Part 1 - Chapter 4 - The Bottom Rung

Lawrence couldn't sleep at all that night. He kept thinking about the encounter with Hector and wondering what he should do about it. He could lose his job. He could go to prison for tampering with the mail. This was horrible. It wasn't as if he would lose a great friend in Hector, but he felt like he had been betrayed. He had trusted Hector, who turned out to be a back-stabbing crook. And there was nothing Lawrence could do about it without being implicated himself. Hector had been with the company for awhile now, he was close to Mr. Townsend himself, while Lawrence was the new guy who they had taken a gamble on by hiring. If it came down to one of them taking the blame, who would they side with? Not him.

Unable to sleep, Lawrence pulled on some clothes and went for a walk. When he saw the woman standing on the sidewalk he couldn't believe his eyes. For a moment he thought he was dreaming. It couldn't really be her.

Before he knew what he was doing he was calling out to her. "Hello."

She turned, startled and confused, but her expression quickly changed to a shy smile. "Hello."

"I don't think you know me," he said. "But I saw you once at the offices of the Stuart-Townsend Corporation."

"I remember," she smiled. "But you don't really know me either, do you? I'm Eileen."

"Lawrence Arrendale," he replied, offering a handshake.

"Nice to meet you," Eileen replied, taking his hand in her own.

A moment of awkward silence, awkward to Lawrence anyway, passed before he could think of anything to say. "Isn't it kind of dangerous for a young woman like yourself to be out here all alone?"

"Well, I haven't seen anyone out but you. I shouldn't be worried about you being dangerous, should I?" she teased.

"N-no," he stammered. "Of course not."

"Yes, of course you aren't," she agreed easily. "I'm not worried about being out alone. I'm just waiting for a few friends. We're going to a concert. They should be along any minute." She glanced behind her, before turning to Lawrence with a smile. "But I could use some company until they get here."

Lawrence lost all track of time as they talked. He had never been very successful with the ladies, but talking with Eileen was so easy. He couldn't believe he was talking with the beautiful girl of his dreams so effortlessly and staring into her beautiful dark eyes. All of the problems that kept him awake earlier vanished from his mind.

Their conversation was only interrupted by the arrival of Eileen's friends.

"Looks like Eileen has found herself a new boyfriend." the girl in blue sang out.

"Chloe!" Eileen chided her friend before laughing.

"I think we're embarrassing her," the other girl said. "We'd better hurry if we're going to make it to the concert. That is if you still want to go," she said with a wink and a slight nod in Lawrence's direction.

"I do. I'm coming," Eileen assured them before turning back towards Lawrence. "Nice meeting you," she said softly as she brushed past Lawrence and followed her friends down the sidewalk.

Lawrence was too dumbfounded to think of asking if he could call her sometime. He hadn't even gotten her number or her last name. The idea of following them or finding out if he could tag along with them to the concert was too absurd, he simply didn't do things like that.

The girls were out of sight before he fully realized that he had let Eileen slip through his fingers again. And the only hope he had of seeing her again was another chance run in. Lawrence never liked leaving things to fate.

Eileen and her friends, Chloe and Lucy, left Lawrence behind and walked on to the concert. Lucy had arranged for her family's country club to host the one night concert by James Spencer and Craig Sexton.

The girls enjoyed the music from front row seats, which gave them an up close look at the musicians.

"Wow, I can't believe the guy on the keyboard is just making it all up as he goes along," Chloe remarked.

After the set ended, Chloe took a moment to check her makeup. "Ok, Eileen, how do I look?"

"Fine, Chloe," Eileen answered.

"Oh, come on. I look better than fine. At least I'd better if I'm going to be picked up by any of the hot guys here tonight." Eileen just laughed. "Oh, go ahead and laugh. You can since you've already picked up one guy tonight."

"What guy is that?" a male voice called out.

"And it looks like you just found another," Chloe added before walking away.

Eileen turned to see Hector standing behind her. "Hector, what are you doing here?" she asked as he greeted her with a hug.

"Looking for you," he replied. "I heard you were back in town. When I tried calling you for a date and didn't get an answer, I figured you'd be here."

"Good guess," Eileen grinned.

"So . . .mind if I hang out with you? Unless you've got some other guy you'd rather be with," Hector asked with a pout.

"Not at all," Eileen grinned coyly. "You're welcome to hang out with me anytime."

"Eileen!" Lucy called out as she hurried over to the couple. "Is it just me or is that guy checking me out?"

Subtly, Eileen glanced around the room and noticed they guy who had played keyboard in the band was looking in their direction. "Yeah, I think he is."

"Do you think I should I go over and talk to him?"

"Yeah, go for it. He's cute."

"Hey, what about me?" Hector asked, fishing for a compliment.

"Eileen will keep you company," Lucy suggested with a wink as she started to walk away. "Wish me luck."

"Oh you'll keep me company, will you?" Hector flirted.

Eileen shrugged and flashed Hector a playful smile.

"Have I mentioned yet, how glad I am that you're back in town? I really missed you while you were away. I was hoping we could pick up where we left off and go out sometime, unless you've already found someone else. . ."

"No, I'm not seeing anyone. That sounds like fun."

Lucy wandered over to the stage and stood there alone, trying to look available. A moment later her efforts paid off and the keyboard player walked over to her.

"Hi, I couldn't help noticing you. I'm Craig Sexton."

"I know. I'm Lucy Stuart."

"Oh, so you're the one who set this concert up? I have to thank you for giving us the opportunity to play and say that you've done a great job getting everything squared away. You've thought of every detail. I'm impressed."

"Thank you," Lucy blushed.

When people started walking past them, Craig suggested they move to a less crowded corner where they could talk. Lucy agreed.

"I just have to tell you Craig, I really love your music. You're so talented. Being a musician must be a great job."

"It is great, when you can get the work," he replied. "Music isn't the most stable profession out there . . .What do you do?"

"Oh, I'm still in school. So mostly I study. I'm hoping to get into med. school next year."

"Wow, a doctor. That's great."

"I just like meeting people and helping them."

"What I like is talking to you," Craig said smoothly and Lucy smiled. "And making beautiful women smile. I was wondering, Lucy, would you like to have dinner with me?"

"I'd love to."

"I'm only in town for the weekend though. If you're free, how about I pick you up tomorrow night?"

"Sounds great."

Meanwhile, Lawrence was at home and finally sound asleep. He knew how to handle his problem at work now and come Monday morning he would do what needed to be done. He dreamed of work and of the beautiful girl he now had a name for, Eileen.

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