The Edge of Intention

S

ara felt a headache coming on as the day came to a close. Her forehead started to crinkle as 5:00 came around. Daniel noticed her change in expression and asked her about it.

"Sara, is everything alright?"

"Yes, I am just getting a headache and I am tired."

He opened a desk drawer and offered her two Ibuprofens. She gratefully took them and headed for home.

"I will be in at 5:00 a.m. tomorrow, Sara. Your start time is 8:00 a.m. We can adjust it however you like. If you are an early riser you can come in early and leave earlier. It's up to you. But for tomorrow, let's just say 8:00 a.m."

"Yes, Sir. See you tomorrow."

Sara woke up during the night with an even worse headache and vomited. She had a fever of 102.5° and felt horrible. She called the call in line at Jane's desk.

"Jane, I have a fever of 102.5° and have been up vomiting since 2:00 a.m. I will not be able to come in today."

When Jane got the call at 7:00 a.m., she walked straight down to Daniel's office to tell him.

"What did you do to her, Daniel?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"She called in sick today and claims to have a fever of 102.5"

"She was getting a headache before she left. I gave her two Ibuprofens. It must have been starting last night. I haven't done anything to her. I actually like this one."

Relief flooded Jane like a tidal wave. "Thank GOD" she thought and headed back to her office. She wasn't in the mood to sit and fraternize with him today. It was Friday and she wanted to make the best of it and not let him ruin her good mood.

When she left his office, Daniel sat thinking.

Shit. Had he scared her away or was she really sick? There was only one way to find out. He would bring her some chicken soup for lunch from Noodles and Company. And by God she better be where she says she is. At home, in bed, sick.

Sara had left her laptop at work the night before and Daniel opened it and read the current book she was working on. She didn't even have it passworded. What was wrong with her? She was too trusting. He had stayed until midnight reading. She was a brilliant writer. She wrote complex criminal mystery books. It kept his interest for almost six hours. He wanted to read more but needed sleep and went home. He knew he was breaching her privacy but he was fascinated with how her mind worked.

This

is why she did not fit into the workforce. She was creative which required flexibility and the workforce was streamlined. He found this information to be useful in understanding his new assistant. She would not have a hard time finding a publisher when the time came.

Sara was awakened by something. She wasn't sure what. There it was again...someone was knocking on her door. Nobody

ever

knocked.

What the hell. I don't want to see anyone.

She dragged herself to her feet, grabbed her robe and went to the door.

"Who is it?" she said just above a whisper.

"Sara, it's Daniel." he said softly.

She paused, mortified. Did he think she was lying? She did not want him here. She was afraid, however,

not

to open the door. She unlocked the bolt and opened the door. He stood there holding his messenger bag for his laptop and a bag of lunch of some sort.

"I brought you some chicken soup. And your laptop."

She stood back and let him in.

"Daniel, I can't eat right now. Can you please put it in the refrigerator." She asked just above a whisper.

He strode out to the kitchen and complied. She looked like she was ready to collapse. He hurried back to her and helped her back to bed. Her apartment was gorgeous. He was shocked. It contained beautiful furnishings and was lavishly decorated. It was three bedrooms by the look of it, a living room and a family room, library, two bathrooms and a gourmet kitchen and a beautiful balcony.

How is she affording this? Clearly, she had good taste. But I am not paying her nearly enough to live like this.

"Please, Daniel. I am in no condition for company."

"When was the last time you took iBuprofen?" he asked.

"At 6:00 a.m. It's time again."

He went to her medicine cabinet and poured two out of the bottle and brought her a glass of water.

"Sit up." he instructed and handed her the caplets and water.

"I will work from here today. Let me stay here and take care of you, Sara. It's not fun being sick without company or help."

She nodded and fell back to sleep. Even with pain medication she felt awful and exhausted. She was in a weird way relieved he was here. However, she was so bad off the mailman would have done the trick as well.

