by Annie Pelle
“Why did they not track you down at your apartment or your work?”
“None of them knew my address or had ever been to my apartment. And I had just gotten the job with Davis Enterprises but we were so busy with party preparations that I hadn’t told them where I was going to be working.”
CeCe quietly viewed her friend’s ravaged face. This story was sad for all the parties involved. “Sarah, thank you for telling me. What are you going to do about Dalton? Doesn’t he want to know more about the foundation and how to get involved?”
“I can handle him on a professional basis but Friday night he tried to be personal and friendly and I am not ready for that. I have talked to him a couple of time on the phone. He tried to turn it personal then too but I just kept calling him Mr. Matthews until he got frustrated and gave up. He still wants to meet with me on the foundation though.”
“What about Greg and I going to Stage West to look at the horses?”
“Go, you will love it. It is a beautiful facility and the horses are exceptional. Your visit has nothing to do with me. Your schedule is free for Saturday; do you want me to set it up for then?”
“Uh, sure. We can look at horses somewhere else.”
“No, I know David Matthews has the best quality livestock in the country. You will get a great horse.”
“Go ahead and set it up. I gather you will not be going with us.”
“Not for any anything would I go with you.” Sarah replied with a friendly glare.
CeCe and Sarah switched to the schedule for the week and went on with their tasks for the day. Sarah was going to stop in the foundation office for a quick check on things but was headed home to rest more. That evening she wrote in her journal At least CeCe was supportive when I told her my story. I never wanted to tell that story to anyone; it is still as fresh and as painful as it was five years ago. I wish I had never gone to the barn that morning. Or maybe it is better to know his true thoughts about me. I need to be really prepared for Thursday so that it is all about the foundation. Get a grip Sarah, what else would it be.
Monday afternoon Sarah went to Greg’s office to go over his weekly schedule. Tyler was handling the phones today so she waved as she knocked on the office door and went it.
“Hi Sarah” greeted Greg
“Hi yourself. How did you like the party?
“You did an outstanding job. I received many compliments on your behalf. I think the foundation is going to do very well because of that night.”
“It wouldn’t have happened without you and CeCe. I am so grateful. And Tyler and Amy took my plans and made it magic. They outshined what I had even imagined. I would like to give them a bonus.”
“The checks are already being prepared and should be here tomorrow. I will call all of you to the office when they get here.”
“Thank you so much.”
He waved away her thanks. “Now to drastically change the topic, CeCe told me your story with the Matthews. I want you to let me handle Dalton from now on. When is your meeting with him and am I free that day to take your place?”
She was shaking her head as he got halfway through the question. “I can and will handle Dalton on foundation matters. Besides you already told him that he would be meeting with me not you.”
“I will just tell him you had another urgent matter to deal with for me and so I took your place. I don’t want to make hard this for you.”
“Greg, I appreciate your wanting to do this; but, I need to do this. I can handle Dalton professionally. I will not be going to Stage West with you if that is okay.”
“Of course. And if you change your mind, I will be glad to handle Dalton.”
“No, it is my job. Besides after I give him the information on Thursday, what other contact would we need to have?”
“I guess you have a point there.”
“Now, here is your schedule for the week.” Sarah had taken care of most of the correspondence from the prior week. She would finish up later today. Greg’s schedule was pretty light this week. He was taking a short break between movies also. He and CeCe were enjoying some much needed relaxation. Sarah reflected on her conversation with Greg as she walked back to her residence. She really did have the best job and friends in the world.
Chapter 7
Thursday morning Sarah was doing last minute preparations for her meeting with Dalton when the first vertigo attack hit her. Sarah spoke to her image in the mirror “No, not now. Ok, maybe it was a one-time attack. I will just rest for a couple of minutes to get my bearings again.” She resumed her preparations a little more cautiously. “I can’t get too worked up now, the meeting is in a couple of hours and I have to leave shortly. I think I will ask to borrow Tim though.” She knocked on Greg’s door. “I am going to leave to go to Matthews International soon; would it be alright if I had Tim drive me? Will you be needing him?”
“No, we can drive ourselves if we go anywhere. You usually drive yourself, are you alright?”
“Well, no, you know how it is. But I’ll be okay as long as I am not driving.”
“Ok, cancel this meeting if you need to, the foundation would survive.”
“No, I want this over and done with then my association with the Matthews can go back to the way it was. I’ll call you after the meeting.”
Tim delivered Sarah to Matthews International’s corporate office a few minutes before two pm. Sarah was nervous about this meeting. Dalton would know now that she and Gabby had kept in contact for all the time she was supposed to have been gone. I just have to keep talking about the foundation and not let it get personal. The security guard called Gloria to come and escort Sarah to Dalton’s office. Sarah was led into Dalton’s personal office. His space was just like him, big. There was a conference table, a sitting area, a huge desk and every electronic gadget that a modern day office needed. Dalton rose to greet Sarah with a smile on his face. “Welcome Sarah.”
