Clifford called Celia into his office. An odd sense of apprehension fell over her. Being called to the principal's office was never a good thing. She knocked on the outer door.
She cut to the chase. "You asked to see me? Is everything okay?" Working on the fantasy suite deal had taken her focus away from her job a tiny bit. If he had heard, he might be about to lay down an ultimatum.
"Ah, Celia, come in, come in. How are you?" he asked with an exuberant gregariousness which eased her mind. Had she been in trouble, he would have been in a more somber state.
"Please, take a seat." He indicated the small conference area off to the right side of the office. She sat as he took the chair directly opposite her.
"What's up?" Celia asked.
Clifford shifted in his chair and looked at her with an intense gaze. "How's everything working out for you here? Are you happy with the job, the office, everything?"
Celia smirked. "Seriously? I love it here. Not only is this like a dream job, but it also saved my life. Had this not come along, I don't know what I would have done. I can't thank you enough for bringing me in. I only hope to do a good enough job that you'll keep me around."
Clifford laughed. "We're all thrilled with your performance. Sage can't say enough good things about you. We also hope that this is a long and fruitful relationship."
Celia tilted her head and had a very quizzical expression. "Is that why you wanted to see me? Do I feel a raise coming on?" she joked.
Clifford laughed again. "It's a bit early for that, but there is room for a raise down the road. No, I just wanted to touch base and be sure that you were happy here."
What the hell is this all about?
"Is everything okay? I mean, why this concern about me staying on the job?" In her gut, her insecurities gnawed.
Is there a shoe about to drop?
Her mother's voice rang in her ears.
"I received an inquiry from a woman who claimed to be from an employment agency. She asked a number of questions about you and your job performance, none of which I answered. It got me to wondering if you might be looking elsewhere." She saw the concern on Clifford's face.
Celia's eyebrows went up. "I haven't looked anywhere or even inquired about another job. I'm really happy here. You treat me great, you pay me well, and I really like the people. Why would I even think about it? In all honesty, I am working toward getting my CPA certification, but you knew that. When that happens, we can talk about how it could work. But no, I haven't even been asking around."
Clifford let out a sigh of relief. "That makes me very happy. Turns out Sage got a similar phone call, so we thought it best to approach this head-on. I'm relieved to hear you talk like that." He shook his head and clapped his hands together, signaling that the conversation had concluded. "Very well, back at it then."
Clifford stood up, and Celia followed. "But do me a favor: if someone does approach you, please give us the opportunity to counter."
Celia laughed. "Of course, but I wouldn't worry about it. No one's been headhunting me as far as I know. Okay then, I've got a job that I love, so I'll get back to it."
Clifford smiled as Celia pranced out of the office. Knowing how her boss felt gave her morale a considerable boost. But at the same time, she wondered who could have called to ask about her performance. Somebody had checked her out for some reason or other.
Nothing I can do about it now. Time will tell.
Later that afternoon, she got a call from Reagan.
"Hey, Celia, I'm back in town. You have time for a drink after work?" Her voice rang with excitement.
"Hey! So glad you called. Sure, when and where?"
Reagan said, "I have a four-thirty and should be cleared up by about six. Let's say The Four Seasons downtown. Do you know where that is? It's just off East Caesar Chavez on San Jacinto."
Celia took a deep breath. "Sure, it's not far from here. I'll see you at six, in the bar."
Reagan said, "I can't wait! I have so much to tell you." Celia heard a voice in the background call for Reagan.
"I gotta run. See you at six." Before she even hung up, Reagan had started her next conversation.
Always a dozen irons in the fire for that one.
Celia opened her pitch document for the fantasy suite presentation. She had made considerable progress on it, and since she was now going to be seeing Reagan, she thought this would be a great time to ask her to look it over. She'd managed to do considerable research on how the concept of a fantasy suite fit in with a luxury suite. The crossover was impressive.
"A sexy suite at Yankee Stadium! I can see it now!!!" she chuckled.
