Personal Assistant.3

 Still not exactly sure where this is going, but here's more one it.

"We're heading to the lake next weekend," Stuart told me not long after, "my family and I. I want you to come along."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," I replied honestly, giving a quick smile to my coworkers passing the open door.

He clapped me on the shoulder, but as usual let it rest a little too long. “It’ll be a working trip,” he offered. “You’ll get time and a half.”

I marked myself as out of office. After all, what could he do with four children and a wife running amok?

Like a family in a black-and-white film, the Baker clan waited for us on the steps of the lake house. Some of the clan, I corrected myself. The children I had met at the chili cookoff weren’t there.

Stuart kissed his wife before turning to me.

"You've met Regina," he said, squeezing her waist, "and this is my oldest boy, Graham. Graham is going to be a junior this year."

"Hey, nice to meet you," the young man said. He clasped my hand with a bright smile.

I blinked. "Uh, where do you go to school?"

"William Jewell, the one in Kansas," he chuckled. "My old man's trying to keep me out of trouble."

"I'd think a boring town just means you're more likely to create your own trouble," I reply. Thank god my juvie records were sealed, otherwise I’d never have gotten a job.

He laughed as though he had never heard that one before. “Nope, I’m a pretty good kid.”

“He’s just saying that because we’re standing right here,” Regina Baker said, her sarcastic tone softened by a smile. She patted the teenage girl’s shoulder. “This is Mackenzie, our second oldest. Marley and Cole are at summer camp.”

Mackenzie did not look the type to be impressed by anything. She stood with her arms folded across her chest and phone in hand.

“Sorry I’m crashing your family vacation,” I apologized to her.

“It’s fine,” she replied with a slight roll of her dark eyes. She and Marley were adopted. I often wondered how they dealt with being Chinese girls in a rich, white family, but I didn’t think Mr. Baker would have answered if I asked. His wife, lovely hostess and generous spirit, seemed minutes away from telling me she didn’t see color.

"Ken and I will be working during the day, but you'll have to show him the ropes,” Stuart told his kids. They responded with that forced pleasantry that told me I’d probably never see them. There was no way these two children of the upper crust wanted to hang out with their dad’s employee in their free time.

That first day it did seem like everything was going to be copacetic. The work Stuart had to do was real. Regina and the kids went out on the boat for a while, and then everyone pitched in for dinner. They even played board games after dinner, until I managed to excuse myself for an early bedtime.

This was sickening. 

Morning should have been the safest hours to move about unmolested.

Graham shuffled into the kitchen right as I did. Shirtless, muscled in the easy way that denotes an active life, rubbing his face sleepily…I tried not to stare. I'd heard of the phenomenon of the well-to-do friendly college frat boy, certainly, but it was a little like seeing a celebrity. Oh, you are real. You're an actual human being.

"Oh, hey. Morning," he greeted me.

"Good morning," I replied, averting my eyes quickly. "Do you know where the coffee is?"

Graham indicated a fancy machine on the counter. "It's one of those pod thingies," he informed me as he opened the fridge. "I don't know how it works though." He watched me inspect the machine for a moment. "Dude, why are you up so early?"

Because your father sleeps late. I shrugged. "I'll be working a lot today, so I wanted to enjoy, you know, being at the lake and all."

Graham showed his white teeth in a knowing smile. "Is my dad that much of a slavedriver?"

"No, but with this new position there's a lot more work to be done, and it's a steep learning curve for me." Wanting to change the subject, I returned his original question. "What prompted you to arise at such an hour?"

"Wakeboarding," Graham replied, lighting up. "A couple of my brothers are here, and one of 'em has an awesome boat. This early, the water is totally smooth."

"You have more brothers?"

"Fraternity."

"Oh." I placed a coffee pod into the machine with a healthy amount of trepidation. "Well, have fun," I replied. 

"You working this whole trip? That sucks."

"I gotta pay bills, kid."

For some reason that struck Graham as hilarious. "Dude, you should tell my dad to back off," he joked. "You need your lake time to re—uh, what's the word I'm looking for? Feel alive again."

"Rejuvenate?"

Graham raised his tanned arms triumphantly. "So you agree."

I smiled a little at that. "I don't know that I work hard enough to complain. It's lists and spreadsheets and phone calls and taking notes. My previous position was harder."