Bank On Love

by Iris Bolling

  The door to the ladies’ room opened. Beverly walked out. Chrystina watched as her mother walked towards her smiling.

  “Hello, Chrystina.” Beverly kissed her cheek. “How is Gina’s interview going?” she asked.

  “Mother, what did you do?”

  Beverly never looked up at her daughter. “Whatever do you mean?”

  Chrystina glanced around. “Where is Savannah, Mother?”

  Beverly glanced up. “You mean Ms. Whitfield? The woman who was here a moment ago?”

  “Yes, Mother.” Chrystina’s heart began to race. “Where did you last see her?”

  “She was in the ladies’ room, hanging out,” Beverly replied as she pulled out her cell phone. “See.” She held her cell phone up.

  Chrystina’s hand quickly covered her mouth to stop the scream that was about to escape.

  Beverly calmly took her seat back on the white bench. “No one gets away with threatening one of my children,” she said as she crossed her legs then continued glancing through her phone.

  Chrystina ran into the ladies’ room. She burst through the door scanning the room. The vanity area was empty. She began pushing each of the stall doors open until she reached the last one. Inside, Savannah was slumped in the corner next to the toilet. Her hand was hanging across the back of the toilet with her head resting on the seat of the commode as if she had just thrown up. The long hair, that flowed down her back, was now stapled, straight up the wall behind the toilet as far as it could go.

  Chrystina gasped.

  Mrs. Vazquez walked up behind her. “Oh my. Is she all right?”

  Chrystina checked the woman’s head. “She is knocked out. That’s for sure.”

  “But she is not dead?”

  “No.” Chrystina stood, exhaled then glanced at Mrs. Vazquez.

  The two burst out laughing.

  “Shh…. Don’t wake her,” Mrs. Vazquez cautioned. “It will be much easier to handle with her unconscious. How do you suppose she got this way?”

  Annatasha walked into the ladies’ room, locking the door behind her. “Your mother thought this may help.” She gave Chrystina a staple remover.

  Chrystina stared at Annatasha. “Did you see her do this?” She asked as she began unstapling Savannah’s hair from the wall.

  “I can honestly say, I did not see a thing.”

  “Annatasha,” Mrs. Vazquez inquired as she helped to pull the hair out of the staples’ grasp. “Did you see anyone follow Ms. Whitfield into the ladies’ room?”

  “I can honestly say, I did not.”

  “We have a lot of honesty going on in here.” Chrystina shook her head from side to side as she continued to remove the staples from the wall. “How am I supposed to handle this?”

  “Give me that.” Mrs. Vazquez took the staple remover from her.

  “I will get the staples out from the wall and have her put in the infirmary. You leave.”

  Chrystina glared over her shoulder at Mrs. Vazquez. “Just leave her here?”

  “Yes,” the woman nodded. “In fact, you go get your mother out of the reception area. Annatasha and I will handle this.”

  “Are you sure?”

  Mrs. Vazquez smiled. “This is light compared to some things I have cleaned up behind Winnieford. Believe me, we can handle this. You go.”

  Chrystina glared at Annatasha as she walked away. “Don’t you dare laugh?”

  “I can honestly say there is nothing humorous about this situation.”

  Chrystina had the feeling that Annatasha, as sweet of a person as she was, had something to do with her mother’s actions. However, she glanced at Savannah once more before walking out, certain the woman had gotten what she deserved.

  In the reception area, Chrystina walked over to her mother. Beverly looked up at her and smiled.

  “Don’t you dare smile at me? Come on. Let’s get you away from the scene of the crime.”

  “Hello, Mrs. Price.”

  The two turned to see Myles standing right behind them.

  Myles’ questioning eyes met Chrystina’s. “Why do you two look like you are up to something?”

  CHAPTER 23

  The music system in Chrystina’s office was off the chain. But why she was listening to this wack music, Gina could not understand. Determined to change the music, she examined the console to the built in the wall system.

  “Hmm,” she said while reading the labels. “Source. That should give me options.” She touched the area and sure enough a menu of options appeared. “Cool.” She smiled, excited to have a way to change the music. But then she noticed the options were not for radio stations. Not even the internet radio stations were listed. “What the hell?” It looked more like a list of names rather than stations. She pushed one button. To her surprise one of the three monitors came to life. A woman sitting at her desk on the telephone appeared. “Oh, we are spying on people. Well all right, Chrystina. So who is this?” She looked at the label next to the button she pushed. “E. Jacobson. Okay, I don’t know who you are but you better watch out.” She laughed. “Okay, who is P. Long?” She hit the button. Another monitor came on. She smiled. “Oh, I know you,” she said as she watched Preston talk with another man inside what she assumed was his office. “Okay, who else are you watching, Chrystina?”

  She was about to push the next button when the door to the office opened and in walked Chrystina, Beverly and Myles.

  “Gina, what are you doing?” Chrystina asked as she entered the room.

  Gina pushed the off button. The monitors quickly shut down. “What are you doing back here? I thought you were going to wait in the lobby.”

  “The lobby wasn’t big enough for me and Ms. Whitfield,” Beverly replied.

