Wings of Eagles

by Annabelle Garcia

  I repeated the words and with each, I felt a weight lifted from my shoulders and bitterness left my heart. When I opened my eyes everything looked so much brighter, more beautiful than I’d ever imagined.

  “Welcome to the family, Adira.” Patricia pulled me into her arms and Karen hugged us both. “I can’t wait to tell Pastor Suan about the new addition.”

  There was still so much to learn, but I was looking forward to it now.

  “You look positively radiant .Like a shiny new penny!” Karen squeezed my hands. “Now let’s finish eating and get to bed. Tomorrow is a new day.” For the first time in my life I really had hope.

  

  The next morning I awoke confused by my surroundings. Then I remembered how my life had changed. I smiled and threw back the covers ready to get out of bed. I rushed through a morning shower and got dressed, pulled my hair into a ponytail, grabbed a jacket, and ran up the stairs.

  “Good morning, Adira. I hope you slept well last night.” Patricia stood at the sink washing a coffee cup and cereal bowl.

  “I did thank you.” I looked at the clock on the wall. Eight thirty. I wondered if Karen had a job or if she was taking classes.

  “Hey, Adira!” Karen came into the kitchen, smiling brightly.

  “Hey, Karen.”

  “Did you already eat?” I shook my head. “Well why don’t I take you out for breakfast and then we can make plans on what to do today.”

  “Sounds like a great idea, Karen. Do you think you can run some errands for me? I have a meeting at the church and I really need to get your dad’s suit from the cleaners.”

  “Of course, mother dear!” The way she ran over and embraced her mother made my heartache and brought tears to my eyes. I looked away quickly trying to compose myself.

  The phone rang and Karen’s mother, Patricia, extricated herself from her daughters embrace and answered.

  “I just gotta get my purse and keys and we can head out.” Karen skipped back up the stairs. I stood in the kitchen listening to Patricia’s end of the conversation.

  “Yes, dear. I understand, dear. No, dear. Sweetheart, there is no need to get all worked up. I’ll have Karen and Adira drop off the files to you in just a few minutes, they are heading out.”

  “What files are we dropping off where?” Karen asked, catching the tail end of her mother’s conversation.

  “Your father forgot some important files for a meeting he is having at ten. Please drop them off first thing and then you can go off to your breakfast.”

  “Anything for you, precious woman.” Karen leaned in and gave her mother a quick peck on the cheek. This family was perfect, I couldn’t believe my luck.

  “Grab them off of your father’s desk.” Karen dashed out of the kitchen and Patricia grabbed her handbag from the counter. “Here’s twenty dollars for breakfast and another twenty for the dry cleaning.” She handed the money to me and I stared at her.

  “Come on, girl!” Karen called to me from the hall.

  “You girls be careful and have fun.” She gave me a quick hug and pushed me gently toward the door.”

  I smiled at her and left, practically floating on air.

  

  CHAPTER 10

  

  “Sorry about the side trips.” Karen said as she entered the freeway. “But you know, family first.” She smiled as she eased into the center lane.

  “I don’t mind at all… it isn’t like I have a schedule to keep.” I quipped.

  “Well fortunately for me I don’t have classes on Thursday or Friday we have all day to get to know each other. We don’t’ have far to go anyhow.” She exited the freeway and we drove into a covered lot.

  “Karen, good to see you.” A handsome young man in the security hut smiled broadly at Karen.

  “Good to see you too. I have some files for my dad. Can we go in?”

  “Of course.” He smiled warmly and the traffic arm went up.

  “Who was he?” I whispered as we drove through.

  “His name is Ozzy, he works security for my dad’s offices. He also plays guitar at the church. I was actually hoping he would ask me to the banquet, but he never did. Guess he decided to take someone else instead.”

  “I’m sorry it didn’t work out.”

  “Ah well. Okay here we are.” She pulled into a parking spot right outside the glass doors.

  “Where is here?”

  “My dad’s offices. He owns the building.” I gazed up at the huge metallic structure rising into the sky before us.