For awhile until he got comfortable, Daniel roamed the apartment out of curiosity to see how she lived. Every room was fully furnished and beautifully decorated. Her closet was a huge walk in with a center island and one wall was just for shoes. She had three tops and three skirts of different styles hanging on one side of the closet and two pairs of shoes; one pair of flats and one high heeled which she had worn to his office. There wasn't another stitch of clothing in the closet. He strode over and opened the drawers. The top drawer contained five pairs of panties, one bra and socks. The second drawer; two pairs of jeans and two tops. The third drawer had various scarves, sweat pants and shirt. This woman had nothing. Literally nothing. His exploration of the kitchen was much the same. He found a fully stocked spice cabinet, pans, dishes and silverware and everything a gourmet kitchen needed to function but not one scrap of food or flour anywhere. The fridge was brand new bare and empty as was the freezer. The pantry looked like she had yet to move in.

Well, she is so sick I am going to stay with here the entire weekend. I can fix this situation.

He looked around for house keys. Finally he had to wake up Sara and ask her for them. He went into her bedroom and gently stroked her arm. She moved slightly with a frown on her face.

"Sara, I am going shopping for food and I need to get back in. I need your keys."

She looked at her nightstand and opened the drawer and got them out.

"Wait, why do you need them?"

"Because I am going grocery shopping for food." She started to shake her head and say no but Daniel insisted.

"Sara, I am going to stay for the weekend until you are well enough to take care of yourself. And I need to eat." She reluctantly agreed and laid back down and fell back to sleep.

Daniel spent $500 filling her cabinets, fridge and freezer. Base groceries cost the most. They included things like flour, sugar, coffee, creamer, rice, oatmeal, soy sauce, etc. But when he was done, he headed down to the office at Kensington Flats. He walked in and asked to speak to the manager Jake Olsen. He knew him from college but had never really kept up with him. He came out and they shook hands and went into his office. He explained that he was Sara's boss and said he would like to be responsible for her lease and that in the future it would be a condition of her employment. He paid the year off immediately and told them to keep his company card on file for incidentals and month to month after the year was up. Just in case she quit on him. And if he had anything to say about it, she would never quit but would retire working for him. When their business was done, he headed back for Sara's apartment. It was his opinion that this woman needed looking after.

When he got inside, Sara was standing at the kitchen sink getting a glass of water. She looked horrible. She really was very ill. He could not help but feel responsible for the breakdown of her immune system. He knew he had stressed her out terribly. He removed his jacket and hung it on her hall tree and walked over to her. She leaned on him without provocation. He wrapped his arms around her and asked her,

"Are you okay?"

She had leaned her head on his chest and just shook her head no in answer to his question. He reached down and picked her up and carried her back to bed.

He sat on the edge of her bed and said,

"Sara, I am taking you to the hospital if you are still not well on Monday." she gently nodded her head and fell asleep.

Daniel called Jane to fill her in on what was going on.

"Jane, let's give Sara the week off next week without penalty. She is very ill. I brought her some chicken soup and she has a very high fever. I have stayed with her because she has no help. I am taking her to the hospital on Monday if her fever does not break."

"Wow...I knew you had a heart under that exterior of yours. I am delighted to hear it."

"But can you do me a favor, I am sitting here with nothing to do so can you send me the expense reports for the Barrington/Harris account? I want to get to the bottom of why the profit margin is so low on the land development."

"Yes, I will do it as soon as I get back home. I am out to lunch right now."

"Okay. Thank you and Jane, keep my whereabouts under your hat please."

"Of course, Daniel."

Daniel was making chicken carbonara when Sara emerged from the hallway.

"Hey you. How are you feeling?"

"Not good. But awake. I can move with ibuprofen."

He set the pan to simmer with a timer and made sure she was comfortable in her club chair with a blanket. He sat in the one across from her.

"Sara. I paid your lease for one year. I also paid all of the bills on your desk. I filled your fridge, freezer and pantry. You can relax. I want you to relax and concentrate at work. You do not owe me anything. Let's call it a condition of employment. I want you to be able to buy food and clothes and perform upkeep on your vehicle. I would prefer you not to argue with me. If you do, I won't spank you today and probably not tomorrow...but I will spank you." And he grinned at her.

"Well...on that note, I am sure I will get better soon." she offered a weak smile.

