by J. L. Ryan
It was just like going into a new home. She would listen, make her assessment and they would go from there. She made her way down to the car and drove into town. It was a 25 minute ride into Charleston, just long enough that she could take in some deep breaths along the way and try to stop her heart from beating out of her chest. It would serve no purpose if she lost her temper, no matter what she had to stay calm.
She climbed the front stairs of the building and looked up at the massive structure. She shook her head. Who needed that much space for anything? It was all too much really. She entered and gave her name to the guard who patted her down with a wink and she was finally in the elevator going up. She heard a shout and she noticed a man running towards her so she thrust her hand out to stop the elevator. He slid into the elevator and took a deep breath.
“Wow, I barely made it that time, thanks.” He glanced over at her. She was beautiful, her hair was a jumble of colors wound up tightly with the appearance that it would break free at any moment.
“Sure, no problem.” She tried not to stare at him. He was reeking of sexiness. He had dark hair slightly unruly and blue eyes that felt like they could look a hole right through you. He was tall, very tall and impeccably dressed. She self-consciously ran her hands down over her skirt. She could feel him watching her and she finally turned to look at him.
“Is there something on my face or something?” She noticed his surprise and then the grin that slid into its place.“No, not at all, you’re just beautiful, that’s all.” It was his turn to get a rise out of her. He saw the blush creep up her neck and into her face.“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes and stared back at the elevator, watching intently as it made its slow accent to the top floor.“You are, but I have to say it is refreshing.”
He failed to elaborate as the doors opened and he stepped out. “I hope to see you again.” He whistled as he strode away from the elevator, leaving her wondering what he was talking about.
Men were crazy, that much she was sure of. Finally the elevator climbed the last few floors and she exited it into a massive waiting area. There was a coffee bar on one end of the room which looked like a small café. She couldn’t believe the excess that people used. She made her way to the receptionist desk and gave her name.
“Randolph, you said Miss?”
“Yes, that’s right.” She noticed the receptionist glance around a bit before buzzing back to Mr. Montgomery’s office.
“Yes, ok, yes that’s fine, I’ll let her know.” She had glanced up at Amelia a few times before hanging up.
“Mr. Montgomery is on his way here now and as soon as he arrives I’ll send you back.”
With a huff, Amelia made her way over to an overstuffed chair in the lobby. He wasn’t even there yet. The whole thing was ridiculous. He was probably on some yacht somewhere while her grandmother was lying in a hospital sick. She felt the tension rising and she hoped he would get there soon before anything else happened.
Jacob made his way up the stairs to his office. She had been a real beauty that one. She was gorgeous, but in an unrefined way and she was direct, something many people never were in his life, it made him like her even more. He was kicking himself for not getting her name at the very least. For now he would just have to hope he would run into her again soon. She was in his building how hard could it be to find one woman?
He gathered up some paperwork from his desk and made his way over to the conference room. The receptionist had already called him ten minutes ago and told him, Amelia Randolph was there. He knew what kind of morning as ahead of him, but he had exited the elevator a couple of floors down so that he could sneak up the back way.
He didn’t need to be attacked in his own lobby. He quickly scanned the paperwork in his hands regarding the water testing site and frowned. This was not going to be a good meeting. At least he had chosen a conference room in the corner of the floor where they wouldn’t be bothered, or heard. Reluctantly, he buzzed up front and told the girl to bring her in.
It was ridiculous how long someone had to wait for a meeting. The lack of attendance only solidified her opinion of Jacob Montgomery. If he had been a real gentleman, if he cared, he would have at least been on time. Finally the blonde called her name and escorted her to a room at the far side of the building. When she entered, she simply stared at the blonde shut the door.
“You! Really? Did you know it was me or do you always say things like that to people in an elevator?” She crossed her arms and stared at him as he stood.Equally stunned, and a little disappointed he thrust his hand out to her. “No, I didn’t know it was you Miss Randolph.” He gestured for her to take a seat.
She was upset, she’d be lying is she said that the mystery guy from the elevator had made her feel that warm fuzzy feeling you get deep down. To find out he was that ass, Montgomery she had been dreading squashed any thoughts she’d had while waiting in the lobby. To think, she actually hoped to run into him again, so she could apologize for being so gruff and to figure out what he meant by those last words. Now she was sitting face to face with him.
It was difficult to think straight with her sitting there staring at him. She was all fire and ice at the same time and he was intrigued. There was simply no way the squawking shrill voice on the voicemails could belong to this woman. He shook his head and decided to get down to business.
“Miss Randolph I am glad we were able to get together finally. I understand you have concerns over the new water treatment plant we have put in and I assure you I am working hard to figure out where the problem is.” He sat forward looking at her intently.
“Listen, I know you think your gonna just give me some BS about the plant and how great it is. I don’t want to hear any of that. The fact of the matter is people are getting sick, or in the hospital. Something is wrong and I am just here to find out what you are going to do about it before I start asking people myself.” She leaned up in her chair meeting him eye to eye.
