by BL Miller
From her seat only a few feet away, Rose heard every word of the executive's side of the conversation. It was not hard to piece together what happened. "Ronnie?" All she got was a view of the back of the brown leather chair and the furious clacking of the keyboard. "Ronnie?"
"Do you need something, Rose?" Her tone sounded much harsher than she intended. The typing stopped. "You know, there are times when I wish I wasn't the oldest," she sighed, turning her chair around to face the young woman.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Ronnie's first reaction was to say no, that family problems are always settled privately, but then she looked up into soft green eyes and realized she did want to talk about it, she did want to share her frustrations and feelings with Rose. "Tommy took out a personal loan and forged my name on it as cosigner."
"Oh, that's terrible," the young woman gasped. "But, why did you pay it?"
"Because that's what I'm expected to do," she sighed. "If I didn't, Susan or Mother would have."
"But you're only making it easier for him to do it again."
"I know, but I don't have a choice." She pushed her chair closer to the bed. "Even though I'm considered the head of the family now, there are still some things I have to do whether I like them or not."
"It's a lot of pressure sometimes, isn't it?" Rose reached out and placed a gentle hand on the older woman's forearm. "It must be very stressful to have to keep everything inside."
Ronnie looked up in surprise. "Yeah." It was the first time anyone had ever expressed any understanding of her feelings when it came to being the family caretaker. "Tommy just soaked me for almost eighteen grand."
"Oh my God! Eighteen thousand dollars?"
"It's not even the money that bothers me," Ronnie continued, deliberately not focusing on the fact that the amount meant completely different things to each of them. To her, it was a fraction of her savings and would not really be missed. To Rose, well…she did not even want to think about what it meant to the young woman who spent less than twenty bucks a week on groceries.
"It's the fact that he used you," the blonde woman guessed.
"He forged my signature on a bank loan. I can't imagine why he would need a cosigner for that small amount anyway but I don't manage his finances. I just can't believe he had the balls to do that and then not bother to repay it." As she spoke, Ronnie's voice betrayed more of her anger and outrage. "He knew I'd take care of it. He knew the bank would never question my signature on a loan for him."
"He used you."
"He used me." She looked at her desk and the still unsolved problems that waited for her there. The enormity of the problem made her take a deep breath. "I'm going to have to call for an audit of the Real Estate division."
"Do you think he's embezzling?"
"If you asked me that yesterday, I would have said that I wasn't sure." She leaned over and picked up the manila folder. "Today? Now I know he's embezzling, I just can't prove it." She let the folder fall back on the desk with a thwap. Her body was a bundle of nervous energy and she needed to release it. "Rose, I need to go downstairs and work out for a while. Do you think you'll be okay?"
"I'll be fine," the young woman assured her. "I know you have things to do. You don't have to keep me company all the time."
Ah, but Rose, she thought to herself. I like keeping you company. She stood up and pushed her chair back over to the desk. "I'll be back in about a half-hour or so. If you're up to it we can go out into the living room and watch some more movies."
"That'd be nice."
Yes it would, the executive thought.
********************
A grueling workout did nothing to improve Ronnie's mood, which only seemed to worsen the longer she thought about her brother and what he had done. The punching bag suffered an onslaught of blows, accented by a string of curses that would make even the most raucous sailor blush. Only when she was thoroughly exhausted did she remove the boxing gloves and head for the small refrigerator to get something to drink. As she removed the last bottle of Gatorade, Ronnie noticed the clock on the wall. It was after three, well past the half-hour that she had planned on being gone. "Dammit."
The door opened to the office fifteen minutes later with a freshly showered Ronnie holding a videotape. "Sorry, guess I got caught up in what I was doing. We still on for the movie?"
"Oh, yes. Of course," Rose smiled. She had heard the muffled sounds of Ronnie working out, or raging, depending on how one looked at it, and seriously doubted the executive would be up to spending time with her.
As she had done yesterday, Ronnie used her brute strength to carry the wheelchair and its occupant past the steps of the sunken living room and helped Rose onto the couch. "I thought a romantic comedy would be nice…unless you prefer something else?"
"No, I'm sure whatever you've picked will be fine," the young woman replied enthusiastically. And it was the truth. Rose would have been happy to watch a test pattern if that was what Ronnie wanted. The initial awkwardness was quickly fading, replaced with a sense of friendship and caring for the woman who befriended her. She was surprised when the executive did not lower the snack tray that had served as a barrier between them before and even more astonished when Ronnie sat down on the middle cushion, only scant inches away from her. "Don't you want your footrest?"
"Naw, I feel like sitting up for a while," she replied, tucking her feet underneath her Indian-style.
"You comfortable?"
"Very."
"Good." She pressed the play button on the remote and fast-forwarded through the trailers until she saw the Feature Presentation logo. "Here we go."
