Someone To Watch Over Me
by Purple Lacey
Part 22
Breakfast had been a big success. Buck had taken his little one to I.H.O.P. for the much anticipated pancakes and couldn’t have held back his smile if he’d wanted to when the child grinned up at him with a whipped cream and smeared chocolate mustache after devouring his breakfast. Ezra had enthusiastically announced how good they were to the whole section of the restaurant where they were seated. Rather than being embarrassed by the boy’s outburst, Buck had laughed.
Buck had tried to linger over his coffee, knowing the stores would not be open yet, but the boy across the table from him was just too antsy with anticipation...and sugar. Watching Ezra chattering away and almost vibrating with energy, Buck had realized he might have made a tactical error in agreeing to fuel the boy up with chocolate and syrup before taking him shopping. Knowing the boy needed an outlet for that energy Buck had paid the bill and led the boy out of the restaurant toward his truck.
Buck drove them to the mall and they went inside even though is was over an hour before the stores would be opened. The pair had wandered up and down the almost deserted mall corridors window-shopping and discussing possible gifts the boy might get for his new family. By the time the shops opened, Ezra had picked out what he wanted for everyone and it was only a matter of backtracking to the particular stores the pair had seen each item in and buying them. To Buck’s relief, they were out of the place long before the crowd of Christmas shoppers descended.
As they were walking to the mall exit they passed a set of the gumball and prize machines that children find so irresistible and parents try to avoid at all costs. Predictably, Ezra had excitedly requested a quarter to put in the machine and Buck had indulgently dug into his pocket for a coin and placed it in the child’s hot little hand. Ezra walked out of the mall the proud owner of a repulsive, hand-shaped, sticky, jellied-plastic THING that had the ability to stick on the wall, window, or any other relatively smooth surface with a disgusting, squishy splat that only a boy in the five to twelve year old range would find amusing. Being a six year old boy, Ezra naturally thought it was one of the coolest toys in the known universe.
Buck had started the engine and was just about to pull out of his parking space when his cell phone rang. He shifted the truck back into park and reached into his jacket pocket for the phone and answered it.
“This is Buck,” he said. “Hi, Gloria. What’s up? No, I’ve got Ezra with me.” He listened intently for a moment then looked at his watch and sighed before saying, “Can’t Baker put him off until later?” He listened some more then reluctantly answered, “Alright. Tell him I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.”
Buck snapped the cell phone shut and turned to the little boy watching him curiously and told him, “Sorry Ezra, but we have to go by my office for awhile. I have some business there that won’t wait.”
“I get to see where you work?” The boy asked eagerly.
Buck reached out and tousled the boy’s hair as he answered, “Yep, looks like.”
“Oh Boy!” the child replied. “Do you have your own desk?” he asked with interest.
“Yep, with my own chair and everything,” Buck teased.
“Cool!” Ezra enthused.
The drive to Buck’s office building was short and the traffic was flowing well, having already passed the early morning rush hour, so they arrived in under the allotted time.
“Is this YOUR building?” Ezra said in awe as he stared up at the tall skyscraper when Buck stopped at the red light in front of the building before turning into the parking garage.
“”Yep. We only use the top four floors though. The rest of it we rent out,” Buck told him proudly.
“Wow!” Ezra was completely impressed.
Buck parked in his reserved space and helped the boy out of the truck and led him to his private elevator. Buck took a key card from his pocket and inserted it into the reader causing the doors to open. Buck led him inside and the doors closed quietly behind them. There were only two buttons to push, an up and a down arrow and Ezra cheerfully punched the up arrow and stepped back grabbing Buck’s hand as they rode up to the top floor where his office was located.
The elevator doors swooshed open and Buck led him out into the large office space that was his private office. The room was decorated very similarly to his den at home, but more formal. The colors were warm and there was a vaguely Southwest feeling to the décor. The man walked over to the huge oak desk that sat in front of a large bank of windows and pulled the well stuffed leather chair out and sat down. He punched a button on the phone and announced, “I’m here, Gloria.”
