The Job Offer (15 page)

"Dr. Conner!  Thank you for calling
me back so soon.  As I said in my message, Mr. Stanford will be unavailable next
week but wants to offer you the position.  Are you still interested?"

"Yes, I am, Ms. Tomlinson."

"Excellent.  We have an employment
contract already made up for the position.  It is the standard employment
contract with non-disclosure and non-compete clauses, and your beginning wages
and benefits are also listed.  As we discussed on Monday, the contract is for one
year of at-will employment which we consider the trial period.  Then after
that, if all parties are agreeable, the contract would extend to a permanent
status.  If you give me a fax number, I can fax the contract to you tomorrow
morning."

Anne remembered the inn's regular office
fax number and gave it to Ms. Tomlinson.  After completing the call and hanging
up, Anne jumped up and danced around the room, giving fist pumps in her
excitement.  Then remembering the time, she grabbed the clothing, the cell
phone, and her purse and ran back to the inn, stopping along the way to pick up
her shorts, canvas shoes, and book from the patio.  She dropped everything off,
except her purse, in Ben's room and walked into the dining room just as salads
were delivered.

"I ordered for you," Ben told
her as she sat down next to him.

"Thanks."

The rest of the evening was full of lots
of laughter and silly stories about the bride and groom.  They were sitting in
a private room off the main dining room and had two tables pushed together to
make room for all of them.  Tom, Lily's fiancé, sat next to his parents who had
arrived sometime during the day, and Anne's parents sat next to her on her
other side.  The food was excellent and the conversations were easy.  Several
times she felt Ben's hand at her nape or holding her hand while he talked to
someone else at the table.  The day would be imprinted on her mind as the perfect
day, she thought once as she looked at Ben's smiling face.  He winked at her when
he saw that she was watching him and went back to talking to his father across
the table.

Eventually, Anne needed to use the
Ladies' room and excused herself from the table.  Lily decided to come with her,
and they walked together into the room where they had to wait because all three
stalls were taken.  With time on their hands, they began to touch up their
lipstick.  Lily's brown eyes watched Anne in the mirror as she began to play
with her bangs.  Lily had the same coloring as Ben but shared no family
resemblance to him, Anne noted, when her eyes caught Lily's in the mirror.  After
fixing her hair, Lily turned around and stared at Anne's face.

"You had sex, right?"

"What?"  Anne looked at her
startled by the question.

"Oh, come on, Anne.  That's why you
and Ben were late.  It certainly explained why he disappeared all of the sudden
after the photographer left this afternoon.  I won't ask how he was because,
well, it's too yucky to think about when we are talking about my brother, but
you look like you enjoyed yourself.  You two certainly move fast.  But then you
always got along when we were kids.  You know he became interested in marine
research because of you and all your little lessons."

"No, I didn't know that."  She
didn’t know it and wondered why Lily brought it up.

"It's too bad your heading back
east after this week.  You and Ben are really good together.  We can all see
it."

"Actually, Lily, I have to tell
someone, or I am going to burst.  I came to Seattle to interview for a job, and
I found out this afternoon that I got it.  I'll be moving back at the end of
the month."

"That's fabulous, Anne.  Congratulations.
 Does Ben know?  Are you going to tell your father?  I saw his picture
today."  They shared a look that was not complimentary to Andrew Conner.  "When
you move back, you and Ben can...you know." She gave Anne a suggestive
grin.  "That will be great for both of you."

"Wait a second, Lily.  Ben only
wants and is expecting a vacation romance.  I don't think either of us expected
it to go as far as it has.  I'm not going to spring it on him that I'm staying
and expect him to be there."  One of the stalls flushed, and a woman came
out and went to the sink.  Anne stepped out of the way.  They suspended their
conversation as the woman washed and left.  Another stall flushed, and a second
woman stepped out and crossed to wash her hands.

"Anne.  He wants it."  Lily
waited until the second woman left before speaking.

