Four hours later Grayson returned to Jacks house. Walking through the door, he found Emma and Jessie laughing and arguing about who had the most cards. "Ladies?" Both women looked up and said, "Grayson, your back." Looking at Emma, he tilted his head to the side and with a look of concern taking in Emma's appearance. Her hair was standing up in a few spots and was that a noodle in her hair? Wow, I didn't think her hair was that long, looks like a damn halo. What is that on her suit? "Uh, Emma, are you okay?" "I'm just fine; I have been beating Jessie here at Gin all afternoon," Emma cheerfully replied, "Now tell us has the baby arrived? What is it?" Grayson was smiling broadly, looking over at Jessie and said, "Jessie, you have a new 9-pound 6-ounce grandson!" With that, Jessie jumped up from her chair and hugged Grayson tightly around his waist as her head only reached his chest. "A grandson! I have a grandson! Finally, after 13 granddaughters, I get a grandson!" With that, Jessie ran to the landline phone on the wall to begin calling all her girlfriends in her book club to tell them the good news.
Grayson looked at Emma slowly starting at the top of her head to her toes, coming back up to look into her eyes, he smiled slyly and said, "Looks like you had a fun afternoon, want me to drive you home?" Emma, feeling the closeness moved three steps backward, and replied: "My car is parked in the office ramp if you could give me a ride there." Grayson smiling wider and raising one eyebrow with slyness said, "The ramp closed 10 minutes ago, I can drive you home, and we can ride in together in the morning." Emma took two more steps backward slamming into the wall behind her. Standing straighter with her shoulders back, Emma turned on the ice in her blue eyes and replied, "I suppose you can drive me home, but I am capable of calling an Uber in the morning Mr. Graystone." Emma waved goodbye to Jessie and walked out the door. Grayson walked over to Jessie to hug her goodbye. Jessie hugged him back, and said "Be nice Grayson, that little girl is not used to a rascal like you." Grayson, who was turning to go out the door, replied, "I know Jessie, that is what makes it fun."
Jumping into the truck, Grayson looked at Emma and said, "Where to Miss?" Emma, nervous as a cat, turned to give Grayson her address and saw the smirk on his face. Sitting straighter in her seat, turning to look Grayson straight in the eye, she stated: "I live in the old church on Livingston." His smirk turned to surprise, "You live in a church?" Emma smiling, raising her eyebrow in amusement, responded with, "Well yes Grayson I do, I live there with the others." Emma turned to look out the window.
Grayson looking straight out the window focusing on his driving tried to get his thoughts in order. "She can't be a nun. Nuns do not look like that. Who are the other's?" Looking over at Emma quizzically, he thought, "Maybe it's a cult." Emma, who caught Grayson's expression in the side mirror of his truck, held back a giggle.
Pulling up to the curb, Grayson looked at the Old Church and the apartment for rent sign in the front and started to laugh. ‘It's an apartment building!" Emma, with a sly innocent smile on her face, said. "What were you expecting a real church?" Emma caught a shadow out of the corner of her eye and turned to find her father standing on the walkway. Grayson seeing a flash of fear cross her face, asked protectively, "Do you know him?" Emma looked at Grayson and sadly replied, "Yes, that is my father, and he is not happy with me. I will see you tomorrow." As Emma exited the truck, Grayson rolled the passenger window down so he could make sure Emma was okay with this man. Emma closed the door stepping up on the curb, looked at her father, and said, "Hi, Dad."
4
Howard looked angry while raising his voice, "Emma Christine Graystone, just what do you think you are doing? Why are you not at the penthouse I arranged for you? What is that on your suit? Who is that man who just dropped you here?" Emma taking her father's arm with a nervous smile, Emma was thinking, I wanted my independence, so here goes. Emma nervously said, "Come on, dad, let me show you my new apartment. I have a wonderful garden patio, we can enjoy some wine together, and I can answer all your questions." As Emma, was walking up the sidewalk to the front of the church, she turned and gave Grayson a quick wave. Grayson, shaking his head, said to himself, "Well, I see where she gets her bossiness from." He rolled the window up and pulled away from the curb heading for his home on the nearby reservation.