The opening scene was almost over when Rose's nose picked up a most delicious scent.
"Popcorn?" As if on cue, Maria appeared from the kitchen with a large bowl of the treat in hand as well as several napkins.
"If you don't need anything else, I do need to be going," Maria said as she handed the bowl to Ronnie. "Dinners are in the refrigerator, microwave on medium for three minutes to heat them up."
"I think we're all set, Maria. Drive carefully."
"I'm only going home, Ronnie. You'd think I lived ten miles away," the older woman said. "I could walk if it weren't so darn cold outside."
"I know, but I'm still allowed to worry about you. After all, who'd do all the cooking and cleaning if you weren't around?" The twinkling in her blue eyes was the only sign that the blackhaired woman was joking.
"Ronnie!" Rose yelped. Maria chuckled.
"Keep it up, Veronica Louise, and you'll find out." She turned to Rose. "You keep an eye on her."
"I will," the young woman promised with a smile.
Once Maria left, Ronnie backed the tape up to the beginning and the two women settled in to watch Richard Dreyfuss try to win Marsha Mason's heart. The popcorn bowl rested between them and both women were busily stuffing the buttered snack into their mouths. As was bound to happen, the large and small hands reached in at the same time and the greased fingers intertwined. "Oops," came the simultaneous apology as their digits were disengaged from one another.
"Good popcorn," Rose said as she reached back in, this time making sure to stay on her own side of the bowl.
"Yeah, really good."
As the movie wore on and the popcorn supply dwindled, their hands continued to brush against each other in pursuit of the tasty kernels. After the fourth or fifth time, both gave up apologizing and just let it happen without comment. Rose still did her best to avoid touching Ronnie's hand, but it seemed to always be on her side of the bowl. When only the tiniest pieces were left along with unpopped kernels, the older woman moved the bowl over to the unoccupied cushion. "You want something to drink?"
"Sure, thanks."
"What do you want?"
"Anything would be fine. Water is good."
"Uh huh." Ronnie rose gracefully from the couch and wandered out to the kitchen, returning a minute later with soda for each of them.
"Than
ks," Rose said, taking the glass. "Do you want to back it up so you can see what you missed?"
"Naw, I've seen this one several times." She sat back down and tucked her legs underneath herself. "I'm a sucker for a good romance story."
Tabitha wandered out to see what was going on. "Mrrow?"
"No, we're up here right now. You go play," Ronnie said. Apparently the orange and white cat thought she said 'come on up' because she did exactly that, crossing over the executive's lap and settling down between the two women.
"Do you want her down?" Rose put her hand under the feline's stomach, ready to shoo her.
Ronnie looked at the purring cat. Two weeks ago she never would have let an animal take control of her house. "I guess she's not hurting anything." The truth was that it made the executive smile inside to see Rose happy and obviously being around Tabitha did that. She reached out and let her long fingers join the smaller ones in petting the happily purring feline.
********************
Tuesday brought with it the realization that the matters at Cartwright Corporation could not be ignored any longer. Ronnie bid goodbye to the still sleeping Rose and headed for the Jeep.
The morning disc jockeys were busy making fun of recent political activities, leaving the executive with no choice but to pop in a CD. She guided the bright blue Jeep through the neverending series of traffic lights and one-way streets until she reached the Hudson Avenue parking garage. She drove up ramp after ramp until she reached the row of spaces reserved for Cartwright executives. Ronnie pulled into the spot reserved for her and shut the engine off. She took a few minutes to put her head in the work mode after being in the caretaker mode for so many days. Feeling ready to face whatever awaited her, Veronica Cartwright stepped out of her vehicle and headed for the elevator that would take her down to the ground floor. From there it was a short walk to State Street and the Cartwright Building.
The worst part about having the corporate offices on the top floors of a large high-rise in downtown Albany was she had to share the elevator with everyone who worked on the lower floors. Ronnie found herself squashed into the corner as more and more people convinced themselves they could fit into the small transport. She clutched her attaché tightly against her body and waited an interminable amount of time for the elevator doors to finally close and begin the slow ride upward. The multitudes of colognes and perfumes assaulted her senses, lingering behind after their owners departed on their assigned floors. When the elevator finally reached the twenty-eighth floor, a grateful Ronnie stepped out to face the double glass doors that led to the Cartwright corporate offices.
"Morning, Laura. Anything important I need to know about?" Veronica asked, pulling the pile of pink phone messages out of their slot. More than half found themselves crumpled up and tossed into the blue recycle can next to the young secretary's desk.
"The reports are on your desk." The brown haired petite woman glanced over the schedule book.
"You have a meeting at ten with the investors from Houston and your sister has left word for you to call her as soon as you arrive." She took her boss' coat and crossed the room to hang it up in the closet. "She says it's important."