“Thank you, Mr. Matthews, for meeting with me.”
“I am not going to meet with you if you call me “Mr. Matthews” again, call me Dalton.”
“I hope you enjoyed the gala the other night. Did you bid on any of the auction items?”
“Yes, Lindsay wanted that trip to Greece but we were not the highest bidder. You had some very nice items for auction.”
“You can thank CeCe for that. She rounded up her “Hollywood” friends for all those.”
“Impressive” Dalton said with a wink. “Now, tell me about your foundation from start to finish.”
“HQ Service Foundation was started about a year ago. As you know, I am the personal assistant to Greg and CeCe Davis. We were discussing charitable work and how to have them involved. Greg mentioned that it would be easier if their name attached to something because it would probably be a selling point to others who would want to get involved. I had had an idea about giving a helping hand to those who need it. Those people with chronic illnesses that are not fatal like cancer, but still a disability and can cause some real problems with someone’s life. So I pitched my idea to Greg and CeCe and they agreed to put their name on it and that I would run it.”
“So what are your services?” asked Dalton
“Why don’t I walk you through as if you were a new client? Your first contact with the foundation would be a call to a “greeter”. You would be asked if you had an illness that was already diagnosed or not. If not, the greeter would take down your name and contact information. At that point you would be sent to the research department.”
“At the research department they will help you to walk through the medical sites on the Internet to help you get a starting place for asking questions of a doctor. Sometimes the research can be one call or many calls. If you already had a diagnosis, you always have the option of speaking with the research department in case you need more information.”
“When the client has a diagnosis, depending on the seve
rity of the illness at that stage, we assign a case worker to you. That case worker will meet with you and discuss financial, emotional and physical needs. For example, do you need to have ramps in your house? Will you eventually need a Seeing Eye dog? After the case worker’s initial interview, she or he meets with the foundation’s medical doctors, psychologists and a research department employee. The team will work up possible scenarios of care, what long-term this illness is going to mean like permanent disability from work. We also ask the client if it okay to discuss their condition with their doctor. Most people say yes to that, if not we run background checks on them to see if they maybe trying to get help with they don’t need it.”
“Good idea.” said Dalton.
“The services then range from financial help like making a mortgage payment to emotional help like the weekly online support group and family counseling. We have a medical doctor and psychologist on the chats so that they can look for people who may need assistance or direct them to seek their doctor’s help right away.”
“We have a doctor in every field that is available to us to ask questions. We have financial assistance available from several of the banks and insurance companies. We try to find employers you will allow employees to work at home or work odd hours. We have a research department that can find anything; you met the head of that department the other night, Cameron. We hope to start having lobbyists at the State and Federal levels to begin to bring some change to the disability laws.”
“I am really impressed, that is a service organization.”
“Thank you. We try to keep to our mission every day. And every day we get new callers needing help, especially since that newspaper article.”
“How many are on staff and how do you do this job and be a personal assistant?” queried Dalton
“Well, we have about 50 people on staff now. And thanks to technology they can mostly work from home. I have done my own research on them to know I have hired excellent staff. Two of the best are my direct assistants, Tyler and Amy. They listened to my mission and have far exceeded me in what this foundation can do. They are also my assistants with Greg and CeCe. If I need to do foundation business, then one of them is with the Davises. But mainly, I have hired a great staff so I delegate a lot of foundation personal care to those who know best.”
“You are a good manager if you have already succeeded in doing that. Want to come work for me?” asked Dalton with a wink.
Sarah skipped answering that question by taking a drink of the water that Gloria had provided for her.
“Well, I originally went to Greg so that Matthews International could become involved in some capacity in addition to a donation. I will have to think on what we should do additionally, but if you have your accounting department contact my chief financial officer we can move the funds for the donation.”
“That is very generous of you. Desiree will contact him tomorrow.”
“Yes, Desiree said she “handled the money”.”
“I hope she and Cameron were good companions to you at the party.”
“They fulfilled their mission. They were very nice to us. We didn’t want for anything.”
“Good. I’m glad. I am very glad for this opportunity to meet with you also. Thank you again. If we can be of any assistance to you please call on us.” Sarah said as she stood to leave
“Please don’t rush off, I’d like to talk to you more.”
“Did you have more questions about the foundation?”
“Not right now. I want to talk to you.”
“I’m sorry, I am on a tight schedule today and I need to get back.”
“I was hoping you would have dinner with me tonight.”
Sarah hid her surprise at the statement. “No, that isn’t possible. I must be going. Thank you again.”
“I’ll walk you out.”
“That isn’t necessary; I know you have a busy schedule also. Goodbye.”
“I will see you at the ranch on Saturday.” Dalton said as Gloria escorted her to the elevator. Sarah thought to herself; I am not going anywhere near Stage West on Saturday.
Sarah’s first stop when she arrived back at the house was to see Greg. “How did the meeting go?” he asked as she entered his office. “It was fine. He is going to send a donation and think about how else Matthews International can be involved.”
