Kept

Chapter 15. Girls Night Out

"Master Braxton..." Richard addressed Taylor for the third time. The man hadn't been himself ever since Ms. Anna left. It had only been a couple of days since he left her at The Adair's residence and yet, he was a complete mess.

Richard was glad he was here to help him get through this, even though he had no idea why he was still here...His retirement had been long over due, he was suppose to leave months ago, but every time he tried, Master Braxton told him he needed to stay a little longer until Kaitlyn was properly trained. Properly trained? The young lady had all but taken over on her own, but even Miss Anna insisted she could still learn a few things from him. He had a feeling neither was ready to let him go yet and he was quite fine with that.

Taylor looked up suddenly as if he'd just noticed Richard was standing in front of him. He had been sitting at the dinner table staring off into space. "Yes Richard?"

"I've completed the maintenance reports on your vehicles. They have been thoroughly cleaned and checked. If you'd like to look over the invoices..."

"We never ate together," Taylor interrupted him and sighed as he propped his elbow on the table and his chin in his hand. "I should have dinner with her, at least every Sunday, shouldn't I? She was probably very lonely..."

"Miss Anna sought out my company to dine when she wasn't busy," Richard told him. "She was not alone."

Taylor looked surprised at hearing that. "Does she talk to you, a lot? Is that why you seem to like her more than my other assistants?"

"Miss Anna's company is quite pleasant. I find her...entertaining."

Taylor smiled wistfully. "Because she's so different from what we're used to, she's warm and sweet and so damn loyal. Do you know she's the best personal assistant I have ever had in my life? Working with her felt like an extended part of myself, she got to know me so well and she anticipated all my needs before I could even think of them. If she was here right now, she'd be forcing me to eat something around this hour; she's so caring and attentive. Hell, even the women I date don't care for me like she does."

"You miss her..." Richard stated the obvious.

"Is that what I'm feeling?" Taylor asked him. "I can't believe how much I've let myself depend on her. I haven't seen her in three days and I feel completely lost in my own home. I don't know what's going on with my schedule because I've always let her take care of the details. She did her job so well, no matter what I asked. She just browsed through everything as if it was nothing and she didn't complain. I had no idea she was....suffering."

"Perhaps, she didn't want to burden you; after all, you did hire her to take some of the responsibilities off your shoulders, Master Braxton."

"You don't think I was wrong then, the way I treated her?" Taylor looked at him hopefully.

"Oh, you were wrong, Master Braxton, very wrong, even I tried to warn you that she wasn't looking up to par a few days before she fainted."

Taylor's face fell. "Am I that hard to approach?"

"You do tend to get lost in your own world at times, sir."

"I value your honesty Richards, thank you. Do you think she liked the gifts I sent her yesterday?"

Richard cleared his throat to hide a smile. "Well sir, I'm sure the 20 bottles of multi-vitamins, 20 cases of bottled water, and large bouquet of flowers made quite an impression on her."

Taylor raised an eyebrow at Richard. He had the slight suspicion his butler was laughing at him. "She's sick and dehydrated; she needs to improve her health," he said defensively... "every time I called her, she sounded so weak and helpless.."