  “Savannah?” Myles glanced at Chrystina. “Savannah was here?”

  “I will fill you in later.” Chrystina waved him off. “Do you want me to handle the interview or will you?”

  “I will take this one.” Myles smiled at Gina. “Why don’t you visit with your mother? Gina, will you come with me?”

  Gina watched as Myles walked to a different door and held it open. “We’ll do your interview in my office.”

  Gina smirked at Chrystina. “You have connecting offices. I can just imagine the things you two do behind these doors.”

  “Gina, this is a business office.” Chrystina sighed as she looked at Myles. “Are you sure you want to do this?”

  “Don’t hate, Chrystina.”

  “I’m not hating, Gina, I’m just not sure you are ready for a real job.”

  “Let’s give her a chance,” Beverly suggested.

  “She needs a job.” Myles shrugged. “We have a building full of opportunities. It will be fine.” He turned to Gina. “Let’s go.”

  Gina glared at her sister. “Chrys, if you really don’t want me here...”

  “It’s not that I don’t want you here, Gina. My hesitation is if you really are ready to change your way of life. Do you want to be here?”

  Gina thought for a moment. “I’m ready,” she nodded.

  Chrystina exhaled. “Okay, then good luck.”

  Gina smiled then walked through the door. Myles followed her into his office.

  Gina stopped in her tracks. “Whoa.”

  Myles walked by her. “Have a seat, Gina.”

  Gina walked over to the chair in front of Myles’ desk. “You guys live pretty large around here.”

  “We do all right,” Myles said as he sat back. “Tell me, have you had any thoughts on what kind of work you would like to do?”

  “I have a choice?”

  “We want you to be successful. Putting you in a position that you simply hate will be counterproductive. That would put you at a disadvantage and make Chrystina unhappy. And that is something I will not tolerate.”

  Gina studied him. “You really love my sister?”

  “I do.”

  His response was immediate and resolute. That was good, Gina thought, but there was still
more she needed to know.

  “What about Savannah Whitfield?”

  “What about her?”

  “She’s a diva for sure. Attractive, nice body, halfway intelligent. And she seems to have her claws ready to reel you in.”

  “And?”

  She was going to have to break it down for him. “This is how it goes for me, Myles. Chrystina is my big sister. She has always looked out for me. Always. It’s a part of her makeup to take care of me. Even when she is fussing, I know it is because she wants what is best for me. I argue back because it makes her feel like she is needed in my life. I am not a dumb person, Myles. I have had opportunities in my life to change my circumstances. I have not had the inclination to do anything about that until now. The only reason I am considering it now is because my children deserve a better life. The other reason is because I think my sister is okay now. I think with you in her life she doesn’t need me to care for any longer. It is important to me to know that she is going to be in a good place with you. If you are not ready to commit fully to my sister, now would be the time to let me know. Because for as long as she thinks she needs me, I’m going to be there for her.”

  Myles sat forward. “Let me get this straight. You have been holding yourself back because you felt that Chrystina needed to feel responsible for you?”

  “Exactly. You see my mom raised us on her own. When she had to work it was Chrystina’s responsibility to look out for me. I rarely had to do anything for myself. I didn’t have to clean, cook or even do my own homework. Chrystina always did those things for me. Don’t get it twisted, I can do all of those things and more, I simply chose not to. You see, Myles, Chrystina always allowed her weight to be the deciding factor in everything she did. She was very self-conscious about it. Then you came along. Suddenly the weight became secondary. Being there for you, became her primary reason to exhale. For a while Mom and I were worried that you would never return Chrystina’s affection for you. Especially when you fired her. Now that you have accepted her, weight and all, we can rest easy. We don’t have to worry about her state of mind any more. I can now concentrate on me and mine.”

  “Gina,” Myles exhaled. “I do not know if that is the sweetest thing I have ever heard come from a sister or the dumbest.”

  Gina smiled as she crossed her legs. “Hey, you have to make up your own mind on that. All I can say is I’m a sweet baby sister who loves Chrystina. So I need to know. This thing with you. Is this real? Are you going to marry my sister?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  Gina sat back and smiled. “Then I am ready to start work. For the last four years I’ve worked as a volunteer at my daughters’ schools. I’m pretty good on the computers and I have experience with data entry. My joy has always been reading and research. I’m actually pretty damn good at it. Do you know that reading leads to knowledge? And you know what else? Once you achieve it, no one…no one can take it away.” She hesitated then continued. “You know what I would like to do one day?

  “What is that?”

  “Start a school. One where children can learn, I mean really learn without all the limitations that standardized testing puts on teachers. I think children should be explorers of life. Teachers are paid as the makers of the new generations. That is what they are you know? The people who form the minds of the future. Teachers should be able to write their curriculums based on the foundations of knowledge in English, Science, Math, History and Culture. They should be free to make learning as interesting and exciting as possible. Administrators can deal with instilling a sense of structure, respect and responsibility, for our children in a safe environment. The only way that is going to happen is to take the politics and money controls out of education. Make it a constitutional right for every child to receive an equal education without regard to their zip code or the state where they live. It is the only way we will ever be able to compete on a global stage.”