The pitch was already formed in her head, and running the idea by Reagan could only help it.
Celia wasn't quite sure where this pitch was leading. She loved her job here, and the thought of leaving wasn't a priority, but the idea intrigued her.
I'm just seeing where this might go. Who knows, right?
Her day typically ended at five, but she didn't want to go back to the condo only to turn around and head downtown again, the hotel being just about a mile from the Lyndon Johnson building. So, she stayed at her desk and formulated her approach for presenting her ideas to Reagan. About five-forty, she headed over to the Four Seasons. Driving straight down San Jacinto would get her there in five minutes.
Sitting at the light on 11th Street, she happened to look in her rear-view mirror. A faded red Ford F-150 pickup sat three cars behind her. It caught her eye because Rod drove a truck exactly like that. A shiver ran up her spine.
She remembered seeing a truck like this a few weeks ago. She turned around and tried to get a better look at the truck and the driver. The driver had pulled down his visor, which struck her as weird, since the tall buildings on both sides of the street blocked the sun. She couldn't really see much of the person behind the wheel. The light turned green, but she didn't notice until the driver behind her honked. She lifted her foot off the brake and rolled through the intersection, keeping her gaze on the rearview mirror, trying to track the truck. As though it had been spooked, the truck cut across two lanes of traffic and turned onto 11th Street. As it did, Celia could swear the right front bumper had rusted out. That could have been Rod's truck.
Checking the traffic around her, she couldn't get out of her lane to double back and see if it was Rod.
Dozens of questions and possibilities presented themselves. What if it was? What if he found out where she lived or worked? Her hands were shaking just the slightest bit. The idea of Rod stalking her made her queasy.
She kept her eyes open for the remainder of the drive but saw no further signs of the red pickup. Pulling into the Four Seasons, she valet parked, just to be safe. Using the guest self-parking garage would have required a long walk, by herself, through the garage to get to the hotel. The thought of being alone in that space, after seeing that truck, shook her.
As she walked into the lobby, she laughed at herself. How could it be Rod? First off, he would never make that drive, given the gas prices. Secondly, how could he have found her? No one in Houston, outside of her parents, knew where she lived. Not a chance in hell her mother would have told Rod. She would have told him to eat shit if he had even asked.
The image of her mother letting loose on Rod brought a malevolent smile to her face.
Celia assured herself that she had been quite diligent in all the legal proceedings, using her parents' address in Houston, so he couldn't have gotten the information from any of the divorce stuff.
Nah, just a coincidence. Couldn't have been Rod.
She threw the whole incident aside and walked into the bar. At a table on the left, the magnificent Reagan Barrone chatted on her phone. She wore a rust-colored silk blouse with dark brown slacks and brown half-pump shoes. Her black hair ran down over her left shoulder. Reagan looked up, saw Celia, and beamed. Celia's heart welled as she saw her smile. She hadn't realized how much she missed her.
Her walk quickened as she scooted over to Reagan. Reagan ended her call abruptly and leaped up. Celia walked right into her open arms for a reunion hug. Reagan pulled back and took her hands. "It's so wonderful to see you again. Here, sit down."
Celia sat across from Reagan, unable to hide her excitement. "You too. I'm only now realizing how much I missed you. How have you been? How did New York go?" Her words came out in quick, uneven bursts.
Reagan laughed at Celia. "Slow down, we'll get to all that. How've you been? Everything good at work?"
Celia sighed. "Let me tell you, it's been a day. Everything is great, by the way; couldn't be happier, but the weirdest thing happened. I got called into my boss's office out of the blue. He then started asking me if I'm happy there, if I like my job, all of that stuff. I was thinking I screwed up and was about to get called on the carpet, but he ends up telling me how happy they all are with me."
The waiter walked up. Reagan pointed to the wine list. Smiling, she looked at Celia. "Garrett recommended this one. You got me hooked on this stuff, too."
