeping their relationship secret then that would be a dead give-away!

“Even though
I haven’t told anyone that you’re staying here with me
, I’m sure they’ve figured out that I’ve not been around
is
because I’m
with
you.  So
tell them whatever you want.  Tell them to mind their own business.”  He glanced at her.  “But you would never say anything like that to anyone, Baby Girl.  You’re so sweet and nice.”
  His tone was playfully mocking. 
She thought he’d be truly surprised to learn just how UN-nice she used to be.

“You don’t care that they know you’ve been with me
-short of them knowing that I’m staying here, of course?
” 

Marty’s look was guarded, but he smiled.
 
“No.  Maybe they’ll stop thinking I’m so mean.  You think that will change their opinion of me, Baby Girl?”
  He was always poking fun at her about the mean issue.

Nicole smiled.  “You
are
awfully mean, Marty.”

“I guess.”  He placed a mug in front of
her
then filled it with coffee.  She was having a difficult time connecting this Marty with the Marty from work.  She guessed that she’d see the other soon enough.

~
***
~

Nicole kept sneaking looks at Marty as he drove them to the restaurant, trying to determine how he felt about this.  He had turned on the radio to an oldies channel and was humming to an Eagles song.  He didn’t even seem concerned.  Well why should he be concerned?  No one was going to be bombarding him with questions concerning the nature of their relationship.

Nicole wasn’t at the restaurant 2 hours before she began to regret her
suggestion
to come in, not that Marty would have let her stay home alone and she felt horrible keeping him away from work.  But every time she began to get absorbed in her studies, the office door would pop open and someone would tell her how bad she looked.

When Kendall opened the door she was ready to scream, instead she just smiled. “Hey, Girlie.”

Kendall’s mouth just dropped.  “Damn…”

“I look that bad?”

“No…but you do look like you got hit by an SUV.  You okay, girl?”

Nic
ole shrugged.  “A lot better tha
n last week.”

“Well I tried calling you but your phone just rang and rang.”  Kendall gave her a knowing look.  She shut the door and sat on the corner of the cluttered desk. 
“Okay, Girl.  Give up the goods.”

“What goods?”

“
The good
s
on
Marty.”

Nicole gave her a
n innocent
look.  “What in the world are you talking about?”

Kendall rolled her eyes.  “Boyfriend closed the restaurant for you
—for several days
.  Marty NEVER closes, not even when he had the flu!”

Nicole tried to appear nonchalant.  “I don’t have a driver
’
s license.  I guess I put Marty on the spot to help me out with Doctor’s appointments, getting medicine…I feel real guilty about it.”

Kendall just smiled.  “Fred would have done any of that for you.  I think he has a crush on you.
”  Nicole scowled.  She was so
off the mark. 
“So…You don’t think Marty sucks anymore?
”

“I never said that he sucked!  I just thought he was mean…But he’s been real cool to me
, so I won’t complain
.”

Kendall
stood
.
 
Nicole could tell that her interest in the conversation had expired and she had moved onto something different.
  “Marty is more tha
n cool.  He is the bomb!”
  She squealed.
             

Nicole frowned.  “The bomb?”

“Ye
s!
  He’s been training me.  I don’t know what it is Nicole, but he hasn’t been h
is usual mean self…I think he wants me just as bad as I want him!
”

Nicole was shocked but quickly concealed it.  “Oh…really?
”

“Oh my g
od!  He’s funny.  He’s sexy.  And he watches me so hard.  Girl, I’m going to get him!”

“Kendall, Isn’t he old enough to be your father?”

“He’s only 39 or 40.  That’s not old.  And besides he doesn’t look it.”  She leaned closer to Nicole.  “I heard he’s rich, used to have his own investment agency.  He was married and everything.  But she died, real horribly; killed-”

Nicole’s brow furrowed sharply. 
“What?  Kendall, how’d you find this out?”

“Fred told me.  When Marty was out.”
             

Fred? 
“How
would he know about something like that
?”

Kendall shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I know that Fred quit another job to work for Marty when he first opened this place.  Maybe they go way back.”

Nicole felt sick.  Fred wouldn’t make up something like that.  But why would Marty mislead her about his marriage
because he sure made it seem like his wife had just dumped him for his partner.
 

Kendall
looked at the clock
.
 
“I gotta get back on the floor.  Nicole, what I told you has to stay between you and me
.
”

She nodded absently.  “Okay, but what do you mean she died horribly?”

“She was attacked, beaten, maybe even raped.  I gotta go!”  Kendall hurried out of the office.

Nicole shook her head in disbelief.  Marty’s
wife was murdered?
  But why didn’t he tell her ?  Maybe…it was for the same reason that Nicole herself had never mentioned Alicia.