A new face in the familiar seat

Instead of facing the matronly director she had been reporting to since she had started at the Bellevue Home for Retired Gentle Folks, Abbie now faced a rather handsome man of about thirty, nattily attired in a suit and tie. He placed the file he had just retrieved from the cabinet behind him on the desk blotter before him and opened it.

"Miss Abigail Harris, correct?" he asked, looking up from the sheath of papers before him.

Abbie thought she'd gooshed her panties a little when he looked at her with those piercing blue eyes of his and said her name.

"Yessir!" the violet-eyed brunette managed to finally get out.

"I'm Marc Summers," he said, introducing himself and reaching forward to offer his hand in greeting.

Abbie politely took it, feeling an electric tingle at his touch.

"In case you didn't know, Miss Barnard resigned suddenly and the parent company has brought me in here on an interim basis to do an audit and make sure things run smoothly until a permanent director is found."

Abbie was stunned at the news. She didn't realize the events at the Masquerade Ball had affected her boss that deeply. She felt a little twinge of guilt, wondering as well what the woman might have documented in the sheath of papers sitting on the desk between the two of them.

"I called you in because I reviewed your personnel file along with the other employees and wanted to make sure the information is correct within."

Abbie's throat tightened. She wondered what kind of reading it had been.

Marc dipped his sandy-haired head down to further peruse the file.

Paging through the documents anew, he began to query.

"It seems you've barely graduated high school, and possess no kind of degree, yet have been promoted to Activities Director for Bellevue, is this correct?"

Abbie began to feel flustered before the man for other reasons now. She wondered where this would lead. "Yessir," she simply answered.

"And you received a substantial raise as well as office space?" he asked further, examining more notes.

The pretty brunette wasn't sure what he and the parent company considered substantial, but she agreed anyway. "Yessir," she managed again, shifting uneasily in her seat. Abbie was worried that her job might be on the line now.

"I'm afraid I just can't seem to find a way to justify that kind of expenditure to the corporation. Is there anything you could tell me that would help me in this?" he asked her, tapping a pen on the desk lightly.

Abbie looked around the office a bit, not knowing how to respond. Fighting for her job was the last thing she expected to do when she received her summons to the director's office this morning.

"I believe I was rewarded for my contributions to the welfare of our guests and the surrounding community during my duties as an aide.." Abbie tried to think on her feet as she went along. "If you ask any of the residents, I believe they will tell you.."

Marc Summers interrupted politely.

I have spoken to many of the residents, of course, and they all speak glowingly of you. And that's wonderful to have in a nursing home aide. I'm just not sure I could justify keeping you in your present vocation to the heads of Health Maintenance Corp. I'm afraid I.."

Marc was interrupted by the chimes of his cellular phone. He glanced at the glowing face as he pulled it from his belt clip.

"I'm terribly sorry for the intrusion, Miss Harris, but I have to take this. My wife is in her last weeks of pregnancy and could give birth any day!" Marc told Abbie, looking genuinely sorry. He activated the phone and swivelled his chair back away from her, trying to afford himself some measure of privacy.

'Not half as sorry as I'll be if I lose this job now!' sighed Abbie to herself. 'I just got a small apartment of my own as well as a car desperately in need of repair!'

Abigail ground her shoe's sole into the office carpet as she waited for their conversation to continue. As she impatiently waited to hear the inevitable, she couldn't help but overhear Marc's conversation with his wife. He tried in vain to placate the woman, but she was obviously in distress. Apparently she had been put on bedrest as well. Obviously he hasn't been getting any lately. A little light went on inside Abigail Harris' devious mind..