Celia laughed. "We know it's good then. Probably expensive, so maybe we should make another choice."
Reagan made a slight raspberry sound. "Oh no, I was specifically instructed to order this one. It's on Garrett."
Celia shook her head. "I know where this is going. Who am I to disagree?" She chuckled at being back in his sphere.
I am loving my new friends. And not just for the treats.
The waiter left for the wine as Celia continued. "So, anyway, turns out that a woman had called the office and made an inquiry about me. Apparently, she wanted to get a performance review. Clifford wouldn't tell her anything, but isn't that weird? Who does that?"
Reagan had a sly smile on her face. "It was a woman? That's interesting."
Celia got more intrigued. "It's not like I've been looking or even asking around. But Clifford made it very clear that he did not want to lose me. That was a nice ego boost."
Reagan smiled at Celia. "It seems they like you very much. I can tell you from personal experience, good people are hard to find."
Celia changed the subject. "And just now, I'm in the car on the way over, and I see this piece-of-junk pickup behind me. It looks just like my ex-husband's, except he's in Houston, and I don't know why he would be here."
Reagan leaned in. "Is this your high school sweetheart? The baseball player?"
Celia laughed. "Oh, my God, no. I haven't seen Clete in years. No idea what he's doing. No. I remarried a guy named Rod. We were together for 13 years, and it ended badly."
Reagan asked, "Is he a threat? Are you worried he's stalking you?"
"The thought crossed my mind. But that's silly. It's over; I'm just waiting for the final decree."
Reagan shook her head. "Don't take this lightly. If you see this truck again, check it out. You don't want to be taken by surprise."
A thought crossed Celia's mind. "You don't think that Rod could have had some woman call to find out about me? Could he do that?"
Reagan touched her arm. "How would he know where you work? He doesn't, does he?"
"Not that I know. And while he can be charming, I doubt he could talk anyone into doing that. Probably not something I should worry about." She laughed. "There's enough going on as it is, right?"
The waiter arrived with the wine and opened the bottle of Frank Family Vineyards Zinfandel, pouring each of them a glass. Celia found it different from what they had in New Orleans, but excellent just the same.
Reagan looked at her phone and said, "Oh, I have some bad news: Garrett's stuck in London. He asked me to tell you that he'll have to take a rain check on onion rings. But, as a consolation prize, you'll be getting a package at the office tomorrow."
Celia looked skeptical. "Uhm, how does he know where I work?"
Reagan balked a bit and then said, "LinkedIn, I imagine. You do have a profile, right? I could find you pretty easily."
"That makes sense." Celia made a mental note to see if she could find herself on any government database when she got home. Rod could have figured that out.
"In any event," Reagan said with a lilt in her voice, "Garrett sent something as an apology for standing you up."
Celia smiled broadly. "I can only imagine. A Rolls-Royce, maybe?" They both laughed.
Reagan said, "You can never tell."
With a smile, Celia used the moment to change the subject.
"So, I've been thinking about this fantasy suite idea. I was hoping to run a few things by you before I set something up with Garrett. Do you think he's still interested?"
Reagan let out a sly smile. "I'm sure that he is. What's on your mind?" Celia laid out her initial thoughts, then embellished them with some numbers and basic financial structures. She had thought it through and laid out a structure to facilitate the additional division of SDS Enterprises. When she had finished, Reagan leaned back, and her eyes widened.
"Okay then, you've been busy. How would you go about marketing this?" Reagan asked.
Celia smiled. "Ah, that's where you guys come in. It seems to me that you and Garrett are rather connected in this world. I mean, just from the short time we spent in New Orleans, it's obvious you know your way around. There should be some people to hit up right out of the gate, and as you know, one thing leads to another. No better way to market than word of mouth."
"I think Garrett would love to hear all of this. Send me what you've got and I'll pass it along."
Celia smiled, raised her wine glass, and held it out for Reagan to tap. "Let's hope this is the start of a beautiful relationship," Celia said.