Chapter 5

"Ms. Vine I need the files from accounting and I need confirmation about my meeting on Tuesday." Mr. Jones spoke through the intercom.

"Right on it Mr. Jones." I answered. I opened my calendar and searched for what meetings he had on Tuesday. He had a lunch date with his wife at noon. Conference call at 9 a.m. Meeting with Goodwaters Inc. at 4 p.m. I clicked on the meeting searching for the contact information.

"Hi, this is Manuela Vine, calling from Jones Enterprise. May I speak with Mr. Gladwell please?" I spoke into the phone once someone picked up. I sat patiently waiting to be connected.

I thought about what had happened last week and how things went from good to bad in a blink of an eye. I was doing so well with them. I actually enjoyed myself. Then the song played and the damn broke. Meg promised to keep everything between us. I half-heartedly believed her, and just knew she was going to tell Lenny the first chance she got. Yet, I had to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"Roman Gladwell speaking." A gruff voice said on the other line.

"Hi Mr. Gladwell, this is Manuela Vine calling from Jones Enterprise. I just want to confirm your meeting with Mr. Jones on Tuesday at 4 p.m."

"Oh yes, of course. Tell Brandon I will see him at 4 p.m. sharp." Mr. Gladwell laughed. "Oh and Manuela, tell him to bring his A-Game." He added with a teasing voice.

"Yes sir. Thank you." I disconnected the call and highlighted the meeting for Tuesday. Then I pressed the pager button on my desk phone.

"Mr. Jones, Mr. Gladwell has confirmed your meeting for Tuesday and he said to bring your A-Game." I relayed.

"Thank you Manuela. Don't forget those papers from accounting."

"I'm on it now sir." Once the call was disconnected I placed the 'away from the desk' sign in the front of my desk as I grabbed my badge and cell phone and made my way to the elevator. I pressed the button and waited patiently scrolling through my photos.

I scrolled past the ones of Malcolm and me and only looked at the ones with my mother and father. I wasn't sure why I still had these photos with Malcolm in it, but it was still too hard to let go. I looked down at my father's smiling face and the admiration shining bright in my mother's eyes. She adored my father and it was hard on us both when he died.

The picture was taken just two months before he had passed. Lung cancer. The hardest thing to live with in life. Even harder to live with it, and try to hide it from the ones you love most. My mother and I hadn't found out about his condition until it was too late. He said he didn't want us to worry about him. He wanted us to remember him in all his glory. The way he went about life, you could hardly tell he was suffering.

During the day everything was great, normal. It was when the night fell and the stars shone brightly in the sky that you knew he was fading fast. My mother would sit up all hours of the night tending to him, crying her eyes out. Neither of them knew I too would sit up and cry with them.

The ding of the elevator arriving pulled me from my thoughts as I wiped the lone tear that spilled from my eyes. As I climbed into the small box, I saved the picture as my background. Replacing the busy scenery of Inglewood I had taken during my brief time in Cali. I rode the elevator down to the third floor where the accounting offices were weld.

I flashed my badge to the security guard as I made my way to the main office. I always liked coming down here. The busy atmosphere felt calming to me. It was a total contrast to the quiet serene atmosphere of the eight floor. Many cubicles filled the middle of the floor as workers talked with clients trying to fix any issues.

"Hey Rogger." I greeted the Accounting Manager, tapping lightly on his open door. Rogger stood about 5'8" with sandy brown hair and crystal blue eyes. It was always a debate about whether his eyes were real or not.

"Hey Manuela. What can I do for you?" He sat the folder down he had been flipping through, giving me his undivided attention.

"Mr. Jones needs those files I left in your box yesterday."

"Oh right!" He got up from his seat and rushed over to his file cabinet looking through the many files he had stacked there. "Yes, here it is." He pulled the folder from the pile turning with a smile.

As I held my hand out to reach for it, he pulled it back just out of reach.

"I know this may seem a bit forward but I was hoping I could take you out one day. Something small and casual. I've been wanting to ask you for about a month but never found the courage to do it. What's a better time than now? It's either now or never right? Isn't that how it goes?" He looked at me with a sheepish smile rubbing the back of his neck nervously.

