His Stand In Read Free

next person?” Patricia’s gray eyes scanned him.
    “ Actually, I’ve made my decision. Ms. Egypt James will start tomorrow. Please thank the other person for coming and give them one of those gift certificates left over from the Christmas party.”
    “ Mr. Bradley?” A quizzical eyebrow rose in his direction.
    “ You heard me. I expect you to teach her everything you know. If not, you and that baby will have a computer surgically attached to you.”
    Patricia smiled. “I’ll make sure you won’t know the difference between us.” She excused herself.
    “ I doubt that,” he mumbled under his breath. Patricia’s womanly curves never called out to him the way Egypt’s had when she walked in.
    *****
    Egypt dug through her clothes, many still had the dry cleaning label on them. All night long she replayed the interview over and over. Was that man nuts? Rich folks and their money. She’d take him up on the offer, heck with her own pay she’d be financially well off. If things didn’t work out she could just save that up and leave him.
    The black with pink trimmed suit or the cream? She opted for the cream. She’d be more subtle for the first day.
    Egypt slid on her blouse and pulled the pants over her lace underwear clad body. Man, her hair was in bad need of a stylist. She ran her fingers through her long tendrils and contemplated. No, French role today. She already had the job. With a few quick movements she pinned up once side and let the rest flow freely. Her reflection showed her it wasn’t a bad job for needing a good trimming.
    The chime on her phone sounded.
    Time to go make this money. She slid on her heels and made her way out. The stale smell of cigarettes and baby diapers smacked her in the face as she maneuvered down the hall. She definitely wouldn’t miss that place.
    Almost an hour later she pulled her Honda Accord into the garage and searched for a spot. This was a factor she didn’t anticipate. That time of the morning there were no up close parking spaces. She circled back around in hopes she missed a spot. The only ones available were the reserved spaces. Whose ass you have to kiss to get those?
    A silver signage plate caught her attention. In disbelief she read it out loud, “Egypt James.”
    How in the world and why did Mr. Bradley move so fast? Since when did assistants get reserved spacing? Time was ticking and she didn’t have the moments to think on it too long or she’d be late.
    Egypt rolled her car in between a Mercedes and an Aston Martin and parked. She made her exit and did a double take at the cars. They made her feel as if she’d just stepped out of a Pinto. She shrugged it off and continued towards the elevators. At least hers was all paid off.
    Today is a new day. She repeated on the ride up to their floor and up to the moment she strolled into the office. This time she allowed herself to glance into the cubicles as she walked down the hall.
    Customer service employees went about their duties oblivious to her passing by. From the looks on their faces they seemed happy enough. At least she didn’t need to worry about working for an ogre, or married to one. The thought almost stopped her in her tracks. What in the world was she doing? She knew nothing of this man. The monthly stipend and million dollars at the end of the rainbow jolted her forward.
    She didn’t have a choice. Her money was way too low and even if she did find another job the pay wouldn’t come to three weeks or more. By then she’d be on the street.
    “ Ms. James,” Patricia beamed from her Cherry Oak desk as she stood. “Great to see you again. You’re right on time.”
    “ Good morning.”
    “ Mr. Bradley wants to speak with you first and then I need to take you down to human resources to fill out some paperwork.” She paused and placed a hand on her stomach. “The baby’s very active these days. I’m so grateful you’re here.”
    At the mention of Mr. Bradley Egypt’s legs turned to