Briony watched her father leave, the sun shining off the window of the limo he drove. Her mother insisted on her maintaining a pleasant face no matter what. Somehow her mother thought it would attract someone with money. So far it had only kept her hidden away in the library.
Briony didn’t think a pleasant smile would make her the perfect match for some rich snob. That wasn’t what she wanted anyways.
The sound of a car coming up the drive stopped her at the front door. Turning, she saw the limo returning. When her father’s head popped out his window she hurried back down the drive to meet him.
“Briony, I just received a call from my boss. Do you need a temp job for the next day or two?”
Nodding, Briony headed over to her car. “I can follow you over in my car.”
“Don’t you want to know what the job is first?” He called after her.
“Job’s a job. I’ll take it.” She called back. What she didn’t say was that she would take any legitimate excuse not to be stuck with her mother for too long.
It took a good twenty minutes to get from their small house to the mansion her father drove to.
Stepping out of her car she moved over to where her father stood leaning against his limo.
“So what’s the job?” Briony asked, happy to be out of the house. “Please tell me it’s not cleaning bathrooms.” While she was happy to have a job, any job, she didn’t have to love cleaning.
“There’ll be a little cleaning. Daven just remodeled his library to make room for more books. When he called and said he didn’t have time to straighten, clean, and organize all the books now that the remodel is done I thought of you. Told him I had someone who could help and he said you were hired. He’s inside.” Her father nodded to the huge doors just a few steps away.
“Is he going to have time to tell me what he wants or am I doing educated guesswork?”
“Oh I’m taking his sister to the airport in about 5 minutes.” Her father chuckled. “And don’t you mind his abruptness, he’s just busy with no time for silliness.”
With that, the door opened and a beautiful woman strode out. She gave Briony a slight smile before turning to Briony’s father. “I believe I’m ready Mr. Jennings.” Her tone airy as she glided to the back of the car. Remembering that she was just some temp Briony gave a tiny curtsey as she headed in through the door the woman had breezed out of and left open.
Stepping slowly into the large open foyer she shut the door and stood just inside, wondering what to do next. She definitely wasn’t going to start wandering around some rich stranger’s house.
“Hello?” Briony called out. Minutes of silence followed before she called again. “Hello?”
“Jennings send you?” A male voice called from somewhere deeper in the house.
“Yes.” She took a few steps in.
“Up the stairs, straight back.” The deep, strong voice didn’t sound any closer, so she moved up the huge staircase and further back in the house. She was about to push open a set of double doors at the end of the stairway when the same voice came roaring out the door accompanied by a powerful-looking man. Briony stumbled to the side in an attempt to not be trampled. The man hollered down the hall. “Move faster.”
Clearing her throat from behind the door she peeked her head around it, trying to tone down the sarcasm, “How much faster?”
If he was startled he didn’t show it. “In here.”
Following him into the room Briony had to stop to take in the size of it. His office was as big as their small community library. “This might take more than a day.” She muttered. It must have been loud enough because his attention twisted back on her. Turning dark green eyes her way he glared. She shrugged. “Not a problem sir, an observation.”
With a grunt he nodded over to a bucket of water and cleaning cloth. “All the shelves need to be wiped down first.”
And just like that she began her work while he stomped over to his large desk and glared at his computer. The only thing she accomplished that day was wiping down all the shelves. And she was honestly surprised that Daven hadn’t found anything to yell at her about. He seemed to enjoy yelling. She had listened to him yell at his computer, his phone, and to several people over the phone.
In fact, as she left he paused his work long enough to gruffly ask if she was coming back the next morning. After a quick assurance that she would, he demanded she arrive promptly at six.
The next morning Briony knocked on the door a minute before six. She was surprised when he answered. They didn’t speak as they walked back to his office. Boxes upon boxes were now scattered and sitting open, waiting. He must have found a little time to start looking through the boxes because they had been neatly closed and stacked when she’d left the night before. She would have to organize them first.
“Author or genre?” She asked, sitting down in front of the closest box.
She watched him jump a little at the sound of her voice, subsequently glaring over at her. “Both.”
With a nod she set about organizing and stacking books in categories so that she could later sort by author and start getting things up on the shelves.
It was around lunchtime that she found herself slowing. Standing up, she tried to stretch and walk off some of her stiffness without attracting his attention. Apparently she was unsuccessful as he immediately glared over at her.
“Problem?” He growled.
“No. She said. “It’s lunch time.”
To her complete shock he shut his computer and nodded. “Good idea. The kitchen is this way. You deserve something delicious after the quick work you’ve made of my mess.”
“Were you looking for one book in particular?”
He nodded, his dark brown eyes roving over the books she had unpacked. “Yes.”
“Did you find it?” She smiled. “If not, I can let you know when I do.”
“I did not. It’s called Remaking the World.”
“By Ken Torrance?”
He looked at her with surprise. “Yes.”
“I will let you know as soon as I find it.” She followed, happy she wouldn’t have to settle for the apple she had shoved into her purse on her way out that morning.
Maybe he wasn’t as bad as all his yelling and grumpy gruffness made him appear. After all, he knew who Ken Torrance was.