  “What does he do?” I gasped.

  “He is an architect. Come on this way, the elevators are over on the right.”

  “Wow, this is beautiful!” I gasped.

  “Yeah, mom did all the interior work, it was expensive but totally worth it.” I looked at the furnishings and art work decorating the already beautiful building.

  “Is there anything your family cannot do?”

  “Yeah, a few things.” She giggled. “Seriously though, this is all God. No one can do this on their own.” I shook my head.

  “I’m sure your mom and dad put in a lot of man hours on this. God didn’t do the work, they did.”

  “But God gave them the strength and wisdom to do it all. You see we believe God will help us, but we also have to do our part.”

  “What do you mean? They do all the work and God gets all the glory? Doesn’t seem very fair.”

  “It isn’t about fair, it is about what is right. All this is God’s and He only loans it to us. We are like managers for Him.”

  “That seriously doesn’t make any sense. If He is so high and mighty why doesn’t He take care of His own stuff?”

  “Well it’s kind of like this-”

  “Karen!” We both turned to see Karen’s father, Howard, running through the lobby.

  “Daddy!” Karen held out the files. “Here you are. Mom said you needed these right away.”

  “Thank you, but I have another favor to ask. Follow me.” Howard rushed us into the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. “I lost my secretary and my assistant today. Headhunters. I need your help at least for today.” He was wild eyed and frantic.

  “Of course, daddy. Whatever we can do for you.” She turned to me. “You don’t mind do you?”

  “Of course not. Whatever I can do to help.” There was no way I would refuse to help the family who had rescued me.

  “Great, Karen, you are going to take over for Julissa. She was my secretary. I need you to start calling all my clients and check the computer to make sure none of my files have been compromised. Adira, I need you to act as my assistant for the next few days. I will pay you of course. I managed to make sure Veda left the organizer. If you will just shadow me today and greet my clients I’d appreciate it.”

  The elevator dinged, doors slid open and we all stepped out.

  “I’ll see you for lunch, Adira. I’ll get right to work, daddy.” She reached up, kissed her father, and then headed toward an office.

  “Adira, your office is right over here.” He pointed at a door. “My office is next to you. I’ll be in to help you out in about five minutes.” He hurried into his office and left me standing in front of my door.

  I took a deep breath and opened the door. A huge black desk sat near a window. File cabinets stood on either side. A bookcase lined two of the walls and was filled from ceiling to floor with various books. I walked to the desk just as the phone rang.

  “Howard Wallace’s office, this is Adira. How may I help you?”

  “Adira? I don’t think I know you.” I man’s gruff voice answered.

  “No sir, I’m just filling in. How may I help you?” I readied a pen.

  “This is Edwin Long, tell Howard the Case Towers project is in trouble. The Simpson Firm messed up on the specs for the foundation. Case is firing Simpson and I’ve already talked to Craig Case about Howard taking over. He needs to get someone over there before Hilling and Knight catch wind of th
e opportunity.” I finished scribbling the message just as he finished speaking.

  “Yes, sir. I’ll let him know right away.” There was a click and the line went dead. I ripped the sheet from the tablet, hurried over to Mr. Wallace’s office and knocked on the door.

  “Come in.” Mr. Wallace was scribbling furiously on a tablet computer of some sort.

  “Mr. Wallace, I have a message for you from a Mr. Edwin Long.” Mr. Wallace’s head snapped up

  “What did he say?” I handed him the note.

  “Good job, Adira.” He picked up his phone and pressed a button. “Karen, Get Jerry on the phone and tell him to come to my office right away.” He hung up and turned back to me.

  “Adira, I hate to put you in this spot, but I need you to call in an order to the coffee shop downstairs. The menu should be taped to the desk calendar. Just ask for Katie, tell her Wallace wants the usual brunch for twelve and charge it to the office. As soon as I finish these changes to the plans I’ll be in with you. Thanks.” He immediately went back to work so I left.

