A few minutes after noon, Elena Street arrived under the Brent Building. She checked her watch. She looked left and right, and realized that her niece was nowhere in sight. Frowning, she waited several more minutes, and then stalked into the building.
"He's keeping her late at work again," she muttered under her breath, fuming, as she rode alone in the elevator. "If he thinks that he can take away her lunch hours as retribution for her resigning he has another thing coming to him!"
She entered the office and found the waiting room and Gertie's desk deserted. Without a second thought, she barged into the office which she had yesterday learned to be Della's; it, too, had no occupant.
Pausing for a moment, she heard a monotone voice coming from Perry Mason's private office.
"And furthermore, the Supreme Court in Magore versus Williams decided that-"
The door between it and Della's office was ajar, and without a second thought, she opened the door and walked in, ready to fight tooth and nail for her niece.
A most surprising sight met her eyes. On the couch sat her niece and her employer. The latter was dictating, as she had expected. But what shocked her was that his right arm was wrapped around Della's shoulders. Della was taking shorthand as efficiently as any secretary, but she had the happiest, sweetest smile gracing her lips as she scribbled away.
At the sound of her footsteps, Perry stopped dictating, and both he and Della looked in the direction of the door.
"Aunt Elena! I forgot about our lunch," Della exclaimed.
"Clearly," the elder Miss Street said, her eyes shifting from her niece to the lawyer and back again.
"You must not blame Mr. Mason for keeping me late, it is my fault entirely. You see, I have not been writing and typing as quickly as I usually do. The new engagement ring on my finger has made it slightly more difficult to move my hand across the paper or the keys." She held out her hand so that her aunt could see the sparkling gems adorning it. "I must say, Aunt Elena, that your fears about me squandering my youth and beauty by working in this office were completely unfounded."
Elena Street exclaimed with joy. Della threw down her pad and pencil and ran to embrace her. Perry stood up after a moment, and made his way over to the two women.
Once her niece released her, Elena Street met his eyes apologetically.
"I know I have not been very polite to you. I am sorry. I had not the slightest idea that you had any interest in Della besides a professional one."
"Please think no more of it. I am obliged to you. If you had not convinced her to resign, I would still be wasting time by treating her merely as my secretary. You have hastened our happiness."
He held out his hand, and beaming, his future aunt-in-law shook it.
THE END
