Dear April (Sunshine & Shadow Book 2) Read Online Free Page A

sir…” Joseph
said, quietly, his eyes fixed on the carpet.
    Hyde swung his hand
through the air and knocked the papers Joseph was carrying to the floor. The
files flew in all directions.
    Joseph bent to pick them
up but Hyde stopped him with a hand on his shirt. April saw Joseph close his
eyes and was about to say something when Ted stepped out of his office.
    “Gerry!”
    Hyde looked up, letting go
of Joseph. The younger man immediately began straightening his shirt, backing
away.
    “Hey, can you help me
with something for a second?” Ted said.
    Hyde followed Ted into
his office and the door shut. She walked over to Joseph, who was collecting his
papers from the floor. She bent down to help him.
    “What happened?” she
asked.      
    Joseph glanced at Ted’s
office door, obviously afraid Hyde would return before his task was finished.
    “I have no idea,” he
said, “That’s the third t-time this week he’s lost it on me…I-I-I’m not even in
this department. It’s when I’m d-d-delivering files.”
    April frowned.
“Delivering files to who?”
    “Mr. Bradley mainly. And
Mr. Hyde is always t-t-there.”
    They stood up and April
handed Joseph the papers she had picked up. He looked at the name at the top of
each and sighed.
    “These are for Mr.
Bradley.”
    April gently took them
from his shaking hands. “I’ll take them to him if you want.”
    “Are you sure?”
    She nodded. “From now on,
just put Ted’s files on my desk and I’ll make sure he gets them.”
    “Thank you.” Joseph’s
eyes were filled with gratitude.
    April returned to her
desk, placed the files in her top drawer and opened her email. Ted had sent her
an assignment and she got to work on it, but she couldn’t forget what had just
happened. She didn’t understand why everyone in the office seemed to have
unwavering respect for this creepy man. To her, Gerald Hyde just seemed like a
bully, with a convincing face.
    After a few minutes,
Ted’s door opened and he and Hyde stepped out, heading straight for her desk.
April closed the document she was working on and retrieved the files from the
drawer. She stood up when the men reached her.
    “Sir, I have the mail Joseph
was delivering. We didn’t want to disturb you.”
    Before Ted could answer,
Hyde stepped forward. “Where is he?”
    “Like I said,” April
said, turning her attention to Hyde, “We didn’t want to interrupt, and I know
how busy you both are, so from now on Joseph will deliver Ted’s mail to me, and
I’ll make sure he gets it on time. That’s what I’m here for after all; to make
things easier for everyone.” She looked boldly into Hyde’s cold expression.  
    His icy stare turned
suddenly to a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. If April hadn’t witnessed
the abrupt transformation, the friendly expression would have been extremely
convincing.
    “No worries!” Hyde said.
He and Ted shook hands.
    “See ya, Gerry,” Ted
murmured. He turned and headed back to his office, already glancing at the
files.
    “Let me know if you need
anything else, sir,” April called out after him.
    “Thanks, April,” Ted said
over his shoulder. He flashed a wide smile.
     
    The months seemed to fly
by. On Labor Day weekend, the girls invited April to go to Bumbershoot, one of
the largest music and arts festivals in North America. They stayed at the same
hotel together, and April shared a room with Meagan.
    April had bought a
flowery dress with her latest paycheck and admired herself in the mirror.
    “I’m ready! What about you?”
she said.
    Meagan nodded, beaming.
She wore an excited smile the entire way down in the elevator, to meet the
other girls already waiting in the lobby. The group clambered into Meagan’s car
and chattered about the festival.
    Charlotte was the only
one who had ever been to Bumbershoot before.
    “Honestly, it’s amazing,
April. The music never stops. The best country artists from all over the world
perform, and they do signings