LOST - PART I
BEGINNINGS
Chapter 15
A few days later Adam accompanied Nate down to the club to meet the owner, Pat Herrity and was hired on the spot. The owner was extremely pleased with his new employee, but was also aware he would be moving on to bigger and better things eventually. But in the meantime was glad to have someone besides Nate he could trust. The two men worked from four in the afternoon until one in the morning when the club shut down, six days a week.
Their friendship deepened as the weeks passed and Pat found himself thinking about the contrast between the two men one rainy afternoon as he sat in his office, putting off working on the books. Nate was wiry and blonde, while Adam was dark and muscular. One was naturally good humored while the other rather brooding and reserved. They seemed to have absolutely nothing in common, but got along famously.
He was shaking his head and eyeing the ledgers with distaste when someone knocked on his office door. Smiling, he called out, "Come in," knowing who was knocking. The door opened and his smile widened when Adam stepped in, and grinned in response at the white-haired man sitting behind the huge desk.
Pat's almost black eyes swept over the younger man from the feet up, and he wondered again where his family was and if his father was still alive. He sighed, sure that Adam's family must be heartbroken from their loss.
You're thinking too much again, Pat," he heard Adam say as he came into the room to drop into a deep, low-backed chair in front of the desk. His employer laughed.
"Don't tell me, you two have finished the inventory already?"
Adam chuckled as he nodded, and then answered the question he knew Pat would ask. "Nate and I put our heads together and came up with a better system so it took a lot less time."
Pat laughed again while mentally shaking his head, knowing that Adam was mostly responsible, but insisted on sharing the credit with his friend. His gaze fell to the desktop where the despised account books lay when a glimmer of an idea sparked and began to grow.
Remaining silent, Adam watched the older man carefully, wondering what was weighing so heavily on his mind. And his brows rose when Pat suddenly looked up to pin him with a narrow-eyed, intense stare.
"What do you know about business?" he said abruptly and the younger man blinked in surprise.
"As far as I can tell, not much," Adam answered.
"Good! That will make things easier," Pat said cryptically and fell silent and just stared for a while. "How would you like to learn?"
Adam straightened in his chair and returned his employer's intense stare. "I would like that very much."
"Good!" Pat said again, and then leaned back to look at the ceiling. "Did I ever tell you this club was my first business?"
"No. I thought this was your only business."
Pat chuckled. "Oh no, I currently have dozens of irons in the fire. And it's getting too big for one person to handle," he grinned. "And that's where you come in."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. I need someone trustworthy to help manage my holdings and I would like that person to be you."
Relaxing back in his chair, he gave the older man a half smile. "Tell me more."
The white-haired man stood and moved around the desk to half sit on the edge in front of Adam before he continued.
"First, have you ever heard the term, 'silent partner'..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Adam's days were now extremely full. He spent his mornings three days a week traveling all over the city, checking on Pat's interests in various businesses. The other two mornings were spent keeping the books, something he now knew he had done before.
He still worked at the club with Nate and Thea began to worry that Adam was spreading himself too thin. And then she started wondering where he disappeared to every Sunday afternoon. When she asked him about it, he just patted her on the head; something he knew always sparked her temper, and told her not to worry. She ground her teeth and stubbornly didn't bring that subject up again, although she was dying to know what he was up to.
This particular Sunday afternoon she had been even more irritable than usual and was snapping at everyone. Nate, Glory, and Abner seemed to have had enough.
Thea was standing at the sink in the kitchen looking out the window when the three trooped in. She turned around to meet their disgruntled expressions and felt a pang of guilt for treating them so badly. When she opened her mouth to apologize, Nate cut her off.
"We're going out for a while and I think you know why," he said grimly and Thea flushed red and ducked her head. "And you would be doing us a HUGE favor by going out to the barn while we're gone," he finished cryptically, and she just stood there with her mouth open as they all turned and filed out the front door.
"The barn?" she said to herself, completely baffled, and then jumped when the front door loudly slammed shut. She turned back around, trying to figure out what Nate had been talking about when she made an impatient sound in the back of her throat and hurried out the back door.
She quickly followed the brick path and soon had the barn in sight. But she abruptly stopped for a moment when she heard a deep, silky voice singing and the sound of metal ringing on metal. And the sound was not coming from the barn. Her eyes opened wide when she realized that was Adam's voice she was hearing and she slowly moved toward it. When she was near the door of the square, redbrick building she slowed down and silently crept over to peek in. Her mouth dropped open and she had to stifle a gasp.
Adam had his bare back to her and she could see the heavy sheen of sweat glistening on the hard planes of his long, strong back and shoulders. He stood in the nimbus of the red firelight from the forge and had a thick, long iron bar in one hand and she watched fascinated as he thrust one end of it into the red-hot coals.
