The Job Offer

chapter 9


Anne fetched Ben after her walk into Eastsound and back, and they went down to the dining room for breakfast. It was early yet and most of the tables were still empty. Inside they saw Ben's parents sitting at a large round table that could seat up to eight people. The other chairs at the table were empty. Ben’s parents were both attractive people somewhere in their late fifties. Mr. Carlson was a tall man who looked like he stayed trim by doing outdoor activities. He had salt and pepper hair and the distinguished look of the bank president that he was in his professional life. Mrs. Carlson was a small, trim, elegant looking woman with brown hair cut in a shoulder length cut similar to how Anne's mother wore her hair. They were both dressed in the casual weekend style clothing that cost more than most people made in a week. His parents saw her and Ben immediately and waved them over. Putting his hand on her low back, Ben led her to the table then pulled out a chair for her next to his mother.

"Morning Ben," Ben's mother greeted him warmly. He made a quick reply then began talking to Mr. Carlson. "Anne! How nice to see you. Now I know why Ben skipped out on us last night."

"Good morning, Mrs. Carlson," Anne returned her warm greeting. She had always liked Ben’s parents. "It's nice to see you again, too. How is the wedding planning going?"

"Oh, please call me Liz and call him Troy." She indicated her husband with a head tilt. "The wedding plans are running smoothly thanks to your mother and the wedding consultant she recommended. It's hard to believe that Lily will be married in only a few short days. It’s exciting and nerve racking at the same time, and I’ll be happy when it is over. Your mother told me yesterday that you are interviewing for jobs in Seattle. It will be so nice for you and your family to have you back."

"Thank you, Liz," Anne tried out the familiarity of the address. Liz and Troy Carlson had been coming to the inn every summer since that first time back when Anne was nine. In all the years they came, Anne had always called her Mrs. Carlson and the new form of address seemed strange on her lips. "I hope to be back soon, too."

"I hope so, too. Ah, here comes the bride and groom now." Anne looked over her shoulder to the three people coming across the room. "Tom, as I'm sure you fingered out, is Lily's fiancé. The other woman is Tom's sister, Melissa, the matron of honor and Lily's best friend. Melissa's husband will be coming up tomorrow night."

The small group arrived and sat down at the remaining chairs. What followed was a relaxing breakfast where the main topic of conversation was the wedding. There was a meeting with the consultant and the florist later that morning at the chapel. Then the photographer, a local to the San Juan's, was coming that afternoon from Friday Harbor for some casual shots of the couple outside. That evening, the plan was for everyone to dine at the inn. Ben was free to pursue his own enjoyments until late afternoon when he was needed for photos. Anne discovered that Lily and Tom had decided to exchange vows at the Victorian Valley Chapel, a popular spot for weddings, before having the reception at the inn. Then they would be leaving Sunday afternoon for a honeymoon in Napa Valley. The rest of the family, the wedding party, and guests would also leave on Sunday morning.

Anne felt at home with the group, and several times she was asked her opinions on various things about the island. Once during the meal, she felt Ben's hand rubbing her nape casually while he talked to Tom and Troy. At another point, his hand rested on her naked thigh just below the hem of her shorts. She could also feel his eyes on her several times and looked over at him with a smile. She also saw that his family was noticing their little interactions and smiling at the two of them. She and Ben would need to explain the situation before his mother began making wedding plans for them too, Anne thought.

Their chance to explain arrived a little before breakfast wound down when the Rivertons entered the dining room and stopped at their table to greet them. Ben's parents talked for a few minutes with Chelsea's parents after they exchanged a few words with Lily and Tom. Chelsea, in contrast, did not talk and stood stiffly by shooting daggers at Anne with her eyes. Seeing this, Ben made a point of whispering a joke in Anne's her ear so that she laughed warmly at him. They looked every bit the loving couple they pretended to be. Finally, the Rivertons moved on to their own table across the room.

"I like Marge and Ted, but that daughter of theirs is something else," Troy Carlson said once the other family was out of earshot. "I thought you weren't inviting Chelsea to the wedding, Lily."

"I didn't," Lily stated angrily. "She is crashing the wedding. Can you believe it? If her parents weren't such good friends of yours, I would have told her off for coming. She probably heard that Ben and Trish broke up and decided to come and try to rope Ben. Sorry, Ben."

"It's not your fault, Lil. But as long as you are all here, Anne and I have some news. Last night we ran into Chelsea in the lounge, and I explained the problems I had with her to Anne. So, Anne has agreed to run interference to keep Chelsea at bay."

