Overtime

Chapter 4

When I wake up, I am shocked to find that Mr. Lancaster and I are still on the couch. My head is resting on his leg and he is sleeping with his head on the back of the couch. I carefully climb off the couch and begin cleaning up the mess from the previous night. After taking a couple pills for my headache, I go upstairs and take a quick shower. Once my hair is put up and my uniform is on, I begin making my way around the house with my cleaning supplies.

It isn't until about noon that I run into Mr. Lancaster. He is walking out of his office as I'm about to go in the get the trash. "Good afternoon, Mr. Lancaster."

He sighs. "Please, call me Jackson."

"That's very unprofessional," I frown.

He raises an eyebrow. "I think we've already crossed that line."

I purse my lips for a short moment. "If you don't mind I need to get the trash out of your office."

He smiles. "That's fine. But I want to have a word with you when I return."

"Of course," I say, confused as to what we'd need to talk about.

After taking care of the trash, I take a seat in his office and wait for him to return. A few minutes pass before he takes a seat at his desk in front of me. "Typically I interview all of my employees but since I was out of town I was unable to interview you," he begins. "I'm sure you would've gotten the job anyway but I use it as an opportunity to get to know my employees - especially the ones I'm going to see on a daily basis."

"So you want to give me an interview?" I ask.

"Not exactly," he says hesitantly. "I want you to join me for dinner tonight. It'll give me the chance to get to know you better."

I shrug. What could go wrong with that? "That's fine with me. What should a wear?"

"Just something decent. Be ready by seven," he says.

"Okay," I nod.

Leaving the room, I go into the laundry room where I throw in a load of laundry and fold the clothes from the dryer. After ironing a few things, I take the items up to Mr. Lancaster's room. His closet is almost completely full of suits and all the accessories to go with it. There are only a couple drawers with jeans and t-shirts but I've never seen him wear them nor have I washed them. I've only ever seen him in a suit or pajamas. And I've seen him out of both. I blush at the memory and try to shake the image away as I place the clothing neatly where it belongs.

The day goes by rather quickly and before I know it, I'm preparing for dinner with Mr. Lancaster. At seven o'clock on the dot, I meet him at the door. He glances over my body before opening the door. We go outside where Franklin is waiting by the SUV. He opens the door and smiles warmly at me. "You look lovely, Miss Smith."

"Thank you," I smile.

He closes the door and the two men exchange a few words before getting into the car. Jackson focuses on his phone most of the car ride but I don't mind. It gives me a chance to see where we're going. Franklin parks at a dead end surrounded by trees and I am confused as to what's going on. There's nothing here except for the wilderness. "Sorry. I had to respond to some time sensitive emails," Mr. Lancaster says as he helps me out of the vehicle.

"I didn't mind," I admit.

He smiles before turning to Franklin who hands him a wicker basket. Franklin returns to his place in the car and Mr. Lancaster grabs my hand, pulling me into the trees. My heel keeps getting stuck in the dirt and I groan in frustration. "You should've warned me. I didn't know we would be hiking."

He stops and looks down at my feet. "Why do women wear those deadly things?"

"They look nice," I shrug. "And they make me appear taller."

"Well, get on my back and I'll carry you," he says, turning around and crouching a little.

"No. I'll just walk."

"We'll never get there at this pace. Come on."

Sighing, I place my hands on his shoulders and put a thigh on each side of his body, clinging onto him. He straightens before continuing through the trees with his free hand on my thigh. When we reach a clearing, he stops and I carefully climb off of him, fixing the bottom of my dress. There's a picnic table towards the end where there's a fence just before the land falls away. I saunter towards the fence and gasp at the view. In the distance below us is a picture-perfect view of the city. "It's beautiful."

"Yes it is," he agrees.

When I glance at him I notice he's watching me carefully. "Have you taken your other employees here?"

He shakes his head. "They wouldn't have appreciated it. I thought you would."

"I do. I love it. Thank you."

After one last glance at the view, he takes the basket to the table. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes," I say, sitting at the picnic table.

He produces a burger from the basket along with some fries. "Hope you like Five Guys."

I raise my eyebrows. "Mr. Lancaster eats at Five Guys? I'm shocked."

He shakes his head. "My dad used to take me there for dinner once a month. We stopped doing it when I got older because I didn't have much time for anything with the new business. I've paid over a hundred dollars for a burger at a work event and I can promise you Five Guys is better. There's no sense in paying a ton of money on something when you can get it elsewhere for much cheaper."

"Well, thank you," I smile, biting a fry.

We eat dinner in silence as we watch the sun slowly disappear behind the city. After a while, the only light is from the moon and it's just as beautiful.

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