He almost couldn’t stand it. She was on fire, and beautiful. He would be amused watching her come to life if it were in any other situation. He was not used to women like this, so full of fire. Typically a woman would be a hellcat from time to time, but that was in the bedroom. If they started out like this he could only imagine… Damn, he was getting sidetracked.
“I don’t think you need to start asking anyone else, Miss Randolph. The fact of the matter is we have men down there working on it now. The most recent tests I have right here.” He pushed the papers over to her. “As you can see there is nothing showing that the mineral content is above average. Although the levels are normal at the plant I am still concerned about why this happened to you. I have no intention of letting it go until I am sure we have fixed the problem, if there is one.”
“All I know is that my Nana was fine and then the day after the water was running through your plant she started getting sick. She had been in the hospital three times and each time it’s after she goes home and starts using your water.” She pointed her finger at him for emphasis.
“I understand, Miss Randolph and I assure you there is nothing I won’t do to make this right, for you.” His eyes glittered at her dangerously as he emphasized the “for you.” She felt the heat rush through her as he watched her. She cleared her throat and glanced back down at the paperwork on the able.
“This paperwork can say whatever it wants, the truth of the matter is something is wrong and I intend to find out what it is.” She stood now and he rose with her.
“Fine, meet me at the plant tomorrow morning.” He wasn’t even sure what possessed him to say it. He knew very little about the mechanics of the plant itself, but he did have a full knowledge of the filtration system.
“What.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she looked up at him.
“Tomorrow, meet me at the plant. I’ll go take a look around myself and if you're there you can see things as they develop.” He crossed his arms and the two of them stood facing each other for a long moment.
The whole thing was dangerous. She knew before she agreed that this was going to go badly. Despite the anger she held at the company, she was attracted to him. She hated herself for it. He stood casually waiting for her to give him an answer. He was probably used to women throwing themselves at him all the time and she would be damned if she was one of them. He was off limits and she needed to turn off whatever attraction she had. He was just a stuffy suit running a business that hurt her Nana. With renewed spirit, she looked up at him.
“Fine, I'll meet you there, what time.” She said it with a deadly calm. Almost as if she was someone else. He didn’t like this side of her, it made him take a step back.
“9 sharp. Does that work for you?” He took a small step towards her and watched the blush start to creep back up again. She felt it too, he was sure of it. “Sure, that’s fine.” She turned to leave and opened the door to the room and stopped as he called her name. “Yes”.”
“Don’t be late.” He grinned as she shut the door with a bang and made her way out of the office.
Jacob Montgomery was a jerk, a total and unmistakable jerk. Not only that, he was arrogant and self-serving, just thinking about the way he stood there arms crossed without a care in the world made her want to scream. She rammed the car into gear and pulled out and headed to the hospital. She was still angry when she arrived.
Who did he think he was giving her orders anyway? She was a grown woman, almost as tall as he was and he thought he could just tell her what to do. Her family was the victim here. He was a bully, yes, that was it. He was just like those kids at the children’s home who would give her grief the first year especially. They threw their weight around, uncaring about anyone else. Yep! Jacob Montgomery was a no good bully! She walked into her Nana's room to find her sitting up and chatting happily with the nurse.
“Nana you look great!” Her anger was gone in an instant. The turnaround was almost unbelievable. Yesterday she had looked so sick still and in the two nights she had been here she had done a complete turnaround.
“Amelia sweetheart, come give me a hug.” She raised her arms up and Amelia hugged her tightly. She was so scared, every time she got better and went home the next time it would be worse.
“You must feel better Nana, I’m so glad. Every time you go home it makes you sick. It’s that damn water system and I am working on getting it taken care of.”
“Now, now Amelia we don’t know that for sure yet. “ She patted Amelia’s hand lovingly and leaned back into her pillows. “I may look better, but I am terribly weak still. What have you been up to today, dear you are all dressed up?” She snuggled back into her pillow and shut her eyes momentarily.
“I had a meeting that’s all. I met with Montgomery, to hash out things about the plant.” She whispered it, in hopes Nana wouldn’t really hear everything she said.
Her Nana’s eye fluttered open. “You what! Oh Amelia it won’t do it you get yourself all worked up. You know as well as I do that if you push too far you’re going to get into trouble. Plus, we all know what happens with that temper of yours.” She closed her eyes again, but not before giving Amelia a “You know what I mean” look.
“Yes, Nana I know all about my temper. In my defense, though I don’t really get too upset unless I have a real reason to.” She humbly looked down and started fighting with a string on the comforter covering the bed.
“Amelia, sweetheart, don’t misunderstand I love all your fire, but just last week you made the poor paperboy cry.” She gave a slight giggle before folding her hands over her lap.
“He was throwing the paper in the rose bushes Nana, how on earth can you climb in there and get it!”
Nana simply opened her eyes and gave Amelia a knowing glance. “I know, dear.” She patted her hand one last time and Amelia watched as she was soon fast asleep.
Amelia sighed, it wasn’t a lie. Her temper often got in her way. She liked to think that she was just passionate about certain things. Her work, her Nana and what was right. Besides, most of the time she was loud, but not angry. There was such a lack of common sense in some people she simply couldn’t help herself. She made her way across the room and opened her tablet to look at her schedule.