He kept turning the iron bar and took a small step back and turned slightly sideways. After swiping one sweaty forearm across his forehead, he rested that hand on his hip as he stretched, leaning back as far as he could, then straightened up to twist from side to side as he rolled his head. Thea's mouth went dry and she almost forgot to breathe when he turned around and stepped up to the anvil.
Carefully placing the white-hot end of the iron bar on the anvil face, he reached down to pluck a hot set hammer from its peg at the base of the anvil. He straightened up and turned until she was seeing him in profile. A few drops of sweat fell from his forehead and sizzled on the hot metal as he began to slam the hammer down in a steady rhythm. She took a tiny step closer.
He began to sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and the sound seemed to reach out and take her by the heart, slowly drawing her into the room. She was still just inside the door when he stopped hammering, but kept singing softly as he straightened up to plunge the still hot metal into the large wooden bucket next to the anvil.
A huge cloud of steam enveloped him and he stopped singing as he held the rod with one end in the bucket and the huge hammer dangled from his other hand. He sighed and the steam swirled around his head as he rolled his shoulders, his dark skin sliding easily over the bunching muscles of his arms and chest. Thea moved a little closer, then nearly jumped out of her skin when he spoke.
"So you finally caught me," he said quietly as he carefully set the hammer down on the face of the anvil and pulled the still hot end of the iron bar from the bucket. He stepped up to the forge and thrust that end of the bar into the red-hot coals again.
"What are you doing?" she asked and winced at the stupid question.
Adam laughed softly and turned toward her, but didn't answer. Her eyes fastened on the sweat-dampened curls that thickly covered his chest, almost obscuring the mass of now white scars. She ran her eyes up his torso, strong neck, and closely clipped black beard to meet his hooded, dark eyes. He smiled his half smile and watched her while still turning the iron bar, his long fingered hand opening and closing, the muscles in that arm flexing.
She couldn't look away and when her eyelids closed halfway and her pink tongue poked out to lick her full lips he abruptly pulled the bar from the coals and set it to the side. The next thing she knew she was in his arms, her hands sliding up his sweat-slicked back, and her fingers twined in the damp curls at the nape of his neck.
Breathing deeply, she took in the male-musky smell of his sweat and her knees began to shake. He pressed against the small of her back with one hand while the other pressed against the back of her head as he took her mouth in a demanding kiss. She gasped and surprised him by trying to press closer. He would have smiled if he could.
The tip of his tongue gently traced the line where her lips met and she responded instantly by opening her mouth. But he held himself back and only tangled his fingers in her hair to tip her head to the side. His burning lips caressed hers and she was gasping for breath when he trailed kisses along her jaw line until his firm lips grazed her ear.
"Dear God Thea," he breathed, "marry me."
She wrenched her self back out of his arms and nearly fell down. He reached out to help her and she held one hand up to ward him off while the other covered her mouth. Her eyes welled up with tears.
"I'm sorry...I can't," she choked out and took off running as though her life depended on it.
Adam stood there for a moment staring at the door she had disappeared through and then sighed as he turned back toward the forge. He had just pushed the end of the bar back into the coals when he heard the back door to the smithy open. Nate slipped in.
"Did it work?" he asked and the other man shook his head.
"No."
"I didn't think so. Damn, I thought you had her there for a minute!"
"I did too," Adam said ruefully and Nate couldn't help but laugh.
"Well, I told you this would happen, but don't worry. You'll wear her down."
"I don't know; she can be even more stubborn than I am. And now I have to think of another tactic."
"Another one?"
"Yes, you don't really think she'll fall for this again, do you?"
"No, I guess not...but I'm sure you'll think of something."
"I will, and by the way, just how long were you watching us?"
Nate turned slightly red. "Uh...not long?" he offered and Adam shook his head at his friend's embarrassed expression.
"You know, there's a name for people like you. And it's not a very flattering one." He chuckled saying, "Just wait until I tell Glory you're a peeping Tom."
The words had no sooner left his mouth than the back door opened slightly and Glory slipped in. Adam's brows rose, then rose even higher when Abner slipped in too. He burst out laughing at their sheepish expressions.
"Good God, I'm living with a trio of perverted people!" he joked and his friends finally relaxed. "All right, the show is over so why don't you go and try to find something constructive to do while I finish this," he continued and the three glanced at each other before slowly moving toward the door.
"And if any of you get any ideas don't hesitate to sing out!" he called after them and had to burst out laughing again when the three linked arms and started to sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," as they marched out the door.
He was still laughing as he turned back to his task, and then softly said, "If you think saying 'no' is going to make me go away you have another think coming lady." Then his eyes narrowed as he automatically continued his task, already sorting through several ideas in the back of his mind. He did not intend on ever giving up.
