RUSH (City Lights, #3)(15)

“I do respect such honesty,” he said gravely. “Nevertheless, I have high hopes for you.”

“High hopes for what?”

Lucien folded his hands on the table. “I am looking for you to become Noah’s next assistant. Not merely an assistant who runs errands and keeps house, but a personal assistant in the truest sense of the phrase.”

I sat back, absorbing this. “Mr. Caron, I’m not qualified or trained to help a blind person.”

“Nor would Noah permit such a person anywhere near him. But that will be for him to explain to you, should you choose to proceed.”

Lucien checked his watch—an expensive-looking timepiece peeking out from the cuff of an expensive-looking dress shirt.

“I’m behind schedule. Overseeing Noah’s care has taken up more of my time than is prudent. He and his sister are like grandchildren to me, and if I hadn’t numerous other duties to perform for the Lake family, I would take on this post myself, and gladly.”

I frowned. “So why me?”

“I have interviewed and hired six professional assistants in the last nine weeks. All of them quit or were dismissed by Noah shortly thereafter. None of those six interviews were quite like this one, Ms. Conroy. You strike me as quite…unique.”

“I do?”

“I require—Noah requires—someone who will stick things out for longer than a handful of days. Someone who is able to see through the rough veneer to the suffering young man beneath. Someone who will show him compassion, despite the fact that he might never return a fraction of the same courtesy to you.”

“Why not? What’s wrong with him? Besides the blindness, I mean.”

“His blindness is tragedy enough, but the accident stole more than his sight. It stripped him of all of the joy and happiness he’d possessed from doing what he loved most, leaving bitterness and anger behind.” Lucien leaned forward I earnest. “He is suffering, Miss Conroy, and I fear that unless he can begin to find acceptance, that suffering will consume him, and the vibrant young man I knew will be lost.”

“I…don’t know what to say.”

“Say nothing yet.” Lucien pulled out a business card from a sleek silver case and slid it over the table to me. “I would request that you go home tonight and go online. It is rather uncouth of me to suggest this, but put the name ‘Noah Lake’ into the—Google, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“What you will find will not be easy to see, but I need you to see it, Charlotte, so that when Noah is severe or harsh with you, you will know you are not the source of his pain.”

There was a short silence. I took the card, turned it over and over in my hand. Lucien was looking at me with such hope in his kind blue eyes.“Can I ask, at least, how much this job pays?”

“Of course, my apologies,” Lucien said with a short laugh. “The nitty-gritty, as you Americans are fond of saying. The salary is $40,000 per annum, plus a food allowance and full health care benefits.”

I tried my hardest not to let my jaw drop to my chest, but I guess Lucien saw the shock on my face anyway. “Not a king’s ransom, but an adequate salary for a first position, oui?”

“Yes, it’s fine. Perfect. Great.”

Oh my god! Suddenly this conversation wasn’t so strange anymore; it was a gift dropped into my lap. I could hardly keep from flying out of my chair and throwing my arms around Lucien’s neck. He was like a fairy godfather, come to rescue me from drowning. Even so, this had to be the strangest job interview I’d ever had.

“So you want me to Google Noah? And then what?”

“Call me after you have done so. Any hour this night. I will answer any questions you may have, and if you’re willing to accept the post, you’ll meet with Noah—tomorrow, preferably. He demands approval of all new hires.” Lucien’s mouth turned down. “A formality, more than anything else, but it’s only fair that he be afforded a bit of agency, even if he uses it to bully and torment.”

Bully and torment? That didn’t sound promising, but—I had to admit—the salary was dancing in my head with actual dollar signs around it. And benefits? Health care? That was icing on the cake to a girl like me who had to sit a crowded clinic for four hours with a 103-degree fever last winter.

“I’m afraid I must go.” Lucien rose and offered his hand. “I leave you with this parting thought: I am hiring a personal assistant, Miss Conroy. That is the job on paper. But I have high hopes that if you take the post, you will become more to Noah. Someone he needs more than a maid or cook."

“What does he need?”

He smiled sadly. “A friend.”





Chapter Six


Charlotte

I was sorely tempted to get on my cell phone and Google “Noah Lake” on the train home. But Lucien deserved that I give this my undivided attention. Not to mention, I was a little bit worried about what I was going to be looking at. “Gruesome details,” Lucien had said. Things about Noah that were “not easy to see.”

I got home close to four p.m. Emily wasn’t yet back from her nanny job but she would be soon, demanding rent money I didn’t have. Forrest and Collin were there, hanging out in the living room because God forbid I’d ever, ever have the place to myself for an hour.