Page 19 of His Secret Virgin
Chapter 8
Emma
Driving home in my new company car, a brand new Ford Fusion in dark blue, I listened to the radio and thought about how much my life had just changed.
The day progressed swiftly, and I had felt a bit overwhelmed by everything. This could be the start of a real career for me—what if I ended up spending my whole life working at Global Distributing?
Working with Mrs. Kramer had gone well, though—the woman couldn’t have been nicer. But she had seemed a bit surprised by all the things Mr. Taylor had given me.
I couldn’t say that I was all that surprised. He and my father were good friends, after all. Mr. Taylor had proven to be a very generous man.
Pulling into the drive, I decided to park in the garage in the space occupied by my current car. That one could be parked outside and maybe even sold sometime soon. After all, why would I need to drive it anymore?
Jumping out to move my old Chevy, I ran around until I got everything situated. Just as I pulled the company car in, a delivery truck pulled up. Surprisingly, the clothing items Mrs. Kramer had helped me order online were already being delivered.
Hurrying out to meet the delivery man, I greeted him cheerily, “Hi!”
“Well, hello there, miss.” He opened up the large back door then took out three boxes. “These are for a Miss Hancock. Does that happen to be you?”
“It does.” Giddiness took over as I thought about all the new clothes I could add to my closet.
“Can you sign this for me?” He held out a clipboard with an invoice on it.
I signed the bottom and then dug in my purse to give the older man a tip. “Here you go, sir.”
He shook his head. “No need. Your boss took care of that. Mr. Taylor gave me a generous tip when he came by to make sure the clothes would be delivered today.”
“He did?” I had no idea he’d done such a nice thing. “That was nice of him.”
“Yes, it was,” he agreed.
I couldn’t help but wonder why Mr. Taylor would go to all that trouble for me. But then I thought about how I’d dressed that day, and how helpful he had been in dealing with my father. It started to make a bit more sense to me; he wanted to help me become more independent, and getting clothing I actually liked was the first step. Taking the boxes, I thanked the man and went inside, marching straight up to my bedroom.
After trying on each and every item, I put them all away and then laid out the outfit I’d chosen for the next day. Mom opened the door, looking with surprise at my now-filled closet. “And what’s all this, Emma?”
“Mrs. Kramer, the woman I’ve been hired to assist, helped me pick out all these clothes.” I pointed at the clothes lying on the bed. “I’m wearing this tomorrow.”
“Your father told me you’d been given a company car,” she said. “Were you given an expense account too?”
I pulled the credit card out of my purse. “I got my own credit card to help with anything I’ll need for my job—clothes included. Mrs. Kramer said my limit each month is five thousand dollars. Can you believe that?”
“No.” She took the card out of my hand. “Let me see that.”
“It works,” I said. “I used it to purchase all this online. Mr. Taylor stopped by the actual department store downtown to make sure they got delivered today. He’s so nice, Mom.”
“I know he is. I met him when he was one of your Dad’s groomsmen at our wedding.” Mom handed the card back to me. “So, he’s been very generous with you, I see.”
“I bet if you want a job there, he’ll give you one too.” I thought about how cool it would be if we all worked at the same place.
She didn’t seem to like that idea much. “Dad and I spend enough time together. It’s best to have a bit of distance in a healthy relationship. Think about that while you’re working, Emma. Dating someone you work with can get very hairy. It’s not something I recommend.”
I rolled my eyes. “As if Dad would even let me date, Mom.”
“Honey,” she wrapped her arm around my shoulders, pressing her head to mine, “you’re twenty now. Do you know what that means?”
“Not really.” I pulled away from her so I could look at her. “What does that mean, Mom?”
“Your father hasn’t told you this yet,” she whispered as if he was somewhere near when in fact he hadn’t come home from work yet, “so don’t tell him I told you this.”
