Every time I visited him, I would put a brave face on. Smiling as I entered the room, hiding my dark circles and red eyes with concealer. He didn't need to see me sad, I had to be strong for him. My stomach was in knots before every doctor's update in case something had changed medically. Dad's colleagues came and dropped off cards and flowers. His room was beginning to look like a florist, and he would moan that all these visits stopped his friends from being out there catching the bad guys.
"But Dad, you've been through something awful, let them spoil you! Heck let me spoil you, you deserve it!" I held Dads' hand tightly and my eyes dropped to the foot of the bed. The table was still there, hiding what was lost.
"Who is looking after my baby during all this? You need support too; it's a momentous change!" I smiled.
"I'm fine Dad, it's you I worry about." He nodded and took my hand.
"I'm ok. But I've been thinking we'll have to look at moving the house around. I'm sure I can get a ramp fitted outside to help me get into the house until I'm out of that damn wheelchair, and back on my feet." Dad knew once he said feet, he had spoken without thinking, a force of habit. He gripped my hand and pulled me in for a big bear hug, making me giggle like I was twelve again.
"Stop it, Dad, you'll pop your stitches!" A smile touched my lips and I felt like things could get better if we stopped focusing on the negatives. The negatives had been piling on. I tried to shield Dad from as much as I could, he needed to focus on getting better so he could get out of the hospital.
A knock at the door had me wriggling out of Dads grasp. I patted his hand, smiled, and stood up, opening the door. Chase stood there as I opened it. He was carrying a bunch of flowers and more importantly came with what looked like a Chinese takeout in a brown bag.
"Oh Mr. Crawford, you didn't need to come!" I spoke. "Thank you for your help the other day. My Dad and I appreciate it.
Please let me know if there is anything we can do to repay your kindness." I blushed as I spoke, my eyes dropping to my fidgeting fingers interlaced with one another to stop them from reaching out and pulling Chase towards me.
He had held me so tightly, preventing me from falling into a total panic that day when the officer came to speak to me, then later in the hospital when speaking to the doctor.
"The flowers are for you." He smiled. "I suspect that pollen cloud in the room behind you is coming from all the well wishes your father has received." He held the flowers out and as I took them, our fingers briefly brushed and a shiver of awareness soared up my arm, forcing me to withdraw quickly and hold the flowers to my chest in a protective gesture.
"Thank you, Mr. Crawford, that's very thoughtful of you but you didn't need to. My Dad has enough to share with the whole ward. The nurses have been sending me home with armfuls!" I held the flowers tighter to my chest and lowered my head to smell their perfume, hoping it would hide the effect he had on me.
"Secondly, please stop calling me Mr. Crawford. That's my father's name, plus he wouldn't bring Chinese food to a hospital." Pointing, he brought the brown bag up to his shoulder.
He spoke with such a cheeky grin on his face it was hard to refuse. Chase looked so smart and reserved when I was with him in the office. Today he looked young and carefree. It was days like today, however, it was easy to forget he was worth billions.
"I hope there are forks in that bag! I wouldn't want to make a fool of myself with chopsticks. Whoever invented those are seriously evil!" I couldn't help it, I lifted my head and beamed at Chase, proud that I could speak a sentence without my head or mouth turning to mush. I gestured for Chase to follow as I turned and walked back toward my dad's bed. Dad smiled.
"Oh, erm Dad, this is Mr. Chase Crawford, I work at his company offices cleaning if you remember, he was the person to bring me here once I had been told by Officer Short." Dad nodded.
"Mr. Crawford oops, I mean Chase. This is my dad, Charlie Maclaren." I sat back and waited for the fireworks to begin; my dad could fill a room with his macho maleness as could Chase. Chase was standing at the foot of the bed, and both said nothing for what felt like minutes. I glanced at Dad, and you could almost see him wondering who this man was to me and why was he bringing me food in the middle of the afternoon. Chase was giving nothing away; his look was cool and calm. He navigated around the bed and held his hand out.
"A pleasure to meet you, sir, you've certainly given your daughter a bit of a scare this week! But I'm glad to see you are on the mend." My heart was almost beating out of my chest when my dad finally took Chase's hand and shook it.
"Yes well, it wasn't planned, and certainly something I won't repeat! But thank you for looking after my baby girl. It's just us, I will sleep better knowing someone is caring for her," he replied with a chuckle.
I stared at my dad, eyes widening.What the hell just happened? and who is this man that looks like my dad, but certainly doesn't speak like him? I shook my head, looked down at the food before me, andfilled my mouth with noodles to stop myself from smiling again.
A knock at the door interrupted our food. A nurse entered with a doctor and wanted to check on his recovery.
"If you don't mind giving us a few minutes, we just wish to check the dressings from surgery" the nurse smiled sweetly as she closed the door behind Chase and myself. There was an awkward silence until Chase spoke first.
"What plans do you have once you get your first paycheck?" he inquired, offering me the seat nearest the door to my dad's room.
"Well, I would love to study more, head to a major university and gain top notch qualifications." I gazed down the corridor as my mind wondered to graduation day and standing amongst my class, ready to throw our caps in the air.
