Unexpected Encounter (Singleton) by Taige Crenshaw Page B

us.” Driscoll didn’t let the emotions overwhelm him, instead focusing on his story. “When I met Aida, we had just started to make it big. Women were coming and going for all the guys in the band. When she started dating him, we didn’t even think about it, figuring she wouldn’t be around long. She used to cook for all of us and we enjoyed it but figured eventually our friend would move on. I remember the day that I refused her food because I was busy writing a song that had been filling my head.” Driscoll chuckled. “Have you ever had a pot of rice thrown at your head?”
    “Ummm…no.” Lila stared at him. “She did that? Aida doesn’t seem the type.”
    “She calmed down a lot. But when she was younger, she had a temper. Well, she still has a temper but controls it better.” Driscoll remembered the blaze in Aida’s gaze. “Thankfully I ducked in time to avoid the pot knocking me out. The band was shocked that she’d had the gall to do that. I was just wondering if she had any more food to throw at me. I asked her and her reply is what sealed our friendship.”
    “What did she say?”
    “That she wouldn’t waste any more of her good food on my mangy ass.” Driscoll laughed. “She insulted me and smiled as she did it. It was refreshing from having people kiss my ass because I was becoming a ‘superstar’”—he made quotes with his fingers—“I knew even if my friend decided to break up with her, I was going to keep her as a friend. Thankfully, he wasn’t idiot enough to let her go—he and Aida were together for many years. Sometime during that time she became my house manager and I put her on payroll. My friend kept asking her to marry him, but she kept saying no. None of us had any idea why.”
    “So her insulting you is why you decided to be her friend.” Lila shook her head. “You are one strange man, Driscoll.”
    “Eccentric. That’s what Irene called me the first time she met me.” Driscoll chuckled. “And yes, her insulting me is what made me know she wouldn’t put up with my shit or let me get away with it, no matter how supposedly famous people think I am. The bluntness and treating me like a person is why I became friends with Aida then Irene. Hell, Aida was easier to hire than Irene was. I met Irene because of Aida. They are best friends and have known each other for years. It was about a year after I hired Aida when I met Irene for the first time. I’d heard of her and that she was a great assistant for the CEO of a company she worked for. I didn’t think anything of it. Not until she came to see Aida and reorganized my calendar.”
    “She didn’t work for you and did that?”
    “Yep. When I asked her and basically told her how dare she do such a thing, she told me someone needed to get my shit straight. Then proceeded to tell me she didn’t understand why such an eccentric man would not have someone who could put up with and adapt to his eccentricity. Someone to make sure he could be as weird ass as he wanted to be without worrying about the details he didn’t choose to. And damn if she wasn’t right.”
    “So she wanted a job?” Lila waved at Spencer and Regina as they passed them where they stood in their driveway.
    “Hell no! And those were her exact words when I offered her the position. She loved her job and didn’t want to leave it.”
    “Good for her.”
    “But I was determined to convince her. I failed miserably, no matter how I tried. I enticed her by sending her my calendar and begging for help. She would get it straight for me, send it back and tell me to hire someone. Even gave me a list of people, but I wanted her. I knew we would click as a team and not just anyone would do. Trusting someone with all my stuff isn’t easy to do, but I knew with her I could.”
    “So how did you finally convince her to work for you?”
    “I didn’t convince her. She showed up one day and told me she was now free to take me on. Her boss was dumb enough to let