The Job Offer

chapter 14


After a quick shower early the next morning, Anne pulled her hair back in a clip and decided that she needed a change of clothes. So she slipped out the balcony door and hurried down to her parents' house. Ben told her before she left to bring back a dress for that afternoon and evening because she was going with him to the chapel for the rehearsal and the groom's dinner that followed. They would be eating at a local steak and seafood supper club located in Orcas Village instead of driving back to eat at the inn that evening, so semi-dressy was the attire. The wedding planner and helpers were coming to set up for the reception and dance tomorrow evening, and since no one wanted to be in the way, everyone was making his or herself scarce. This included Ben and Ann who decided on a bike ride to Mount Constitution.

The sun was still coming up when Anne let herself into the house and walked into the small kitchen where her dad was reading the paper. His usual cup of tea sat in front of him on the table. For nearly every morning of her childhood this was her dad’s routine, and she smiled because some things never changed. Jim Petrovic had never acquired the American taste for coffee and preferred black tea in the mornings sweetened with cream and sugar. He also took tea in the afternoons, hot tea not iced, as was the European way.

"Morning, Anne," he greeted her with a warm smile when she walked in.

"Morning, Dad. Did mom tell you yesterday that I got the job?" She could see that the bathroom door was closed down the hall and guessed that her mother was getting ready. Like Anne, her mother liked to get cleaned up for the day before having her morning coffee. Pulling a cup from the cabinet, Anne poured herself a cup of coffee from the pot her mom brewed every morning for herself. Then after adding cream as she liked it, she carried the cup to the table and sat down across from her dad.

"She did. Congratulations." His Croatian accent was always stronger first thing in the morning, just as she remembered. "You'll be starting after the Fourth? Will that give you time to find an apartment?" Because of Independence Day on the Fourth of July, it was decided by Ms. Tomlinson that she would begin at Stanford Enterprises on the first Monday after the holiday.

"Probably not. I'll contact a realtor today and see about setting up some showings for the first part of next week. If I can't find an apartment, then I'll rent a monthly place until I find the apartment that I want. The hard part will be packing up my apartment back in Cambridge and shipping everything to Seattle. If I don't find an apartment, my stuff will need to go into storage." She sipped her coffee and pursed her lips at the thought of packing then storing her stuff.

"It will be nice to have you back, Sweetheart. Your mother and I worry about you out there all by yourself, especially after this past year. Do you need money?"

"No, Dad. I think I've got it covered. I'll lose my security deposit unless I can sublet my apartment, but I don’t think that will be a problem. There is a waiting line for people wanting to move into my building. But if I lose it, I'll make that up by not paying for parking." He nodded his head in understanding. Parking in the Boston area was expensive due to the supply and demand problem.

"Your mother and I have been talking, and we don't like the idea of you driving across the country by yourself. So, your mother is flying out and will drive back with you."

"She doesn't need to do that." Anne looked up into his concerned blue eyes.

"Maybe not, but, it will make us both feel better knowing that you are not traveling alone. Umm, do you expect to keep seeing Ben when you move here?" His change of subject threw her.

"I don't know, Dad. It's kind of complicated." It was complicated, and she really did not know where their relationship stood. Except for the offhand invitation to a Mariners' game the night before, she had no reason to believe Ben wanted to see more of her after that week.

"Yes, I suppose it is." He gave her a concerned look and watched her face closely. "I read the contract over. I hope you don't mind? It was sitting on your dresser. It looks like you are getting a fair deal from it."

"It was on my dresser? Huh. I must have been more distracted than I thought because I thought I put it in my briefcase. No matter, it's fine that you read it. Yes, the contract is fair, and I have wanted to work for the company for a while."

"Does Ben know that?"

"No, I haven't told him. Is it important?"

"Is what important?" Her mother walked into the kitchen and poured her morning cup of coffee. She looked fabulous, as always, Anne thought. "So my dear, what do you and Ben have planned for today?"

"We were planning on biking over to Mount Constitution after breakfast and having a picnic before coming back to get cleaned up for the rehearsal. I sneaked a peek at the reception hall, and it's going to look great."

"Wait until the flowers and tables are set up. Penelope is making the wedding cake to compliment the design. You will be so impressed when it all comes together." She was referring to Carla's mother who owned the bakery along with her husband. The reference to Carla's mother reminded Anne that she forgot to tell her parents about the baby, and she told them the news happily.

The topic of her new job was dropped as they began to discuss the wedding, some of the guests who were already at the inn, and Carla's good news. Finally, her dad stood up so that he could get cleaned up for the day, dropped a kiss on the top of her head, and moved down the hall. Anne talked to her mother for a few minutes more then went to her room to change her clothing, putting on her red bikini under her blue shorts and pink tee shirt.

While she was in her room, she looked up the number for a realtor listed in the Redmond-Bellevue area on her cell phone and placed the called expecting to be told to leave a message because it was still too early. The realtor answered the call on her cell phone and promised to have a number of apartments and rental houses lined up to show Anne on Tuesday and Wednesday, a schedule that worked well for Anne because she was set to fly back to Boston on Thursday morning. Grabbing her dress and essentials for the evening, she headed back across the path to Ben's balcony. When she got to the door, she stopped in shock at what she found.