  Gina stopped talking. It was the first time she had really shared those thoughts with anyone. She looked up at Myles thinking he would have that ‘you have lost your mind’ look. It wasn’t there. He was actually listening to her ramble on.

  “Sorry about that,” Gina exhaled.

  Myles stared at her for a long moment then smiled. “You have been gaming your sister. When you ran down the reasons why a full time job at minimum wage versus public assistance was a non-starter, I knew you had studied the subject. You weren’t talking off the top of your head.”

  Gina tilted her head to the side and smiled. “You picked up on that. Hmm. You know you can’t tell Chrystina. It will hurt her feelings.”

  Myles laughed. “You two are incredible.” He sat back. “I agree with your views on education. In fact, before I became CEO, I wanted to start a school based on some of the concepts you mentioned.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes.” He leaned forward. “Why didn’t you further your education? Your intelligence clearly shines through.”

  “A lot of people don’t get to see that side of me. If it’s men, they see the beauty on the outside and don’t bother to search for what’s inside. If it’s women, they look at the fact that I have three children and live in the wrong part of town. So they don’t bother to look any further.”

  Myles nodded in understanding. “You have used your beauty as a means to getting your way. It did not work with me because I see the same beauty in your sister. So you changed tactics by showing me the real Gina. Why?”

  Gina hesitated trying to understand for herself why she exposed so much to him. She exhaled. “You didn’t prejudge me. You ignored all the bluster and straight up offered me a job.”

  Myles stared at her for the longest time. It caused Gina to fidget in her chair and wonder if she had revealed too much.

  “I have a proposition for you.”

  That caused Gina to sit up straight. She had received propositions before. They were not something she would take nor did she expect it from Myles.

  “Do tell.”

  He reached inside one of the drawers in his office. He placed a manual on top of his desk. “This is a project that I hold very dear to me. It is plans for a private school system. On your own time, I would like for you to review it, give me your feedback and tell me what is not there that you feel should be.” He stood then walked to the front of his desk. He sat on the edge then continued. “We have a new Vice President of Operations. He wants to revamp our processes. He has an assistant, however the workload is more than she can handle. We are posting most of the positions today. It will take weeks to get people on board. I am offering you one of those positions with this understanding. You will apply to the university of your choice to get a degree in Education Administration. Upon graduation you will consider putting together a team to implement the plans in this manual.”

  “What? You mean like starting a school?”

  “That is exactly what I mean.”

  “Close the damn front door…” Gina had to contain her excitement. “Sorry. Are you serious?”

  “I am.”

  She could not believe her ears. “Myles, you barely know me. Why would you offer something like that to me? You know I have three children and have never seriously had a paying job before.”

  He nodded. “Yes, I know that. That is what makes you a perfect candidate to carry this forward. You haven’t been tainted by corporate greed or political power. You see education as a separate entity. You are not a corporate person. This work will bore you for eternity. You will be able to tolerate it as a means to an end, but you are not cut out for a nine to five banking job. You belong with the academic folks. Work here while you are in school. Your mother, Chrystina and I will have your back to support you in any way we can. You and the children will have Chrystina’s place to live in and you will be working towards something that fits you.”

  Gina could only stare at the man in disbelief. He was offering her everything she had ever wanted, well, with the exception of a good man.

 
“If you wasn’t Chrystina’s man I would jump your bones right now.”

  Myles smiled. “That is something else I like about you.” He moved back to his chair behind the desk. “You respect and love your sister. She may not think so from your actions, but I can see it.”

  “And you love her too, I can see that.” Gina nodded. “Data entry, huh.” She thought for a minute. “I will need $42,000 a year. Full health care coverage for me and my children. Child care assistance and at least two weeks vacation per year.”

  “How is $50,000 a year, full health care to include vision, dental and mental, free child care, 4 weeks vacation and a full scholarship to the university of your choice.”

  “Hell yeah.” Gina stood. “Hold up, one change. I prefer to go to a community college for two years, then transfer to the University. It’s less expensive and will give more flexibility with scheduling for my children.”

  “Deal.” Myles stood and held out his hand. “Welcome to Dunning Bank & Trust where Family Integrity is First and Foremost.”

  Gina shook his hand. “You sound like a commercial.”

  “It is the standard greeting whenever we hire a new employee.” He pushed a button on his desk. “Chrystina, will you and Beverly step into my office, please.”

  “Yes, sir,” Chrystina’s voice replied.

  “I bet you like it when she calls you sir.”

  “I like it better when she calls me baby boo.”

  Gina burst out in laughter.

  “It sounds like things went well in here,” Beverly said as they walked into the office.

  “I’m going to college,” Gina blurted out with arms in the air as if she had just scored a touchdown.

  “College?” Chrystina glanced at Gina then Myles. “You’re not taking the job here?”

  “I’m doing that too.” Gina smiled. She ran over and hugged Chrystina then whispered in her ear. “He loves you, Chrys, almost as much as you love him.” She pulled away, then looked at Myles. “Show me the way to personnel. I’m ready to start my new job.”