Unstuck

by Liliana Camarena

  “And… you think that you’ll get to live your life as my assistant?” he asked calmly.

  “Well, I know it won’t be easy, and it will be a busy schedule but in the end I will get to be myself, not Miss Stuart, Vice president of administration, 24/7” I had to be honest.

  “No, you get to be Patrick Maynard’s assistant,” he leaned forward looking for a reaction in me.

  “I’m fine with that, “I calmly said, I rather be Maynard’s assistant than Miss Stuart. I hate Miss Stuart. She stole the last 10 years of my life! She stole my chance to be young when I could have been. I want to be anything but Miss Stuart.

  “Ok,” Maynard stood up from his desk and walked towards the door. My eyes followed him. “Brian!” he screamed as he opened the door. I jumped again and saw Brian running towards the door.

  “Yes, Patrick,” he smiled and winked at me. Was he trying to tell me something? Was that my future?

  “Make the arrangements for tomorrow morning,” Maynard looked at me and said, “The job is yours, you start tomorrow.” What? Who? What….?

  “Tomorrow.” was all I said as I nodded. I was allowing myself to have another mental breakdown

  “Yes Tomorrow, Brian will tell you all you need to know and I’ll see you tomorrow,” he took a seat on his chair as I got up.

  “Thank you, Mr. Maynard” I extended my hand and he shook it while giving me a small smile. He looked better when he smiled. “Thank you, Miss Stuart.” he said and let go of my hand. “See you tomorrow” I heard him say as Brian walked me out the door.

  “I knew it! You go, girl!” Brian patted me on the back, “What did you say that made him decide so quickly” he asked me as we began to walk down the hallway towards the elevator.

  “Brian!” I jumped and turn to see Maynard at the door of his office, “Remember to tell the other girl… the mousey one with the master’s degree, that the job is no longer hers,” and with that he slammed the door shut again.

  “I guess I should get used to that” I said almost as a question.

  “Yes you do, girl!!!” He was way too excited.

  “Why are you so happy?” I asked him and he stopped and looked at me.

  “Because he is finally leaving me alone!” he grabbed my shoulders and shook them in pure delight.

  “Oh,” I said “So… tomorrow?” I said waiting for instructions.

  “Oh yes, tomorrow, I’ll let you know everything on the way back to Philadelphia,” he said as he held the elevator door for me.

  “So I am going back to Philadelphia?”

  “Maybe, I don’t know. Depends on Patrick’s schedule for tomorrow, he’ll send it in a couple of hours.” What? I didn’t know where I was going the next day?

  “What if he needs me here?” I asked Brian as I saw the numbers in the elevator go down.

  “You take the jet. You’ll get used to that. That jet is like a regular cab for me now. I am on it at least 4 times a week. Not anymore, though,” he shook his finger in front of my face and smiled. He really was happy to have me on board.

  I made it home around 4 pm that afternoon. New phone, new tablet and a bunch of lists with Maynard’s favorite food, Maynard’s frequent contacts, Maynard’s schedule (the events that happen every week and can’t be altered for anything,) and Maynard’s employees. I laid it all on my kitchen table as I took out a T.V. dinner from the fridge, even though it was sometime between lunch and supper.

  I turned the T.V on some random music hits channel and dug into my dinner, pasta alfredo with green vegetables. I was trying to think about everything that was going on; I’d just gotten a job working for Patrick Maynard, which was seriously the biggest thing! The man was a myth in the business world and some kind of legend on the socialite/entertainment world. It seemed very glamorous to me but I knew better, I knew that being an assistant was hard work, being a personal assistant meant giving up any career ambitions. I tried to change my way of thinking, reminding myself that I wanted to change my way of life. I was tired of career ambitions, it was time for me to live a life that didn’t involve being the center of attention, even if that meant that I would be catering the tiniest whim of one of the world’s biggest millionaire, business geniuses.