"I've heard the University of Texas has an excellent reputation. I'd be happy to write you a recommendation when you feel ready to apply, although I'm sure you'll want to wait until you are comfortable to leave Charlie" he took his cell phone from his inside jacket pocket and frowned at the screen. I thought I heard him curse but it was noticeably quiet, before placing it back in his pocket again.
***
Weeks quickly turn into months right before your eyes. In between hospital visits, helping with Dad's physiotherapy, and finishing my evening accounting course, I didn't have much time to dwell on what had happened. Chase was on hand to ensure when Dad was discharged from the hospital, he had a private nurse and all equipment ready for his arrival home. We had agreed to push back my starting date at Crawford Industries so I could be at home to help as much as I could, but to be honest, I was a spare part. Chase had thought of everything. According to Chase, my new position came with full health insurance for me and my dad, a huge weight off my mind, considering what he had been through and how much it would have cost us if it weren't covered. We did have a massive blow to Dad's recovery when he decided he didn't need his crutches and fell over going to the bathroom unaided. Fortunately, he didn't require a hospital stay and Chase had a doctor visit to make sure he was OK, only cuts and bruises this time, I warned my dad to stop being so proud and let us help him.
"Hmph! I'm not an invalid Elena! I can do it!" was always his response. As time went on, my dad aged in front of me, but not as quickly as when his Captain came over.
"I'm sorry to say Charlie but you're being retired on medical grounds, I tried to push for desk duty but those up top won't hear of it, I can only sanction your pay for 5 years, then you won't get anything else until you reach retirement age. I've pushed for more for you, but my hands are tied on this one" Dad paled as the captain spoke, the police force had been his life, he used to light up when he would talk of catching the bad guys, trying to make Chicago a safer place for me to live in. This would set him back, I tried to be positive for him, but it was met with grunts and shrugs.
"Charlie, how about you come and work for Crawford Industries? My head of security is already stretched thinly and needs another person to help keep things running smoothly, I'm sure you be happier if you knew the building Elena worked in was a safe haven?" my jaw dropped as Chase lifted his mug of coffee to his lips, eyes zeroing in on my Dad's movements, trying to work out if he had overstepped this time.
"I think you've been more than generous to myself and Elena, Mr. Crawford, I couldn't expect you to employ me too!"
"Please call me Chase, I think we are beyond formalities now, I like to take care of my employees Charlie, I think you would be perfect for the position, please consider it, once you feel ready to come to work we can revisit this conversation and perhaps you could meet with Jeff, see if you two could come up with something together" I stood and put a hand on Dad's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze I walked past Chase and into the kitchen, placing my mug in the sink.
I felt him behind me before I turned to face him, we hadn't spoken alone much since Dad's accident, I felt like I owed him so much and had no idea how I was going to start to repay him.
"I owe you a thousand thank you's Chase, you've been very kind and patient, waiting for me to start working, and with the way you've helped my dad, please I can't offer much but if I can ever repay you, tell me and I'll do anything."
"Well, this week there is a fundraiser for a charity that I have an interest in. A lot of business is discussed at fundraisers and general events, those that attend usually do so to create business contacts. How do you feel about escorting me there?"
"Well, I'm not sure how much I could bring to the event, what is it you expect me to do there?"
"All I'm asking is for you to keep your eyes and ears open, a lot of numbers get pushed around, listen to what people say, and then if I'm not with you let me know what has been said and if you can point them out all the better."
"I think I can manage that, although I'm sure I would look out of place at such an event." Gesturing at my current clothes, jeans and a red cable knit sweater.
"I'm sure you look lovely and will be an excellent representative of the company. I'll pick you up with the limo at 6:30 PM Friday if that's OK with you?"
I leaned back against the kitchen cabinets pondering my outfit for the evening and whether I would be judged for wearing something not worth thousands of dollars.
"You say a lot of business is conducted at these types of events, what is your main purpose?" crossing my arms against my chest helped me build an emotional wall between us, this man before me projected the image of an enigma, I wasn't sure if anyone knew him at all. Since my dad's accident, however, he had shown a side I'm sure he has kept well hidden.
"Crawford industries has many subsidiaries, for example, we work alongside some major groundbreaking technology companies, and sell four of the top ten most commonly used pharmaceuticals to healthcare sectors all around the USA. Crawford Industries has an in-house legal team, PR, and marketing management and we have also successfully created a very tasty brand of coffee with colleagues in Colombia." He added with a wink. His face softened and I could almost believe this man had a heart. Before I could respond his steel gaze returned.
"Make no mistake though Elena, I know people and business. I have taken apart decades of work in a matter of hours. Our merger and acquisition division are what makes Crawford industries so lucrative and why I earn ninety thousand dollars an hour." The hint of a smirk touched the edges of his full lips. Chase Crawford was not a man who played games, he took what he wanted and destroyed his competition. Turning away from him allowed me to breathe, he controlled all around him, air, and life. I knew I had to pay him back for everything he had done for me and Dad, I just wasn't sure if he was going to take my soul too. I had no choice, before I could back out, I turned to him and sealed my fate.
"I'll be ready."