A disembodied voice replied through the speaker on the phone, “I’ll be right there.”
A few seconds later, one of the large double doors that led in from the waiting area and Gloria Potter’s office opened and a plump, middle aged woman in a conservative navy blue dress entered and closed the door quietly behind her.
“Ezra, this is my administrative assistant, Gloria Potter. Gloria, meet my new foster son, Ezra Standish.” Buck made the introductions proudly.
Ezra looked at the woman with interest before walking over to her and offering her his hand and saying politely, “I’m pleased to meet you, Ms. Potter.”
Gloria looked down at the little one and bent over slightly to shake his hand. “It’s very good to meet you too, Ezra. I’ve heard some very good things about you. My friend Nettie says you’re the best little boy she’s seen in a very long time. I think she really meant ever, but couldn’t say so without being disloyal to Vin,” Gloria said with a teasing smile.
Ezra giggled. “Ms Nettie’s nice. She makes me good stuff to eat, and doesn’t get mad when I get stuff on my clothes. She told me it’s expected of little boys. It’s part of our job to get dirty.”
Gloria laughed and replied, “That sounds like Nettie, alright.”
Standing up and coming around the desk Buck asked, “So where’s Baker?” He wanted to get business out of the way so he could take Ezra home and they could spend the rest of the day together wrapping the presents the boy had picked out.
“He’s in the conference room,” Gloria told him.
Buck nodded then turned to look at Ezra and say, “I want you to stay with Gloria for a little while, Ez, while I take care of this. Then we’ll head home. It shouldn’t take too, long.”
Ezra looked at the smiling Mrs. Potter and nodded his assent.
“I’ll be back soon. Be good for Gloria,” Buck said and bent down to plant a big, smacking kiss on the top of the boy’s head.
Ezra giggled and promised, “I will.”
Buck grinned then headed out the double doors leaving the two alone.
“Why don’t you come with me and we’ll get you some pencils and paper and you can draw for awhile. Does that sound like fun?” Gloria asked and held out her hand for the child.
Ezra nodded and trustingly took the hand she had extended to him. Together the pair left Buck’s office and walked into the waiting area then took a right turn into Gloria’s office. The lady dug through her tidy desk and pulled out a legal pad and several pencils along with a few colored markers and set them on the edge of her desk them pulled up a chair for the boy and helped him climb into it before she walked around and sat opposite the child.
“There. Looks like you’re all set,” Gloria told him cheerfully. “What are you going to draw first?”
Ezra scrunched up his face thoughtfully and then finally replied, “I’m gonna draw Jackpot. That’s Buck’s horse. I think Buck will like to have a picture of his horse, don’t you?”
“I’m sure he’ll love it,” Gloria smiled and assured him.
The decision made, Ezra nodded determinedly, picked up one of the pencils, and began drawing. They had each been working companionablly for fifteen minutes or so, when the telephone by Gloria’s elbow rang and she answered it. After a short conversation - that Ezra was too engrossed in his project to pay any attention to - Gloria stood up and said, “I need to go downstairs to retrieve some important information for a report I’m working on, Ezra. You’ll have to come with me for a while, I’m afraid.”
Ezra agreeably left his drawing and followed Gloria to the elevators. Gloria let him push the down button and they waited a few minutes for the elevator car to arrive then Gloria escorted him on and showed him which button to push. Ezra followed her instructions and then faced forward. The elevator doors were already starting to close when he suddenly yelled, “My Hand!” as he remembered he had left his new squishy hand on Gloria’s desk. Not wanting to lose his cool new toy, the boy ran off the elevator before he even thought about what he was doing.
