More of You

Chapter 15

Harper had thought about what she wanted but she was no closer to answering the question then she had been at the beginning of the week, at least not honestly. She was trapped in a rut and couldn't find the will or the strength to break free. She wished she had Luke's innate sense of self-confidence, but having been the butt of too many crass and thoughtless comments had taken their toll over the years.

Perhaps the first step was realizing that she wasn't happy, she didn't have to have answers to all of her questions right away, she had a job with security, a roof over her head, and the love of family and friends. Her life could be a lot worse. It could also be a lot better, a little voice niggled at her.

It was as if she was on the verge of making that next life changing move, but she wasn't sure what it was. It was just out of sight of her consciousness.

Harper had just been to lunch with Mindy and her boyfriend Richard Davies. Richard was a lawyer and had been involved with a wrongful termination suit that had been filed against Hightower by a man named Brooks George a few years back. The case had been totally unjustified since the man had been caught drunk on the job, but he had claimed that he hadn't been drunk and that he had a cognitive disorder that had made him appear to be drunk. Eventually, it had come out that he had been lying and the suit had been dropped, but it had still left a mark on both Troy and Charles, who operated with the belief in an honest day's labor for an honest day's pay. Richard, had eventually been the one to convince the man to drop the suit, despite being his lawyer, but it still didn't hold any weight with Troy or Charles.

Mindy was madly in love with Richard, and she believed that Troy would go through the roof when he found out about their relationship. Richard and Harper had a little more faith in him than that. There was also the case of their age differences. Mindy was twenty-six and Richard was thirty-six.

The had talked in circles all through lunch as they tried to convince Mindy that she should stand up for her and Richard, and let both Troy and Maureen know that they were in love.

Granted, Harper wasn't the person to be delivering such a lecture when her own life was so screwed up, but it was always easier to see the problems in other people's lives then in one's own.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts about the Mindy and Richard that she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings, so when he jumped out from behind a car parked almost in front of the door to the office she was caught off guard.

It was Brooks George, the man that had been fired for drinking on the job, the man that Richard had defended until the case fell apart.

"George!" Harper said, unable to hide the surprise in her voice at his sudden appearance.

"I saw you at lunch with my lawyer, now I have proof!" he stepped towards her.

"Proof of what George?" Harper took a step back which put her further away from the door to safety.

"Proof that you were in it with him, and the reason that he dropped the case was because the two of you were having an affair!" He was all but screaming. "It's your fault, all of it!"

"No George, it's your fault, you were the one drinking on the job."

"I wasn't. I have a disease," he spit at her as he took another step towards her.

"Yes, you do, it's called alcoholism, and you need to be treated for it. I can smell the alcohol on you right now. How much have you already had to drink today?" If Harper was smart or less honest she would be trying to sooth him not bait him, but she couldn't help herself, she had no interest in being nice to him he had caused the company too much money, not to mention the emotional turmoil that he had but her parents through.