Page 35 of Caleb
I shrug. “Aaron’s gonna be Aaron.”
After helping Miss Murphy inside the Residence, she sits on a sofa chair in the foyer. I keep a firm stance in front of her while we chit-chat and wait for Aaron to return. But as I glance at him, I can’t help but notice the apparent concern etched on his face.
Something’s wrong.
We make eye contact, and he pulls his phone away from his ear for a second and clicks on his earpiece. “There’s a situation going on back home. Please help Miss Murphy up to her room. This is going to take a while.”
“Copy that.” I nod at him from a distance. “I’ll help you up, Miss. Aaron’s phone call is going to take longer than expected.” I offer my hand to her, and she takes it to pull herself up from the sofa chair.
“Is everything okay?” The sincerity in her tone is palpable. She cares about Aaron, so it’s only obvious she would be worried.
“I’m not sure,” I reply with honesty. “But let’s hope so.”
The Residence is quiet at this hour. There isn’t much movement, so it’s best if Miss Murphy took the express ride up to her room. This skipping on one-foot nonsense is getting on my nerves.
“May I?” I don’t wait for her to reply, so I swoop her up in my arms as I did earlier when she got injured. Before allowing her to complain and insist on how her foot doesn’t hurt that much.
“Thank you, Caleb,” she says, holding on tightly to my neck as I start walking up the first flight of stairs.
Her cheeks are flushed in that lovely rosy shade that makes me feel like I don’t deserve her to blush for me. But I can’t tell if it’s embarrassment or something else. I’m gettingsomething elsevibes, but who knows? Not that it matters, does it?
“You’re welcome,Billie,” I whisper as I start the second flight of stairs. A subtle gasp escapes her throat, but she tries to conceal it by clearing her throat.
Calling her Billie feels off. Not only because it’s forbidden, but I don’t know. I can’t put my finger on it. I just don’t want to call her that.
“Down the hall, the last door to the left,” she says. “And … did I hit my head, or did you just call me Billie?”
“You must’ve hit your head, Miss.” We both laugh at that and I put her down once we arrive at her door.
“Thanks again, Caleb.” She flings her door open with a smile. “I’ll take it from here. I’m just a few skips away from my bed. I’m sure I can manage.”
“You’re welcome, Miss Murphy.”
“Hey!” she complains playfully. “You can’t go back to calling me Miss Murphy. Didn’t you know that? Once you call me Billie, there’s no turning back. That’s the rule.”
I laugh.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Miss.” I’mburningto get closer to her. To be her friend. To call her by her name. And I know that’s too much to ask when I already have the privilege of knowing her and taking care of her every day.
“Yeah, right.” She crosses her arms at her chest. “You’re a smart guy, Caleb. Don’t pretend otherwise. Besides, Aaron doesn’t need to know.”
This girl could ask me to jump off a cliff, and I would do it. I know I’m screwed. It’s just a matter ofwhenI allow the descent into the abyss to begin.
“Well, I’ve been told I can be rather …stupide,” I toss in.
I mustn’t get greedy. But I’m only human, and I’m anything if not flawed and imperfect. So it’s best to embrace it. The very foundation of this job and its specificities are built on lies and secrets, so why not keep one with her?
“I can’t call you Billie,” I say. She sighs with an air of defeat to it. Like it was silly of her to expect she could get away with this little thing she wanted to do for fun. “But I can call you … Red.”
“Red?” She blushes, just a tad, but she does. “Wh-why Red?”
“Your hair, of course,” I lie. Partially. I’m sure it’s evident that it’s got more to do with how her cheeks get hot in my presence, but sure … let’s go with hair, final answer, so she doesn’t collapse from the mortification.
Almost instinctively, she touches her ponytail as if wanting to believe her hair color is the only reason behind her new nickname. “Red,” she says, bobbing her head, her mouth twitching into a smile. “I like it.”
“I’m glad.”
We stare at each other for a few seconds before we both break into a chuckle. We know we’re misbehaving, and we are loving it.
