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"Skye, there you are. Bobby and I were just wondering if you were going to come."
"Oh, Arthur. Of course I was going to come," she says, rushing over to the elderly man and giving him a big hug. "So good to see you, Arthur, and I brought someone with me."
"Who's this?" Arthur asks, frowning as he looks at me. He's got dark eyes and dark skin, and I can tell he's sizing me up. "Is this your gentleman friend?"
"No, he's my boss."
"Give her a raise," he says immediately, and Skye starts laughing.
"Don't, Arthur."
"What? I'm sure you deserve a raise, and he looks like he can afford it."
I grin.
"Nice to make your acquaintance. My name is Kingston."
"Good to meet you, Kingston. I'm Arthur and that's Bobby." Bobby is an elderly white man who's still seated. There's a chess set in front of him and he's studying it.
He looks up at me with a scowl, "Trying to decide if I should move this knight or not. Morning, Skye."
"Morning, Bobby," she says. "This is?—"
"I know who he is. I heard." He looks over at me and grunts, and I'm not sure if that's a sign of approval or disapproval.
"Shall we start with you guys reading books this morning or…?"
"I have a letter that I wanted to write," Arthur says. "To my granddaughter, and I was hoping that we could go through it to make sure that it makes sense." He stares at Skye. "If you don't mind."
"Of course," she says. "I'd love for us to work on that." She looks over at me. “Do you want to sit with Bobby?"
"Sure," I say, walking over to the man who's sitting at the chess set.
"You play chess?" He looks at me.
"I haven't played in a while," I admit. "I have a feeling you'd beat me."
"Huh," he grunts, but there's a smile on his face. "What are we going to do?"
"Well, this is a literacy organization, right?"
"Yes, and your point is?"
"Well, shall we read, or write, or..." I lean forward and whisper slightly. "I don't really know how this works. This is my first time."
"I know. I've never seen you here before." He leans back. "You are Skye's boss?"
"That, I am."
"I hope you're treating her well."
"Of course, I?—"
"She's more than just an employee, huh?"
"I don't really know what you mean."
"I see the way you two are looking at each other, way more than a boss-employee relationship. Don't worry. Back in the day, I had a little thing with a secretary myself." He winks at me.
