Eve

“Um… Mr. Randall?”

I tried not to blush, but I knew I was not being successful. “Er… Um… Carrie needed me to get these and, uh… and send them for her, as she can’t find this brand at the local stores there.”

“These” and “them” was a reference to tampons, and as awkward as it was for me to be buying them, as much as I wished that her mother was still alive to take this situation into her control, I tried to maintain as normal a demeanor as possible as I took out my wallet to pay for them. Fortunately, my daughter’s best friend was working the only open register, so she would at least understand why a man was buying tampons.

Fortunately, Eve understood. “I hadn’t even considered that about studying overseas,” she admitted as she began to process my purchases. “At least she has a loving Daddy willing to do something like this for her.”

I understood, for I had known Eve’s father quite well. Bob was taken at a young age in an accident at a construction site; he had fortunately been knocked into a coma instantly, but the internal injuries were too severe for him to have a viable chance to recover. I had been there with Eve and her mother for the final moments of her father and my friend.

“Your father would’ve done the same,” I reassured her.

“I hope so. I barely remember him.”

There was a pregnant pause as she finished scanning the purchases. She announced the total, and as I handed her the credit card, our fingertips touched briefly.

That simple touch, brief and innocent, connected us.

As she took the credit card from me, Eve looked up from the card to my face, as if seeing me in a new light. There was a grief we shared over the loss of someone close to us both, and that trumped the awkwardness of a middle-age man buying tampons for a daughter currently on the other side of the world.

“If it was me instead, would you do this for me?” she asked softly, even though I was the only customer and the few other employees were either in the break room or were stocking at the other end of the store.

“Sure,” I acknowledged without hesitation. I had spent so much time around Eve that in some ways, she seemed like a second daughter to me. Carrie already considered Eve like the sister she never had, and my wife had also been fairly close with her mother, so our families were linked by something almost beyond mere friendship. To buy tampons for Eve when she was not in a position to do so herself seemed just as awkward as buying tampons for Carrie, but certainly no less meaningful.

As I walked out of the drug store, I sensed something was different, but it was too soon to truly identify what it was.

*****

Working from home as a consultant has its challenges, but it also has its benefits. One benefit was the ability to send the tampons via FedEx by using their online form and printing the label – no need to go to an actual post office and embarrass myself further by writing “tampons” on the custom form where plenty of people might see the transaction. Since this meant that I was sending a personal package using business funds, I would reimburse the company from my personal funds once I knew exactly how much this delivery would cost.

Another benefit is that I am often home. It was great when Carrie was in school, as I could always be home when she returned from school, but the time she had spent in college was rather lonely, knowing that she would not be returning in a few hours, but perhaps in a few weeks. And with my daughter studying abroad, she would not be returning for a few months.

Because of that, there were many evenings when I would sit at the table alone, practically in tears as I attempted to eat dinner.

It was during such an evening, just a few hours after the usual FedEx driver had picked up the tampons, when the doorbell rang. That sound allowed me to set aside my loneliness and grief, and by the time I reached the front door, I was feeling more like my normal self again.

I was stunned to open the door and see Eve on the front porch.

“Mr. Randall… Hi.”

I invited her inside, wondering what had brought her to visit me when she definitely knew that my daughter was not even in the same hemisphere.

Eve and I chatted for a while as we shared my dinner. The conversation primarily revolved around Carrie and a letter Eve had received from her earlier in the week. But eventually, the conversation turned.

“The economy’s getting worse,” she said, in a tone which sounded much older than her twenty years. “Working part time at the drug store won’t be good enough much longer, even with still living at home with my mom.”

“I see,” I said. “So you came to me for some career advice?”

She hesitated. “Not exactly,” she finally admitted. “I like working at the drug store, especially the closing shifts since they pay a little more. But I’ve decided to try to find another part time job, perhaps four to six hours per day. It would help me to save for community college this fall and hopefully a true college next year, and I wouldn’t feel so lazy and unproductive during the day.”

“That’s quite admirable,” I commended her. “So if you aren’t looking for career advice, why come over to let me know about all this?”

