by Alice Brown
“I forgot to mention this earlier when we were out, but I caught wind that you and dad are working on a plan for an underground elderly village,” she stated.
“Oh, yes, I guess we are. Kate mentioned something about it to Charles, and then he and I discussed it this morning,” Erica answered, while stifling a yawn.
“Well, I think Kate would do great as Director. She has that type of personality and gets along well with most of our elderly already. I was wondering if you could speak to Charles about it,” Elizabeth replied.
“Okay, what about the Meals on Wheels program?” Erica asked, a bit confused, “Is she getting burned out on that?”
“No, but I think Kate would do great as Director, and I would really like the chance to run the Meals on Wheels program,” Elizabeth replied.
“Well, Kate does seem to have the right personality for something like that. However, I don’t like the idea of Charles trying to force her into this. If she wants the position, and if Charles agrees, then okay,” Erica replied.
“Okay, the only thing I want you to do is to mention to Charles that Kate would be a good choice as Director. He would never make her do anything she doesn’t want to do. I just want you to point out the obvious best choice,” she finished with a grin on her face.
“That’s something I can do,” Erica answered, with a smile of her own.
Elizabeth left shortly after, and Erica was asleep in no time. She found herself tossing her own pillow aside for Kevin’s. It was almost as good as having him right next to her.
The following afternoon, Erica went downstairs to visit with Charles. She had been working on her school assignments all morning and needed a break. She walked into the office, and he motioned for her to sit down next to him at the desk. He was talking to numerous team members, all needing different information at the same time. Charles had everyone on speaker, and Erica immediately recognized Kevin and Marshall’s voices among the group. There were two other members she did not recognize also asking for data. Charles jotted down notes as he listened to the team, and then replied, “Okay, guys, my new assistant just arrived. Give us about five minutes and I will have everyone’s information they need.”
Charles now hit the mute button to the speaker and glanced up at Erica with a grin. “Your timing is perfect. I have four different sets of data I need to pull up, would you mind lending me a hand?” he now asked her.
“Certainly,” Erica replied, as she immediately sat upright in her seat. “Where do you want me, and what do you need me to do?” she now inquired.
Charles patted the desk sitting directly in front of Erica. “I need you right here. I am going to jot down some quick notes to help you maneuver through the software. I’ll get you started, and then you should be able to take over from there. I’ll also jot down exactly what information the team is looking for. If you can handle retrieving one set of data, I can work on the other three sets. As Erica watched Charles bring up the computer in front of her, she briefly wondered if she could handle this task. She found herself desperately wanting to help the team and not let Charles down.
Charles quickly scribbled some notes down on a tablet sitting next to her. As she began fumbling her way through, she was surprised at how self-explanatory the software seemed to be. She quickly realized that indeed, she could make her way through this system and retrieve the information needed.
Charles was once again on the speaker with the team within five minutes, giving everyone the needed data. Once they had what they needed, the team quickly went off the line.
“Oh, by the way, I have already put together the presentation for tomorrow afternoon’s meeting,” Charles stated as he glanced over her way. He handed Erica a packet that looked to be forty or fifty pages long. He then began to pull something up on the large wall screen he was sitting in front of.
“This is a diagram of the village,” he began, as the diagram was brought up on the huge wall screen. Erica had to admit it was very impressive. They spent the next two hours going over the layout and what should be included. Charles had the living arrangements set up as small apartments, two per unit. All units included small front porches as well as patios out back. His illustrations included wrought iron table and chair sets for each patio, along with a swing or a rocking chair for the front porch.
The main unit housed a couple of offices for staff, a kitchen which would seldom if ever be used, and a huge recreation room that would include a pool table, an indoor shuffleboard, and table tennis. On the other side of the recreation room was another large room with a big screen TV, and smaller tables with chairs for cards or other games. The property would have cemented walkways with flower gardens lining the walkways. He had even included park benches set up periodically if someone wanted to rest.
