Chapter Seven: More Feelings Revealed

         Nervously wondering what her father’s reaction would be, Ellen knocked on his office door.

         “Come in.”

         Ellen took a deep breath, and opened the door. ”Ready for lunch, dad?” She tried to sound cheerful rather than nervous, not knowing if she succeeded.

         “You bet, honey,” the elder Martin said as he got up from his desk. As soon as he looked at his daughter, he stopped in his tracks. “Ellen, you’ve never looked lovelier than you do right now. Sit down a minute, honey. I need to ask you something,” he said as he seated himself in one of his own visitors’ chairs, motioning her to sit in the other, which faced him.

         “Thank you, Jeff!” Ellen silently shouted, grateful for his presence getting her out of hiding, and for his masterful decision making about her body. ”Um… what is it, dad?”

         “Ellen, I’ve always been proud of your work here. But I’ve always felt you were never quite being yourself. Those business suits looked great, and I have no right to tell you how to dress for work, unless of course you come in wearing jeans and a T-shirt, or something too ‘revealing’, he laughed. I know you’d never do either of those. But those suits always made you look like you were ‘all business’. That’s fine for the firm, but I’ve felt all along that you were stifling yourself as a person, and as a woman. Obviously something’s happened to change that. Would you be willing to tell me what it is that’s changed you so wonderfully so fast?” he smiled. “You don’t have to, you know.”

         Ellen knew she was going to blush, but she was also feeling very proud to answer that one. She swallowed hard, looked her dad right in the eye, and said one word. “Jeff.” She immediately felt the heat of her own face as it turned bright red. She shyly smiled, but forced herself not to look away.

         “Ah-hah,” the elder Martin said, nodding and smiling knowingly. “I could’ve figured that one out if I’d thought about it. Looks like I have two reasons to thank that boy,” he finished.

         “Two, dad?”

         “Yes. He’s doing excellent work, as you already know yourself, and now,” he paused as a warm smile crossed his face, “he’s given me my daughter back. You’re still a partner in the firm, but you’re yourself again, and that’s far more important. Yes. I have a very special reason to thank that boy. Um… have you two… gone out together yet?” he grinned.

         “Yes, dad, we have,” Ellen said, blushing at the thought. “And that’s not all we’ve done, dad,” she thought silently, still grinning. Aloud, she continued. “But please don’t tell anyone. Jeff and I don’t want the usual office grapevine having any reason to question our relationship, thinking of it as anything but professional. Please.”

         “You have my word, honey. I can fully appreciate that. No one hears it from me. You two are on your own. As it should be anyway.” He stood up. “Shall we get that lunch?”

         Ellen got up from her chair, and hugged her father. “Thanks, dad. I love you.” She kissed his cheek.

         “For what?” he asked, smiling. I haven’t done anything. Jeff’s the one you should thank.”

         “I… already did, dad. I broke down and confessed everything to him this morning about what he’s done for me.” She stopped a moment, wondering about his reaction.

         “And? What was his reaction? Are you two still going to see each other?”

         She could tell his interest was curiosity and not fear of a new problem. “Yes, dad, we are,” she said, relaxing as a warm smile crossed her face as she thought once again of the man she’d put in charge of her body.

         “Good,” the elder Martin said. “Let’s get that lunch. By the way, honey, Bob Portman is joining us to talk about our designing an expansion for their building on Prebble Drive.”

         “That could be a great bit of income for us, dad.”

         “Very true, honey, very true,” he said as he closed his office door behind them.



         As Jeff ate his lunch at a restaurant near the office, he decided that for his check of Ellen to be ideal, it had to be unscheduled. He had to just knock on her door unannounced.

         As he arrived back at the office about 1:15, he saw the Martins down the hallway ahead of him walking toward the office door accompanied by a gentleman Jeff took to be a client. He appeared to be about 6’2” tall, and Jeff knew he hadn’t yet met the man.

         As they entered the office, the door was about to close behind the others when Jeff rushed up to catch it, and followed them in at a distance. When they reached Frank's office, they stopped a moment. Jeff watched as the guy took Ellen’s hand in his, put it to his lips and kissed it. Ellen turned so red that Jeff could see the color in her face, even at this distance. Jeff noticed, too, that he didn’t like the feeling he now had in the pit of his stomach. “Am I feeling jealous of this guy kissing Ellen’s hand?” Jeff felt relieved as Mr. Martin and the guy went into his office and Ellen continued down the hall to hers. “Am I falling in love with Ellen?” Jeff quizzed himself. “Let’s be objective here, boy!” he cautioned. “He could also be a family friend,” Jeff thought silently. “Is there any other reason that could explain the way I feel? I like being in charge of her body. Could this be that I don’t want to lose that, and nothing more? I know I’m used to it already, but… just how far does that go? She has a right to her own life, you know,” he reminded himself as he reached his office. “Besides - you’re trying to push her into getting her independence back, aren’t you?” He decided he’d better go check Ellen and see if she dropped any hints about this guy before it drove him crazy. “The need to check her is a good excuse. She knows I’ll be coming to do that,” he said as he headed back down the hall. He knocked on her door.

         “Come in.”

         “Hi, Ellen, it’s me,” he announced. He wanted to make sure she was alone before saying any more. He closed her door. “Stand up. Walk across the room, one side to the other and back, then over to me,” Jeff said firmly, yet with a grin on his face.