Opening the door to her apartment, Emma flipped on the light and moved aside so Howard could enter through the doorway. Emma closed the door behind them and heard Howard exclaim, "You chose this over a 2400 square foot penthouse? Have you lost your mind? Your closet at home is bigger than this."
Emma giggling opened the fridge removed a bottle of vintage wine, and took two glasses off the counter. She looked at Howard, saying, "Come on, Dad, you have to see my garden patio; you're going to love it?" Leading the way, she turned on the twinkling patio lights and sat at the table pointing to the chair next to her, "Give me a minute to change out of these clothes into something more comfortable, you open the wine, and by the time you pour us a glass I will be back!" With that, Emma raced into the apartment. Howard taking hold of the wine bottle looked at the door, thinking, "I know how that works." Opening the bottle, he poured himself a large glass of wine and sat down, looking around the garden patio. Taking in the greenery and wrought iron fence, he thought, "Christine would have loved this." Howards, thoughts continued, "Like mother, like daughter." It was then Emma rushed back into the garden patio, "See I told you it wouldn't take long. So, what do you think about this patio, Dad?" Howard looking seriously at Emma asked, "Are you sure, Emma? Why would you want to live here and not the penthouse? Exactly how much does a closet like this cost a month?" Emma laughed, "Not as much as the penthouse and you did tell me my expense account is limited, but I will have to buy a new suit though, I have seemed to ruin the one I had on. Really though Dad, I sincerely like this apartment, it's comfortable, I love this garden patio it's calming and peaceful, besides I will be working most of the time anyway." Howard raising his eyebrows, asked, "What was that on your suit? Perhaps you would like to explain to me how that happened on your first day of work? I would also like to know who that man was that dropped you off!" Frowning Emma looked at her dad saying, "Spaghetti sauce, it is spaghetti sauce, and I don't think it will come out." Howard suddenly burst out in a loud laugh! "Spaghetti sauce? Please, I want to hear how you managed to get spaghetti sauce on your suit." With a teasing smile, Emma responded, "I played nanny to Jack Thomas's two adorable little girls today while he took his wife to the hospital to have their baby boy. It was Hope's way of saying welcome; she threw a handful of her spaghetti at me as a hello wave. But that's not the best part I changed a diaper; I admit I almost vomited, but I successfully got the diaper on the right way."
Howard spitting a mouth of wine across the garden patio, looked in shock at Emma, "Someone let you care for their children? Well, will wonder's never cease. I would have liked to have seen that." "Now tell me about the man who dropped you off." Emma, with a sudden look of annoyance on her face, said "That's Grayson Blackfeather, he's on the project I am working for at Green Touch Renewables, so is Jack. We were at lunch today when Jack's wife called and was in labor, Jack's mother hadn't arrived yet to care for the children, so I offered to care for the children, and he gave me a ride home since my car is in the office parking ramp. Let me tell you about my first-day dad".
With that, Emma began to tell her dad the specifics of the project. "Dad, I think I am going to like this project, all though I am the only woman on the team, Martin Stevenson is the chairperson of the team, and he let everyone know I will be conducting the administrative work on the project, not consulting as we discussed. Were you aware of this dad?”
Howard, hearing her question, did not answer her instead he looked around the garden patio, saying "Emma, maybe I should have one of my men keep an eye on the apartment, I don't know if I like the idea of your living here alone. How are you getting around?" With a snicker, Emma said, "Well Dad I am renting a 2018 lime green convertible Volkswagen Beetle, and I call her Sgt. Pepper, she's beautiful. I wish I could
show her to you, but she is locked in the parking ramp. How about tomorrow?" Howard shook his head, replied, "I have to leave in the morning. I need to get back. I am staying at the penthouse tonight and flying out for New Jersey in the morning. We still have your trust fund to talk about." Emma smiled nervously and said, “Don’t you have a few calls to make or something? I am fine dad, just taking my first steps in life on my own.” Looking at his watch, he continued, "I must get going, you have work tomorrow to prepare for, and I need to make those calls from the penthouse." Emma walked the short distance to her apartment door, holding it open for Howard. Giving her dad a quick hug, she said: "Bye dad, I love you. I will call you on Friday." Howard looked down at Emma, "Are you sure you don't want to come to the penthouse with me? I don't like leaving you here." Smiling, Emma said, "I'm fine dad, I will lock the door after you leave, see I have a bolt lock." Kissing her cheek, Howard walked out towards his rented Lexus waving at the man in the Black SUV. The man Carmine DeLuca arranged to keep an eye on Emma. He would have to hurry; he was already 30 minutes late for his meeting.