She had a new family to work with next week, but the rest of this week she was free. She hadn’t broached the subject of Nana coming to stay with her in her apartment yet. She knew it would be a fight.
Nana loved her house. It was where she and Harold had lived right after they got married and she had never stayed away from there unless she was in the hospital or when she had come to see Amelia graduate college in Maryland. It wasn’t that she didn’t understand.
The house had been here over half of her life. It was where she had learned to love, learned to trust again. It would always be a part of her life. She had to have Nana closer so that she could watch her more, be there if she needed anything.
Besides, her apartment was on the city water system in Ridgeville, not on the new “system” purchased from Montgomery Enterprises in Daniel Island. She could keep her safe if she would move in. She folded up her table and rested her head against the chair. She let her mind unravel the day’s events and found herself fuming once more over the words of Jacob Montgomery.
She decided to get a room in town for the next few nights. It might be a huge expense, but she needed to be there early tomorrow, and the water was still in question at her Nana’s, where she had been staying. She said her goodnights to Nana and made her way to a small and efficient hotel along the water. She had always enjoyed Charleston.
Even as a child she had loved the water, even when there was such a chill in the air like tonight. It was only mid-November and yet with temperatures like this maybe they would get some snow this year. The thought made her smile and think back about the snow when she had moved into Nana's house so long ago.
It was a long ride. It must have taken hours to get to the little white house, she was standing in front of. She looked up at the nice lady beside her who had decided to take her home. She took her hand. She was scared, but she didn’t want her to know. She had left the girls home and she hoped this was going to be ok.
The nice lady patted the hand in hers and they made their way up the steps. When the door opened, she took a deep breath in of cookies and warm air. She loved being warm and full, both things she knew the nice lady said she never had to worry about again. She watched and waited as the lady locked the door behind her. It was only then that she relaxed.
“I’ve decided that maybe you should call me Nana. I’m not your mother, but I hope to be there to help you grow up. How does that sound?”
“Nana… I like it.” She gave her a toothy smile and walked over towards a big picture on the wall of a man. “Who is he?” She hooked a thumb in the direction of the picture. Nana made her way over to her.
“That was my dear Harold. He went to Heaven a few months ago.” She gently touched the picture and then turned to Amelia. “Well, dear are you ready to see your room?”
“I get my own room?” Amelia had gaped at her and followed along behind Nana. When she opened the door, she could just stand there. The entire room was draped in pink and green. There were flowers on the large seat window and she had the softest pink blanket on her bed. There were pillows everywhere and Amelia rushed forward and immediately began to roll around the bed with them, giggling as she did. Nana laughed, pink may have been a bad choice this girl was not about to paint her nails all day she wanted to make a mess.
“The only thing left is to go buy you some clothes, we can do that tomorrow.” Amelia ran to hug her close, happy for the first real time in her life. At some point that first night she had been overwhelmed by it all and snuck into Nana's room. She waited but a second before Nana pulled the blankets back. Without a word she had climbed in and snuggled down in the warmth of the blankets.
The snow came that weekend and the two of them played in the yard and built half of a snowman. She had laughed more
in those two days than I her entire life combined. It’s how her new life started and now that same chill was in the air tonight. She was still smiling when she put her bags on the floor of her room. She had a nice view and this would be a good way to make efficient use of the time she had. She locked and relocked the door.
A habit of sorts since she was a child. She let her thoughts stray to Evan. She had spent the better part of her career looking for him, some sign of him. She always came up empty. Every lead would bring some closure to another family, but never hers. She decided to take a shower and start prepping for her day tomorrow. There was no telling what Montgomery had up his sleeve.
So far all Jacob knew was that she wasn’t married, and was adopted. He was scanning every piece of information about Amelia Randolph that he could. He needed to find something to connect them. To get her to relax some when he was around. She was 26, graduated from Maryland University. Worked at DSS on a flexible schedule.
She was practically broke, and had fairly good credit. He scanned her finances and noticed she spent a great deal of money looking for someone named Evan Hollinger. Whoever he was, she really wanted him found. Prior to age 12 there were no records for her. He sat back in his chair and spun to look out the window. Something about her fascinated him. Sure, she was beautiful, but that wasn’t it.
He had been around beautiful women most of his life. Something wholesome about her made him want to know more. Whatever it was he was not giving up. He was used to getting and doing what he wanted and he wasn’t going to start losing at the game now. She was all fire, and all talk. He would find a way to reach her and when he did, he would enjoy their time together. He smiled to himself before heading to take a shower.
The next morning was cold and gray. There was a bitter chill in the air that was hard to shake off. Amelia knew she needed to bundle up and she chose some casual clothes for the day. Denim and an oversized white sweater as well as her knee high leather boots. She put on her coat and hat, leaving her hair down for the extra layer of warmth. She glanced at the clock and swore. She was never late, ever. Why today of all days did she have to rush? She hastily grabbed her purse and made her way to her car. She didn’t even have time for coffee that certainly added to her mood. She climbed in and turned the car over and nothing happened. She tried again.