Unwanted Fate (5 page)

“Good, I think. I’m going to be on TV.”

“Oh?” she says, wanting me to go on.

“The center is receiving a grant and Kelly wants me to do all the publicity shots.”

“That’s magnificent, Emily. I can’t wait to tell your—”She stops midsentence, breathless. “My friends,” she says, trying to recover.

“It’s okay, Mom. We can still talk to him,” I say as a lone tear falls down my cheek.

“He would be so proud of you, Em.”

“I hope so. Um, as soon as I know what time they will air the segment, I’ll text you.”

“That sounds good. Are you coming home tonight for the weekend?” she hesitantly asks.

“I can. I don’t have any plans,” I reply as I absent-mindedly organize my desk.

“Then we can watch your interview together, hopefully,” Mom replies, happiness returning in her voice.

“I’ll bring dinner. Think about what sounds good and when I text you later we can decide.”

“Okay, darling. I probably should let you go. I love you, Emily.”

“I love you too, Mom.” She ends the call, and I put down the phone and open my email to see what I can do before I need to head out to the celebration.

“Emily, it’s time,” Kelly shouts from the main office’s entrance. I look up at the clock on my wall and see it’s a quarter till eleven. The morning flew by with all the emails and phone calls that I needed to make. I’m rather bummed I didn’t get out to the celebration sooner.

“Coming, Kelly.” I grab my keys and head outside, meeting Kelly at the threshold of the office, and we walk toward the exit.

“It’s wild out there. I think there is triple the amount of people from last year. I don’t even know if we have enough food for the closing celebration.”

“Possibly send someone to get punch and cookies from the grocery up the road?” I stop, so we can quickly brainstorm before we are outside of the center.

“See, this is why I have you here. You think outside the box.” I smile at her. “I’ll send Victor. I think he would be able to get in and out of the store quickly.”

“Sounds like the perfect idea.” She nods at her statement, and we resumed walking.

We make it outside and the weather is spectacular. The sunny sky is clear and the temperature is in the low 80s, making it perfect to be outside. A bounce house with children lining up to bounce inside, games to win small little prizes, and picnic tables fill the grounds around the center. On the other side of the bounce house is a stark white canopy with a stage and camera tripods set up underneath it. I’m guessing that is where I need to go.

I walk under the canopy and wait for Kelly to place me where I she wants me. After five minutes of waiting, she comes under the canopy with three people I haven’t met before in tow.

“Emily, this is Patrick Matheson the CFO of CU Gold Company, and he will be presenting the center with the check.” I shake his hand and his touch causes goose pimples to appear on my skin, and I smile when he holds onto my hand longer than normal. Usually, I freak out with the prolonged hold, but I don’t want to let go of his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Janes. Kelly has told me so much about you and your work in the community.” His voice is sexy, like a smooth drink of whiskey. I grin and nod like a love struck fool at him.

Kelly continues, “This is the new area director of the Community Centers of Reno, Samantha Devine.”

“Nice to meet you, Ms. Devine.” I quickly shake her hand. Her quick, cold glance snaps me out of my daze. As fast as she looked at me, her eyes are back on Patrick.

“And this is Maven Shade, Ms. Devine’s assistant.”

“My pleasure, Ms. Shade,” I say as I shake her hand and smile.

“Likewise,” she says quietly, with a blush in her cheeks. She must be new too.

“This is how I would like everything to go…” Kelly tells everyone where we need to go and how she wants this presented to the media. She’s picked a few kids to be in the photos and on TV, a few children that have touched her life, with Patrick, the mayor, and myself. Samantha and Maven are here to field questions, per Kelly. I love her blunt
, I take no shit
personality. “Any questions?” she asks us.

We all shake our heads.

“Good. Time to get this rolling. Emily, Patrick, let’s head to the stage. I think I saw the mayor arrive a few moments ago with a few military personnel.” She’s off to find him before anyone can say another word, and within moments, she returns to the stage area with Mayor Jim Grove and the four children she picked.

She taps on the mic, “Ladies and Gentlemen of the Place Hope family and our honored guests, welcome to our community celebration. I hope you’re having fun today…” Her speech is to the point and has several tears in the eyes of the people in the audience. When she’s finished, Patrick takes the podium, gives a remarkable presentation of the grant, and says wonderful things about the center. After everyone finished talking, I’m ushered to the front of the stage to say a few words and accept the check on behalf of the center.

After a mirage of flashes and adjusting my pose several times, I’m standing in front of several TV cameras answering questions from news reporters. I try to not the let the nervousness come through in my voice, but I’m sure people will be able to tell I’m scared shitless. After a few more questions, I’m able to go and enjoy the rest of the celebration. I’d love a Jack and Coke right now to calm my nerves.

“You looked like a natural up there answering their questions,” Patrick Matheson says after I walk out from under the canopy, startling me because I wasn’t paying attention to who was around.