Gloria barely had time to yell, “Ezra!” Before the doors closed completely and the elevator began moving. Ezra didn’t notice Gloria was no longer with him so intent was he on reclaiming his toy. He hurried back into the woman’s office and climbed up in the chair he had been sitting in then grabbed the sticky hand with relief. He turned to show Gloria his toy, but found she wasn’t there. He walked to the doorway and looked out in the reception area but didn’t see her there either so walked back to the elevators thinking she must still be waiting for him. When he got there he was found he was still alone.
“Uh-oh!” he said softly to himself, just realizing that he might have done something he shouldn’t have. The boy stood looking around for a moment trying to decide what he should do when he heard a pair of feminine voices coming toward him down the hall. He watched as two very pretty ladies approached, one talking rapidly and the other listening carefully. They had almost reached him when one appeared to notice him for the first time.
“Hi, there,” the brunette lady said in a friendly voice. “Are you lost?”
Ezra nodded solemnly.
“What’s your name, honey?” she asked kneeling down in front of him.
“Ezra,” he replied softly.
“Does your mama work here, sweetie?” the red headed woman asked looking down at him kindly.
Ezra shook his head no.
“Your daddy?” she questioned again.
Ezra stopped to think about that one for a minute then decided that since Buck was his foster father and father meant the same thing as daddy, then that would probably qualify him as a daddy and he nodded.
“Can you tell me his name?” she asked as she smoothed his hair down gently with one hand.
Ezra nodded again. “Buck,” he told them.
The women looked at each other in surprise and the redhead said, “Nah, it can’t be.”
The other shrugged and said, “Yeah, it could. You don’t know everything that goes on in the boss’ life. He could have a kid on the side and nobody knows about it.”
“They don’t look anything alike,” the other one argued.
“Maybe he looks like his mama. Who can say?”
“I still don’t think it sounds like the boss to have a kid and not let anybody know about him. He’d be more likely to shout the news out and flash baby pictures around. That’s the kind of guy he is.”
The other woman looked thoughtful for a moment and had to concede the point.
“Where’s your Daddy now, sweetie?” the redhead asked.
“He said it was the...the con-fence room,” Ezra told them helpfully.
“Well that’s this way,” the brunette told him and pointed ahead of them. “We’ll show you since we’re going that way, if you want.”
“Yes, please,” Ezra told her with relief.
“Come on then,” she said with a smile and rose to her feet.
The pair of women led him down the hall to a large set of double doors marked with gold letters and the brunette knocked on the door briskly then opened it to face the room full of people that all turned to look that way and said, “Excuse me, but...”
That was as far as she got before Ezra caught sight of Buck seated at the end of the long table and bolted inside to his foster father shouting, “Buck!”
Buck stood up quickly and caught the little boy who came flying around the table to him. He lifted him up and hugged the child who wrapped his arms around his foster father and held on tightly while immediately letting lose with his explanation in machine gun fashion.
“I’m sorry Buck! I didn’t mean to do a bad thing. I just wanted to get my sticky hand. I didn’t mean to lose Ms. Potter. Don’t be mad, please!”
Buck shushed him softly and assured him, “I’m not mad, and I know you didn’t mean to do anything wrong. It’s okay. As long as you’re alright then there’s no harm done. What happened?”
In one long, sentence, Ezra gave the man a detailed run down of what he had been doing since Buck had left him. When the boy stopped to take a breath, Buck reconfirmed that he wasn’t angry and Ezra relaxed against him.
Buck turned to the people seated at the conference table watching their boss and the little boy curiously and said simply, “This is my new foster son, Ezra. Say hello, Ez.”
The boy turned his head to look at the room full of adults watching him and shyly smiled and waved saying, “Hello.”
Most of the adults in the room smiled back at the adorable child in their boss’ proud arms. A few sighed impatiently wanting to get back to business. Buck raised an unimpressed eyebrow and filed away those faces for future reference. As far as the businessman was concerned, anybody that didn’t like kids was not the kind person that he really wanted representing his businesses.
