And slowly, incrementally, the iron lady began to thaw in his presence. It started with simple acknowledgements. A nod when he arrived to fix something. A quiet thank you when he left. Then actual words beyond professional courtesy.
"You're here early," she said one morning when he arrived to replace a faulty smoke detector before her first meeting. "Wanted to finish before your 8:30," Marcus replied, keeping his tone neutral. "Amanda mentioned you have investors. You read the briefings. It wasn't a question, but he heard approval underneath.
Helps me plan my work around your schedule. Elena had been reviewing something on her tablet, but she looked up at that. Studied him with those dark eyes that still made his pulse quicken. Most people on my staff do the minimum required, nothing more. She tilted her head.
Why don't you? The question caught him off guard. Marcus secured the new smoke detector before answering, giving himself time to choose his words. "I have a daughter," he said finally. "She deserves better than minimum effort.
This job, what you did for me, giving me this position, it changed our lives seemed like the least I could do was earn it." Something flickered across Elena's face. Too quick to identify. Your daughter, she's six. Yes, ma'am.
Lily. The name felt intimate somehow, personal in a way that made him hesitate. But Elena was watching him expectantly. She's in first grade, loves art, hates math homework, wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. Just the two of you, just us.
Marcus concentrated on testing the smoke detector, not meeting her eyes. Her mother left before she was born. It's been me and Lily against the world ever since. Elena was quiet for a moment. That must be difficult.
It's everything. The words came out more raw than he intended. He glanced at her, found her expression unreadable. "What about you?" he asked before he could stop himself. Is there?
He stopped realizing too late he was crossing a line. But Elena smiled, a small sad curve of her lips that transformed her face for just a second. No one, she said. Building an empire doesn't leave much time for personal entanglements, and most people want something from me. Power connections, proximity to success.
Her voice dropped. It becomes difficult to know what's real. The honesty startled him. This was vulnerability genuine and offered freely. And Marcus didn't know what to do with it.
I can't imagine what that's like, he said quietly, never being able to trust people's intentions. Can't you? Elena's eyes held his. You trusted your daughter's mother. She left.
Now you raise Lily alone, working yourself to exhaustion to provide for her. I'd imagine trust is complicated for you, too. She was right. The recognition settled between them, an understanding neither of them had expected to find here in her office at 7:15 in the morning while he stood on a ladder testing a smoke detector. I should finish this.