BEGINNINGS
Chapter 15
A few days later Adam accompanied Nate down to the club to meet the owner, Pat Herrity and was hired on the spot. The owner was extremely pleased with his new employee, but was also aware he would be moving on to bigger and better things eventually. But in the meantime was glad to have someone besides Nate he could trust. The two men worked from four in the afternoon until one in the morning when the club shut down, six days a week.
Their friendship deepened as the weeks passed and Pat found himself thinking about the contrast between the two men one rainy afternoon as he sat in his office, putting off working on the books. Nate was wiry and blonde, while Adam was dark and muscular. One was naturally good humored while the other rather brooding and reserved. They seemed to have absolutely nothing in common, but got along famously.
He was shaking his head and eyeing the ledgers with distaste when someone knocked on his office door. Smiling, he called out, "Come in," knowing who was knocking. The door opened and his smile widened when Adam stepped in, and grinned in response at the white-haired man sitting behind the huge desk.
Pat's almost black eyes swept over the younger man from the feet up, and he wondered again where his family was and if his father was still alive. He sighed, sure that Adam's family must be heartbroken from their loss.
You're thinking too much again, Pat," he heard Adam say as he came into the room to drop into a deep, low-backed chair in front of the desk. His employer laughed.
"Don't tell me, you two have finished the inventory already?"
Adam chuckled as he nodded, and then answered the question he knew Pat would ask. "Nate and I put our heads together and came up with a better system so it took a lot less time."
Pat laughed again while mentally shaking his head, knowing that Adam was mostly responsible, but insisted on sharing the credit with his friend. His gaze fell to the desktop where the despised account books lay when a glimmer of an idea sparked and began to grow.
Remaining silent, Adam watched the older man carefully, wondering what was weighing so heavily on his mind. And his brows rose when Pat suddenly looked up to pin him with a narrow-eyed, intense stare.
"What do you know about business?" he said abruptly and the younger man blinked in surprise.
"As far as I can tell, not much," Adam answered.
"Good! That will make things easier," Pat said cryptically and fell silent and just stared for a while. "How would you like to learn?"
Adam straightened in his chair and returned his employer's intense stare. "I would like that very much."
"Good!" Pat said again, and then leaned back to look at the ceiling. "Did I ever tell you this club was my first business?"
"No. I thought this was your only business."
Pat chuckled. "Oh no, I currently have dozens of irons in the fire. And it's getting too big for one person to handle," he grinned. "And that's where you come in."
"Me?"
"Yes, you. I need someone trustworthy to help manage my holdings and I would like that person to be you."
Relaxing back in his chair, he gave the older man a half smile. "Tell me more."
The white-haired man stood and moved around the desk to half sit on the edge in front of Adam before he continued.
"First, have you ever heard the term, 'silent partner'..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~
Adam's days were now extremely full. He spent his mornings three days a week traveling all over the city, checking on Pat's interests in various businesses. The other two mornings were spent keeping the books, something he now knew he had done before.
He still worked at the club with Nate and Thea began to worry that Adam was spreading himself too thin. And then she started wondering where he disappeared to every Sunday afternoon. When she asked him about it, he just patted her on the head; something he knew always sparked her temper, and told her not to worry. She ground her teeth and stubbornly didn't bring that subject up again, although she was dying to know what he was up to.
This particular Sunday afternoon she had been even more irritable than usual and was snapping at everyone. Nate, Glory, and Abner seemed to have had enough.
Thea was standing at the sink in the kitchen looking out the window when the three trooped in. She turned around to meet their disgruntled expressions and felt a pang of guilt for treating them so badly. When she opened her mouth to apologize, Nate cut her off.
"We're going out for a while and I think you know why," he said grimly and Thea flushed red and ducked her head. "And you would be doing us a HUGE favor by going out to the barn while we're gone," he finished cryptically, and she just stood there with her mouth open as they all turned and filed out the front door.
"The barn?" she said to herself, completely baffled, and then jumped when the front door loudly slammed shut. She turned back around, trying to figure out what Nate had been talking about when she made an impatient sound in the back of her throat and hurried out the back door.
She quickly followed the brick path and soon had the barn in sight. But she abruptly stopped for a moment when she heard a deep, silky voice singing and the sound of metal ringing on metal. And the sound was not coming from the barn. Her eyes opened wide when she realized that was Adam's voice she was hearing and she slowly moved toward it. When she was near the door of the square, redbrick building she slowed down and silently crept over to peek in. Her mouth dropped open and she had to stifle a gasp.
Adam had his bare back to her and she could see the heavy sheen of sweat glistening on the hard planes of his long, strong back and shoulders. He stood in the nimbus of the red firelight from the forge and had a thick, long iron bar in one hand and she watched fascinated as he thrust one end of it into the red-hot coals.