  I was deep in my thoughts chewing the asparagus stems and pasta when the iPad on the kitchen table started ringing. I looked at it and my heart almost skipped a beat. It was a new tablet and I had not programmed anything on it yet, which only meant that I already had some kind of message waiting for me. I grabbed the tablet and opened the black cover on the shiny protective case. The background picture was May Inc.’s logo and I saw a tiny red number one on the e-mail app. I opened it and saw an e-mail from Patrick Maynard himself: the next day’s schedule. It was a Saturday and I thought it would be a laid back day, but it seemed that Maynard had other plans. The schedule said that I should be at his place at 8 a.m. I was relieved to see the address he provided was the address for his Philadelphia home but I felt uncomfortable with the little note at the end of the schedule that said that I needed to pack clothes for at least one week of work. It looked like I was going to be away from home a lot. I turned around and looked at my fish. Yes, I had fish, they were easy to look after and they made me feel a bit of company when I made it home. I could not even afford to have a cat, who would feed it on the few occasions that I left home for business? At least you could install an automatic feeder inside a tank.

  “Seems that we’ll have to ask someone to take you guys in” I said while they swam in tiny circles. That’s one downside from having fish; they never gave you any kind of response. Unless you counted swimming in circles as a way of communication.

  I sighed and went to the living room and let myself fall on the plush couch. It was practically new; I never used it much in the last 3 years so I had made myself spend most of my time at home on it the last couple of months. I grabbed the tablet, phone and lists and began transcribing them. I put all the contacts into the phone using the exact name that was given on the list. I was sure once I knew who this people were I would use some other names on my phone. I always did. I transcribed every week’s events into the tablet’s calendar and his favorite foods into a note file on the tablet and phone. After 2 hours I let out a puff of air and laid my head on the couch. That was a lot of contacts. I guess it made sense. I needed to pack for the next day but before that I had to call my only friend in the world to help me with the fish. I grabbed my personal phone and called him.

  I heard three rings before he answers. Typical. “How did it go?” he asked immediately. “Well, Nicholas, I’m proud to inform you I got the job,” I said with a smile and knowing what I would hear next and how it would pierce my eardrums.

  “WOOO-HOOO! Sugar, I told you it would be a piece of cake! Tell me all about it!”

  I checked the time on the wall clock and said “Why don’t you come over? We can have dinner and I’ll tell you all about it. Besides I need to ask you for a favor.”

  “Already asking me to do your job? Your are on your own, sugar,” I smiled because I knew he was joking. He’d do anything for me.

  “So see you in 30 minutes?”

  “Sure thing. See ya there.” I then called to order Chinese. I couldn’t finish my TV pasta, that was “alone in sweatpants” food and there was no way I could cook something that Nick would like. It was just easier that way. My whole life had turned into a series of convenient decisions.

  Exactly 30 minutes later I heard the front door open and I knew it was Nick. He had my emergency keys and he could feed my fish when I was out of town, as long as he wasn’t away too. He was away from home more often than me, in fact, that’s how we met, on a plane from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, where we sat next to each other on the flight and immediately clicked. We’d been friends ever since, 4 fun filled years.

  “Lucy! Sugar!” I heard from the front door. No, he was not gay, he called me that from the first day we met. For all I knew he called that every woman he met bu
t they never lasted more than a week so I wouldn’t know.

  “Up here!” I said from my bedroom. I was packing for a week of assisting Mr. Maynard. I had no idea what the dress code was! So I was packing for every occasion. The suitcase I was using was huge and it was about to explode already.

  “Hey, there!” He kissed me on the cheek and threw himself on the bed with his hands behind his head and looked at my mess, “You are traveling already?” he had his confusion frown on. It looked like that week’s class was somewhere near a beach; he had a beautiful tan. Nick was an ESL (English as a second language) teacher for big corporations and it was very common that he had to fly somewhere abroad to teach some courses.

  “I know!” I sighed and sat on the bed. “I’m working for Patrick Maynard, Nick,” I sounded disappointed but really I was just nervous as Hell.

  “What? Patrick Maynard?” he sat up on the bed and his face was turning red, his tan disappeared under the redness of the shocking news and his blond hair standing up like a cat’s back.

