“Timothy, I have work to do, and this is ridiculous. No one is going to bother . . .”
He placed a finger over my mouth. “Trust me, please.”
I sighed. “Okay about the day off, if Mr. Sanders agrees, but . . .”
“Penelope, Andrew has the limo and is waiting for us. Pack a bag of essentials, and let’s get out of here. It would be better to beat the rush.”
I thought the whole situation was laughable. The worry that newsmen would attack for a story was about equal to flying saucers landing in the middle of the city. But, I scrambled to toss in a few necessaries, grabbed another set of clothing and dashed into the shower. I don’t think Timothy expected me to take the time to do that, but I was absolutely not going to go with him in an old tee and sweat pants coated in sweat drippings.
When I came out, duffle bag packed and my hair clean but wet, I found him pacing back and forth like the zoo tiger we’d seen. Timothy growled out something that was in the mumble range, then herded me to the door. I stopped, checked that all the lights were out, then locked up.
We took the elevator downstairs, then climbed into the limo. Just as Andrew was pulling out of the parkway, a local news station van pulled up. I figured it had nothing to do with me, but as I looked back, I saw another one.
“Is there a total lack of world news? How is this possible? Why would anyone think I’d be worth a moment of their time?”
Andrew snorted, a half smothered chuckle. I glanced at him, but all I saw was the back of his head. Timothy reached forward and put up the window between the driver and us.
“You didn’t have to do that. I like Andrew.”
Timothy smiled. “Yeah, he’s a good guy, but I’d prefer that no one intrude on our conversation. I need to explain some things that I don’t think you quite understand.”
“Okay. But what did Mr. Sanders say about my playing hooky today?”
“He was fine with it, Penelope. He said to take today and next week off.”
“Wow. He’s not firing me, is he?”
“He won’t fire you, Penelope. Ed seems extraordinarily pleased with your work. He may even give you another raise. He mentioned moving you up into a higher position when I spoke to him a few days ago.”
“I don’t have seniority. He can’t do that.”