Chapter 4

Stephie stared at Carter and her heart dropped at his words.

"I knew it." She whispered with slight aggravation.

"Before you jump to conclusion, it's not what you think." Carter raised a pale and wrinkled palm in caution.

"Shouldn't I be the one to decide that?" Stephie replied with her quick-witted tongue.

"Fair point," Carter nodded, "but at least let me clarify, it is nothing sexual." Carter promised.

"Then what? You need a kidney? You found out you were dying, and you need a part of my liver?" Stephie spat with slight nonsense.

"You have quite the vivid imagination." Carter chuckled in amusement.

"Doesn't hurt to be extra vigilant." Stephie refused to relent.

"Fair enough." Carter hummed, and a silence fell on the table.

Stephie blinked and stared at Carter, and he too did the same.

"Sooo, the catch?" Stephie hinted after an awkward second had elapsed.

Carter intertwined his fingers again and sighed, "as you know, my wife passed recently."

At the mention of Carter's dead wife, Stephie's resolution softened just mildly.

"She had been a sick woman for quite some time, and when she was last hospitalized, I visited her often. I worked at her bedside, and she'd watch me waste my hours away on my laptop and answering phone calls, and she had asked me to make her two promises." Carter continued, and Stephie listened with great attention.

"The first promise was that I wouldn't drown myself in work if she were to die. She wanted me to be human and not a machine. To mourn and to accept her loss and learn to move on, versus just brushing her death under the rug like I would with a deal gone bad." Carter explained, while ensuring to keep constant eye contact with his single member audience.

"The other was that once she had died, she wanted me to honor her death by honoring the first genuine act of kindness I countered in my season of mourning. Now you would think from the moment she died, all the condolences I received from the nurses and doctors, someone, anyone, could've fit that category, but no. Not to me." Carter determined, then their conversation was interrupted by Richard delivering their meals and drinks.

Carter grinned like a child, as he placed on his bib, then his gloves and opened his boil bag, releasing steam embellished with the warm aroma of cooked spices and seafood delicacies.

Following the steam with her eyes, Stephie's stomach growled louder than a whale searching for a mate. Embarrassed, Stephie practically folded into her chair. Carter pretended not to hear the noise and instead saw to digging out a crab leg and cracking it with the provided red plastic cracker. The old man carelessly fed himself crab meat, before taking a bite out of a potato.

"Think you're healthy enough for all that cholesterol old man?" Stephie wondered before stopping herself.

"I hope so." Carter admitted then he noticed Stephie had yet to touch her food.

Pausing, Carter slowed his chewing and swallowed, "Stephanie, I assure you, this is fine and there are no strings attached. Please eat."

Stephie blinked and thought to correct Carter on her name, but one more embarrassing sound from her empty abdomen, and she reluctantly dressed herself just as her host did and began to eat.

Once Carter was satisfied with her compliance, he continued with his story in between bites.

"The kindness from the Doctors and hospital staff were all out of courtesy. When I walked from the hospital and down the street, I encountered a biker who spat at my shoes, a woman too busy on the phone to provide me with simple instructions, and even a hobo too drunk to ask for alms." Carter continued, and Stephie couldn’t help but internally laugh at Carter’s diction.

Stephie slowly began to dig into her bag with more interest and hunger driven excitement. She made eye contact with Carter often, even as she focused on de-shelling her seafood choices.

"Then after turning a few blocks, I saw you in the café from across the street. You gave a little girl a muffin for free, and I saw the way you worked at cleaning the counter. You greeted the last of the customers earnestly, and performed your humble task with as much efficiency and care as one would if they were working in a high-end firm, and somehow I knew." Carter concluded.

Stephie took her time in chewing, swallowing, and drinking water.

"So what, is it like a scholarship?" Stephie wondered.

Carter shook his head while downing three gulps of his sprite.

"Not necessarily. I can give you the money, maybe help you relocate to a new and better neighborhood. If you're interested in school, I can take care of that as well." Carter listed off, as he saw to emptying out his bag one item after the next.

Stephie released an unconvinced chuckle, "yeah, and all for free?"

"As unbelievable as it may sound, I would simply like to honor my late wife's last wish." Carter expressed with a genuine grace.

Stephie paused, and she emptied the last drops of water in her cup.

