Unwanted Fate (4 page)

I make it to my office, and Kristin has cleaned and organized everything to make it look like an office, not my living space. A cup of coffee and a breakfast sandwich sit next to the keyboard. I unbutton my jacket, sit down in my oversized black leather chair, and flip my computer screen on. While it flickers to life, I take a sip of the black coffee in front of me, and it is the perfect temperature. As the smell of the sandwich hits my nose, my stomach growls, reminding me I’ve not eaten since brunch at the country club yesterday.

The new email notification pops up on the screen, so I click the notification box and read the email. I check the other messages while I drink my coffee and eat. A phone call should have been placed instead of sending me multiple emails on the same topic. I push my empty cup off to the side and pick up my office phone to call the financial analyst under me to address the pressing issue that is sitting in my email.

“Good morning, Patrick,” Neil Rodhe says after the second ring.

“Neil. My email is blowing up this morning with reports of no growth for this quarter. We were projected to have at least five percent growth.” The line goes silent. “Neil?”

He clears his throat. “This is the first I’ve heard of this. Let me see what I can find out—”

“You should have been the first to know about the potential shortcomings. You’re the manager of the department. Be in my office at noon and tell me what the hell is going on.”

“Will do, talk then—” I slam down the phone, not waiting to hear any more of the BS excuses from his mouth.

I press the button on the intercom for Kristin. “Yes, Patrick?”

“Neil Rodhe will be here at noon for a meeting. Cancel my 1 pm appointment, clear my schedule for the rest of the day, and have lunch delivered in. Thank you for the coffee and sandwich this morning.”

“You’re welcome. Do you need anything for the meeting?”

“Yes, please get me the projected growth reports for this quarter and the actual growth year to date reports.”

“Will do.”

“Thank you.” I remove my finger from the button and get to work figuring out what the hell has happened to our projection numbers.

Kristin knocking on the door and entering my office pulls me away from the reports I’ve been looking at since she brought them to me this morning.

“Lunch is here.”

“Place it on the sideboard, please. Neil should be here in a few—” He walks in before I can get the rest of the sentence out. “Kristin, please hold my calls.”

“Yes, sir. Mr. Rodhe.” He nods as she walks out the door.

“We can sit over here so we can eat lunch while discussing the numbers. I hope there is an explanation behind the emails I received.” I look him in the eyes, he quickly darts his eyes to a folder in his hands and places it on the table. “Drink?” I ask as I hold up a bottle of water and a Coke.

“Water is fine. I ran the numbers myself, Patrick. And whoever had entered the projections last week made a huge error,” he says, rummaging through the stack of papers. “The projection is on track for five percent. The analyst completely left out India’s number. They are the driving force right now.”

I place the water and his lunch on the table and I do the same with mine. Taking a drink of water, I let it flow over my tongue, hydrating my mouth. “Do you know who would forget such an important piece of information?” I’m concerned because neglect like this can cause people to lose their positions.

“A newer employee, I’ve reprimanded her,” he says, but it sounds like he is making excuses to me. His lack of eye contact makes me wonder if there is something else going on that he isn’t telling. I’ll let it go for now.

“Sounds like she might need to be retrained, please make sure that she is,” I say between bites of lunch.

“Good idea. I’ll get on that when I return to my office.” He crosses his legs and uncrosses them, trying to get comfortable.

“While you’re here, we will go over all the financial reports of every department so we can address any other issues.”

“Okay,” he says with a slight look of disgust on his face.

“You have time, right?”

“Yes, of course.” He sits rigidly in the chair.

“Good. Let’s get underway,” I say with a slight smile and a nod.

Three hours later, we’ve gone over every line of the twenty-six page report. I’ve highlighted some areas that are showing in the red and I’ll address those numbers with the corresponding department.

“Thank you, Neil, for getting this straightened out.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Make sure that your employees follow the correct protocol next time.”

“I’ll make sure it is addressed when I get to my office.”

“Please copy me on the memo.”

“Will do. Anything else?”

“I think we are done for now.”

“Okay, if you think of anything else, give me a call. I’ll be in the office the rest of the day.”

“Thanks, Neil.” He stands up and I stand with him, offering him my hand. He hesitantly shakes it, and he seems slightly aloof. I’ll have to ask Kristin if she’s heard any rumors about him.

I walk to the door and open it for Neil, and at the sound of the door opening, Kristin turns to face me.

“Mr. Matheson, you have a few messages. Also, your sister called and said it’s important that you call her as soon as you can,” she says as she walks over to me, handing me the messages.

“Thank you, Kristin,” I walk to my office, closing the door behind me, pick up my cell phone off my desk, and sit in my chair. I wonder what is so important that Addison couldn’t leave a voicemail for?