"Thank you, Daniel. There aren't even words for the relief I feel."

"You are welcome. I can't say I am going to pay you for giving you this next week off but I think you will be okay as far as I know, nothing will get shut off or is being threatened. If there is anything else you need let me know. Is your car payment due? I paid your auto/rental/life insurance for the year. And in case you need anything like gas for your car or a random food item I did not think of, my American Express is on your kitchen island. I do not want to see furniture or any other crazy thing on there but you can use it until you get a paycheck for small random items. Like if you need toothpaste or shower gel or celery or whatever."

Sara looked at him and started to cry. "Thank you, Daniel."

"You are welcome. Thank you for not arguing with me. You really should not cry when you are sick, it just makes things worse."

She nodded.

"Sara, I want you to let the aspirin wear off this time. I want to see where you are at. I think it might be better to get you to the hospital sooner than later. You have coverage immediately upon employment with my company so it will be a covered visit. Let's go in the morning. I will take you." She nodded.

"Since we will not be able to shop for clothes in the morning it can wait until next Saturday. I do not want you in the office at all next week. Even if you are better you can stay home and write and make a full recovery.

"Brandy was right. You really are a nice man."

"She said that?"

"Yes."

"I try to be. I expect people to behave and be respectful. Sometimes the process of wrangling that out of people isn't fun. But I do try to be a good person. My sister still works for me so that is saying something."

"Who is your sister?"

"Jane."

"Oh. I didn't know."

Sara laid her head back and fell asleep in her chair. Daniel continued to cook and finished cleaning up the kitchen. He spent the rest of the evening going over expense reports and watching over his new employee. Something about being here with her felt like home. He liked her style and her overall manner. She certainly had better taste than him in apartments. Although she practically starved to death to maintain it. He woke her up and helped her to the bathroom. She started crying because the ibuprofen was finally wearing off again. Sure enough her fever was 103°. He made her wait until

12:30 a.m. just to be sure it wasn't actually higher. She was shaking because she was freezing. He scooped her up and carried her to bed rather than make her walk down the long hall after she got done in the bathroom. She had one in her bedroom but the one in the hall was closest to the living room. He finally gave her ibuprofen at 12:45. Her fever stayed at 103°. He was going to do this again at 6:00 a.m. and if it was still high, she was going in.

"Do you want some chicken broth or something?"

"No thank you. I just want to go back to sleep."

"Okay. I will sleep in your guest bedroom if that is okay."

"Yes. What time is it?"

"Almost 1:00 a.m." Sara's hand was resting on his chest as he laid her down. She wilted and her head turned away but her hand remained.

"Oh Sweet Pea..." he whispered. She literally looked like a wilted flower. He covered her hand with his and pressed it into his chest as he stared down at her. He tucked her arm across her stomach and covered her up. He did not need to get sick. He went down to the guest bedroom to sleep. He removed his clothes down to his T-shirt and underwear and climbed in and passed out cold until 6:00 a.m. He jumped out of bed to run down and check on Sara. He had slept so soundly he never even woke up to check on her during the night. She had just sat up and was still in rough shape. He forgot himself in his hurry and was standing before her in his underwear. He took her temp and it was true to form and holding at 103°. He gave her her pain and fever meds.

"Sara, I am sorry I slept like a rock in that bed and woke up later than I planned. I jumped out of bed half dressed in a bit of a panic. Sorry. I wasn't trying to flash you or anything."

He went down to shower and dress. He had run back home before he went to noodles and tucked a few things into his messenger bag assuming he would stay the night to care for her if she was in fact sick.

He came back into her a room a half hour later.

"Sara..." he said softly to wake her. She turned her head to look at him. If she wasn't so sick she would gawk a little more. He was in fact a very handsome man. Especially fresh out of the shower. And most especially after all he had done and was continuing to do for her.

"We need to get you to the hospital walk-in, Sweet Pea. You are wilting and I want you to get well."

She nodded her head.

"Daniel, can you have coffee or something and let the meds kick in first? Please?"

"Okay. I will give it a half hour. Do you feel like having anything? Even a plain piece of toast?"

"I will agree to try." He smiled at her. She really did look like she was near death.