Those employees that had been with Buck for many years looked at each other and exchanged pleased smiles. They knew a Buck Wilmington with a child at home was a more stable and conservative businessman in the office. When JD had moved away Buck’s business style had tended to be, while not really reckless, more speculative than his managers were comfortable with. With Ezra living with him now to keep him settled, they expected him to be more grounded in his business dealings as well. They were more than happy to welcome the child.
Buck looked at the brunette and redhead watching curiously from the door and smiled at them saying, “Thanks for showing him the way, Mitzi, Shannon,” effectively dismissing the pair of women who nodded in reply then left, pulling the door shut behind them. Buck smiled inwardly knowing the news of him taking in the little boy would be all over the building before the hour was out. He shrugged it off, not really caring. He was proud to have Ezra and didn’t care who knew it.
Buck sat in his chair once again, pulling Ezra into his lap and wrapping his arms around the boy. He looked at the group of people around the conference table and said, “Now where were we?”
Ezra looked around curiously as the adults resumed their discussion. He quickly became bored and starting playing with his sticky hand, stretching the very elastic toy to see how big he could get it. He had grasped the toy by the ‘thumb” and “little finger” of the hand-shaped mass and found out he could get the thing to stretch almost half the length of his arm when he suddenly lost his grip on the slippery thing and it flew out of his hand to land on the table with a squishy splat in front of the man to Buck’s left.
Without missing a beat, Buck unflappably reached out a hand for the toy and the gentleman it had landed in front of placed it in Buck’s palm while struggling manfully to contain his laughter. Buck handed the toy back to the child. A sheepish Ezra dared to peek up at his guardian to gauge his reaction, and Buck winked at him then kissed the top of his head. Deciding he had better be more careful if he didn’t want Buck angry with him, Ezra stuffed the sticky hand in his shirt pocket and folded his hands in front of him on the table, trying to sit still.
Sitting still is a very had thing for any six year old to do for any period of time especially if there is nothing around to entertain them or hold their attention. Ezra was no different from any other boy his age. He tried though. Eventually his eyes fell on the open folder on the table in front of Buck. There were several rows of numbers written on the paper beside a lot of words that Ezra didn’t understand. He did recognize the one at the bottom. He knew what total meant. He saw it all the time in his arithmetic book at school. Ezra looked at the numbers more closely. Here was something he could do. The boy started with the ones column like his teacher had shown him and began adding the numbers happily.
Ezra loved math. He was good at reading and knew a great many more words than most children his age, but the subject that he took the most pleasure from and was the best at in school was arithmetic.
Ezra knew only too well that words changed- at least their meanings did - according to who was speaking them and what they wanted. He had learned that lesson from his mother who was a champion at that kind of verbal manipulation. Words were weapons for her and she wielded them with uncommon skill.
Numbers were different. Numbers always stayed the same. When he added two plus two he always got four...always. If he subtracted five from eleven he always got six. It never changed. Ever since he had first discovered them in kindergarten, numbers were the only things that were stable and could be depended on for the boy who had moved from place to place, person to person, house to house for his entire life.
His kindergarten teacher had first discovered his affinity for numbers and had borrowed the first grade arithmetic primer and then the second grade primers for the child to keep him challenged. His current school had come up with a self paced course of study for him that allowed him to advance as far and as fast as he was comfortable doing. He was in the middle of the first grade and doing work on his grade level in all his other courses but was swiftly getting ready to begin work on the fourth grade level in math.
So when Ezra needed something to keep him entertained until Buck said they could go the list of numbers on the table in front of him was the perfect busywork for the six year old. Ezra spent the next few minutes happily absorbed adding the columns of numbers up in his head. When he finished he looked at the number at the bottom and frowned. Then he did it again. He shook his head and tried once more. No matter how many times he added it up, he just didn’t come out with the same number that was listed at the bottom of the page.
Ezra turned around in Buck’s lap and pulled at the lapel of his jacket to get his attention.
“Just a few more minutes, Ez,” Buck told him with a smile before looking back at the man talking at the other end of the table.