"I wish I could be sure."

"My advice, Anne, is to tell him as
soon as possible.  Tell him tonight."

"I'll feel him out, but if he isn't
warm on the idea of continuing our relationship after this week, I don't want
to make things awkward between us for your wedding."

"Don't worry.  He'll be
receptive."

After that, they each headed to a stall
and closed the doors.  The third stall flushed and the woman stepped out.  She
walked to the line of sinks and washed her hands, smiling as she looked in the
mirror.  Then she flipped back her red hair and fixed her lipstick before going
back into the dining room.

Later that night, Ben and Anne were
lying in Ben's bed after making love another time and looked at each other with
soft smiles on their faces.  Anne was on her side looking at Ben who was lying
on his belly looking at her with a satisfied male smile on his face.  She
reached out, brushed his shoulder, and trailed her hand down his back before
leaning over to kiss his shoulder.

"Hmmm, you wear me out, Anne,"
Ben said sleepily.  Then he yawned and rolled over to his side so that he faced
her, reaching his hand out to brush his fingers over her breast.

"I'm not going to be able to walk
tomorrow," she told him.  The comment elicited a laugh from Ben.  She
rolled onto her back, and he cupped the breast he had been brushing.  She was
suddenly nervous about asking him, but Lily said that she should ask him
tonight.  In her logical mind, she needed to know where she stood, too.  "Ben,
I have a question."

"What, Baby?"

"What do you think of our
relationship?"  He sighed and removed his hand, rolling onto his back to
look at the ceiling.  He was no longer smiling, and she could feel his
withdrawal emotionally as well as physically.  She bit her lower lip and sighed
in disappointment.  "I mean, does this, do I, mean anything to you?  Or is
this just sex to you?"

"Anne.  Of course it isn't just
sex."  He rolled over and looked at her again.  "If you are wondering
if I expect more after the week is over, I don't.  I know that this is just for
this week only.  I'll always remember our time together this week as the best
time I've had with a woman.  You're such a wonderful woman, Anne.  I hope you
know that."

"After this week, that's it."  She
stated it rather than asked.  She could not look at him and did as he did
seconds earlier; she stared at the ceiling.  He was silent for a long time, his
eyes sad as he thought of how to answer her.  Finally, he rolled onto his back
again and looked up at the ceiling.

"Yes."

His answer did not surprise her, but she
was surprised by the stab of pain that went through her chest and the water
that pooled in her eyes.  Not wanting him to see how much his answer hurt her,
she rolled on her side so that she faced away from him.  A tear rolled over the
ridge of her nose and dropped onto the pillow.  After a few minutes, she felt
him move behind her until he was wrapped around her spooning her.  His arm
crossed over her side and pulled her back against him.  Then he kissed her shoulder
and the back of her head.

"Let me love you for the rest of
this week, Anne.  Don't push me away now.  I need you the rest of this week.  Anne?"
 She did not answer him right away as she struggled to be able to talk without
letting him know that she was silently crying.

"Ok.  I'll be yours for the rest of
this week."  She was surprised that her voice did not give him a clue to
how she was feeling.

"I have a question for you,
Anne."  His breath brushed her shoulder.

"What is it?"  Her voice was
soft, barely reaching his ears.

"Do you think having a child is a
good reason to get married?"  She never expected that question.  If he was
not holding her so tight against his front, she would have turned around to
look at him.

"No, I don't.  My mother married my
father when she found out she was pregnant with me.  It did not last long.  It
was over before I was born.  Knowing my father the way I do, I'm glad it didn't
work out.  If my mom had remained married to my father, she would never have
married my dad."

"I never knew that Jim wasn't your
natural father," Ben spoke softly behind her.  "You're so close, and
you call him 'Dad.'"