  Menu, where was the menu. I looked at the desk calendar, but there was no menu. I opened the desk drawers one at a time and finally found a notebook labeled simply MENUS. I flipped though looking for a coffee shop. Once I found it I followed Mr. Wallace’s instructions.

  I’d just hung up with Katie when the phone rang again.

  “Mr. Howard Wallace’s office, this is Adira, how may I help you?”

  “I’m sorry, I thought Veda-”

  “I’m filling in. How can I help you?” It was going to be a long day and I was going to be irritated by everyone wanting to talk to Veda.

  “Oh, well this is Jerry, Mr. Wallace needed me to come in for something but traffic is a mess. Can you transfer me in?”

  “Well I can try, give me a second.” I buzzed Mr. Wallace’s intercom.

  “Is everything okay Adira?”

  “Yes sir, I have Jerry on the line, he said he can’t make it in because of traffic. Can I transfer him in to you?”

  “Just tell him what Long told you. I’m in a bind with these plans.” The line went dead.

  “Jerry, I’m sorry he is super busy, but he did tell me what he needed.” I repeated the message from Mr. Long to Mr. Wallace. “So I’m assuming, and I know it’s a dangerous thing to do, he needs you to go out and handle the situation.”

  “Sounds like a safe assumption. Let him know I’ll be out on the Case site in about ten minutes. I’m just down the road.”

  “I’ll let him know. Thank you.”

  “Thanks.” He hung up and I wrote another note and took it into Mr. Wallace’s office but he was gone so I just placed it on the desk. It felt good to be doing something useful. My day was off to a hectic start but I soon found a rhythm and method to the madness.

  

  CHAPTER 11

  

  “Wow, you look like a woman on a mission!” I was startled to hear Karen’s voice in the office with me.

  “Oh, you scared me!” I laughed. “I was a little bit busy.”

  “I see. What on earth does daddy have you doing?” She picked up a pile of papers on the desk.

  ‘Information packets for a conference next week. His assistant was supposed to have already had them done. The boxes were shoved back there.” I gestured to a supply closet on the other side of the room.

  “Wow, I never thought of Veda as a slacker, but I guess she didn’t see the point of things if she was on her way out.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Veda and Susie were contacted by someone hired by daddy’s biggest competitor. Offered them quite a bit more than what daddy was paying them, they took it and jumped ship. They didn’t even give notice.” She huffed. “Anyhow Susie managed to get a client list out of the office, but daddy found out about Veda and changed the locks on her office. Good thing too, all dad’s private contacts are in there.”

  “Wow, not good. So now he has to find replacements for both? Talk about overwhelming.” I finished the last of the packets and started packing them up.

  “You ready for lunch? I’m starving!” She grabbed at her midsection and made a face. “We never even got to have breakfast.”

  “OH! I forgot.” I dug into my pocket and handed her the money Patricia had given me before we left.

  “What’s this?” I explained what her mom had said.

  “Jumping Jelly Babies! The cleaning!” She shrieked. “Come on, we gotta get the cleaning and we’ll pick up lunch on the way.” She grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the office.

  “Going to lunch?” Mr. Wallace laughed as we nearly knocked him over.

  “Be back soon, daddy!” Karen shouted over her shoulder. We rounded the corner and Karen slammed right into the security attendant who’d let us into the parking area this morning. She released my hand just before they landed in a pile right in front of the elevators.

  I stared in shock at the two as the elevator doors slid closed.

  “Karen, are you okay?” the guy, whose name I’d already forgotten, was trying to get up.

  “I’m okay, Ozzy,” I’m so sorry, I should have been watching where I was going!” She blushed and averted her eyes.

  “No, I was distracted. Were you heading out?”

  “Yes, we were going to lunch.” She motioned to me.

  “Oh, I was on my way for a quick bite as well. May I join you?” For the first time since I’d met her, Karen was speechless.

  “Sounds great, Ozzy.” I answered as I gently elbowed Karen.

  “Oh, yes. That would be lovely.” She murmured as she gazed rather stupidly at him. I tried to not giggle, but it wasn’t easy.