"Okay. I will be back in five."

He stalked out to the kitchen and threw a cup and a pod onto the Keurig and a slice of bread into the toaster.

Sara sat up bolstered herself with pillows to lean on her headboard with. She was in pain. As sick as she was she had gotten rest for the simple fact that she did not have to worry about anything. She could focus on this new boss of hers who showed up with her fever. Well...thank God she got sick. She shuddered to think how life would be panning out if she hadn't.

He came in with his coffee, the morning paper and her toast. He relaxed on her club chair and started reading the paper. She nibbled at her toast.

"Hey you." She looked up and he was peeking at her over the paper. She gave him a weaker than usual smile. She had rested her head back on her pillows while she chewed her bite of toast.

There is no way she is getting out of that bed and getting dressed on her own. And she will never make it to the car. I am going to have to dress her and carry her out of here. Well that is okay by me. She is actually pretty light...not to mention sweet when she is ill. She has no strength to be a smart ass or to fight me.

When 30 minutes passed he got up and went to her center island in her closet and got out her sweat pants and shirt. He got her a pair of ankle socks and flat cotton Thoms to wear. He helped her dress and wrapped her in a blanket, grabbed his phone, keys and wallet, picked her up and headed out the door with her.

When they got to the walk in there were all of the usual questions and then it came time to go back to the exam room and she opted to have him come with her which surprised the hell out of him. That's when he knew how bad she really felt. She had grabbed his arm and motioned for him to come. They brought her a wheelchair so he didn't have to carry her. They examined all of the usual things; lungs, body parts, limbs, and a throat culture for strep which came back positive in just a few minutes. They wrote her a prescription and had her take a pill immediately so she could be on the mend.

Well thank God I insisted she come in this morning. She would be fine by tomorrow night or at least a whole lot better. She is still staying home. But by Monday, she might be ready to work from home. I will check on her every night.

They stopped to have the prescription filled at a local drugstore. Thankfully there was a drive thru so he didn't have to go into the store leaving her in the car. Once that was done he drove her back home and parked outside her apartment at Kensington Flats. Sara had fallen asleep by then. He turned off the car and looked down at her. She really was a beautiful woman. He rubbed her arm and whispered,

"Hey Sweet Pea. You are home." She stirred slightly. He got out, tucked her meds into his jacket and opened her door. He unbuckled her seatbelt and scooped her up, closed the door with his hip and pushed the lock with his key fob. When he got to her door he put her down so he could unlock her front door. He scooped her back up and carried her to bed and helped her undress. She would be ready to eat by dinner time if the meds did their job. And since she had taken her first pill by 7:30 a.m., they most likely would. He was excited to see her get well and after all of the boundaries that were breached with her being ill it should be easier on them both. She had left her toast on her night stand. She reached over and took another bite. She did not care that it was stale because it was more cracker-like that way. She was excited to be back in bed and oddly enough, to have the entire weekend to spend with Daniel. How could she not like a man who cooked and took care of her the way he had. She knew better to think it was out of the goodness of his heart. She knew he liked her. Or was at least annoyingly attentive. Maybe he wanted to torture her so badly he was nursing her back to health so he could continue doing so.

As she laid there thinking about her situation, she could not help but wonder first, what brought him to her front door; and then to pay all of her bills. Maybe when she started to feel better she would ask. But for now, she would sleep. She had eaten half of her toast and drank some tea Daniel sat on her night stand. It was delicious. Iced and peach flavor with no sweetener. It felt good on her throat. She really was blessed to have him here. She would have never done the things for herself that he had done for her. It was nice for once to be taken care of. She had spent her entire adult life caring for everyone else so that there was little to nothing left for herself.

Daniel sat and watched her as she dozed off. While he loved his privacy, there was something wonderful about staying in this beautiful apartment/condo/penthouse taking care of this beautiful, albeit very ill woman. Maybe it was because for once he was working hard to do something for someone besides himself. He wasn't sure he wanted her to be at the office all of the time. She could work from home much of the time and for what he needed. Maybe it's because he felt responsible because he had spanked her after being a complete ass to her.