"That's because he is my dad.  My
father wanted nothing to do with me when I was born.  Jim married my mom when I
was a baby and adopted me.  My natural father came around and caused problems
when I was a teenager, wanting a relationship.  For a while, he was in our
lives, but not now.  I haven't seen or heard from him in years.  If I never see
him again, it will be fine with me; although, I'll see him again eventually.  I
really don't like talking about him, Ben.  Why did you ask me if I thought a
baby would be a good reason to marry?"

"I had a couple of past girlfriends
who tried to trap me with claiming that I was the father of their baby.  That's
all."

"What?"  Her voice rose is her
shock, and she tried to turn around.  He held her tight, and she settled back
down.

"Chelsea was one.  She knew that I
was planning on breaking up with her.  The relationship was going nowhere, and
she just downright scared me.  So she made up the story that she was pregnant.  There
was no pregnancy, thank God.  When I asked to see the doctor's report, she
crumbled and finally admitted there wasn't going to be a baby.  My last
girlfriend tried passing another man's baby off as mine.  While I was out of
the country on business, she hooked up with an old boyfriend and became
pregnant.  When he refused to marry her, she told me the baby was mine.  I went
to the first doctor visit with her and got the baby's due date.  Doing the
math, it would not have been possible for me to be the father.  Plus I always
use protection.  I confronted her about it, and she admitted that the baby was
the other guy's."

"That's awful, Ben.  I don't know
how a woman could do that to a man.  How did you feel about the baby when she
told you she was pregnant?"

"Trapped.  I felt trapped.  I
already knew we would be breaking up.  I had heard it from friends who saw her
out with the other guy.  But even before I went on the trip, I knew that I did
not want to see her anymore."

"Don't you want to have
children?"

"Yes, I would.  Someday, when I
find the right woman, I want to have children.  But I won't be trapped by a
woman who only wants my money.  Do you want children?"

"Yes, when I find the right
man."

They laid in silence for a long time,
and Anne felt herself drifting off.  She did not know if Ben was asleep or
awake.  His breathing was even.

"Anne."

"Yes, Ben?"

"I'm glad that you are here this
week; that I found you again."

"I'm glad, too.  Goodnight,
Ben."

"Goodnight, Anne."  He kissed
her shoulder then settled back down behind her, curled into her back.  Anne
drifted off to sleep never seeing the sad eyes that watched her.

*  *  *  *  *

Ben woke up a little before five am, stretched
his arm out in the dark to feel Anne's warm body in the spot next to him, and
sighed in relief.  He watched her fall asleep the night before, holding her in
his arms, afraid that if he let go that she would get up and leave.  He looked
at her now with the light of the alarm clock casting enough light to see the
softness of her face while she slept.  He stared at her committing her face to
memory.  It was Thursday, and he only had less than four full days to try to
win her heart.  On Sunday he would be leaving, and she was leaving next week
sometime.  He never asked on what day she was planning to go back east.  After
Sunday morning, he would never see her again.  It did not matter until now.

He was not ready to let her go, but he
did not know how to keep her in Seattle.  Her life was out east, and his was
here.  She said she only wanted this to be a vacation romance and that once she
left that would be it.  He had agreed to it because that was all he thought he
wanted at the time.  But he was wrong.  He wanted her for a lot longer than a
vacation romance.  He had to woo her.  He had to show her how good they were
together.  He knew it was too soon after their reunion to be in love with her,
but he was.  When she asked him last night how he saw their relationship, he
realized that he loved her.  Maybe he always had.

He thought about their unprotected sex
yesterday.  He never asked her if she was on birth control.  Right now, he did
not want to know.  Right now he wanted to think that there was a chance that
his baby was already growing inside of her.  She would be a good mother, he
knew.  He asked her last night about what she thought about a baby being a good
reason for marriage, not because he had past girlfriends who tried to trap him,
but because of the idea that if she was pregnant he would marry her.  Then when
he heard her talk about her natural father and that she would not get married
just because she was pregnant, he knew that she was right, and he was thinking
foolishly.  But if she was pregnant, he would be there.  A baby would give him
a reason to still keep her in his life.