  “Great, I’ll meet you at Maria’s in about ten minutes.” He smiled and nodded. I chuckled until Karen’s elbow made contact with my ribs. I coughed to cover the laughter threatened to burst forward.

  “See you there.” Ozzy walked off and Karen’s gaze followed him until he walked around the corner.

  “That would be lovely. See you there.” I mimicked in a love-struck voice. “You got it bad don’t you?”

  “Oh no! Did I really say that?” She was horrified and I just had to laugh.

  “Sorry, but yeah it is true.” I giggled.

  “He is so far out of my league though.” She sighed wistfully.

  “You are blind. He had stars in his eyes when he saw you!” I laughed. “How did you meet him?” The elevator dinged and the doors slid open.

  “I’ll tell you in the car.” We boarded the elevator with others who were also heading out to lunch. Neither of us spoke, there wasn’t really much to say. Not that we could talk about in front of anyone anyhow.

  

  “So tell me about how you met Ozzy.” This was one story I really wanted to hear.

  “He came to church with Debby’s boyfriend, Uziel. The praise team found out he played guitar and they asked if he wanted to join them.” She sighed. “The man can play. I could listen to him forever. He said hi to me a couple of times, but that’s it.” She pulled into a strop center. “Cleaners is here and Maria’s is three doors down. You go and grab us a table. I’ll grab the cleaning and stick it in the car.”

  

  “I just asked for water for all of us until you and Ozzy got here.” I offered as Karen sat at the table.

  “Great, I’m cutting back on soda and tea anyhow. If I don’t I’ll just never be able to fit into my gown.” She picked up the menu and browsed as she talked. “So how have you enjoyed your impromptu job?”

  “Oh it has been interesting. I couldn’t believe that your dad trusted me enough to help out.” I stirred my water nervously.

  “Well I’m glad you are having fun. I would hate for the day to be a bust just cause of that. Oooooo, I think I want the enchilada plater. The refried beans are to die for!” She snapped her menu shut and placed it on the table. “What are you having?”

  “I think I’ll just have the tortilla soup. I’m not very hungry
.” She glared at me.

  “Now listen here. I know you are thin and all, but you have to eat something more substantial than soup!”

  “I don’t want you to have to spend more money on me.” I looked at the table and muttered.

  “She isn’t, I’ll be paying for your meal.” The voice made my heart jump and my stomach flip. I turned and saw E-Z grinning at us. “Karen, Adira. How are you ladies doing today?” He took a seat next to me.

  “E-Z, what are you doing here?” The look of surprise on Karen’s face was genuine.

  “Ozzy called me and told me he was having lunch with a couple of beautiful ladies and wanted me to take one of em off his hands.” He winked at me and my face blazed.

  “Smooth, E-Z, real smooth.” Ozzy walked up and punched E-Z lightly on the shoulder.

  “That’s me man, a smooth player.” He flicked up an invisible collar.

  “Oh brother!” Karen groaned as she rolled her eyes.

  “You wound me!” E-Z took a butter knife from the table and pretended to stab himself .through the heart.

  “If it was only that easy!” Ozzy laughed.

  “Are you guys ready to order?” The waiter had appeared behind us.

  “Let me take care of this guys.” Ozzy waved the waiter over and began to speak to him in Spanish.

  “So what have you ladies been up to?” E-Z asked.

  “Daddy’s secretary no-showed and then he got word she and his assistant were approached by a headhunter. That wicked woman was actually trying to get into her office to get the private contacts in there. But thank God, daddy was able to change out the locks and he had her escorted off the property. I just wish I’d been there to see that.” She blushed when she realized how angry she’d sounded. “Well anyhow, we stopped by the office to give daddy some files he needed and he asked us to help out.”

  “Ah, working women! Nice.” He waggled his eyebrows.

  “Well we have to earn some spending money, it doesn’t grow on trees you know.” I had to admire the easiness with which they teased each other. They acted like siblings more than exes.