He kept turning the iron bar and took a small step back and turned slightly sideways. After swiping one sweaty forearm across his forehead, he rested that hand on his hip as he stretched, leaning back as far as he could, then straightened up to twist from side to side as he rolled his head. Thea's mouth went dry and she almost forgot to breathe when he turned around and stepped up to the anvil.
Carefully placing the white-hot end of the iron bar on the anvil face, he reached down to pluck a hot set hammer from its peg at the base of the anvil. He straightened up and turned until she was seeing him in profile. A few drops of sweat fell from his forehead and sizzled on the hot metal as he began to slam the hammer down in a steady rhythm. She took a tiny step closer.
He began to sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," and the sound seemed to reach out and take her by the heart, slowly drawing her into the room. She was still just inside the door when he stopped hammering, but kept singing softly as he straightened up to plunge the still hot metal into the large wooden bucket next to the anvil.
A huge cloud of steam enveloped him and he stopped singing as he held the rod with one end in the bucket and the huge hammer dangled from his other hand. He sighed and the steam swirled around his head as he rolled his shoulders, his dark skin sliding easily over the bunching muscles of his arms and chest. Thea moved a little closer, then nearly jumped out of her skin when he spoke.
"So you finally caught me," he said quietly as he carefully set the hammer down on the face of the anvil and pulled the still hot end of the iron bar from the bucket. He stepped up to the forge and thrust that end of the bar into the red-hot coals again.
"What are you doing?" she asked and winced at the stupid question.
Adam laughed softly and turned toward her, but didn't answer. Her eyes fastened on the sweat-dampened curls that thickly covered his chest, almost obscuring the mass of now white scars. She ran her eyes up his torso, strong neck, and closely clipped black beard to meet his hooded, dark eyes. He smiled his half smile and watched her while still turning the iron bar, his long fingered hand opening and closing, the muscles in that arm flexing.
She couldn't look away and when her eyelids closed halfway and her pink tongue poked out to lick her full lips he abruptly pulled the bar from the coals and set it to the side. The next thing she knew she was in his arms, her hands sliding up his sweat-slicked back, and her fingers twined in the damp curls at the nape of his neck.
Breathing deeply, she took in the male-musky smell of his sweat and her knees began to shake. He pressed against the small of her back with one hand while the other pressed against the back of her head as he took her mouth in a demanding kiss. She gasped and surprised him by trying to press closer. He would have smiled if he could.
The tip of his tongue gently traced the line where her lips met and she responded instantly by opening her mouth. But he held himself back and only tangled his fingers in her hair to tip her head to the side. His burning lips caressed hers and she was gasping for breath when he trailed kisses along her jaw line until his firm lips grazed her ear.
"Dear God Thea," he breathed, "marry me."
She wrenched her self back out of his arms and nearly fell down. He reached out to help her and she held one hand up to ward him off while the other covered her mouth. Her eyes welled up with tears.
"I'm sorry...I can't," she choked out and took off running as though her life depended on it.
Adam stood there for a moment staring at the door she had disappeared through and then sighed as he turned back toward the forge. He had just pushed the end of the bar back into the coals when he heard the back door to the smithy open. Nate slipped in.
"Did it work?" he asked and the other man shook his head.
"No."
"I didn't think so. Damn, I thought you had her there for a minute!"
"I did too," Adam said ruefully and Nate couldn't help but laugh.
"Well, I told you this would happen, but don't worry. You'll wear her down."
"I don't know; she can be even more stubborn than I am. And now I have to think of another tactic."
"Another one?"
"Yes, you don't really think she'll fall for this again, do you?"
"No, I guess not...but I'm sure you'll think of something."
"I will, and by the way, just how long were you watching us?"
Nate turned slightly red. "Uh...not long?" he offered and Adam shook his head at his friend's embarrassed expression.
"You know, there's a name for people like you. And it's not a very flattering one." He chuckled saying, "Just wait until I tell Glory you're a peeping Tom."
The words had no sooner left his mouth than the back door opened slightly and Glory slipped in. Adam's brows rose, then rose even higher when Abner slipped in too. He burst out laughing at their sheepish expressions.
"Good God, I'm living with a trio of perverted people!" he joked and his friends finally relaxed. "All right, the show is over so why don't you go and try to find something constructive to do while I finish this," he continued and the three glanced at each other before slowly moving toward the door.
"And if any of you get any ideas don't hesitate to sing out!" he called after them and had to burst out laughing again when the three linked arms and started to sing "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," as they marched out the door.
He was still laughing as he turned back to his task, and then softly said, "If you think saying 'no' is going to make me go away you have another think coming lady." Then his eyes narrowed as he automatically continued his task, already sorting through several ideas in the back of his mind. He did not intend on ever giving up.