Ezra pulled at Buck’s jacket again.
“It’s wrong, Buck” the boy told him simply.
Buck looked down at him in confusion. “What’s wrong, Buddy? Are you feeling bad?”
Ezra shook his head. He pointed at the total at the bottom of the page and said, “It’s wrong, Buck. The numbers are backwards.”
“It’s okay, Ezra. The accounting department went over the figures,” Buck assured him with an indulgent smile.
“But they’re wrong, Buck,” Ezra told him earnestly. “Look!”
The little boy started with the first two numbers in the one’s column and began adding them out loud. Buck smiled apologetically at the business people around the conference table and let Ezra have his say, thinking that the child would then be satisfied and they could continue.
The man on Buck’s right was smiling at the child, nodding his head as he followed the child’s addition, impressed that the young one was doing so well. When Ezra had reached the Ten thousand’s column of numbers the man suddenly frowned and bent over his own set of papers intently then exclaimed in amazement, “My God! He’s right! There are two numbers transposed. Instead of $1,241,532.00 it should read $1,214,532.00. If we sign the contract like this it will cost us an additional $27K!”
This caused a flurry of activity as the rest of the people assembled around the table grabbed their own folders and pulled out calculators to double check. One by one the people sat back stunned as they came to the same conclusion.
Ezra watched all the sudden bustling and thought he must have done something wrong. He hung his head in shame; certain Buck would surely send him away now for causing so much bother.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to cause trouble.”
“Don’t be sorry, Ez,” Buck said with an astonished grin and lifted the boy up to sit him on the edge of the table facing him. “You did a good thing, Short Stack, a very good thing. You just saved me a whole bunch of money by catching that mistake. Thank you, Ezra.”
“So...I did good?” he asked uncertainly.
Buck laughed out loud and pulled the boy to him for a big hug.
“You did super good, Ez. Super-duper, extraordinarily, unbelievably good,” the man said with amazed appreciation. He tucked Ezra’s head under his chin and held him close.
Ezra held on tight. He sighed in relief and relaxed.
Buck’s face was suddenly not the least happy or amused as he looked at a middle aged gentleman seated halfway down the table from him who started turning an embarrassed red as his boss’ eyes drilled a hole in him.
“You want to explain to me how a six year old first grader found a mistake that a whole team of college graduate accountants didn’t find, Jenkins?” Buck’s voice was deceptively soft as he stared at the man now looking like a deer in the headlights.
“Uh, well...I’m sure...uh,” the man stuttered wildly.
Buck stopped the broken explanation with a look and said, “Obviously, this contract can’t be accepted like it is. I suggest you contact Waterston and see that it’s corrected or renegotiated if necessary.” Buck looked at the frozen man staring back at him for a moment then said firmly, “NOW!”
The man he addressed flew out of his chair as if he had been shot from a catapult and hurried out the door, almost stumbling in his haste to get out of his angry boss’ sight.
“Since there’s nothing more we can do until the contract is re-done, I’ll let you get back to work,” Buck told the rest of the assembly then turned to the man on his left. With one eyebrow raised for emphasis he told him, “I hope you make sure to have the new contract checked properly this time, Baker. I would hate for you to call me back in here just to waste my time again.”
The man nodded his head, taking the reprimand stoically. “You have my apologies and my assurance that it will NOT happen again, or we’ll be in the market for a new accounting department,” the man called Baker assured him. The man looked at the boy snuggled in the boss’ arms and smiled. “I wouldn’t say getting you in here today was a total waste of time though. Thanks to you bringing in your new friend here, we saved a big chunk of change that we might have otherwise lost.”
Buck laughed and lifted one hand to tousle Ezra’s hair causing the boy to ease back and grin up at him. “Guess Ez is just a natural born businessman, huh Ezra?”