“Great news. Sit down I have something to give you. Just let me call CeCe.”
Sarah took a moment to relax as they waited for CeCe. CeCe joined them a moment later and after a kiss for Greg and a hug for Sarah she joined Sarah on the sofa.
“Sarah, we have a special gift for you because of all your hard work keeping us on track and for the fabulous work you did on the party.”
“But it is my pleasure to do those things. I do not need a gift.”
“That is why you are so special and also why you are getting the gift. We have added a bonus to your next check for starters but we also want you to have this right now.” CeCe smiled.
This was a diamond necklace and earrings. “I’m stunned. These are so beautiful. Thank you.” Sarah was overwhelmed at their generosity.
CeCe moved to give her friend a hug. “Now, how did it go with Dalton?”
“I kept it professional when he tried to talk and invite me to dinner tonight. Then he said he would see me at the ranch on Saturday. I left without replying to that statement.”
“He is going to ask us where you are when you don’t show on Saturday.” CeCe stated – “What do you want us to say?”
Sarah scoffed at her employers. “He won’t ask, he doesn’t like me around remember. He was caught off guard by my being the president of the foundation. Once today’s meeting was over and his involvement was passed to his CFO, he won’t remember my name.”
“He asked you to dinner, Sarah.” Greg countered “He will remember your name.”
“It was a just a reflex action. He wasn’t serious. I know him remember. He doesn’t like me.”
CeCe thought Sarah was kidding herself but with a thoughtful look to Greg left Sarah’s comment alone.
“Now, Tim will drive you to the ranch on Saturday at ten. It is about an hour’s drive from here. Nathan, whom you have met, and David Matthews will be there when you look at the horses. Ok?”
Sarah, CeCe and Greg finished their discussions and Sarah headed to the office to see Amy. “Hi Amy, how are things here?” inquired Sarah as she entered Amy’s space at the foundation office.
“Everything is going well, we have had a lot of calls this week and the process has begun on some potential new clients. I will have some information for you as soon as the preliminary reports are done. So far we have about 15 potential new clients. That is our best week ever.”
“Wonderful news. I needed that. I so much want this foundation to be a success. It can do a lot of good.” Sarah said as she walked to her office. “Any messages I need to return?”
“No, you are still on vacation. Besides Greg said you had an attack today. Go home and stay home until Monday.” said Amy in her motherly voice
“I will, my computer is here and I need to send some emails then I will go home. You can take off now if you want to.” Sarah waved her out of the building.
Sarah sat down to check her email and decided she hadn’t talked to Gabby this week.
Gabby,
How are you? Has there been any more discussion on the secret?
You probably know but Greg and CeCe are coming to the ranch Saturday. And before you even ask, No, I will not be coming with them. I just can’t. I wish things had changed but they haven’t.
Talk to you later.
Love
Sarah
Sarah answered her remaining emails and closed up the office for the day. She was tired, but that was usual after an attack. I just need a few more days of rest she thought to herself as she entered her house. Just more rest.
Saturday was a beautiful Arizona day. The color of blue in the sky is hard to find anywhere else. It would be perfect day for touring the ranch. Sarah waved Greg and CeCe off and went home to relax for the day. She had to be on call for Greg and CeCe but other than that she had the day to herself. After a hectic few weeks, she was really glad for the break. All she planned to do today was to read a good book by the pool.
Greg and CeCe arrived at Stage West and were greeted by Gabby and Nathan. “Welcome to Stage West, we are so glad you are able to come to visit.”
“Thank you for allowing us to come.” Greg replied. “We have been looking forward to this all week.”
Gabby directed them to the living room “Please come into the house for a few minutes while we wait for the Matthews to join us. I know that Sarah wouldn’t come, she emailed me. But I haven’t told the others yet. I don’t know how they are going to take it. They had planned on her coming home.” Gabby was wringing her hands by the time that David came into the living room.
“Hello, I am David Matthews; welcome to Stage West.” David said extending his hand to Greg.
“Thank you for having us. This is my wife, CeCe.”
“Hello CeCe.” David moved to shake her hand. “My sister Lindsay will be down in a minute and Dalton in Phoenix for a meeting but will be here later. Where is Sarah, we expected her?”
CeCe fielded the question. “She planned for just the two of us to come this time.”
Lindsay had arrived at the door to the living room just as CeCe was answering the question. Her eyes went to David with a hidden question. David ignored the question he saw there and went to stand beside her in support. “Lindsay you remember Greg and CeCe?”
Lindsay found her voice and replied “Oh course, welcome to our home. Would you like to look at the horses first?”
Greg and CeCe nodded and following Lindsay, David and Nathan out to the stable. “This is a massive operation you have here David.” Greg commented.
“Yes, we have the largest and finest breeding program in the country. We have our own livestock that we keep for our own enjoyment. We have stock we sell and stock we breed. Let’s find you a great one.”