Taped to the door was a single piece of paper with the word "slut" written on it in big letters with a felt tip pen.

Feeling shaken, she pulled it off of the door. It was probably Chelsea's attempt to scare her off. She planned on telling Ben about it, but when she entered the room, he was working on his laptop and talking on his cell phone in a foreign language. It sounded like he was either speaking Chinese or Japanese and she remembered that he said he was leaving for Asia on Monday. He glanced over at her, gave her a quick smile, and went back to his conversation. She crumbled the paper into a ball and threw it in the trash. She would tell him later.

Not wanting to disturb him, she took her things into his bedroom, hung up her dress, and put her makeup, jewelry, and hair products on the bathroom vanity. Checking her reflection, she thought that her casual attire with the red straps sticking out from under her tee shirt would not be a problem in the dining room for a Friday. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings were a little more formal than the other days of the week, usually because of weddings, special events, and church services. But there were always a handful of people who tended to dress casually for breakfast at the inn no matter the day of the week, and Ben was in his swim shorts and a tee shirt, too.

Going back into the sitting room, she sat on the couch, picked up the newspaper and began to read an article in the Times about a housing boom in the Seattle area, one of the few booms after the Great Recession that hit the country a few years before. That would drive up the price of rents, and she wondered what she would find in her price range. She wanted to find a two or three bedroom house. After living in apartments for the past eleven years, she wanted to be back in a house. It would probably be better to buy, but she was leery to do that until she had a chance to check out the southern and eastern suburbs.

"Ready?"

Ben finished his conversation and was looking at her expectantly from the table he used as a desk. "Ready," she said and stood up. Leaving her purse behind, she walked beside Ben downstairs to the dining room and forgot all about telling Ben about the nasty note taped to the door.


* * * * *


Anne and Ben spent a relaxing day biking to the eastern side of the island and Moran State Park. From there they made their way up the road to Mount Constitution and wound their way up to the observation deck that had been built at the summit. The views from the top were breathtaking. The sky was clear again and they could see for miles. The rest of the San Juan Islands were the closest. Further out they could see Mount Rainer, the Cascade Mountains, and the port cities of Anacortes to the southeast, Port Townsend to the south, and Bellingham to the northeast. They stood for several minutes just taking in the splendor of the 360 degree view from the top.

Then they made their way back down the summit again and rode their bikes south to Mountain Lake along one of the many bike trails located in the park. The blue water surrounded by tall pine trees came into view long before they arrived. Several fishing boats and canoes were in the water further out and away from the shoreline. They stopped at a public beach along the lakeshore then ate a light picnic lunch of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, apples, and water after taking a swim to cool off. The food and cool water revived them. The warm sun and exercise were taking their toll.

Later that day, they made their way back to the inn and cleaned up for the wedding rehearsal taking place at the chapel. They drove her rental car to the chapel and to dinner at the steak and seafood house located in Orcas Village, so that they could leave when they wanted to do so. After the dinner was finished, they decided to leave before dessert, saying goodbyes to everyone before they left. Anne could not help but see the happy smiles directed at her and Ben from Ben’s family. On their drive back to the inn, they decided to detour and stop in Eastsound for some ice cream and a walk around the harbor. Walking arm and arm along the docks and the downtown area, they greeted several locals and the tourists they crossed paths with who were also out for a stroll.

The village was quaint and always warmed her heart when she was there. If she could have a vacation home, it would be in Eastsound, she thought as they stopped to look in storefronts. The buildings in town looked like cottages that could be found in a storybook, all neat with painted clapboard siding. Some sported gingerbread trim along the fascia and gables. A number of houses were owned by permanent islanders, but there were also several rental homes and B & B’s that could be found in the village.

The landscape was dotted with cabins and campgrounds further out of the small downtown area. Wild flowers growing in rock ledges along the shoreline and hills were juxtaposed with neat window boxes and flower pots on doorsteps. They could see both of the distant shorelines of the East Sound, a natural waterway that split the island into two halves like an undone bow tie whose ends were left hanging from the center loop. Eastsound was the knot in the middle. Hilltops covered primarily with fir trees could be seen in the lowering sun that cast warm colors across the sky and made the water of the Sound sparkle.

Walking around downtown, they found a little shop that sold ice cream and went inside to get a couple of waffle cones that they ate as they continued their stroll along the downtown area filled with various businesses. When the sun finally set, they headed back to Anne’s car and drove back to the inn. Ben parked the car in the Petrovic's private parking area behind their house then walked with Anne up the back path to the inn’s main building. The swimming pool, that held a number of people earlier in the day, was empty now and music from a live band came from inside the lounge. Deciding to skip the lounge full of wedding guests and vacationers, Ben took Anne's hand and led her up the fire escape to his room where he proceeded to show her just what the day spent with her meant to him.