"You told Anne about the restraining order?" Liz asked.

"I didn't take one out against her, remember."

"She stalked you?" Anne looked at Ben surprised that it was that bad.

"For a time she did. But that part stopped after her parents said something to her. Ever since then, she just makes a point of coming on to me only if we see each other at some event. I try to avoid her, the best I can. It's gotten better over the years, although I half expected her to jump you last night."

"What is this interference you are talking about?" Liz asked the question but everyone leaned in to hear the answer.

"So that she doesn't spoil the wedding, we, Anne and I, are pretending to be in a relationship, engaged, actually. I hope that she will get the message and leave before Saturday," Ben told them all. Everyone looked at Anne with inquiring faces.

"You agreed to this, Anne? Do your parents know?" Troy asked the questions with a speculative look on his face. The same look was mirrored by Liz and Lily.

"It was my idea, and I haven't had the chance to tell them, yet." Anne looked around but did not see either of her parents. "Ben and I will find them after breakfast."

"Well, you two. I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we will all act as if the relationship is real and that we are overjoyed by it," Liz told them. "Everyone agreed?"

"Agreed," they all said in unison.

"It's time to get ready to go," Liz said after a quick look at her watch. Everyone gathered their things and took one last sip of their coffees then stood up to leave. When the group reached the lobby, Liz pulled Ben and Anne aside while the others moved toward the elevator. "Ben, the tuxes will be coming up tomorrow, so make sure you try everything on when they get here. The tailor thought he would be here by noon, one o'clock. So make sure that you are here."

"I'll be here, Mom. Don't worry."

"Good," Liz said right before she wrapped Anne in a hug. "Welcome to the family, Anne."

"It's not real, Mom," Ben said drily as she continued to hold Anne's arms after the hug.

"I know, Sweetheart. Chelsea was looking over here. You two have fun today."

"Bye, Mom." Liz turned and walked over to the elevator just as the door was opening, leaving Anne and Ben staring at each other. "Well, Anne, let’s go find your parents."

They did not have to look too far. Celia, the assistant manager, told them that her parents were in the office. Anne took Ben's hand and led him to the office area in the employees-only area at the back of the inn. Since the day they bought the inn, Jane and Jim Petrovic shared the same office. They did, however, sit at different desks in the large room filled with the usual furniture and equipment found in offices. The room also had two kayaks, one lime green and the other orange, leaning against one corner and a row of plants that lined up on the long window sill.

A nice breeze blew gently in from the window ruffling Anne's mother's hair. On seeing her daughter enter the room with Ben, Anne's mother stopped what she was working on and hopped out of her chair. She went to stand behind her husband's chair placing her hands on his shoulders.

"Mom, Dad. Ben and I have something to tell you."


* * * * *


Seven hours later after a leisurely ride on kayaks down to Deer Harbor and back, Ben stood on his balcony drinking a bottle of water and thought about the day. Anne's parents took the news well that he and their daughter were masquerading as a newly engaged couple, and they understood the reason why they were doing so. Strangely, they seemed to be almost happy about it. Jim even shook his hand and slapped his back when Anne's parents walked the two of them back to the door leading to the restricted area.

From there he and Anne went back to his room so that he could change into his red swimming shorts and a yellow tee shirt. Then he walked with her to her parents' house and waited while she changed into a light blue bikini that she covered with a well worn white tee shirt with a peeling University of Washington's purple logo and beige shorts. She pulled her hair back in a haphazard pony tail that left tendrils falling out and wore a pair of sunglasses and white canvas shoes. A small bottle of sunscreen was stuffed into her back pocket and it jiggled with her every step. He felt his heart turn over at the sight of her. He knew that he was wearing a silly grin when he followed her down the path, but he just did not care.

They borrowed life vests, kayaks, and paddles again from the inn's checkout cabin located by the dock and took off at a nice leisurely pace down the shore after applying the sunscreen. Taking the trip with Anne reminded him of his first time kayaking. It was here on Orcas that he first learned how to use a kayak, and little Anne Petrovic was his guide down the shoreline. They only went a few miles that first time years ago. She was quite the spitfire adventuress for a nine year old, he remembered, and he liked her immediately even if she was Lily’s age.

That trip was the first time his family had come to the inn, and his first time in the San Juan Islands. His mother had married Troy Carlson a few months before, and the trip was their first as a family. He also had his first kiss from a girl named Allie who was also along for the kayak trip. He had a lot of firsts that summer, he remembered.

