2014 Prompt Responses - 37. Prompt 372

“Wait. You want me to do what now?” I stared at my boss incredulously.

Sherrie took a deep breath. “Rob, please… Do this for me and I owe you, big time.”

“This isn’t exactly in my job description, you know.”

“I know. I promise I won’t ask again. Please? Just this once?”

I sighed in frustration. “Fine. I’ll go this once, but I’m not your errand boy. I have a lot of work to do.”

She beamed at me and held out a twenty dollar bill. “You are an absolute doll.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I grumbled as I headed to my office to grab my coat. I wasn’t looking forward to going back out in the snow just to get my boss coffee from her favorite shop. I really hoped she wasn’t going to make a habit of asking me to do petty errands like this. The next time she asked, I would definitely refuse.

The shop was only a block away from the office and I was glad to escape the cold. I opened the door to the small coffee shop to a blast of hot air and stood in the doorway rubbing my hands.

“Rob?”

I looked to my left to see Jack sitting at a table by the window with a steaming cup of coffee in front of him. My morning ‘errand’ made a lot more sense now.

“Hi, Jack.” I headed to the counter and ordered a mocha with whipped cream as well as a ‘to go’ cup of chai latte for Sherrie. I slid into the seat across from Jack.

“How’s Aunt Sheila?” I asked.

His deep, throaty chuckle sent a thrill down my spine. “Wondering how her nephew is. You seem to have made quite an impression.” He looked at me pointedly.

I looked down into my cup as I took a sip. When I set it down, Jack smirked as he leaned forward and wiped my whipped cream mustache with a napkin. I turned bright red and was very grateful to be sitting down so Jack wouldn’t know the effect the brief contact had on me.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

“Rob, I just want you to know that this wasn’t my idea. I mean… I do want to see you again, but I don’t want to trick you in order to do it.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered.

He moved his hand like he was going to take mine, but changed his mind and settled back in his chair.

“I don’t understand. I thought we were getting along so well. You told me you wanted to see me, too.”

“I know. And I meant it… I do really like you, Jack. I just don’t know how appropriate it is for me to be dating my boss’ brother.”

He snorted derisively. “That’s just an excuse. What are you afraid of?”

I stood up and put my hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently before heading out the door.

“Good bye, Jack.”

I glared at Sherrie as I set her latte down on her desk.

“So…how did it go? And please don’t feed me that ‘it’s not appropriate for me to date my boss’ brother’ crap.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I guess you two have been talking.”

“Jack and I are very close. I knew you’d hit it off with him the minute I met you. Please don’t let me stand in the way of what could be a very good thing.”

“So that line about you not wanting any employees to spend Thanksgiving alone?”

“I meant it. I would have invited you, even if Jack wasn’t there. It just happened to be very good timing.”

I looked at her skeptically.

“Honest!” She paused. “He really likes you, you know.”

“I know.”

“He hasn’t dated in ages. Not since –“ Her eyes grew big. “Oh, I shouldn’t have said anything!”

I looked at her curiously.

“It’s not my place to tell. Just trust me when I say that Jack is very special.”

I turned so she couldn’t see the smile on my face.

“I know,” I said softly as I exited her office.

“Does this mean you’ll call him?” She yelled after me.

I pretended that I didn’t hear her.

I was really torn about Jack. I liked him a lot, but the last time I mixed my work and personal life it ended so disastrously I vowed to never make that mistake again. It was a good thing I had a big project to work on, because it took my mind off Jack. I made quite a bit of progress, not really paying attention to the time or the weather.

Sherrie knocked on my door and stepped inside. “Have you been following the weather reports?”

I shook my head. “I’ve been so wrapped up in the Anderson project I haven’t even taken any breaks. Why?”

“Sorry to tell you this, sweetie, but I’m afraid that light snowfall they predicted for today turned into a full-blown lake effect event. They’ve instituted a travel ban. I’m afraid we’re stuck here for at least tonight.”

I ran to the front window. The snow was falling so fast that visibility was zero.

“Damn! Look at it out there! What was I thinking moving out here this time of year?”

Sherrie laughed. “Get used to it, sweetie. It’s called living by the Great Lakes. We get to deal with that lovely phenomenon called ‘lake effect’.”