  “Yeah, I have no idea how I ended up like that but all I know is that I am starting tomorrow and he said that I should pack for a week,” I folded a skirt and went on, “It was crazy, Nick,” I turned to look at him, and he was still red. “I was first here in Philly interviewing with the head of HR and all of a sudden I am in New York talking to Patrick Maynard. I don’t think I have completely grasped what happened,” I stood up and went to pick dresses.

  “New York? What?” Red Nick seemed to have a hard time finding his words.

  “Yes! Weird uh? I think that me being overqualified for the job was what got them to like my resume, I don’t know,” I shrugged while looking at a red dress from the rack.

  “Well, we knew that it would be really easy for you to get a job like that. What we didn’t know was that it would be for Patrick Maynard, millionaire extraordinaire, that’s amazing!” His all white smile showed me he genuinely was happy for me.

  “Yes, it kind of is. Not knowing what to pack is NOT amazing,” I said as I extend my arms showing him my suitcase and bed.

  “No dress code?” He asked while playing with his phone. I just shook my head. “Then pack for everything, I guess, better be prepared…”

  “New York? What?” Red Nick seemed to have a hard time finding his words.

  “Yes! Weird uh? I think that being overqualified for the job was what got them to like my resume, I don’t know” I shrug while looking at a red dress.

  “Well, we knew that it would be really easy for you to get a job like that. What we didn’t know was that it would be for Patrick Maynard, that’s amazing!” His all white smile showed me he genuinely was happy for me.

  “Yes, it kind of is. Not knowing what to pack is NOT amazing” I said as I extend my arms showing him my suitcase and bed.

  “No dress code?” He asked while playing whit his phone. I just shook my head “Then pack for everything, I guess, better be prepared…”

  “Yeah! Let’s eat” I said and we both went downstairs to the kitchen table where we talked about everything from the new job to his latest conquests. That’s what worked for us, we were comfortable with each other, we didn’t care when we would see each other and how, we were there for each other and that’s what we both needed in our life. We both were lonely people for different reasons, though. I was lonely and had lost the few people that had been close because my job came always first; he was lonely because he was a manwhore and was afraid of commitment. Sounds harsh but that’s who Nicholas was; I loved him to death but he could’ve had a wife kids and a whole family if he had wanted, he just didn’t. Seemed that he wanted to be the eternal bachelor and I guess that in a man that is attractive while in a girl, well I wouldn’t be an eternal bachelorette, I would simply be a pathetic spinster.

  “So…” I said as I threw the leftovers into the trash can once we were done, “what I really meant to ask you is if it would be too much trouble for you to either adopt my fish or come feed them when I am not around.” I smile a big smile and batted my eyelashes and he just shook his head.

  “Of course I would, Sugar,” he said with a small laugh.

  “You would adopt them or feed them?” I stared while lying back on the kitchen counter.

  “No, I guess I would feed them, moving the whole mini fish tank is too much so I guess I’ll come by,” I nodded. “I still don’t get why you bought them,” he sneered.

  “Thank you and you are not always around, honey, I need at least fish to come home to,” I put my hands on my hips and he smiled while getting up from the table.

  “Anyway, I’m going to leave you to your packing because tomorrow you need to wake up fresh.” He said as he walked to the door.

  “I know, first day at new job.” I said shrugging.

  “Look, Sugar, you need to make this change. You need to let go of being in control and start to relax a bit. You are 29 years old, you are hitting the 3-0 soon and believe me, you will go into full life evaluation mode and you want to have a change in your life by then if you dont want to throw yourself out the window,” he patted my shoulder. Wow! That was depressing.

  “That’s what happened to you?” I asked raising an eyebrow.

  “Oh Dear God, no!” he snorted, “when I turned 30 I became more attractive to women and my life evaluation mode flew out the window. I’m just saying that might happen to you and this change will help you see that life is about living it to the max.” He winked at me and opened the door.

  “Fine.” I shrugged as he kissed my forehead.