         “Yes, boss,” Ellen teased as she got up from her desk and began the requested walk. “I know, you’re checking to see if they bounce a little, aren’t you?” she laughed as she stepped up to him. “Well, boss, do I pass your test?” she asked, grinning back at him.

         Jeff wanted desperately to take her breasts in his hands, but he followed a sudden urge, taking her right hand in his and kissing it as the other gentleman had done. “Yes, Ellen, you definitely do pass.” He smiled as he released her hand.

         “You saw Bob do that, didn’t you?” she asked, curious.

         “Yes, I did, Ellen.” Jeff knew his fear showed, and he couldn’t help it. Even though he wasn’t sure himself why it was there, he still couldn’t help himself. “Who’s Bob?”

         Ellen picked up on his jealousy, and smiled inside. She didn’t say anything right away; she just reveled in the fact that Jeff was jealous. That meant she had a chance with him. And she needed, and wanted, that chance. “Bob is Bob Portman. VP of First Savings and Loan. We’re going to be designing an expansion wing for them.” She decided to test the depth of Jeff’s jealousy while she had the chance. “You’re going to be helping me with that, so you might as well meet him,” she said as she headed to the door. “Come with me, Jeff, please.”

         He saw the smile on her face, but still wondered at the businesslike tone in her voice as they reached her dad’s office. She knocked, making a point of taking Jeff’s hand in hers as they waited.

         “Come in.”

         “Dad, I hope we’re not interrupting,” she said as she and Jeff entered.

         “Not at all, dear. Bob and I were just reminiscing a little.”

         “I just thought it would be a good time for Jeff to meet Bob. Bob, this is Jeff Ambrose, my new assistant. He’ll be working with me on your expansion. Jeff, Bob Portman of First Savings.” Only when she finished that introduction did she release Jeff’s hand.

         “Nice to meet you, Jeff.”

         “Same here, Mr. Portman.”

         “Please, call me Bob,” he said, smiling as Ellen again took Jeff’s hand. Jeff looked at her, and she squeezed his hand. “And don’t worry, dear,” he said, turning to Ellen. “I see you holding his hand. Your secret is safe with me. And you, Jeff, you needn’t worry about competition for Ellen from me.”

         Ellen had been watching Jeff’s face out of the corner of her eye. She saw him visibly relax. She liked knowing she had that much of a chance to win him over.

         “She’s my cousin,” Bob finished.

         Jeff’s relief then was even obvious to Bob and Frank. And Ellen’s grin got even wider. Now she knew she had a chance with Jeff. Without a doubt. And she was reveling in the idea once again.

         “Thanks for telling me,” Jeff said. “Yeah, I was… nervous about it, I must admit.”

         Ellen squeezed his hand and then held it in both of hers. “Nothing to fear, Jeff,” she said warmly, not caring about being overheard. “You haven’t lost me.” She squeezed his hand in both of hers again that then released it.

         “Well,” said Bob, “I’ve got to get moving. I have to tell the boss it’s all set. He wants a report by this afternoon.” He turned to the elder Martin. “Frank, it’s great doing business with you again,” he said as they shook hands.

         Turning to Ellen and Jeff, he said, “Ellen, dear, it’s great to see you again.” He kissed her cheek. “Since your hand is ‘otherwise occupied’,” he smiled. “Jeff, nice to meet you,” he said, extending his hand. “Seeing as how your left hand is the one that’s tied up at the moment, we at least can do this right,” he smiled.

         “Right. Nice to meet you, too, Bob.”

         “And good luck to you both,” Bob said as he left, closing the door behind him.

         “Jeff, I… hope you didn’t feel embarrassed with what I did,” Ellen said quickly. “It’s just that… well, for a long time, Bob was trying to set up a date for me with one of his friends. And, well, I know I couldn’t handle a blind date, and… with the way I look now, thanks to you, I knew I didn’t want to give him a chance to bring that up again. I’m sorry if I embarrassed you. And… you don’t have to be worried about the fact that I said this in front of dad. He knows we’re seeing each other. I told him this morning and he’s promised to keep his mouth shut,” she said as she smiled at her father.

         “Don’t worry, Jeff. Like Bob said, ‘your secret is safe with me’. And like I told Ellen this morning, you two are on your own. That’s as it should be.”

         “Thanks, Frank. And no, Ellen, I wasn’t embarrassed. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it.” He smiled, and so did Frank.

         Ellen did, too. Widely. She couldn’t help herself.

         “Um, Ellen?’

         “Yes, dad?”

         “From now on, I’ll call you on the phone before I… come down to your office. I… wouldn’t want to… interrupt any… meetings you two might have planned.” He watched, smiling, as Ellen blushed harder than he’d ever seen her.

         “Dad, please!” she laughed, trying in vain to hide her face.

         When she’d recovered, her dad finished his thought. “Especially the ones having nothing to do with office work.”

         “Dad, you can be so terrible!” she laughed, blushing again. She just realized she was still holding Jeff’s hand, and that he hadn’t minded. “C’mon, Jeff, let’s get back to work,” Ellen said, laughing as she held up her and Jeff’s entwined hands in the air, as if to prove her dad’s comment. “If we wait any longer, he’ll have us married before we get out the door,” she laughed out loud as she pulled Jeff in that direction. “I sure wouldn’t mind it if he did that, though,” she thought wonderfully to herself.

         As they left, Frank just quietly smiled. That last outburst of hers told him for certain. He finally had his daughter back. And maybe, just maybe, a son-in-law, too.”

*** TO BE CONTINUED ***