“Well, what do you think?” Charles inquired, eager to get someone else’s opinion. Erica was still attempting to wrap her head around the fact that he had done all of this in less than twenty-four hours.
“It looks great. I love the way you have these apartments set up with two units per building. It gives it a cozy feeling. This is fantastic, Charles!” Erica gushed enthusiastically, still in awe over what he had accomplished.
“You have tomorrow’s presentation in your hand. Take it with you and read over it tonight,” Charles stated, and then sat back and hesitated for just a moment. “This was your idea, Erica, I would like for you to present it tomorrow. I’ll be there to back you up, and take care of the slide show, but I would like for you to be the one presenting this.”
“Do you really think that is for the best? The council members have not even met me yet,” Erica replied, stating the obvious.
“Erica, you are family now, and they will soon realize that. You’ll be fine. Trust me,” he stated, as he gently smiled over to her. “I’ll give the presentation if you’re not up to it, but this was your idea, I would really like to see you take credit for it.”
“Okay, I’ll go over everything tonight. Will I have time to get with you before the meeting if I run into any questions?” she asked him.
“I’ll be here all night,” he replied smoothly.
As Erica headed back up to her bedroom, she reasoned that Charles must not get too much rest when the team is on a mission. Despite her best intentions, she ended up falling asleep reading the report. She woke up early Wednesday morning feeling refreshed. She finished up reading over the report and added a few notes of her own. After showering and dressing, she went to find Charles.
“Good morning, Charles. Is everything good with the team?” Erica inquired the moment she entered the office.
Charles smiled up at her as he replied, “Everything is on track, dear. How are you today?”
“Good,” she replied. “If you have a minute, I thought we could go over some notes that I made regarding the presentation.”
They spent the next fifteen minutes going over the report, and Erica was happy to see that Charles seemed to agree with everything she had noted.
“What time is the meeting?” Erica asked.
“The meeting is at one o’clock, and we will need to leave about twelve. Go on upstairs and grab an early lunch. I am working on retrieving some information the team needs. However, I’ll be wrapped up in plenty of time.”
Erica took that as her cue to leave. She went back to Kevin’s suite to fix lunch and go over the report one more time.
Charles and Erica arrived at the council meeting about fifteen minutes early. The arrival itself was a bit of an ordeal. It probably didn’t seem like much to a vampire, but to a human, well, that was a different matter altogether.
Although Erica had been underground twice before, she had spent little time inspecting her surroundings either time. Now, she found it fascinating. Charles had driven them to the VCTF office and unlocked the front door for them to enter. She was somewhat confused when she watched him turn around and lock the door behind them. Then, she followed him toward the back of the building, until he
came up to a wall. Stopping, she briefly wondered what he was doing, as she observed him reach out, placing his hand lightly on the wall. A door that seemed to appear quite literally out of nowhere opened into the elevator. They entered the elevator and he pushed the button to go down. When the doors opened, Erica was surprised to find her surroundings reminded her of a small town. The only difference that she noted was it wasn’t as bright, but more like dusk. Recessed lighting could be spotted above her head. They were walking on what appeared to be a normal sidewalk, with Charles stopping occasionally to issue a quick hello to someone he recognized.
Erica kept a step behind him, slightly overwhelmed by her surroundings. She had not taken the time to notice any details when she had been down before. Charles led her past several buildings, then suddenly turned a sharp left and entered into one of the buildings. He slowed up long enough to issue a cheery hello to the receptionist, and to inform her that Erica was accompanying him.
Charles then proceeded down a long hall and entered in an open door on the right. Erica wasn’t sure what to expect at this point, and she was a little taken aback as she entered a very spacious, well maintained office. In the middle of the room was a large oval polished mahogany table with comfortable chairs all around. She noticed a couple of the councilmen had wine glasses in their hands, and she assumed they were having their “lunch” of blood. All heads popped up as she and Charles entered, with all eyes on Erica instantaneously.
“What is this?” hissed one of the councilmen in a heavy French accent, as he came to stand directly in front of Charles and her.