“We got snow in the Midwest, but nothing like this.”

“C’mon. I have some cans of soup we can heat up for dinner.”

We ate our dinner in the conference room, chatting amicably. I was really enjoying getting to know Sherrie better. I could see a lot of similarities between her and Jack. It wasn’t surprising that they were so close.

I decided to take advantage of having the extra time at work and completed more of the Anderson project. Sherrie protested, telling me that it wasn’t necessary, but I wanted to do something to keep my mind occupied.

It felt like only minutes later when I woke up to Sherrie shaking me. “Wake up, Rob. You can’t be comfortable like that.”

I lifted my head and groaned. I had a splitting headache and my stomach was roiling. I ran to the bathroom and threw up. I rinsed my mouth out with some water and made my way back to my office shakily.

“Are you ok? You don’t look so good.”

I didn’t feel so good.

“I feel like I’ve been run over by a Mack truck.”

“C’mon. You can take the couch in my office.” She guided me into her office and I collapsed on the couch. She felt my forehead and couldn’t hide the look of alarm on her face. “You’re burning up.”

I curled up, shivering. Sherrie put her coat over me and pulled the garbage can closer in case I needed to throw up again. She left and returned moments later with cool, wet paper towels. She placed them on my forehead, but it didn’t help much.

I spent the night in a fever-induced haze, tossing and turning, and occasionally emptying my stomach. Sherrie tried to get me to drink broth she strained from one of the cans of soup, but I threw it up almost as soon as I drank it. She placed baggies of snow along my face to try and bring the fever down, but I was shivering so violently they wouldn’t stay in place.

The next thing I was aware of was a pair of strong arms lifting me and a deep voice telling me that everything will be ok. I was taken outside and strapped onto something, but then the fever took over and I lapsed back into oblivion.

The steady beeping was quite annoying. I frowned as I opened my eyes. It took me a while to realize that I wasn’t in my house. I tried lifting my hand, but something was weighing it down. I looked to the right of the bed and saw Jack sleeping in a chair next to me. He was holding my hand and it finally dawned on me that I was in a hospital.

Jack looked haggard, but beautiful. His auburn hair had fallen across his eyes and he was sporting several days’ worth of sexy scruff. He stirred and opened his eyes, looking directly into mine. I smiled. “Hey.”

He sat upright and was at my side in an instant, caressing my face. I closed my eyes and leaned into his touch. “You’re awake.”

“Am I? It feels like a dream to me,” I muttered.

He laughed that wonderful deep, throaty laugh. “It’s not a dream. You gave us quite a scare.”

“What happened?” I croaked. My mouth felt like it was full of cotton.

Jack poured some water into a cup and helped me sit up so I could take a few sips.

“Thanks. That’s much better.”

A knock on the door drew both our attention as a doctor entered the room. “I see you’ve decided to rejoin the land of the living.”

I smiled wanly. “I don’t know what happened to me. Why am I here?”

“You can thank your boyfriend. He saved your life. If he hadn’t brought you here when he did, you would have succumbed to the flu.”

I raised my eyebrow at Jack and he looked away sheepishly.

“He’s just a friend,” Jack said, avoiding my gaze.

The doctor chuckled. “Sorry…not buying it.” He took my vitals and gave me a thorough check up, pronouncing me on the road to recovery.

“So I owe you my life, huh? I guess you’ll do anything to get me to go out with you, huh?”

Jack laughed and took my hand. “I’m just glad you’re ok.”

I smiled and closed my eyes. I was exhausted, but had to know how I got to the hospital.

“Tell me how you got me here.”

“He was amazing. A true knight in shining armor, only with a snowmobile, not a horse.”

I opened my eyes to a smiling Sherrie.

“I’m so glad you’re finally awake, hun,” she said. “You were so sick and I was so scared. I didn’t know what to do, so I called Jack. It took him three hours, but he managed to get to the office on his snowmobile. We strapped you in front of him and he got you here just in time.” Her voice hitched. “He’s a hero.”

I smiled and squeezed his hand. “My boyfriend, the hero…” I mumbled as I drifted into sleep.

Thanks for reading!  These guys are still rattling around in my brain, so I'm not sure we've seen the last of them.    Let me know if you'd like to read more about them.