Catering Girl Ch. 03

On my way back home, I decided to alter my normal route and come down a different street. It was just a couple of blocks before where I normally turned. Coming up on a familiar apartment building, I glanced to my right and saw Madison sitting by the window, probably eating her breakfast. I waved and got a wave back. I just might have to keep this schedule in the mornings, just to see my little buddy and maybe her mom from time to time. Maybe those two could be my motivation to try the marathon again.

Jenn had suggested that we have lunch together on my first day, but my Uncles Ruben and Silas wanted to take me out.

"Whitney, so what's the deal with you and our new receptionist?" Ruben asked coyly.

"Doesn't the employee handbook I was handed this morning say that I have a right to my personal life?" I retorted.

My uncles laughed at me. "Didn't you see the exemption in there that all bets are off if you're part of the Whitney clan?"

"Besides," Silas joined in, "you were barely with the family on Christmas Eve, and ditched us on New Year's. The whole family was talking about you."

"Well, hopefully my mother had nice things to say. She was a little harsh on Jennifer at Christmas. And she was just meeting her to boot. At one point I was afraid Jenn was going to take off running."

"Your mother didn't like Kathleen or Helen either when she first met them. She didn't think they were good enough for her brothers. She'll come around. We both have made excuses to head over to Maritime, in reality, just to meet Jennifer," Silas said. "We both like her."

"I think your mom does like Jennifer. She only spoke highly of her to us, and couldn't stop talking about Madison," Ruben chimed in.

"Well, she could have been a bit nicer to her in person."

Silas stared me in the eyes, his gaze was rather intense. "Whitney, you do understand what your mother is concerned with, right?"

"Yeah, she wants grandbabies. She can wait."

"Well, she does want that, but first and foremost, she is trying to look out for you. You know, there are some crazy people out there, and I think your mom is trying to make sure you're not some girl's meal ticket."

"From what your dad was saying, that doesn't seem to be the case."

"That's crazy. She's not that way at all."

"Your dad can see it. I think your mom does too. I'm just trying to help you understand what they are thinking. Okay?"

"Fine, I get what you're saying. Don't worry. Jenn's not interested in me for my money."

My phone rang after what I figured was Madison's bedtime.

"How was your first day?" she asked

"Good. Sorry, I couldn't see you today. Just got a lot to figure out. I spent most of the day pouring over spreadsheets with Ruben. I didn't leave the office until seven. My brain is jelly right now." The gears were turning in my head, trying to decide if I should let her know about the conversation I had with my uncles. Maybe better if we talked about that in person.

"I bet."

"Glad I went for a run before work today. Don't think I would have had the emotional energy to get out there tonight."

"Do you run most days? I don't think I have ever seen you get out there before. Although Madi thought it was great to see you and that you waved."

"I did until I met this girl a few weeks ago. I'm trying to get back into the groove. I've done a couple of half marathons in the last few years, and I want to see if I can do a whole. I tried last year and didn't make it. Dropped out at the two-thirds point. Promised myself I would train more this year for it and try again."

"Well, maybe I can motivate you. Just think about this. After a long run, just imagine my hands giving you an all over massage."

"All over?"

"All over, Every. Last. Spot." Jenn's voice was low and husky.

"I could use one now, I went for a run this morning."

"Sorry, girl, someone just fell asleep. And my bed is not big enough for the two of us. And if I give you one of those, you're not leaving for the night."

"Boo. Well, sometime soon?"

"Sometime soon, I promise."

To be continued...

Author's note: Thank you for sticking around to the end of this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. If so, please consider providing some feedback. Votes, comments, or PMs are all welcome. I have more chapters of this story in the works, so follow me to be notified when the next part is published.

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Much of Catering Girl was written while listening to the music playlists that my friend BrokenSpokes has put together. If you're not listening to them, what's wrong with you? Go check them out. She has links to them on her profile page.