“There you are! Thank the good Lord!” The voice of a harried Gloria Potter reached them as the admin rushed into the conference room looking overheated and disheveled. “I’m SO sorry, Buck.” She gasped out. “He got away from me on the elevator and I couldn’t get the darn thing to stop. I had to get off four floors down and come back up the fire stairs. I’ve been looking all over the floor for him. I’m so sorry!” She started repeating herself in her distress.
“Gloria, settle down. Everything is fine. Ezra explained what happened. It’s not your fault,” Buck assured her. “In fact,” Buck said looking down pointedly at the child in his arms, “I think somebody owes you an apology, don’t you think so, Ezra?”
The boy turned in Buck’s arms and looked at the woman shamefaced and said, “I’m sorry, Ms. Potter. I didn’t mean to scare you. I just forgot my sticky hand and went to get it. I didn’t know you couldn’t stop the elevator.”
Gloria smiled at the contrite little one and shook her head. “I should have remembered how fast little boys can move when they get hold of a wild hare. It’s been so long since my George was your age that it’s easy to forget. I’m just glad you’re alright, dear.”
“We’re going to head on out, Gloria. Thanks for looking out for him. I’m sorry you were put out,” Buck told her sincerely.
Gloria waved his apology. “That’s alright. I’ll know better and be prepared next time.” The woman smiled and reached out to gently pinch Ezra’s chin. Ezra giggled at her. “I hope you come visit us again soon, Ezra.”
Ezra smiled back and nodded. Buck set Ezra down and took his hand. They walked back with Gloria towards his office and both bid her goodbye before Buck keyed his elevator and he and the boy stepped inside.
Buck looked down at the little one by his side and said decisively, “I think someone deserves a reward for being so good at math and finding that mistake for me. What would you like for your reward, Ezra?”
Ezra thought for a few minutes then looked at him biting his lip in indecision as he wondered if he dared suggest what he really wanted. He looked into Buck’s encouraging eyes and finally asked hesitantly, “Could we...could we go to the movies? My friends at school sometimes get to go to the movies with their mamas or daddies. It always sounds like a lot of fun. Would that be okay?”
Buck looked at the child in disbelief for a moment then asked quietly, “Your mama never took you to see a movie at a theater?”
The boy shook his head and Buck had to bite back the swear that wanted to escape on finding out the woman couldn’t have been bothered to do something as simple for her child as take him to a movie. Damn Maude Standish to hell! She didn’t deserve the beautiful little boy standing by his side. Buck hoped she resurfaced soon so he could personally tell her exactly what he thought of her child rearing methods.
Buck smiled down at the hopeful child and said lightly, “I think a movie sounds like the perfect way to spend a day with my favorite math wiz. I’ll tell you what. Let’s stop and pick up a newspaper and we’ll see what’s playing then head for the theater.”
Buck crossed his fingers hoping there would be an age appropriate film playing somewhere. He would hate to have to disappoint the child. The man loaded Ezra into the truck and drove out of the parking garage. He pulled into a corner convenience store and parked in front of the store long enough to jump out and plunk a few coins in the newspaper machine and pull one out then climb back into the driver’s seat. Buck thumbed through the paper until he came to the entertainment section and pulled it out, folding the rest of the paper and dropping it on the seat between him and the child. He opened the remaining pages and began scanning the various movie ads then grinned when he found what he was looking for.
“ Hmm, ‘Ice Age’ is playing at the kiddie matinee at a theater about fifteen minutes from here. That sound good to you?” Buck asked Ezra.
Ezra’s eyes were shining with excited anticipation and he was bouncing up and down on the truck seat with delight as he cried, “Yes! Please! Mary at school told me about that one! She said it was funny and gots all kinds of animals in it, even dinosaurs. That’s the one I want to go see.”
Buck laughed and said, “I guess ‘Ice Age’ it is then,” and reached for the keys to started the truck. “Since you’ve never been to the movies before I get the privilege of instructing you in all the ages-old movie rituals. I hope you like popcorn.”