Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

M olly felt her face heat the next morning as she left for work. She'd already lost several minutes recreating last night in flashes each time she passed the wooden door. Faust was right. She'd never look at that door again without feeling him inside her. Simply touching it boosted the memories even more. Swallowing hard to control her desire, she walked through the door and locked it. Molly tried to act normal as she walked down the stairs and to her car. Thank goodness for the cool morning air!

There was something under her windshield wiper. Molly stopped and plucked the sucker out. It was blue and looked homemade. She knew Faust hadn't made lollipops, but she didn't doubt that Bear or Gabriel would make them for the Littles. Faust must have left one for her.

Not willing to lose the minty clean feeling of her freshly brushed teeth, Molly decided to save the treat for later. She tucked it in her purse and slid into the driver's seat. There wasn't a lot of traffic in her apartment complex at that time, so she was surprised when a car appeared behind her.

Alerted by something that made her keep track of him, Molly noticed he turned where she did. On a whim, she stopped and ran through a drive-thru for fancy coffee. When she came out of the shop's parking lot, the same car pulled in behind her.

Molly drove slowly to the church, willing the man to join the cars whipping around her. He didn't. When she turned into the church's driveway, the car hesitated then continued straight.

Heaving a sigh of relief, Molly grabbed her things and dashed into the church. She instantly felt protected. Who would invade a church to do bad things?

The two ministers were already in their offices when she walked in. Lester hollered for coffee while Steve called, "Good morning."

"Good morning, gentlemen. I'll get coffee on right now," she promised.

As the coffee brewed, she checked the messages on the phone. Several she could take care of herself. Others required personal attention by the ministers. Molly grabbed a cup of coffee for each man and delivered them.

"I'm noting your late arrivals on my calendar," Lester informed her before taking a sip of the hot beverage she'd just handed him. He picked up a red marker and drew a large star on the day's date on his desk calendar.

"Actually my work day is supposed to start at nine. It's eight forty-five now. I arrived almost thirty minutes before I was supposed to be here," Molly answered, forcing herself to be assertive.

"Arguing with your boss is not a good idea, Molly."

She watched him draw an X over the star with a black pen. "I'm not arguing, Lester. I'm simply pointing out that I'm still early for my job requirements."

"I'm going to consider this level two of arguing." He circled the symbol on his calendar. "Don't reach the third."

Clamping her lips shut, Molly walked back to her desk. She was almost shaking with the combined tension of being followed to work and Lester's management style. That would be the last cup of coffee she poured him.

Glancing at the time, she saw she had ten minutes before she officially had to be at her desk working. Quickly, she pulled up her contract she'd filed on her phone electronically and printed it off. She tucked a dollar in the copy machine jar to pay for the paper when anyone made a personal copy. Returning to her desk, she placed it in a file to have ready.

No one would do this to Faust. She was too nice. Jerks like Lester enjoyed trampling all over people like her. No more.

Her temper cooled down as she worked. Molly enjoyed her job. She felt like her role was important and the congregation members were always pleasant to her.

At lunch time, she decided to go outside for lunch. She only had a few crackers left. Molly shook her head. She'd been so busy with Faust she lost track of things. Tonight, she had to stop at the store to get some things that would be easy to bring for lunch.

Munching on a cracker, she checked her phone. There were two messages from Faust.

Good morning, Little girl. I missed holding you while you slept.

Would you like to take a ride on my bike tonight?

While the first made her smile, the second was a bit nerve-racking. She thought for another minute before answering.

Hi, Faust. I'm afraid I need to stop at the store to pick up some things for lunch. I've destroyed this box of crackers.

A minute later her phone buzzed.

Daddy . Tell me you're eating something more nutritious than crackers.

I like crackers.

We'll go to the store after dinner.

Molly looked at the phone and shrugged. If he wanted to go to the store with her, okay. She ate the last few crackers in the box and stood up from the picnic table set up for people to enjoy. Taking a last couple of deep breaths, she headed back to her desk.

The box rattled as she dropped it in the trashcan in the office.

"Molly. Coffee," Lester's voice called.

She hesitated and then deliberately sat down at her desk. If he was going to be mean, she wasn't going to wait on him. Diving back into her tasks for the day, Molly ignored his second call.

"Molly. Are you deaf?" Lester demanded, standing next to her desk.

"No, Lester. Simply busy."

"Not too busy to lounge outside," he said with a snort.

"It was lovely outside. I enjoyed my lunch break," she answered with a smile even though she was steaming inside.

"It must be nice to just quit working."

"The coffee tank is full," she said, ignoring his implication that she wasn't doing enough.

"You really shouldn't be so lazy. It doesn't look good on your evaluations."

"What's this about evaluations?" Steve asked, walking back into the office.

"We're discussing how actions are reflected in evaluations," Lester answered in an easygoing tone that was markedly different than how he'd talked to Molly earlier.

"Lester is concerned that I arrived late the last two mornings, took my lunch break outside, and was too lazy to get him coffee when he bellowed from his office," Molly told her boss.

"You were here well before nine when the office opens. Heavens knows if we added up all the time you give us for free before and after our office hours, you could probably take a vacation for several weeks," Steve said before looking at Lester. "Molly is busy. She's kind to bring us coffee. It's not her job to wait on us. And lunch outside sounds like an amazing break. I don't see anything wrong with that. Perhaps, Lester, you should bring any concerns you have to me rather than discussing them with Molly. You are not her direct supervisor."

"Just making sure the church is getting what it's paying for," Lester answered lightly.

"Speaking of pay, Molly, we need to discuss your salary. Schedule a time for the two of us to talk tomorrow," Steve requested.

"I'd like to sit in on that meeting," Lester added.

"That's not necessary. Did you get the volunteers for the chili competition?" Steve asked him.

"I did. Great people."

"Who did you talk to?" Steve asked.

"Oh, I don't remember names now. I'd have to look at the list," Lester said quickly.

"Let's go over that now," Steve requested and gestured for Lester to precede him down the hall.

Molly worked hard to control her facial expression. Lester didn't remember who was on the list because she'd gotten the volunteers. She tried not to listen in on their conversation in the head minister's office, but it was obvious that Steve knew Lester had pawned the job off on her instead of taking care of it.

Feeling like she needed to celebrate, Molly remembered the lollipop in her purse. That would be the perfect sweet treat. She pulled it out of the wrapper just as the phone rang in the office. Startled, Molly bobbled the sucker and dropped it on the floor as she scrambled to answer the phone. When she picked it up a few minutes later, she wrinkled her nose at the dirt already clinging to the sugary treat and dropped it in the trash.