“Oh, Mr. Matheson, thank you,” I say with a timid smile. The man is striking, very sexy. I can see why Samantha couldn’t keep her eyes off him. His blond hair and blue eyes remind me of a surfer, and the way his suit fits, I’m sure he probably could surf.

“First time?” he asks as he lightly brushes up against me. The brief contact sends a jolt of electricity through my body, rendering me a little speechless.

“Y-yes. Normally, Kelly is in all the press ops, but for some reason she wanted me to do it today,” I rush out, trying to collect my thoughts.

“Well, it’s nice to have the opportunity to meet you, Ms. Janes.” He winks. Holy hell. Is he flirting with me? Surely not. “So you’re the Community Outreach Director,” he asks, engaging me in the conversation.

“Yes, I try to make sure everyone who comes in here receives the help they need.”

“Impressive,” he says with a million dollar smile.

“And with CU Gold’s grant, I’ll be able to help a lot more people,” I say with a huge smile, trying not to suck up. Wait. Yes, I am, and flirt right back.

“I am glad we get to be part of what you are doing for the community.” He smiles more natural, and dimples appear on his cheeks.

“Me too, I—oof!” is all I get out as I hit the ground and watch Patrick’s face fill with horror.

“Emily! Are you okay?” Patrick asks, as he helps me from ground. I look down, and I’m covered in dirt. Damn it, that’s going to be a bitch to get out of my skirt.

“Ms. Emily! We’re sorry. We were playing football and the ball got away from us,” Ty, one of the big kids at the center, says as he helps brush me off. Then he runs over to the boys and continues to play.

“I’m okay. Thank you for helping me up, Mr. Matheson. I’m going to head inside and freshen up,” I say shaking and embarrassed

“Sure you’re okay?” he asks with concern, and I notice he hasn’t taken his hand off my arm as heat radiates from the contact.

“Positive. I’ll be right back.” I smile and turn to head into the building.

I’m glad I have Nate’s clothes here and a few other things especially tennis shoes.
I’d look a little strange in heels and shorts
. I chuckle as I walk to my office. This is just a typical day at the community center.

I
completely froze as Emily hit the ground, but I honestly didn’t see the kid coming until it was too late. After a boy almost twice her size plowed her to the ground, she got up and walked it off as if nothing had happed. What can I say about Ms. Janes? She’s very enchanting, a natural beauty, someone who makes doing activities outside of work enticing, and I can tell she’s impassioned when it comes to her work. Her eyes sparkled when she was talking about helping people in the community.

So many organizations are after money, but instead of using it where we thought they were going to, they used it for their salaries. Seeing this type of involvement in the community makes me glad to be here, CUGC here. Excellent opportunity for the company, and I hope this partnership is something we can make permanent.

I walk around and talk the people who make up this community. No one has had a negative thing to say about the center and its staff. They’ve talked about all the programs they offer, and the center’s website that I researched only listed half of what’s really going on here. I make my rounds and bullshit for a few moments with Mayor Grove. We play golf together and a little friendly bull shitting is necessary when I see him.

When I excuse myself from talking to him, I see Emily come out in shorts and a Navy T-shirt. I wonder if she was in the Navy? I guess I could ask.

“You were in the Navy,” I ask.

“It is…was my brother’s shirt,” she says with a slight frown.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” I feel like shit that I said something.

“Thank you. He was killed a few weeks ago. We were finally able to lay him to rest last week.” She bites her cheek, willing herself not to show emotion.

“Thursday; Nathan Janes?” I ask immediately.

“Yes, how did you know?” She’s shocked that I know.

“I saw the segment on the news. Again, I’m sorry for your loss.”

She gives me a smile and changes the subject.

“Are you staying the rest of the celebration or do you need to get back to the office?”

“I had planned on staying.”
Especially with her here
.

“Good. A few of the children stopped me to ask. They enjoy talking to someone new.” The compliments completely make my day.

“I enjoy meeting them and learning about their community. We didn’t have anything like this when I grew up, and it’s nice to see an effort to bring the community together.”

“Your statement is so accurate. Project Hope brings the
hope
into this community.”

She smiles at me and her affectionate nature warms my cold soul. Kane is normally the one that comes out in the community, but I deal with the public when it benefits the company or myself, especially myself. I have to prove myself to someone I’m not worthless, me, and I don’t want a child growing up like I did, hungry and abused. That might make me a bit of a selfish asshole, but I do it to quiet the voice in my head.

I look at Emily and her vibrancy makes me think she might be able to help me with my newest project.

“I have a question, you can tell me
no
since you’re still grieving, but I have a project coming up involving organizations that handle veteran affairs… I would love to have your insight on how best to help soldiers and their families.”

She bites her bottom lip for a few moments, and I can tell she is thinking what to say. I know she’s going to say no.