When Darren was finally well again, when he said he could walk the dogs and go to the gym, Pearl knew it was time for her to go. To her blushing delight, Darren handed her an extra two hundred dollars. He said it was extra pay for nursing him. That wasn't in her job description, but she'd done it anyway. Normally, she'd refuse that, but she thought she'd earned it.
Once Pearl was settled in her parents' house again, Mama told her that Mrs. Booker wanted to talk to her. Mama gave Pearl the number and smiled.
On the phone, Mrs. Booker told Pearl just how happy she was to know that her boy had been so well cared for. She even offered to take Pearl out for lunch. "No, Ma'am," Pearl said. "Mr. B's already compensated me. He insisted. I don't want to take advantage of you."
"You sure, Honey?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Pearl nodded to nobody. "I'm fine. Don't worry."
That phone call had certainly made Pearl's heart feel much lighter, not that she'd been feeling heavy.
The next time Pearl came in to work, Gunner greeted her with a short lick on her hand. "Hey there, Sweetie." She took one of his pointy ears in her fingers and gave it a rub. "How's your Daddy doing?"
Gunner turned around and walked in the direction of the kitchen.
What a handsome baby.
Pearl slipped out of her shoes and took off her coat.
Wait.
The tapping and clattering of dishes.
The sound and smell of sizzling meat.
Something sweet too.
What kind of fuckery was this?!
Frowning, Pearl went in to discover Darren cooking up stuff. The thickest slabs of bacon she'd ever seen, French toast, cinnamon rolls cooling to the side, and buttery scrambled eggs mixed with vegetables and sausage slices. It was ridiculous.
And messy.
When Pearl cooked, she liked to clean as she went. Wipe up a spill here. Sweep up a crumb there. That sort of thing. This kitchen was in chaos. Darren must've been the type to clean up after everything else was done.
Gunner went off to where Baby Blue was. The Pit Bull was finishing up his food. Gunner wasn't done. He went over to his own bowl to work on that.
"Uhm ... hi." Pearl loosely folded her arms on a counter. "You're up early."
His black jeans were just slimming enough to put an air of gracefulness in his figure. His red flannel shirt was tucked in, and there was a plain but stylish belt. Pearl didn't think there was anything wrong with mentally admitting that he looked nice. He smiled at her as he turned off the stove's burners and started setting plates. "Good morning! I hope you didn't eat a big breakfast."
"Oh! Uhm ... wow." She didn't know what the acceptable thing to say was. "That's very sweet. What's the occasion?"
"There isn't any." He carried two rather heavy plates over to the kitchen table. Then he went to the fridge. "Sit down."
Putting her purse on one of the few clean spots on the counters, Pearl tried to keep her steps steady and her voice calm. "Alright? I mean, I had some cereal before I came here but I do come from a family of big eaters."
He was pouring milk into tall glasses and grinning. "That's good. I can't stand it when people starve themselves." The glasses were put on the table. His long fingers reminded Pearl of tree branches against a backdrop of snow.
They dug into their food quite enthusiastically. Gunner lingered for a while, sitting nearby and watching the people eat. It was as if he expected something. Did he even know what he was expecting? Perhaps he felt a the same as Pearl. The routine was off, and he didn't know why. So, he wanted more information.
"So ... uhm, you know how to cook," Pearl said, mostly keeping her eyes on the food.
"Comes with being grown." He was in a really damn good mood.
"I guess so." She put some of the toast in her mouth, chewed, and swallowed, all while making happy little humming noises.
Once breakfast was done, and their bellies had settled, Pearl asked where the punch clock was. She needed to start cleaning up, and she'd refuse to do so without being clocked in.
Darren's response was a firm but jaunty demand. "Let's go in the living room. I need to talk to you." His fingertips tapped the tabletop and then he got up. Pearl snatched up her old purse and followed him out the kitchen. Her calf muscles felt a bit prickly, like they could sense that a time for running was nigh. But Pearl wasn't sure. Why would she need to run? This was a safe place, a welcoming place.
In the living room, Darren sat down on the couch. Pearl stood before him for a moment, her hands holding each other. The man patted the couch's supportive back and told her to sit down. Okay. That was fine. Pearl sat down and put her purse on a coffee table.
The way he was looking down at her ...
Pearl's nails dug into her jeans. She felt the scratching.
Darren's pupils were dilated. His whole body was turned towards her. His lips were only just parted. Both of his hands went for one of hers, and he clasped her fairly tightly.
She had to swallow something. What exactly, she wasn't sure, but she gulped it down.
His eyelids lowered along with his voice. "Pearl, do you have any idea how important you've become?"
That ... was the weirdest question she'd ever heard. She blinked and blinked, smog overflowing in her mind, slowing down her thoughts. But, silly as this was, she wondered if she had a disorder that stopped her from understanding social cues or hidden meanings.
"Uhm ... what do you mean?"
She felt the long fingernails on his right hand oh so gently graze her. It tickled. She flinched and made a squeaky noise in her throat.
"Come on. It's pretty damn obvious, isn't it?"
Gunner interrupted the scene by walking in and yawning. Darren looked at him and rather emphatically said, "Get!" That was short for get out. Gunner got up and went off somewhere, probably to hang out with Baby Blue.
Once more focused on Pearl, Darren tilted forward, just enough to make her silently question him. She even started to wonder if she needed to lean backwards. It was getting a little bit difficult to keep her neck craned.
"I want you. I've wanted you for so long." Was that a dimple in his cheek? "Don't you want me too?"
Something in Pearl's mind had apparently been stretched to its limit, because it snapped and burned her. Her eyes popped so much that it gave her a headache. She pried his hands off of her and basically jumped off the couch. "No!!" She grabbed her purse and repeated the word. "No!!"
Darren's jaw dropped but he quickly put it back in place. "What do you mean?" His tone lowered and so did his visible mood. "I thought you felt the same."
So much blood flooded in her skin, reddening her face, her ears, her hands, and probably her feet. Her feet certainly did feel like they were blushing.
And ... other parts, secret hidden parts, they throbbed a little.
"Doesn't matter!" She made an X shape with her arms then swung her arms out. "None of that matters. You're my boss! I won't do that with my boss! It's a good way to screw my money up!"
He recovered, smirking, and he stood up, towering over her again. "Then the only solution is to fire you." His hands went to his hips.
A pause.