Carter watched her carefully. The young girl stared at the tabletop, wringing her fingers together beneath the table. All this was simply too good to be true, and if there's one thing Stephie learned was that no favor was truly ever a "favor". There was always a catch.

"I'm sorry, you look like a nice guy, or at least this charade you're putting on is pretty convincing, but not for me." Stephie determined.

Carter set his lips in a firm line. His visage wasn't disappointed, but rather concerned and confused. Stephie had quite the wall and the will. Carter could only imagine what happened to cause her to have such reserve towards his offer.

"I've been fending for myself for quite some time, and frankly I like it better like that because the only one I owe for anything is God and myself." Stephie began, her words strong, her tone direct, and yet still gentle and respectful.

Carter gulped softly, knowing well enough where Stephie was leading him.

"I'd rather not be indebted to anyone else. Especially someone as powerful as you. I'm sure if you look around hard enough, you'll find another kind person." Stephie decided, then wiping her mouth with a napkin, she grabbed her crossbody bag and stood up.

"Thank you for lunch. I can repay you with as much on the house warm milk as you want, but other than that, leave me alone." Stephie decided, then she began to walk away.

"I'll hire you." Carter spoke up and Stephie stopped in her trajectory.

"Dude." Stephie turned around to find Carter standing and removing two bills amounting to $150 and dropping them on the table.

Then Carter walked out of the restaurant, leaving a dumbfounded Stephie to follow after him.

Stephie reluctantly left the restaurant, as Richard began cleaning their table and sending her strange glances. Once Stephie reached Carter, he was finishing up a phone call.

"Walk with me." Carter simply instructed as he began making his way down the street and toward the shopping district by the river.

"How often do you work in the café?" Carter interviewed.

Stephie stopped herself from questioning Carter's investigation of her and instead answered honestly, "I work four days out of the week."

"And on the weekends?" Carter wondered.

"I lure rich old men to their death after robbing them blind." Stephie replied sarcastically.

"Ha." Carter responded dryly, then he sent Stephie a side glance, "I know you are trying to convince me to leave you alone, but frankly Stephanie, I loved my wife, and I know she'd be fond of you. So again, what do you do on the weekends?"

Stephie rolled her eyes, seeing she couldn't shake the old man, and decided to answer, "I don't really do much, I'm a seasonal volunteer at a shelter for the homeless. And when I can, I go to service here and there."

"Mmh." Carter hummed then he paused, just as John pulled up to the sidewalk next to them.

John exited the car and saw to escorting both Stephie and Carter into the vehicle. The ride back to the city was silent. Stephie stared out of the window and Carter did the same until they reached the office.

Once Stephie stepped out of the vehicle, she noticed Jacob in the lobby speaking with three other men. As soon as Jacob noticed Stephie, his face hardened, and he ended the conversation quickly. Then eyeing Stephie once again, his mean gaze taking note of every pore from her head to her toes, while his supposed disgust shadowed the features of his face, Jacob turned from her gaze and walked away.

Mentally rolling her eyes and curling her lips in an unimpressed manner, Stephie turned and faced Carter.

"John will be by to pick you up this Saturday. He'll take you to my mansion, and there I will discuss the terms of your employment." Carter explained.

Blinking in confusion, Stephie replied, "I never agreed to work for you."

Carter sighed and stared at Stephanie head on. In the meantime, in his office above, Jacob stared them down, as more and more passerbys, office workers and pedestrians alike, took notice of Carter's attention on the young woman. It was strange enough for Carter, the big time mogul in a somewhat small town to be seen out in the open for such a prolonged time, let alone with a girl practically half his age.

Sensing the multiple gazes on her face, Stephie cleared her throat.

"I won't give up on honoring Maritza's wish Miss Stephanie, and I chose you," Carter continued with a patient tone, "Now unless you'd like to wake up with a large sum of money in your account, and fearing that somehow, someway you'd owe me for the rest of your life, I'd advise that you simply accept my employ, and in this way, honor your own principles of earning what you have in life."

Stephie gulped, blinking as more and more passerbys pointed and whispered amongst themselves at the interaction.

"Fine. We'll talk more about it on Saturday. And don't come to my neighborhood. I don't need any more attention. He can pick me up at the café." Stephie determined, then grabbing on tightly to the strap of her bag in sign of comfort and release from her anxiety, Stephie quickly walked away from Carter.