Eve hesitated again, then looked me straight in the eyes. “I’d like to work for you,” she said, “just like Carrie did in high school and during the summers home from college.”

Her presence suddenly made sense, and I immediately recognized that her offer would be win-win for us. If Eve was available to run my business-related errands for me and take over many of my administrative tasks, I could focus more on assisting my clients. Since I had already known her for almost her entire life, I was quite comfortable with having her in my home during any absences, such as when traveling, and on the extra-long business trips, she would effectively be a much-needed house sitter as well.

…and on a more personal level, it would be nice to have a feminine presence in the house on a consistent basis again.

“That plan has plenty of merit,” I agreed. “I’ll definitely think about it. Why don’t you give me a call sometime tomorrow, say in late afternoon? I should have a good idea by then of how this could work.”

Reaching across the table, Eve grasped my hand, smiling warmly. “Thank you, Mr. Randall! I know this will be good for us both.”

I gave her hand a squeeze as I returned her smile. I had not considered this situation before she had mentioned it, but I suddenly wondered how I had managed to work for so long without a consistent assistant.

*****

It was almost 4:30PM when Eve called. “I’ve reviewed my business budget, and I can do this,” I informed her. “Can you start on Monday and do four to six hours per day five days a week?”

“Absolutely, Mr. Randall.” Her smile was evident in her voice, and I could tell that she was trying to mask her enthusiasm. “I could work for you from, say, Noon to Five, take a few hours off, and then go to the drug store for my closing shifts.”

“Fair enough. But the most I can pay you right now is one dollar over Minimum Wage, and you’ll need to work as a 1099.”

“That’s good enough for me, Mr. Randall.”

“And by the way, there is a dress code with this job.”

“There is?”

“It’s simple, really: ‘Wear something.'”

Eve’s laugh was genuine and infectious, and as I hung up the phone, I knew deep in my heart that I had made a good choice.

*****

“Wear something,” indeed!

I had anticipated that, being the last gasp of winter, Eve would have arrived on Monday wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, or perhaps nice pants and a sweater. At first, she seemed dressed appropriately enough wearing a winter coat and jeans with tennis shoes and socks, but shortly after I closed the door, she shed the winter coat to reveal a swimsuit.

…and a pair of nipples wishing to greet me.

To say that I was surprised was an understatement. For an instant, I could have sworn that it was my precious Carrie standing before me and not my new employee.

“She was right,” I heard, which snapped my attention back to the present. “You do like seeing young women in swimsuits.”

I know I blushed, so I tried to cover my embarrassment as best as possible, laughing about the situation. “Okay, I’m caught!” I admitted, and she fortunately grinned with me.

Eve had brought a backpack with her, and I had assumed that there was a sweatshirt or other more “mundane” top inside for her to wear, but she did not put on any other clothes over the swimsuit. Her nipples soon were not quite as prominent due to the warmer temperature in the house, but it was still strange – but definitely in a good way – to have an administrative assistant wearing a swimsuit in my working environment.

The day went well as first days go. Eve did make a few mistakes, but that was to be expected since she really did not know how I worked or how I thought. Yet to see her nipples still unmistakable against the swimsuit whenever she faced me or to see her mostly-bare back when she was turned away from me provided a unique distraction.

…a welcome distraction, but a distraction nonetheless. I know that there were a few times when my eyes lingered upon her for just a little too long, but if Eve noticed, she did not say anything about it.

Then again, that was probably the point. I had once heard Eve confessing to my Carrie that she thought I was “hot.” Personally, I just did not believe it. Carrie had often complimented me on how I looked, but I had always shrugged that aside – after all, she was my daughter, and quite likely predisposed to thinking so favorably of me, especially since she and I had been on our own for so long without her mother.

And, admittedly, there were a few moments that afternoon when, gazing discretely (I hope) upon my new assistant, I felt a stirring in my slacks and a stronger beating in my chest. I had to remind myself that Eve was my daughter’s age, that while not “forbidden” and illegal, she was certainly not someone I could be seen with publically in any romantic manner, so I should not be reacting to her like a horny teenage guy.