I nodded at him. “All right, Lawrence. I need to think what I’m going to say to her tomorrow. You get on with that.”
He took the hint and rose from the sofa. “Yes, sir. You have lunch booked for twelve-forty-five, and a meeting with the team over at your office at three-thirty. I’ve booked the car for three.”
I nodded at him. I’d better go to that. My newest app was nearing completion. This one was my baby. My chess app. My hand dropped over the arm of the chair, where the old chess set stood. Heavy, individually-carved pieces, I’d loved it since I was a small boy.
I’d played childish battles with the pieces, the knights fighting, clashing in my pudgy fingers long before I learned to play properly with that very same set.
My hand found the queen, my fingers smoothing up the elegant sweep of jade.
I found myself thinking of Toni. Her body, tall and stately, a gown swirling around her body and legs. Fuck! My cock hardened and I dropped the piece. I was up, pacing to and fro. I had to control myself, had to think what I was doing. She wasn’t a suitable bride at all. She needed training to become a wife to Edward, a guardian of our birthright. That meant finishing school.
I absolutely couldn’t take her as mine. I didn’t want a partner. I didn’t need the complications. I was a loner. I liked my house the way I liked it. I didn’t want to live at anyone’s beck and call, didn’t want to have to consider other people’s feelings.
There was a quiet knock at the door. David came in. “Luncheon is served, sir.”
“Thank you, David.” I nodded at him and he closed the door quietly behind him. Suddenly I realized ruefully that with staff and employees I already lived at the service of others. They relied on me, on my fairness and respect for them. I shrugged, and picked up the folder of information again to read in the car after lunch.
Maybe these things would sort themselves out.
Toni
I went into work the next morning with my head up and a steely determination in my heart. This was not going to be my life. I didn’t know how things were going to change, but I was just damn sure that somehow they were going to. I was going to change my life.
Marco was as good a boss as I supposed I was going to get, but being yelled at in front of a room full of customers had made me realize that I was on my own. Nobody was going to come and get me out of there. I had to do this for myself.
When the evening shift girl had taken over, I’d gone traitorously to the next street diner. The coffee was more expensive there, but the free Wi-Fi made up for it.
It was hard to browse on my old phone, but I did the best research I could. I just knew my idea was a good one, but I’d never afford an app developer. So I had to learn to code my own stuff.
I’d gone home buzzing. I could learn on free programs. I wouldn’t have to pay for the proper software, but it would take me longer. I didn’t mind that so much, just so long as I felt I was moving forward.
As I strode along, I put my head up. I didn’t mind the driving rain. I was going to be someone. I could work at home in the evenings, sketching out what the app should do and look like, then I’d go to the library on my days off, and watch the youtube videos on the bigger screens.
As I went into the diner, it felt different. I knew what I was going to do, and this job wasn’t my life. It was a stepping stone, a way to keep a roof over my head until I could get a better job or make money from my app. I smiled as I took off my coat and went through to the back.
“Hi, Pete.” The day started the same way as all the others.
“Hi, Toni. Bacon sandwich coming up.” He looked over at me. “Has something happened? You look different.”
I grinned. “Nah, not really. I’ve just decided I’m going to do something with my life, that’s all. And I think I’ve worked out how to do it.” I brewed the tea for us and began my routine.
* * *
It was mid-morning, and I was clearing tables with my back to the door, when I heard it swing open, and got the same jolt of arousal as I had from the hot visitor yesterday. My core turned liquid, and my belly clenched. God! I hadn’t even seen him, but I knew who it was. I finished stacking the plates onto the tray, but I didn’t pick it up. I turned and he was standing, watching me, waiting to be shown to a table. My customers never did that. It wasn’t that sort of diner.
I went towards him, feeling the heat of my face, wishing I wasn’t blushing. “Would you like to sit here today?” I indicated a table by the window, where Sam wouldn’t brush past him and there was no chance of his coat getting soiled. He had a different one on today, I noticed. I wished I could afford more than one coat.