I search through my contacts, looking for her number and press send when her name appears on the screen. The phone rings and rings, and I think it’s about going to voice mail and I hear her voice.

“Patrick…it’s Dad,” she hoarsely answers.

“What happened?” I ask without emotion in my voice.

“He had a stroke. It’s not looking good.”

“Where is he?” I couldn’t care less about my father, but I won’t tell my sister that. She doesn’t know anything that I lived through with him.
You’re worthless.
I was seven when she was born, and she only saw the good of Dad. To her, he is the best father ever, but she didn’t have to live through his abuse, both mentally and physically. Honestly, what the SOB gets is what he deserves.

“He’s in the CCU at University of Nevada Reno Hospital. I’m staying with him right now. He’s still unconscious, but all of the tests show that he still has brain activity so that’s good.”

“Okay, if anything else happens, let me know. I can’t leave work right now,” I lie. I don’t want to be in the same room as the man, unconscious or not.

“Are you sure?” she says in between sniffles.

“Yes, but if you need anything call me okay. I’ll have my phone on me.” I feel a little guilty for lying.

“Alright, Patrick. I love you.”

“I love you too, sis,” I say truthfully.

I press end button, and I hope that I don’t have to make an appearance at the hospital anytime soon.

T
he center is bustling with activity when I pull into the parking lot. Today is our community celebration, and it’s drawing the attention of the media and city officials because we are receiving a grant from CU Gold Company. The center director and I applied for it over six months ago, and we were afraid that we didn’t get the grant until the company contacted us a few weeks ago. The celebration is the perfect opportunity to accept the grant for the community.

This morning I put in a little more effort in choosing my attire, a light blue skirt business suit with a white blouse, because I have a feeling that my boss Kelly Lui will have me be the one in front of the camera accepting the check. I want to make sure I make a good impression for the center.

As I walk to the entrance, I see Victor decorating the entrance with brightly colored balloons and streamers in various hues of orange and yellow.

“Good morning, Victor,” I say with a big smile.

“Hey, Emily. It’s a mad house in there. Kelly is running around, going crazy. Maybe once she sees you’re here she’ll calm down,” he says with a chuckle.

“She’s here?” She normally doesn’t arrive until eight or eight thirty. Some days it’s nine in the morning. She stays later in the evening, though.

“Yes, and so is most of the office staff.”

“Sounds like I might want to get in there. Talk to you later.”

“Good luck.” He shakes his head as he laughs.

I hurry through the open entrance doors and pick up my pace to the main office, and I hope I didn’t miss a memo stating I needed to be here earlier. The office door is closed, and I peek in the glass before I make it to the door, seeing Kelly pacing.

“Good morning, everyone,” I say as I walk in the door and head to my office.

“Emily! Great, you’re here,” she says as she pulls me in the opposite direction to her office.

“Um, was I supposed to be here earlier?” I say a little worried.

“No, but I was worried you wouldn’t be here,” the frazzled older lady rushes out.

“I wouldn’t miss today for anything…” The statement dies on the last word. They know the kind of week I’ve had, and they know that a few members of the military will be attending today. “I know how important today is. I’m glad to be here,” I say with a smile.

“Good. The presentation will be at eleven, after they present the check, you will need to do a small photo op and a short interview with the CBS affiliate.” Say what?

“Are you sure you don’t want to do it. What if I fumble with my words, what if I forget what to say? What if—”

“You’ll do just fine. I have faith in you. You’re the Community Outreach Director, and it’s time for all of Reno to meet you and know who you are.”

“Do I look okay? Oh my. I’m nervous.”

“You look delightful as usual. Just be yourself and everything will flow out naturally.”

“Thank you. That is kind of you to say.” I smile at her compliments.

“Just the truth. Emily. I’m going to get out there and make sure that everything is organized and set up for the community day. I’ll see you in a bit.” She rushes out of her office, leaving me behind.

I giggle and smile at her craziness as I head to my office to unlock the door, and as I open the door, the scent of Nate greets me. While going through his clothes on Monday, I decided I couldn’t part with his Navy sweatshirts, T-shirts, and sweats. I took most of them home, leaving a couple of each here. Kids can be messy at times and I end up wearing their creations. I smile at the thought and get to my morning routine—feeling off because I’m running behind. I turn on my computer and lock away my belongings, and I try not to think about today’s activities because I’ll make myself nervous thinking about everything. Ah. I’ll be on TV. I’d better call my mom.

Picking up my office phone, I quickly dial her number. She’s a transcriptionist so she doesn’t always answer the phone, but I don’t think she’s returned to work yet. I’m about to hang up the phone when I hear her say, “Hello.”

“Good morning, Mom. Did I wake you?”

“No, darling. I was out on the deck enjoying a cup of tea. I didn’t hear my phone ring until I came in to fix another cup. How’s your morning?”