"It's always important to Susan," Veronica responded, unimpressed. Reaching for the handle to her office she instructed, "Call my house and get Maria on the phone for me."
Once inside the privacy of her corner office, Ronnie set her pumps under the desk and padded around in her stockinged feet, fetching a fresh cup of coffee from the private pot kept in her office. A few minutes later she was sitting at her desk, the computer humming to life. A polite buzz and the flashing light on her phone told her that Laura's task was accomplished. She picked up the black receiver and pressed the button for line two. "Maria."
"Is something wrong?" the housekeeper asked. It was rare for Ronnie to call home.
"I just wanted to see how things were going with our guest."
"Rose is still sleeping. Do you want me to wake her up?"
"No." She tried to keep the disappointment out of her voice. "Listen, when she wakes up, give her my office number and have her give me a call, okay?" The sound of the door to her office opening brought Ronnie's head up. Susan stood there, her body language indicating that something was life-or-death. "I've got to go. Have her call me." She set the receiver down.
"What?"
"You know that 'new hire' of yours? Rose Grayson?"
"Yeah? What about her?"
"She's never shown up for work. The termination papers just hit my desk."
"Termination papers? Who authorized that?"
"Grace did. Accounting is her department. She said she had never heard of this woman and that she never showed up for work."
Ronnie picked up the phone and pressed the digits for Laura's phone. "Get Grace on the phone." She turned her attention back to her sister. "Anything involving Rose comes to my desk immediately. You are to do nothing involving her without my consent."
"Ronnie, what's going on? You hire someone for an entry level, give them full benefits immediately and they never even show up to work?"
"Don't worry about it, Susan. I'll handle it."
"Grace on line three," Laura's voice cracked through the intercom. Ronnie picked up the receiver.
"Grace, there's a problem with a new hire, Rose Grayson?"
"Yeah, like she never showed up for work." the cousin replied.
"Don't worry about it. She's on extended medical leave. Just process her paperwork every week. Under no circumstances are you to terminate her."
"What? Ronnie, she never showed up. I've never even met this Grayson woman. All I have is a few forms faxed over from Susan last week."
"I know all about it." There was a pause and she thought her cousin was going to argue with her some more about it. "Grace, there is no discussion on this."
"Fine. You're the boss." There was a click followed by the dial tone. Ronnie hung the phone up and glanced at the computer screen. "Is there anything else, Sis?"
"Of course there is." Susan replied, moving around the desk until she was standing next to her older sister. "Ronnie, come on, what's going on?"
"Nothing you need to worry about. I'm sure you have more important things to do than to worry about one little employee."
"One little employee that you mysteriously hired." The redhead leaned casually against the mahogany desk. "Ronnie, you have never directly hired anyone for a position except Laura." A thought occurred to her. "This isn't like when you were at Stanford, is it?"
The mention of her great personal failure brought the executive's attention away from the computer. "Susan, can't you let anything die? That was ten years ago!" There was no mistaking her angry tone.
"Hey, you should have known better than to trust some poor white trash."
"Christine was not poor white trash. She was there on an academic scholarship."
"And what subject were you two studying at night in your room?" Susan jibed. "You weren't there when Dad answered the phone the night she called. You didn't hear the things she told him. The way she threatened to make it public knowledge."
"Drop it, Susan," she warned with a low growl. "I could have handled it."
"How? Would you have preferred that everyone knew that the heir apparent to Cartwright Corporation was queer?" She flinched at the blazing look in Ronnie's eyes. "Look, you're my sister and I love you. I can understand that you made a mistake. You were young, you didn't know better. I just don't want you to have to suffer through that again."
"That is not what's going on." Ronnie picked up a pencil and began tapping it on the desk.
"You promised Dad that it wouldn't happen again."
"And it hasn't!" The pencil was thrown angrily, causing it to bounce off the desk and onto the floor. Ronnie stood up and looked out the window at the Albany skyline, seething inside at the reminder of her great humiliation. The vision of the blue eyed blonde who had once filled her with happiness only to turn around and be
come a blood-sucking blackmailer flashed before her eyes. "I've never…I mean…since…." She gave up and continued to stare out the window.
"Ronnie…" Susan stood next to her taller sibling and put her hand on the forearm. "I felt so bad for you when Mom and Dad went to pick you up at the airport that night." The call from Christine demanding money in exchange for keeping quiet about her affair came less than two hours before Ronnie arrived at the Albany County Airport to spend the Christmas break at home with the family. "That was the worst holiday I can remember. All the yelling and screaming."
It had been a subject the two sisters never spoke of, not even at the time. Ronnie had never known Susan's true feelings on the matter of either her sexuality or the whole blackmail incident. Without turning around, the older woman spoke. "I had been looking forward to coming home. I missed Thanksgiving and after Chris and I broke up…." She shook her head. "Was what I did so horribly wrong?" she asked quietly.