Erica could almost see Charles squaring off his shoulders as he sidestepped her, placing himself between Erica and the hissing vampire.
“She is with me. Felippe, this is Erica. She is now part of my family. My son Kevin has found someone to share his life with.” Charles stated this with ease, as Erica tried to peek around him in order to glimpse the other vampire’s face.
“She is not one of us, and they are not married. She does not belong here,” Felippe vehemently protested. “Besides,” he continued. “This meeting is for board members only. Or are you giving up your seat?” Felippe continued in his wrath.
At that moment, Mr. Atkins came up to Erica’s side and gave her a hug. “Erica, girl, it is good to see you again.” He smiled over to her as he gave her a conspicuous wink. “Felippe, remove the corn cob from your rear. Is this any way of treating a guest?”
Erica felt her eyes get round as saucers at this comment, and took a quick second to steal a look around the room at the other vampires. She was somewhat relieved to find that this Felippe character seemed to be the only one who had a problem with her being there. If the rest did, they were doing a great job of covering it.
“Now, Felippe, calm yourself. You know me better than to think I would bring any harm to this group,” Charles stated, very calmly and patiently. Erica wondered what possible harm she, a lowly, weak human girl, could bring to a room full of vampire men, and then wondered how Charles was holding his temper in check. “Erica has come with me at my request. She has a wonderful idea for our elderly vamps that I think everyone needs to hear about,” he continued.
Mr. Atkins jumped in at this point and stated, “This beautiful lady and I had a wonderful visit last week. Charles, you are a lucky man to have this intelligent child living under your roof. I had about given up hope on Kevin finding his mate.”
Erica noticed that Felippe stole a quick look around the room, and could only assume that he felt betrayed. All the other councilmen were taking their seats, and it seemed like they were completely ignoring the confrontation. Charles continued standing in front of her, with Mr. Atkins on her right side.
Felippe ultimately backed down, walked away, and went to his seat. Erica followed Charles over to the large table, and he quickly pulled out a chair for her to sit in. She tried her best to look inconspicuous, all the while willing her nerves to calm back down. The hissing vampire Charles had referred to as Felippe had rattled her self-confidence. Mr. Atkins took a seat on her left side, Charles already occupied the chair at her right. Mr. Atkins could evidently see that she was nervous. He placed his hand on top of hers and lightly patted it. “You are fine, my dear,” he softly whispered with a wink. One of the councilmen stood up and started the meeting. When he asked if anyone had any new business to discuss, Charles spoke up.
“I have something to present.”
“Charles, you have the floor.” The councilman who had been leading the meeting cocked his head over to Charles and smiled briefly.
Charles stood up and started. “First of all, I would like to introduce you to the newest member of my family.” He turned to look at Erica as he continued, and she could feel the heat immediately begin to rise on her face. “This is Erica. She has had the opportunity of visiting with some of our elderly, and has come away with some interesting observations. Erica, the floor is yours.”
Erica stood up and could feel all eyes on her. She was glad she had chosen to dress up for this meeting. She had decided to wear a sweater skirt and shirt ensemble. It was one of her favorite outfits, and right now she needed all the courage that could be mustered up.
“Thank you, Charles,” she started with a smile on her face, hoping no one would notice her heart beating erratically. “I have had the opportunity of meeting with some of your elderly. They are very lonely, and I suspect some are even dealing with depression. Since they can’t come out of their homes because of the sunlight and the damage it tends to cause, Charles and I have put together an idea of a retirement village.” She looked over to Charles at that moment, and he nodded in encouragement. “What we are proposing is to develop an underground village where the elderly can live close by one another. It would include a large recreational facility, to give them a place to get together for activities and socialization.”
Charles had a copy of his report for every member of the council, and he glided over to the slide presentation and put the diagram for the village up on the wall for everyone to see.
Felippe immediately cut in. “What are you proposing? That we force our elderly underground and forget about them?”
