"Good morning," Veronica greeted Eileen cheerfully as her step-daughter walked into the kitchen. "How did your date go last night?"
Eileen smiled with a dreamy look in her eyes. "It was great. I had a really nice time with Lawrence. He's very . . . mature."
"I hope so, since he's the man running my company," Arthur spoke up from his place at the table.
Eileen rolled her eyes, expecting this to turn into a long rant. "I've got to go. I'll see you later," she said and headed out.
"Maybe I should stop by the office today and check on things," Arthur suggested.
Veronica stepped in front of him. "Now there is no reason for you to go down there, Art. You have to let this go. The company has changed hands, you're retired, you don't need to worry about it anymore."
"I'll worry about it as much as I want to," Arthur grumbled.
Veronica sighed. "A few years ago you were looking forward to retirement. We talked about all the things you were going to with the extra time. You were going to take up golf, we were going to travel . . ."
"I can't play much golf now, can I?"
"No, but there are other hobbies you can take up and we can still travel to all the places we wanted to go. I have a lot of vacation time saved up. Decide when you want to go and where and we'll do it."
Arthur grumbled an unintelligible reply and picked up the newspaper setting next to him on the table.
"Arthur, you have got to find your way out of this funk," Veronica insisted. She waited for him to react, but the only response she received was the rustle of his newspaper. She let out a frustrated sigh and blinked back the tears that were threatening to form in her eyes before turning towards the door. "I'm going out."
Lawrence approached Hector at his desk. "The new employees we hired are starting today. I'm going to need you to be available to help them if they need anything."
"No problem." Hector grinned. He stood up to match Lawrence's height and stared at him, his mouth twisted into a superior grin.
Lawrence stared back at him curiously, but also with concern. There was something sinister beneath Hector's expression, but Lawrence couldn't read what it was. "I don't have to remind you to be professional?" he warned.
"Of course not. I am a professional."
"Good," Lawrence said, still eyeing Hector warily.
"And there isn't anything you need to remind me of," Hector said pointedly, making sure Lawrence got his meaning.
"The new employees will be here at 10:00. I'll introduce you when they arrive."
"Great. I can't wait," Hector called out as Lawrence walked back to his office. He was still smiling when Lawrence looked back over his shoulder as he walked away.
Hector's situation had been looking rather bleak, but now with new employees at the company to buddy up to and a vital piece of information hiding up under his sleeve, things were starting to look up. He had no doubt that he would be back on track in no time.
"Come in," Edward called out in response to the knock on his office door. When he looked up to see Alma enter, he stood up from his chair to greet her. "Alma, what are you doing here?"
"I want to talk to you."
"Please, have a seat." He motioned to the chairs in front of his desk, but she shook her head, opting to stand.
He patiently waited as she collected her thoughts before she started to speak.
"I know you want a family, to get married, and to have children . . ."
Edward nodded, worried about where this conversation was headed. She was obviously working her way to saying something important and he didn't want to interrupt.
"That's something I always expected to have too, but when my mother was alive it seemed so far off and after she was gone, it seemed too real. I don't know why I got the idea that things would be a certain way when they never have been my entire life . . ."
"What things? What way?" Edward asked once her words seemed to drift off.
Alma shook her head and tried to get back to the point. "It doesn't matter. What I came here to ask you is, what do you expect out of a marriage? If I were to agree to marry you, would you expect me to stay home and raise the children? How are the important decisions going to be made? What exactly did you have in mind when you suggested marriage?"
Alma's questions were delivered like she was conducting a job interview, but Edward was so pleased that she seemed to be coming around to his suggestion that he didn't mind.
"All I want is someone to share my life with. If I wanted someone to work for me and follow orders, I'd hire someone. What I'm looking for is a partner. Not just someone to be a part of my life, but for someone to make a life with together. I'm tired of being alone."
"If I get married," Alma said slowly. "I don't want to give up my job and I'm used to doing things my own way. Even when I was taking care of Mother, I was used to doing things my way and I'm not going to change. I'm not going to suddenly become anything different than what I am right now."
"I wouldn't want you to. Alma, when I first met you, I admired you for your patience with your mother and how strong you were for taking care of her. As I got to know you better, I admired you even more for that same strength and for your conviction. But I think there's even more to you than that. Deep down I see a very caring and sensitive woman, the kind of good woman any man would be lucky to have in his life."
Alma turned away. She wasn't convinced she was worthy of that praise. "If you were to ask me to marry you again, I wouldn't say no."
He stepped towards her and gently touched her shoulder, bidding her to turn around. "Will you?"
"Yes."
Edward held Alma close. "I promise you, you won't regret it."
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