Their conversations throughout the day were easy exchanges intermingled with companionable silences that made Ben feel like he was with one of his friends. He and Anne paddled down the northwest side of the island enjoying the smooth waters that hugged the shore. The shoreline on his left was mostly rocky and covered with fir trees and scrub bushes. He knew that further in from the shore, grassy meadows and watershed areas would replace the dense forests. To the right was the channel and Waldron Island. He could smell the salt water and pine trees, two scents that he had come to appreciate living in the Puget Sound area and up here in the San Juan’s. They passed several anchored fishing boats and waved to the fishermen. Anne recognized one of the men and called out to him by name. Gulls circled and dove trying to grab bait from their fishing lines as the men cast into the water. Overhead, bald eagles soared. They did not see any whale pods on the trip down the coast but passed a couple of sightseeing boats on their way out in search of orca and humpback whales.

Once they reached Deer Harbor a few hours later, they stopped for lunch at a little red painted burger shack that was set up by the dock. The four picnic tables were all taken, so they carried their cheeseburger baskets and diet sodas over to the dock and ate while dangling their feet in the water. As they talked, another sightseeing charter filled up with tourists and took off. A few sail boats with their sails hoisted drifted around the lower point of the Deer Harbor peninsula. He recognized one belonging to a businessman from Seattle that would dock up in Eastsound’s harbor. Several families with children and a couple of college age students walked down the dock shaking the deck boards that Ben and Anne sat upon.

After they were finished eating, Anne picked up their garbage and carried it to the trash container by the shack while he readied the kayaks for the return trip up the coast. It was while he was doing that that he saw Anne talking to a twenty something year old woman with two small children at the shack order-pickup window. They appeared to know each other. Then the woman handed Anne the several months old baby she had been holding while she ran after the little boy who started to wander away. Anne secured the baby naturally against her hip and held the little girl's hand while she swayed. Both Anne and the baby were smiling as Anne talked to the small child. The woman returned with her wayward son and took the baby back right before their order was ready. Then Anne carried the tray for the woman over to a newly vacated table before she said goodbye and walked back to Ben with a smile on her face.

The whole scene caused the catch in his gut again, the one he was beginning to recognize far too often when he was with Anne. But instead of fear, he felt the level of his desire for her increase. He asked her if the woman was a friend when she was next to him again, and she told him the woman's name and that they had graduated from high school together. Then they set out on their return trip and arrived back at the inn a few minutes ago. He excused himself when they returned so that he could get some work done while she decided to grab a book and read. That brought him to now, standing on his balcony looking down at Anne reading in the shade of an umbrella on the patio by the pool. She looked up and saw him standing on the balcony and waved at him before going back to her book.

He smiled at her and finished his water before going back into the sitting room to turn on his computer. While he waited for it to warm up, he listened to his phone messages and returned the first one, a call to a Japanese customer about a new product released last month. The product was a new chemical designed to separate the metals more effectively and efficiently from the water used to clean computer boards in the manufacturing process. It had already garnered praise and had earned his company an award which was to be given out the first Friday of August. He saw the article about it in the Times and remembered the interview he gave on Monday morning to the business news reporter who came to talk about the award.

Sitting down on the couch, he looked over at the neatly stacked newspaper the maid straightened when she went through the room earlier in the day. Ending his phone call, he then returned a call to his administrative assistant, Gail, who told him that the trip he had planned to Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Tokyo in two weeks was being moved up to next Monday because of an issue with the permit paperwork he needed signed by the Chinese minister in the Huangpu District of Shanghai. The official would not approve the paperwork without first meeting with Ben personally to discuss the proposed research partnership between Stanford Enterprises and Shanghai University's School of Environmental and Chemical Engineering. This meant that Ben would need to cancel his plans to interview final applicants next week and extend his visit to China and Japan from one month to six weeks.

Sighing in reluctant acceptance over the change in plans, he ran his eyes over the front page of the newspaper's lifestyle section at the top of the stack as he talked to Gail about what she would need to do in his absence. Andrew Conner had found himself another wife, Ben thought absently when she stopped talking to look for something on her computer. He had met the man on a couple of occasions and did not think much of him. Conner was the type of man who would say or do just about anything to get what he wanted, not qualities that Ben admired. Gail began talking again, and Ben's mind returned to their conversation while he finished giving her instructions.

