Page 15 of The Grand Duel
“I’ll give it a go.” He takes my hand with a knowing smile. “When do you start?”
“I have no idea. I need to find Dan.”
“I’ll introduce you.”
FOUR
Charlie
One Week Later…
“Girls,” I call out, waiting as their paws scuttle and scratch across the tiles on the stairs. A minute later, and Daisy is at my feet, ass on the ground as she peers up at me. “Where’s your sister?”
Her tail starts.
“Luna?” I call again.
We wait, Daisy still watching me. “Go on,” I tell her, and she shoots off back up the stairs.
I could pretend to be annoyed by the beige-faced pain in my ass, but I can’t ever seem to get mad at either one of them. Luna reminds me of that kid at school who was always sitting outside the classroom when you walked past on the way to the toilet—the misunderstood little shit. She’s nothing like her sister. Her sister is an angel. The prefect monitoring the hallways at lunch break with her tie done all the way up to the top button.
Truth be told, the last three months with them have been a blessing.
I always wanted kids. I just didn’t expect them to come in the form of two cocker spaniel puppies. You could say my arm was well and truly twisted by my friends and their children. Their concern over me spending too many evenings alone in my office resulted in a trip to the dog shelter.
I was lucky to leave with just two of the abandoned puppies with my best friends’ wives accompanying me.
As I scoop my keys up out of the tray, the two dogs come barrelling down the stairs, Luna pushing ahead of Daisy to get to me first. I pull on my suit jacket and pick up the files I need for the day. “A civilised stroll to the parking garage, please, Luna.”
She sits at my feet, waiting for me to pull open the door. I hit the lights to the penthouse and let them follow me out.
I arrive at the office before Edna, and the second we step through the door, the dogs go nose down, sniffing out every inch of it.
I leave them to it and head for my office, laying out the files I spent hours of the night scouring over across my desk.
When Edna arrives at nine, I hear her fussing over the girls in their playroom. I hear her go to the kitchen and make a cup of coffee. And I hear her fart around in her office as she sets up for the day.
With a sigh, I push back from my desk and make my way from my office to hers.
I knock on the closed door and wait with my arms folded, legs crossed, against the door surround.
When she pulls open the door, she can barely look at me. “What is it?”
“You’re not still mad at me, are you, Ed?”
Her eyes lift to mine as she peers through a loose lock of her white hair.
Yeah, she’s still mad, alright.
“I’m working,” she tries.
But I’m not buying it. “How many more red roses will it take?”
She shakes her head. “None. Don’t buy me any more.”
“Is it the flower? You’ve always loved roses. What about some time off. You’ve?—”
“Time off?” she interrupts. “I can’t take time off. Who will run this place?” She takes off towards the break room. “Who will make you your coffee and look after the dogs?” She whirls on me. “Who will tell you to stop being reckless when you rummage for files in the footwell of your car whilst trying to drive?”