His rambling was a bit cute. I never even thought I was on anyone's radar. I always kept to myself and only spoke with others outside of the fifth floor if I had to. With Mr. Jones acquiring more and more partnerships through different businesses, I've had to venture down to the accounting floor more often than not.

"Um, that sounds okay with me." I wasn't sure what else to say. Rogger seems like a decent guy with his head on right. What's the harm in enjoying a bit of company? "Let me look at my schedule and I'll let you know when I'm free." I gave him a warm smile finally taking the folder from his hands.

His smile was bright. It lit up his face making his eyes twinkle in the dim lighting. "That's great! I'll take what I can get. Hope to see you soon Manuela." I gave a final nod and made my way back to the elevator and headed back to my desk. This should really be interesting.

Once I made it back to my floor I went straight to Mr. Jones' office knocking softly on the door.

"It's open." I heard him yell.

"I have those files from accounting." I announced making my way inside. My steps faltered a bit seeing the state my boss was in. Never in the six months I had been working here had I seen him so tired.

"I know it's none of my business, but are you okay sir?" I asked cautiously, setting the file on his desk.

"No need to worry about me Manuella, it's just family troubles at the moment. Nothing that won't work itself out." He answered with a small smile. "Thank you. Before you head to lunch, I need you to set up a meeting with the developers from Washington. We're planning to expand west and Washington seemed like a good place to start."

Washington. Home. The place I got my heart ripped from my chest.

"Yes sir, right away." I left his office and sat at my desk staring at the number to the developers. Would he want me to assist him in the final decisions if the plans went through? That was a stupid question, of course he would, it's part of my job. Maybe he's opening up an office in a different part of Washington, far from where I grew up. Who knows maybe on the outskirts, that's about two hours from home.

"Get it together Em. You're overthinking things." I took a deep breath and called up the developers I had on file. They gave me a brief rundown of what their plan was, and said they'd go more in-depth with Mr. Jones once they agreed on a day and time for the meeting.

"Mr. Jones, will April 18th be okay? They have other projects lined up and wanted to see if that date works. If not they can't meet again for another two months." I asked.

"Check my schedule for April. I think I have a big event at that time. If everything looks okay, you can confirm the date and time as well as book our flights." He instructed.

"I'm looking at your calendar right now, you have a charity ball to attend the weekend before in Montana. If you go with the 18th we would only be able to stay until the 19th because you have your family reunion that weekend." I looked at all the dates highlighted with important events.

"Hm. A bit of a crunch for time." He said to himself. "Alright see if they are willing to push the meeting up a day early. Rebook our flights from Montana to leave on the 16th to Washington. We'll stay there until the 19th and just book my flight from Washington straight to Charleston." As he spoke I made note of every change that needed to be made.

"Okay. I got it. Want me to let you know if it all went through?" I asked, pulling up the contact information for the developers once again.

"No need. Just email me that week's itinerary with the changes. Oh and one more thing. When you get back from lunch, can you pick up my order from Mickey's Diner? I know I don't usually ask, but there's a lot that needs to get done and leaving this office won't help."

"No worries. Just text me your order and I'll get it. I'm actually going there for lunch myself."

"Great. Thank you Manuela." I disconnected the call and got to work on rearranging flight plans and meeting times. The developers were more than happy to move the date up a bit as they too had prior engagements that were squeezed into one week. After finalizing all the plans and making sure all the flights were booked correctly, I took a moment to wrap my brain around being back home.

From the sounds of it, the developers found a great building just outside of town. It's an hour's drive from my home, and it's in a great location for all the potential clientele they plan to capture. My question to myself was, do I go home and visit? Or do I not say anything and just stick to business. I really missed my mother and seeing her would make me happy, but I knew to see her meant the high risk of running into Malcolm and Joelle. My heart wasn't ready to face that hurt again. Not yet.

I took a deep breath and gathered my things preparing to leave. I'd have to worry about dealing with home at a later time.

"Just take it one day at a time Em." I said to myself.