Page 4 of Be My Valentine

“I don’t know.” the tone was apologetic “I think for some reason he hates me; I actually have no experience and I was recommended by a family friend, not exactly a good start.”

“You should also listen a bit better, you can’t keep on getting the wrong files.”

“But I don’t get it wrong!” intoned Kate “I swear I get him what he asks for.”

“Honey,” Allie told her softly, “your life has been completely turned upside down. You’ve had a horrible Christmas. You’re worried about all the debt, you’re running from one side of New York to the other to work, you had to drop out of college…”

“Just one semester and the dissertation. I was so close!”

“And you still are. Your mother is recovering, grit your teeth, Kate, I’m sure you’ll resume classes in March!”

“June, if all goes according to plan. I’ve already calculated it, assuming I don’t lose any of the work.” Kate replied.

Dream on, Kate, dream on. June?

“It’ll all work out. Don’t give up!” Allie decided to lighten the mood “At least your boss is cool as hell.”

“Oh, hell yeah! Black hair, blue eyes, and fit!” confirmed Kate “As soon as I saw him, I thought, ‘Hey, lucky me! I’m going to have a great view right under my nose!’ Now I tremble every time he calls me.”

“Imagine if he was old and grumpy.”

“He is grumpy… I don’t think I’ve ever seen him laugh.” She shrugged “Or maybe he just doesn’t do it in my presence.”

“And co-workers? Have you made any friends besides Meg?”

Kate shook her head.

“Meg is the only one who isn’t put off by fact that Arrow has it in for me. I think they’re afraid of attracting the same fate as me. And then there’s that Annie Carson… she hates me, too. And that’s the trouble, she’s the oldest secretary, even though she’s only forty and she knows…”

“What does she know?” Allie asked worriedly.

“That I was recommended by a family friend, and I think she blabbed it to everyone and as the manager I had to declare to her that I had a second job at the pub. She told me ‘Just don’t smell like beer when you’re here’!”

“Nice… you can’t manage without the pub? It’s not safe to travel at night, you have to go back to Queens, I worry.”

Kate sighed

“You sound like my mother. I’m looking for a job close to home, but there’s nothing for now and I need that money. Then again, it’s not so bad when you think about it. Not even twenty minutes away on the subway and I can have dinner there, I start at ten.”

“Yeah. And finish late at night. And the ride home isn’t exactly twenty minutes. Just be careful, okay?”

They hugged and Kate jumped on the subway, ready, or nearly ready, for her second job.

Chapter 3 / Mark

Is the fear of falling in love not

perhaps already a little bit of love?

(Cesare Pavese)

At only thirty-seven years of age, Mark Arrow had already become a partner in the law firm, taking over from his father, who was happy to give up the reins and enjoy his retirement. He had never had a big shake-up in his life until she appeared. Kathryn Donovan had become an obsession after just one week. Digitizing a legal archive was about as tedious as it could get for a well-trained secretary. He and his partner had decided to take on a temporary worker. No special requirements were needed, just some computer experience and patience. And Kathryn Donovan had arrived, relegated to the last desk in the room, as is traditional for newcomers. As he drove back to his apartment, driving the dark SUV, Mark Arrow thought how he had realized he was totally screwed the first time he had seen her: she was talking to Margaret Penn and smiling shaking her head, her brown hair was just perfect, her brown eyes, big, and a mouth he couldn’t stop looking at. The first move had been to consult her file. She was only twenty-three years old and looked like she hadn’t done anything except finish high school. Mark had been surprised, because he had not only noticed how attractive she was, but she looked as if she were smart too. He had continued reading, discovering the second job as a waitress in a pub, whose name he couldn’t remember at all, after all, Manhattan was full of pubs.

Mark’s problem, however, didn’t go away. That girl had the power to cloud his brain, only she hadn’t realized it, at least not yet. Just that afternoon he had made a mistake with the name of the file; Kathryn Donovan had tried to protest but he had shut her down with a glare and thankfully it had worked. He couldn’t even admit to himself that he was distracted up to that point because of a woman, but the reality was that at times she completely sent him into a tailspin, something that had never happened to him, especially with a perfect stranger. He had made the grave mistake of mentioning this to his sister, who had swooped into the office the next day.

“I’ve seen her big brother! Boy, is she pretty!” she had exclaimed “Maybe you found her!”

“Don’t be silly, she just struck me more than she should have, I don’t know why.”