Tunnel of Love?
Bright sun shone through the open balcony doors in the office of Perry Mason. Spring was in the air and outside the normal sounds of Los Angeles traffic on a busy day reached through to the two occupants of the office. But Perry's confidential secretary, Della Street, didn't care. Right now she had her head buried in her arms, one hand holding Perry's hand in a death grip, trying to calm her nerves. She was trembling and she tried to regulate her breathing, hoping not to pass out.
"Della?" Perry gently laid his other hand on her head. "Della it's over. Everything's fine."
His beautiful secretary slowly raised her head and Perry could see the tears glistening in her hazel eyes, threatening to fall. "I'm sorry Perry. I don't know how much more of this I can stand."
Perry smiled at her, trying to think of something to say to ease her fears. "It's okay Della. I understand. Are you going to be alright? Do you need to leave? Just tell me what you need, and I'll make it happen."
Della gave him a small smile. "Unless you know a way to control Mother Nature or get me back home, I'm afraid there's nothing you can do. But I appreciate the thought. And I'm very sorry to be this way."
Perry knew there was no way to answer or alleviate her fears. For the past week the city of Los Angeles had been experiencing small tremors caused by a 5.0 earthquake that had struck at Santa Clarita. The largest of the tremors had only been a 1.5 on the Richter Scale, but that didn't matter to Della. Perry, having lived on the West Coast all his life, barely noticed the slight shake of the office. But each time it happened, Della had been reduced to uncontrollable fear. Only Perry's calm voice and hand-holding had been able to keep her from completely collapsing.
Della had been born and raised in the Midwest. The first time the earth shook, he had teased her about living in an area where tornadoes caused mass destruction, but a little shaking had her terrified. She had shown an unusual burst of anger and had almost quit on the spot. When he didn't understand her temper, she had explained that you had warnings when a tornado was coming and there were safe places to hide. Here there was no warning and no place to hide. Hearing this explanation, he had a better understanding and tried his best to be there for her.
For the third time that day seeing his usually fearless, unflinching secretary almost reduced to tears, Perry knew he had to do something. He stood and walked into the law library, pouring a healthy portion of scotch into a glass. He returned to kneel in front of Della, placing the glass in her hand.
"Here. Take some small sips. It will help." She looked at him with a question in her lovely eyes. "Don't worry, the boss won't fire you for drinking on the job."
This finally got a small laugh out of her and she seemed to be much calmer. "Okay, boss."
Perry smiled and patted her hand. "I'm going to call Paul to come down and sit with you while I go make some calls."
Della grabbed his hand, hanging on tightly. "No Perry, please don't. I don't want Paul to know what a baby I am." At the pleading look in her eyes, he nodded.
"Okay. I'll call from here. Drink your scotch. It helps."
Perry sat back down and picked up the phone, watching as Della took a drink. He dialed the number he knew by heart. The cheery voice answered after the second ring. "Hello?"
"Mae, it's Perry Mason. How are you?"
Her low laugh sounded through the receiver. "When I get a call from a handsome man like you, I couldn't be better." Then she quickly sobered. "Is my Della okay? Has something happened?"
Perry put a smile in his voice. "Of course not. Everything is fine. We just thought we might drive up the coast for a weekend visit." He paused, looking over at Della. "Things are just a little shaky around here."
Mae immediately understood. "I understand Perry. She can't handle the tremors. Well things are so quiet around here I'm thinking of taking up knitting. So why don't you bundle my girl into the car and bring her to me."
"I will do that, Mae." Perry gave an inward sigh, knowing this was just what Della needed.
"And Perry?" He heard the concern in Mae's voice. "Make sure you plan on staying here too."
Perry chuckled. "Yes ma'am. We'll see you soon."
Hanging up the phone he turned and saw a smile on his secretary's face.
"Thank you Perry. But what about the office?"
He leaned over to pat her hand. "Oh I think we can afford a long weekend without doing too much harm to the practice. I'll let Paul know where we'll be. And I'm sure we won't get any complaints from Gertie."
Della couldn't believe that Perry would go so far to help her. She knew he was a very caring person when it came to those close to him. But this went beyond caring. The feelings that she kept well hidden slowly crept into her thoughts. But she pushed them back down. He was her boss. Her handsome, oh so sexy boss. And he...
"Della?"
She hadn't realized he was speaking to her. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"Sorry Perry. What did you say?"
Perry walked over to kneel in front of her. "I said 'if you're ready to go, I'll take you to your apartment so you can pack a few things.' Are you alright? You still look very pale."
Della smiled. "I'm fine. And yes I'm ready if you are."
Perry stood and held out his hand to her. "Very well. Let's be on our way,"