Chapter Seventeen

Irene

The following Thursday, she was on her way to Hunter Corporation. Not by car this time, but by public transportation. She’d sold her car to a junkyard but didn’t have enough money to buy a replacement.

It was her first day at the office. Daisy had been thrilled to hear about her new job. When Irene asked her about the notice period and how many shifts she still had to do, Daisy hadn’t wanted to hear about it.

Daisy was so grateful to have had such a dedicated and hard-working employee, she terminated the contract, effective immediately. She wished Irene the best of luck in her new job.

When she arrived at the office building, she looked up and stared for a moment. This was her new life now. She walked inside, went to the top floor, and knocked on Mr. Saunders’s door.

“Come in.”

She heard his voice behind the door. She opened the door and saw him sitting in his big leather chair.

“Good morning, Mr. Saunders,” she said, and she took a few steps inside.

“Good morning, Irene. I am so happy you are here; there is a lot of work for you to do.” He smiled a little. “I am sorry, but the first few days will be stressful and hectic.

“A lot of work has been left out because we had no one to do it for us, but now that you’re here, I’m sure it all will work out. You are a lifesaver.”

Irene smiled. “Already? And I haven’t done anything yet.”

Christian smiled as well. “There is a pile of folders on your desk; maybe you can start with those. When you look in the cupboard with folders, you will see how to order them.

“When you are done with that, there’s another pile of papers that you can classify and put in the folders in the cupboard. When all of that is cleared out, you will have some space on your desk to be able to work properly.

“As long as you’re cleaning out those piles, you don’t have to pick up the phone, so that you finish faster and are free to do your job.”

“Well, I’ll be able to keep myself busy for a while.” She smiled. “Before I start, would you like a cup of coffee, Mr. Saunders?”

“I would love that, thank you.” He smiled gratefully. “But please, as long as it’s just us, you can call me Christian.”

“Alright.” She grabbed the doorknob to close the door behind her, but Christian stopped her. “Leave it open. I try to keep an open-door policy.” He smiled again.

Christian hadn’t exaggerated about the pile of work she had to do. But she felt very useful. Almost at the end of the workday, Christian came out of his office, holding a stack of papers.

“Irene.”

She turned around to face him.

“When you’re done, can you make scans of these and put them in the correct folders on the computer?”

“Sure.” She took the stack and put them to the side.

“How is it going so far?” he asked. “Is it too much?”

As she opened her mouth to reply, they heard someone approaching. Christian looked up, and Irene continued with her work.

“Mr. Romero, how are you?” Christian approached the man with an outstretched hand.

The man shook Christian’s hand. “Good afternoon, Mr. Saunders. I am doing fine, thank you.” The man walked from Christian to Irene. “Is this lady your new assistant?”

“Yes, she is. Mr. Romero, this is Irene, my new assistant. Irene, this is Mr. Romero, a partner of one of our clients.”

“Nice to meet you,” she said, then looked surprised when she looked up at his face. “Angelo?”

The surprise on his face mirrored hers. “Irene! Since when do you work here? I thought you had a job at the restaurant.”

“Actually, today is my first day here.” She smiled.

“Well, good for you. I look forward to seeing you here more often then.” He smiled broadly. Christian held the door to his office open for Angelo, and Angelo walked in. Christian walked in after him and closed the door.

A while later, Angelo and Christian stepped back outside the office, just as Irene was getting herself ready to go home. “Miss Irene, what are you still doing here? It’s already past working hours. You should be home already.”

“It’s no problem, Mr. Saunders. If I had left earlier, I would have had to wait for the subway anyway.”

“Alright then, now go home. Get some rest. Tomorrow will be another day. Don’t make a habit of working late.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but, Miss Irene, can I offer you a ride home?” Angelo asked.

“Oh, but that is not necessary. I don’t mind traveling on the subway.”

“Please, Miss Irene, I insist.”

“Alright then.” Irene quickly grabbed her belongings and said goodbye to Christian.

Then she followed Angelo to his car. The ride home was quiet. They were both lost in their own thoughts. When the car came to a stop, Angelo looked at her. “This is you.”

