The Mentor Read Online Free PDF Page B

worked in silence. Since he was headed home, he should at least say good-bye, maybe ask what she was still doing in the office. Anybody else would have, but Eric wasn’t sure how to behave with her. For the moment he settled for watching her undisturbed, unknown to anyone, even her. That didn’t happen often, and he didn’t want to deprive himself of this dubious pleasure, even though he could feel there was something inherently wrong in doing so. Maybe he should just slip away silently, hoping she didn’t realize he’d ever been there.
    “Good evening, boss,” she said. Her busy, matter-of-fact tone made him wince just a little. How long had she known he was standing there? “What are you doing here? Working late again today?” The way she said this made it sound like nothing more than the usual courteous workplace convo. But hearing Adele speak directly to him gave Eric a vague sense of excitation, mixed with a subtle feeling of panic.
    It was as if he’d gone back to being a teenager, getting all excited when the most beautiful girl in school happened to wave to him by chance. He was her boss, for crying out loud!
    “Yeah,” was all he managed to say. “What are you up to?” That was right, he was the boss. “You should be at home. Your shift ended hours ago.” He almost bit his own tongue. He never meant to let her know that he kept track of which shifts she was covering. Who knows what she might think?
    “Jane had important plans tonight, so I offered to finish cataloguing this stuff for her. It wasn’t like I had anything more important to do.”
    The indifference in her voice seemed to confirm his observation, but Eric still wasn’t convinced. One thing was for sure: a girl like her would have a million things to do during the weekend, but giving your superior a helping hand never hurt. It might even wind up being useful.
    When it came to work ethic, Jane had an excellent opinion of Adele, but she didn’t feel the same way about her on a personal level. Jane considered the younger woman to be something of a robot, someone who was disinterested in being friends with her colleagues and even considered herself superior to them. A nice gesture from Adele like this might improve Jane’s opinion of her. Even in a worst-case scenario, it would make Jane feel a little beholden to Adele. This favor might even convince Jane to give the younger woman a little benefit of the doubt and suspend her judgment awhile longer.
    In the meantime, Adele had taken off her lab coat and put on a purple leather jacket. Now she was searching for something in her purse, which seemed large enough to pass for luggage rather than a handbag. Clearly she was about to leave the building. Maybe he should wait for her, given that they were the last two left, but he couldn’t be sure the gesture would be welcomed.
    “Well . . . Have a good weekend,” said Eric. Adele seemed to ignore him, busy pulling a small foldable umbrella out of her purse. Against his will, Eric turned and started walking away.
    “Hold on, boss; wait for me!” she said. “I’m headed out too.”
    Eric was paralyzed as Adele emerged from the laboratory.
    She closed the door behind her and walked right past him, overtaking him. Then she turned back to her boss and gave him an inquisitive look.
    Realizing only then that she was waiting for him, Eric walked after her.
    Adele reached the atrium and pressed the button for the elevator. Eric waited beside her, scrupulously careful not to stand too close.
    She glanced at her cell phone for a moment, snorted, and then stuck it back in her jacket pocket. “Still no car,” she said, staring distractedly at the elevator doors opening in front of them. “That damned mechanic promised it would be ready this morning. Now it looks like they’re missing another piece, and it won’t be ready until next week.” She walked into the elevator, and Eric followed her. He had no idea what to say. “Tomorrow I’m going to