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  room's dimness. He reached at once to turn on the table

  lamp when I entered, but not even his smile could convince

  me nothing was wrong.

  I didn't spil the coffee, but I did set it down so hard on the

  corner of his desk that I sloshed it over the rim. I went

  around the corner of the desk and knelt in front of him as

  he turned in the swivel chair to stare at me. I reached for

  his hands before I knew it, and he took them, his fingers

  strong and warm and heavy in mine.

  "What's wrong, Paul?"

  "I can't make these figures work," he said calmly. Solemn.

  His fingers tightened briefly, a twitch.

  I squeezed back, gently. "Do you need me to take a look

  I squeezed back, gently. "Do you need me to take a look

  at them?"

  "No," he said. "I just need to sit here for a few more minutes to get them straight. Okay?"

  Whatever this was, it wasn't normal, but it didn't feel

  wrong. He trembled briefly, the twitch of his fingers

  echoing in his entire body before he stiled. I saw the effort

  in his eyes, what it took to stop himself from shaking.

  I had known since the first week I worked for him that

  Paul needed more attention than any other boss I'd ever

  had. I'd been warned, but for the wrong reasons, and we'd

  gotten along more than fine. Great. We'd made an

  understanding. I didn't know what was wrong with him

  right now, but it didn't realy matter. I had to take care of

  him.

  "Do you want me to cal your wife?"

  He blinked and sighed. His shoulders hunched. "Paige, I'm

  just so very, very…overwhelmed."

  I looked past him to the computer, where a few windows

  spread out across the screen. I stood and reached past

  him to click them al closed, one by one, until al that

  him to click them al closed, one by one, until al that

  remained was the plain blue walpaper and tiny icons of his

  desktop. Paul didn't move until I moved back to lean

  against the desk. Then he swiveled his chair away from

  me.

  In profile, he looked older than he had before. He was a

  man who wore his age in the lines of his face and his

  frown, and in his heavy sigh.

  "I just need a few minutes," he said quietly.

  "How long has this been going on?"

  He looked at me then and managed a smile. "A long time.

  My whole life."

  "Do you take meds for it?" I kept my voice soft, and if the intrusive question offended him he didn't show it.

  "Yes."

  "Aren't they working?"

  Paul sighed, but smiled a little broader. "Not today, I

  guess."

  "Can I help you?" I asked without reaching for him again,

  though I wanted to run a hand over his hair and cup his

  cheek. Something smal and soft to comfort him. The way

  my mom used to touch me when I was upset.

  "You've helped me so much, you don't even know." Paul

  took a deep, long breath and squared his shoulders. "Just

  having you here has been such a…pleasure, Paige."

  I smiled at his hesitation. "Uh-huh."

  He rumpled his hair, and some of his tension eased with

  that simple act. He took another slow breath and let it out.

  He looked at me with naked eyes. "I find, sometimes,

  knowing that you're there with my coffee is enough to

  keep me on the right track. You never balked, Paige. Not

  at anything I asked you. You never made me feel like a

  tyrant for needing things a certain way."

  "Of course not."

  He half lifted a brow. "Others did."

  "I know they did."

  We shared some silence.

  We shared some silence.

  "You realy know me, Paige," Paul said finaly. "I'l be sorry when you leave."

  This time I did reach for him, if only to give his tie a gentle

  tug. "I'm not going anywhere."

  The cough interrupted us, and we both looked toward the

  door. I didn't drop his tie, not at first. Not when I saw it

  was Vivian, her blond hair freshly styled and her brows as

  high as her heels. I let Paul's tie slide from my fingers as

  slowly as I stood.

  "I brought those files to go over, Paul." She didn't come

  into the room.

  "I thought you were going to cal me first," he said.

  She and I both looked at him. I couldn't see her face, but I

  knew my mouth had dropped a little. Paul, as a rule,

  wasn't mean. Not even close. And he'd pretty much just

  spanked her, and not in the good way. I wanted to laugh,

  but settled for a smile he returned.

  "I can come back in fifteen minutes," she said cooly.

  "Would that suit?"

  "Would that suit?"

  "How about twenty? Paige and I were in the middle of a

  meeting."

  She left without saying anything, and his shoulders tensed

  again, but he took another long, slow breath. When she'd

  gone he ran a hand over his hair again and let it cover his

  eyes for a minute. When he looked at me, though, his smile

  seemed genuine and the horrific blank look in his gaze had

  faded.

  "She's going to think we're fucking," I said in a low voice.

  It was perhaps an inappropriate thing to say, but we'd

  moved beyond the pretense of formality.

  He nodded. "She might."

  "Is this going to be a problem for you?"

  Paul didn't even look at the photos of his wife and family,

  though his mouth tightened. I wondered if I'd been wrong

  about him and Vivian. "It might be a problem for her. But

  not me, no."

  He paused. "It could make a difference when she's your

  He paused. "It could make a difference when she's your

  boss, though."

  "I already told you, I'm not applying for that job."

  I went to the bathroom to get a wet paper towel to take

  care of the coffee dripping on the desk. When I came

  back, Paul had moved the mug, contents half gone. He'd

  puled out a pad of paper and his pen rested on it, though

  he wasn't writing. I wiped the spots and tossed the paper

  in the trash, then leaned over his shoulder to look at the list

  as yet unwritten.

  "Start with your e-mail," I said. He wrote it down. "Then sort through the mail in your in-box. Take care of what

  needs done with those things."

  He wrote that down, too, and the rest of the instructions I

  gave him.

  "Send me home early," I added, and he looked up, the

  scratching of pen ceasing. "I have to be able to pick up my

  little brother from the after-school-care program every day

  this week. I'l need to leave by three, al right? I'l go

  without a lunch break and come in earlier if I have to."

  Paul slowly wrote down, Paige leaving early, and looked

  Paul slowly wrote down, Paige leaving early, and looked

  up at me again. "No, you don't have to. Just make sure

  your work's done." Another pause. "As if I need to tel

  you."

  I leaned closer, just a bit, to say in a low voice, "Write it

  down in a list for me. It wil make you feel better."

  I left the office with Paul's chuckle ringing in my ears.

  Chapter