“Thanks, Angelo, for giving me a ride.” Irene smiled at him gratefully. “You’ve helped me out a lot the last few days.”

“No problem. Anything for you, beautiful.” He returned her smile. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?” She looked at him curiously.

“I wanted to know if you’d like to go out with me sometime. Maybe dinner, or a movie or something?”

“I’d like that.” Her smile got broader.

“How about this Saturday? I’ll come and pick you up around seven?”

“Okay, that’s fine. I’ll see you then.”

Zach

In the meantime, Zach’s week had not been so good. He was so ashamed of his behavior the day he’d destroyed his furniture. He really wondered how he couldn’t control himself and his instincts.

His instincts made him restless—something was off that night. He had no idea how or why, but something was wrong, and his instincts sensed it.

He’d gone for a walk through the woods to try to clear his mind. He found a nice spot overlooking the compound. He’d been hiding from his family, from everyone who needed him.

Especially from Ethan. He just couldn’t talk to him right now. He didn’t want to ruin the guy’s first days with his destined.

Although Joanna and Ethan would still be living separately, they’d still made a huge step forward with her moving here.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding,” he heard a voice behind him say. “We’ve been looking for you. I must give it to you, you hid yourself well, but not good enough for me.”

Jackson. Zach turned his head to look at his younger brother but quickly turned back to watch the view again. His brother walked over to sit next to him. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Zach remained silent. He didn’t know where to start. But if he wanted his brother to trust him, to earn his respect, and to open up to him, he needed to be an example and do the same.

“I’m a wreck. I screwed up.” Zach sighed.

“What do you mean, you screwed up? Do you mean your room? I saw it…nicely redecorated— you did that yourself? Or did you hire a professional?”

Zach wrapped his arms around his knees and smiled lightly. His brother was trying to make him feel a little less uncomfortable. “That too. It’s the only thing I seem to be able to do well lately, tearing things down.

“Last week, I almost met my destined at the office. I missed her by just seconds, but because my instincts sensed her in Mr. Saunders’s office, I went crazy and tore up my office.

“Yesterday, when I came home from a run in the forest, there was a nice lady. I think she seduced me, but after a while, my instincts went crazy and sent her out.

“I was so disgusted by my behavior that I went ballistic and redecorated my room. Just a little spark and I seem to explode. But yesterday was the worst I have ever had. I don’t know what came over me.

“My instincts were restless, as if something was wrong. Something was off last night, but I can’t explain it.” Zach wriggled his fingers and sighed again.

“I’m afraid that it’ll only get worse. As long as I haven’t found my destined, I’ll be a danger. Jackson, I’m turning into a monster.”

“Aren’t you exaggerating a little? You’re not giving yourself enough credit. You’ve been the man I have always looked up to. You’ve been an example for me all my life.

“You’ve been the one who always kept calm in times of crisis, who always had a plan. You were the one who would scold me if I did something wrong. You gave the best advice.

“But most of all, you’ve been the most caring, loving man I have ever known. I always wanted to be like you.

“Let me—let us, your family—return the favor. Open up. We all know you’re just like everyone else, you have feelings too, you have your cross to carry. Let us help you, let us be there for you!

“It’s not a sign of weakness to show us how you feel! You become stronger 'cause the things you carry make you human, make you stand beside us, not above us.

“It’ll make the bond even stronger, which you’ll see if you ever have to rely on that bond.

“Brother, I’m proud of you, what you have achieved. Look around, look—all of this is because of you. Man up, be the man we need you to be, don’t get carried away. You can do it. I believe in you.

“And as for your destined, have patience—you’ll find her. That you haven’t found her may just mean that it’s not the right time yet.”

Zach stayed silent. His brother might be young, but he was apparently also very clever. He’d just given him a good lecture, one he would be thinking about for days. Where did this smart and responsible baby brother come from?

“Thanks, Jackson. I think this was exactly what I needed right now.”

“Are you coming down?” Jackson asked. “It’s almost time for dinner.”

“Yeah, I’ll be right behind you. I think I have some explaining to do, and what better way to do that than while everyone is together at dinner.”

“Okay, I’ll see you there, then.” Jackson got up, wiped the dirt off his pants, and started heading down.