  “Call me tomorrow when you are free, let me know how it goes,” he said and I just nodded. Phone calls were the base our friendship was built upon. Thank God for smartphones and videochats.

  Two

  Next morning I jumped on my SUV and followed the GPS directions all the way to Maynard’s place. I had to follow the GPS because it turned out that I was going to New Hope. That’s around 50 minutes away from Philadelphia; I was really considering renting an apartment somewhere in New Hope so I wouldn’t have to drive one hour every day, but then again, maybe I didn’t need to do that because the office itself was in Philadelphia. It was something to think about but I decided that was something I would have to address next week when I came back from wherever we were going today.

  I finally reached New Hope and drove towards the gates that kept Maynard’s mansion. And what a mansion! It was huge from what I could see. I mean, what’s usually behind humongous gates? Mansions, that’s what it’s. I pushed the button on the intercom and a male voice came on.

  “Yes,” no question, just ‘yes’ as in answering a question.

  “Good morning, I’m here to see Mr. Maynard,” I sounded to myself a bit small and timid as a reaction to the ‘Yes’ that came from the other side.

  “Who is this?” I heard again with the same aggressive manner.

  “Lucinda Stuart,” I said this time with a bit more of authority.

  “Come on in, Miss Stuart, Mr. Maynard is waiting for you.” I then saw the gates open and I drove in. The aggressive voice turned a bit friendlier once I was cleared for entrance and that left me wondering why Mr. Maynard was waiting already. It was 7:50. Stop freaking out Lucy, I thought to myself. I was always trying to predict the behaviors of others.

  I drove through a long path surrounded by trees until I stopped at the doorway of a stone manor that looked ridiculously big. I parked next to a black SVU and jumped out of mine. I grabbed my bags from the trunk and wheeled them towards the house. It turned difficult to walk on a pebbled floor in my ridiculously high heels but I made it to the front door in about 10 minutes (not even kidding). As soon as my heels were on firm land I saw the front door open and a huge, bald, white guy in a black suit opened the door.

  “Miss Stuart,” he said holding the door wide open.

  “Thank you,” I said with confidence and stepped into the house. It was amazing. Hardwood floors with black and white as the predominant colors. The wallpa
per was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen and the stairs did resemble something out of a fairy tale dream. I could see the floor to ceiling glass windows in the living room that overlooked over entire acres of land. It was beautiful, the kind of house I always thought I might like to own one day. Maybe not anymore since my career change didn’t include the possibility of becoming CEO of a huge international company. I sighed in an attempt to let go of thoughts that would only make me feel guilty. Guilt over crushing my family’s hopes and dreams. They hated the path I was taking. They hated that I was no longer ‘Miss Stuart.’ They were so proud of Miss Stuart, it never mattered that we never got to see each other; as long as they could brag about my latest achievement they were fine with having Miss Stuart as a daughter. I sighed again, I had to let go of expectations altogether, specially the expectations of others.

  “Mr. Maynard is in his office,” the huge guy said as he led the way with his hand. I walked in front of him wheeling my bags as he grabbed them, “I can take those,” he said with a little smile that put me at ease. He was not scary at all. In fact, I bet he could be a sweetheart.

  “Thanks,” I said smiling back.

  “No problem,” he nodded. Yeah, definitely could be a sweetheart.

  I kept walking behind the big guy and stopped in front of two French doors that seemed to go upwards infinitely. Whoa! Those were some seriously high ceilings. My thoughts and wandering eyes were interrupted as I heard the big guy talking.

  “Mr. Maynard, Miss Stuart is here,” he said peeking his head into the office.

  “Yeah, thank you Mike, I’ll take it from here. Take care of all her belongings.” It was the voice I had once heard on the speaker and... Wait…he was taking care of my bag how? Ugh. I had to learn to let go of control. It’s fine. I would let them “take care of my belongings”. Whatever that meant.

  Mike smiled and opened the double doors for me to go in. I nodded and stepped into the room. My hands shaking so much I couldn’t hide my nervousness. Well, anyone would be on their first day working for the famous Mr. Patrick Maynard, even the famous Miss Stuart.