The next morning at 7:30, Emma was searching for her cell phone to call a taxi to drive her to the office when she heard a knock on the door. Frustrated, she whipped the door open to find Grayson standing there, "You ready to go?" Grayson asked. Emma was looking surprised, said, "You came! I'm ready, well almost I'm just looking for my cell phone, I can't seem to find it." Grayson was looking in the apartment and seeing several expensive outfits thrown across the bed, pointed at the pile of clothes, stating, "Couldn't decide what to wear today? You should maybe start there under all that." Emma, tossing clothing items from one end to the other on the bed, found her phone under her dark blue pants. "There it is! Let me grab my bag". Emma ran to the garden patio to retrieve her bag and came back in the apartment, saying, "Let's go. I don't want to be late." Shaking his head, smiling, Grayson said, "Your chariot awaits madam."
At approximately 8:06 am, Emma arrived in the meeting room as arranged from the day before. Emma quickly looked around the room for Martin and found Steve Hopkins waiting for her, "You are late, that is not an acceptable practice on this team, we're behind schedule. Let me show you your office, and we will go over your job description." Steven walked out of the meeting room and proceeded down the hallway to a corner office. Emma was trying to keep up when she saw where Steve was going, she thought sarcastically, "Yes, a corner office. Perfect for a so-called Project Administrator."
Following Steve inside the new office, Emma stopped and caught her breath. "My God, this office is the same color as my bedroom at home." moving to the large window behind the mahogany lawyer's desk. Looking out the window, she looked at the scene of downtown Flagstaff below. She said, "This view is amazing!" Hearing a knock on the door, Emma quickly turned from the window to see numerous men pushing moving carts stacked with boxes coming into the room. Steve was pointing to the corner of the room, said, "You can start unloading them there." "Emma, please take a seat at your desk, and I will go over your job duties." Emma sat down in the chair, still watching the men come in and unload boxes. "All these boxes, Steve? What exactly might their purpose be?" Emma asked. Steve, while offering a cold smile, replied, "These boxes, exactly 103 of them is the core of your job duties. These contain the documents relating to our last four projects and this project. As Project Administrator, your job is to organize these files by year, then project, scanning each document in full and placing them in the proper order on our server." Steve handed Emma a notecard that held the servers file information. Emma filled with shock, "You honestly expect me to scan four years of documents? I understood my title was Project Consultant, not Project Administrator." Steve sternly answered, "Yes, your title was Consultant, we thought to stay in conformity with what do you call it? Women's equal rights in the job? We wanted you to feel that your job title was equal to the men's on the team. Do you have any questions, Ms. Graystone?"
Steve asked, sitting forward in his chair, entering Emma's bubble of space. Emma sat back in her chair, to put a bit more distance between herself and Steve put on her best haughtiest expression. Then moving closer to her desk and placing her perfectly manicured hands crossed on her desk, she replied, "No questions at all Mr. Hopkins, when will the scanner arrive?" Steve taken aback by the tone of her voice rose to leave, "The scanner will be arriving later this afternoon at which time you will receive instruction on how to use the device, have a good day Ms. Graystone." Steve walked out of the office, sharply shutting the door.
Emma looked around the room thinking, "Must have touched a nerve, 103 boxes, this is going to suck, but do-able it is, three weeks tops." She walked over to the high stacked boxes and pulled one out. Emma placing the box on her desk removed the lid and pulled a few of the files out of the front of the box. After glancing through the data, her brows furrowed deeply, "What the hell is this, these are two different projects two different years." Turning the box around and looking at all sides, she quickly strode to the stack of boxes, "Not one of these boxes are marked by project or year, who keeps files like this? Three weeks just turned into six."