Charles was ready to bodily remove Felippe out of the room, and was somewhat surprised that Erica beat him to respond to this ill-mannered, hissing vampire. As he watched her address Felippe, Charles stood back and grinned. He could only imagine what Kevin would be doing if he was here. The girl has some guts, he mused. She’s a human, and not even flinching over standing up to a vampire!
“Not at all,” Erica replied, as calmly as she could to Felippe. “You have chosen to reside in a country where freedom abounds. And from what I can see, you have chosen to keep those same freedoms within your own society. This is just a choice for your elderly. No one is suggesting that you force them into anything.” She stopped for just a minute to make eye contact with each councilman. “You have done a great job of setting up schools for your children, but no one forces them to attend those schools. Your children are your future, and you seem to take very good care of them. Why not extend the same services to your elderly who have already paid their dues to your society? I for one believe if you put some of your elderly together, the loneliness and depression will decrease dramatically and their quality of life will improve. An added benefit would be that it would put them much closer to your medical facility, should the need arise,” she finished.
Charles was relieved to see Felippe didn’t have a comeback for Erica. For the moment, he seemed speechless. That thought alone made Charles want to chuckle heartily, but he took that time to start going over the diagram on the wall, explaining everything in detail.
After the presentation, a few council members had questions. Charles made sure he spoke up quickly to answer them. He felt Erica had done enough. He could only imagine the look on Atkins’s face when she jumped up to respond to Felippe’s hissing argument. Charles found himself holding back from glancing over to see Atkins’s face n
ow, not trusting himself to keep a straight face if he did.
Raphael Livingstone now broke into his thoughts with another question. “Charles, I think this idea has some very good merits. Could you please explain in detail the paragraph on page thirty-nine that suggests the school age children visit the elderly facility at least once a week for history lessons?”
Erica found herself speaking up before Charles had a chance to collect his thoughts. “Charles, if I may?” she inquired, and waited until he nodded his head to continue. “Mr. Livingstone, isn’t it?” she asked, as she turned her attention to the individual who had just made an inquiry. When the man nodded, she continued. “By having groups come to visit the elderly on a regular basis, it will help with socialization. We have not only included the school children to visit, but other groups you have set up within your society. Charles suggested getting the elderly more involved with the teaching of the children, giving the elderly something worthwhile to do.”
Felippe scoffed at this idea immediately, and since he was sitting across from Erica, now leaned over the table and was immediately directly in front of her face, so close she could have counted his eyelashes. Sneering at her, he argued, “The children have more important things to do than go visit a retirement center once a week. You would be taking away valuable time from other studies, just to appease the old folks?”
Mr. Atkins suddenly stood up and purposely squeezed his body between the hissing Felippe and Erica’s face. “You are welcome to your opinion, Felippe, and we keep these meetings open to speak your mind. However, you will not invade this woman’s personal space again!” Mr. Atkins growled in a low, menacing voice, and then continued, “And God help you when you reach ‘old folk’ status!”
Although Erica felt her nerves would snap at any given second, she also felt it was her responsibility to respond to Felippe’s comment. “I happen to think your elderly can teach our children so much more than they will ever retain from reading a book,” she stated calmly, although where she was drawing this from, she had no idea. She glanced quickly over to Charles before continuing. This hissing vampire had her fired up, maybe she was going on nothing but pent-up frustrations, but she was determined not to back down. “As much history as some of your elderly vamps have gone through, the wars they have been involved in, the changes that they have witnessed throughout the human race. I daresay a book has never been written to cover all that they have stored in memory. And what our children will walk away with is a treasure of knowledge. It will also teach them to respect their elders. This is a lesson that doesn’t get taught anywhere near as much as it needs to in the human society.” Suddenly, she was out of steam. She glanced over at Charles as she took her seat, hoping he would continue if anything else needed to be added. After a moment, she realized that she had referred to the children as “our” children during her speech. She wondered if anyone else had caught what she had said as well. Well, she might not be a vampire, but she had already met some of these children and had fallen in love with them instantly. If she was now considered part of Charles’s family, human or not, she was also part of the vampire society.