After making his phone calls, he checked his emails. Several of them were copies of emails that were sent between his managers designed to keep him in the loop. There was one from Bernie about the interviews, and he emailed her back about his change in plans for next week. Because he wanted the scientist working on their staff by the time he returned from Asia, he told her to have Winfield, Rudolph, and her email their choice for the hire and to make an offer of employment to the person if the three of them were in agreement. Ben trusted their judgments. Then he noted the time and reviewed a report from his CFO.

Twenty minutes later he was notified that a fax was waiting for him in the inn's office. He went down to pick it up, peeked out on the patio, and saw Anne reading in her spot. He smiled at the sight of her in her old U of W tee shirt. Bringing the fax back to his room, he looked through the employment contract sent from his attorney's office and signed him name on the last page. He approved of the choice of hire. Then he went back to the office and faxed the document to Bernie so that additional signatures could be added. It was a fair offer of employment, and Ben thought Dr. Conner would sign it without making any amendments.

His cell phone rang about an hour later. It was his mother on the other end reminding him of the photo session and that they needed him downstairs and dressed in something other than jeans and a tee shirt in fifteen minutes. Cursing, Ben hung up and scrambled to shower and shave before donning a cream silk Oxford shirt and brown Chino pants. He made it downstairs just in time to see the photographer taking a photo of Lily and Tom posing on a wooden bench with a flower bed in front of them and the small bay behind them.

Over the next hour, the photographer had the couple pose for several "casual" shots alone and a few with the rest of the family. The purpose of the photos was to give the couple a photo record of the days leading up to their wedding as well as allow the photographer a chance to test different settings and lighting so that the final wedding photos would show the couple and family at their best. The reception would be at the same time of day on Saturday, so the lighting and angles would be similar. After an hour, the photographer finally wrapped up, and Ben quickly excused himself so that he could look for Anne. He had a sudden desire to have her by his side.

He walked back by the patio where she was earlier and found her now at the side of the swimming pool lounging with her eyes closed. Her hair and bikini were soaking wet and water drops were in the process of evaporating from her skin indicating that she had just left the swimming pool. Water ran down her stomach collecting in her navel, and his mouth went dry with the sudden thirst that could only be quenched by lapping it up. Looking over her reclining form, he felt a surge of arousal when he saw the way the light blue suit clung to her curves outlining the areolas and hard nipples of her breasts and the shape of her mound. His hands itched to explore her. Not able to help it, he leaned over and kissed her lips, a move that startled her, and she opened her eyes with a gasp.

"You're starting to turn pink," he told her when she smiled at seeing him. He sat down on the lounger next to her and watched her look over her arms and shoulders.

"Hmm, I suppose that I have been out here enough," she said sleepily. She reached up with her right arm to shield her eyes from the sunlight and bent her right leg in a pose that made her breast push forward and gave him a better view of the inside of her upper thigh and her mound covered in clinging blue fabric. He knew her move was done innocently, but she looked too much like an old poster his friend had in his bedroom as a teenager that he felt himself turn hard as blood rushed to his groin. He leaned forward uncomfortably and rested his elbows on his knees to hide his arousal. "What time is it?"

"It's about five-thirty." His voice came out normal, but his body was acting like a horny teenager's, and he focused on bringing his response to her body under his control. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chelsea walk out onto the patio and take a lounger on the opposite side of the pool next to some other guests. The sight of the other woman cooled his ardor. "You need to get ready for dinner. You're dining with us, and I invited your parents to join us so that you'll have some time with them."

"Thank you, Ben. I do want to spend some time with them before I head back east. Will you hand me my shirt? You're sitting on it." He looked down to see her shirt half under his leg. Handing it to her, he watched her put the white tee shirt on over her wet suit, the fabric soon getting wet and clinging to her breasts. His ardor returned in force. He stood up and waited for her to stand before he leaned down and kissed her again.

"Come with me, Anne." He took her hand and led her to the balcony fire escape. "You'll have to shower and change in my room. Chelsea is in the pool and would notice you going to your parents’ house."

"I suppose I can call my mother and have her gather together a few things for me," Anne replied reasonably as she walked before him up the narrow staircase. Then she waited for him to unlock the balcony door so that she could precede him into the sitting room. He locked the door again once they were both inside, and no longer able to control himself, he pulled her into his arms until she was held tight against him. He could feel the front of his shirt become wet where her bikini top pressed and felt her breasts flattened against his hard chest. She moaned at the feel of his arousal pressed against her stomach and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'll call her later."