Emma spent the morning making it through two of the boxes. Looking at her desk and then at the stack of boxes, she thought, "I am going to need a new shelving unit." Standing to grab her bag, she heard a knock at the door. Walking to the door, intent on leaving, Emma opened the door to find Grayson Blackfeather standing in her way.
Grayson with a file in hand said, "Hopkins, said to bring you my environmental report to make copies." Emma took the record from Grayson and turned walking back into the office to place the file on her desk. Grayson followed Emma into the office and stared at the towering stack of boxes. "Um, wanted to feel at home in your office? It's going to take you a year to move in." Emma swiftly turning and looking at Grayson with disdain, replied, "Do you have your truck in the parking ramp?" Grayson, with a look of surprise, said, "Yea, remember we drove it here this morning." Emma quickly walked to the doorway, looked back at Grayson, smiling, and said, "Great, you're taking me shopping. Let's go." Emma walked out of the office, heading towards the elevator. Grayson was shaking his head in thought, "Why not, this could be interesting." Grayson followed Emma in the elevator, and as the doors closed, he looked at Emma and asked, "What are we searching for today?". Emma replied, "Office furniture, a new shelf to be exact." Climbing into Grayson's truck, she pulled her notebook out of her bag and began to make a to-do list, while they drove to the furniture store.
After walking the extended length of the large office furniture store three times over, Grayson sat down in one of the demonstration office chairs saying, "Emma, I am just going to sit down here while you continue to walk another ten miles shopping for one little shelf." Emma catching site of a shelf on the back wall, said, "That's it, get up Grayson, I found what I want." Walking to the back wall, she found a wooden oak shelf that stood 6 feet high and was 12 feet long filled with slots across the top length of the unit and two large lateral file cabinets below. Emma knew that this shelf would be perfect for organizing the files. She could label the shelves by year and project. Waving down a store associate, she asked, "Do you have this in Mahogany?" The store associate pulling his pocket appliance out pushed a few buttons and responded, "Yes, we have just one left."
Emma happily said, "Wonderful, we will take it. I would like you to load it in the back of my escorts truck. Grayson, if you could help this nice man, I will go up and pay for my purchase. What is the price?"
The Store Associate taking two steps back replied, "Fifty-two hundred dollars, mam, plus tax." With a wave, Emma turned to go to the cashier's area to make her purchase, saying, "Perfect." The Store Associate stood watching Emma walk away in amazement, while Grayson, stood and watched in amusement. He slapped the Associate on the shoulder, and laughingly said, "Well, you heard her, I have a feeling she does not like to be kept waiting."
After loading the new shelf into the truck and securing it, Grayson found Emma standing outside th
e front of the store tapping her foot and her arms crossed. Pulling up beside her with the window down, Emma said, "Well it is about time, I have arranged to have two interns at the office to help you unload my shelf and get it placed in my office. I have also taken the liberty to order us lunch, which will be arriving in thirty minutes, so we must get going. What are you waiting for." Grayson smiled, crookedly at her, and replied, "I'm waiting for you to get in the truck." Sheepishly Emma got in the passenger seat of the truck.
An hour later, the shelf was in place. Emma cleared a spot on her desk for lunch delivery. "I hope you like box sandwich lunch's, I don't have much time for anything else today, would you like the Ham and Swiss or the Roast Beef?" Settling into the chair that sat in front of Emma's desk, Grayson responded, "Ham and Swiss." Emma distributed the lunches. While taking her first bite of the Roast Beef Sandwich, she admired her new wall unit.
Grayson asked, "Say, that's a nice shelf and all, but what are you going to do with it?" Emma replied while pointing at her stack of boxes, "You assumed these were personal items, they are the paperwork from the last four years of projects and this current project. Each box holds bits and pieces of each project that need to be scanned and organized." Grayson furrowed his eyebrows thoughtfully and asked, "Who brought you these? Is this in your job description?" Emma walked over to the stack of boxes bringing one over, placing it on the edge of her desk. Grayson stood to look at the files in the box gazing through a few of them, "What the hell?"
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