The old man looked after the escaping young girl, and smiled. John watched his elderly boss and shook his head in amusement.

#

Upon entering his office, Carter was met with a fuming Jacob.

"What are you working at?" Was how Jacob greeted his father.

"Jacob." Carter replied, then he moved behind his desk, as Jacob approached the mahogany table.

"Who is she to you?" Jacob wondered.

"What's it matter to you?" Carter returned with his own question.

Jacob breathed and released a chuckle.

"Mom just died and-"

"Don't you dare speak of her in this moment." Carter sharply interjected without raising his voice.

Jacob paused in his sentence and stared at Carter with a blank face.

Carter too gazed at his son in a prolonged manner, his eyes hardening in disappointment.

"Had you been by to see her within the last few days, you would know why Stephanie will now be a significant part of our lives. But you hid away, like a coward, therefore, you don't get to speak of her. Not with me." Carter forbid.

Jacob chuckled again and wiped a hand over his mouth then he stared at his father again.

Carter remained unbothered by his son's red pores and slightly flaring nostrils.

"Fine, but whatever it is you're doing, I want nothing to do with it. And I definitely want nothing to do with her." Jacob pointed, his notions of Stephanie clear.

"Yes, well you made that very clear by your treatment of her earlier." Carter pointed out, "which I’ll warn you now, refrain from mistreating her from this point on."

"Trust me, as far as I'm concerned, she's as non-existent to me as she was 24 hours ago." Jacob promised.

"Says the one who eyed her down earlier in the lobby." Carter reminded his son, then the old man wondered, "what about her that bothers you so much?"

Jacob shrugged, "nothing. She's as much a stranger to me as any other face in the crowd. Like I said, nonexistent."

Carter nodded, "if you say so."

The office fell silent.

"So did you simply come here to scold me about Stephanie?" Carter wondered.

Jacob blinked, "no," then he took a seat, "so Jones Swanson." Jacob pitched, and Carter lifted his eyebrows and hummed.

Then the father and son shared a glance, before sharing chuckles. In this moment, the resemblance and familiarity between father and son was clear. The rigid air which once covered the office quickly dissipated as they immersed themselves into the only remaining sole thing they now shared in common. Business.

In the meantime, Stephie returned to the café and saw to completing her shift for the night until closing time. Once Stephie exited the establishment, she found John standing and waiting to pick her up. His ankles and arms were crossed as he stood against the vehicle.

Stephie's face was instantly marred with guarded anger and a decline was already brewing on the tip of her tongue. But John raised a hand in sign of halt.

"I should probably tell you now, there is no man as stubborn as Carter Barlowe. That's why he is so good at what he does, and that's why he is as successful as he is." John stated even before Stephie could open her mouth.

Frowning, Stephie prepared to say more; however there was a reason John was the only one who met Carter's hiring standards. He had a graceful way of dealing with hard-headed characters, and Stephie's spitfire attitude was no different.

"I'd like to keep being able to afford a roof over mine and my family's head, which means having been tasked to take you home, I have no other option but to ensure that you do not take the bus tonight. So with that being said," John stepped aside and opened the passenger side door for Stephie, "Miss Stephanie." He then invited with an ushering hand.

"It's Stephie." Stephanie corrected.

"Not to my boss." John replied, then he pointed towards the opened car door with his head.

Seeing no way out and not wanting to be the reason John lost his job, Stephie huffed mutely and entered the car. John saw to escorting her home. The ride was calm, warm, and comfortable. Nothing like the night previous in Jacob’s car. Stephie blinked, realizing where her mind had gone.

Why was she thinking of that jerk? Shaking her head, Stephie silently admitted that she wasn’t. It was a faulty track in her train of thought. Nothing more. However, though she was comfortable, Stephie refrained from counting her tips for the day. Not wanting to be stared down and judged by Carter’s butler, Stephie chose to count her petty cash at home.

John ensured that Stephie entered her home, then he proceeded to leave the neighborhood, just as the bus pulled to it's stop near the entrance of Stephie's block. At the light, John also took notice of the hooded figure occupying the bus stop before and after the vehicle's appearance. And just like the night previous, John noticed the man pace up and down the bus stop, looking all over the dark street, until his gaze landed on the car.

In that moment, the light turned green, and John pulled off.