December 27, 1999

“Deep breath...take a deep breath...you’re going to be fine here...this is going to go well...deep breath...take a deep breath...” Stasia looked out the window at the runway, waiting to take off. She had never been a big fan of flying, she had actually only been on a plane once before, and that was when she was too young to remember, she was well aware of the fact that this was a completely irrational fear, flying is safer than driving...wasn’t it? She had a death grip on the arms of her seat, her knuckles were actually white. Stasia turned away from the window when she heard someone chuckle, and then clear her throat.

“Hello dear. My name is Mary, and the deep breaths will help, I promise you.” The older woman smiling down at her had a look of understanding in her eyes. “Have you ever flown before?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t even realize I was speaking out loud.” Stasia gave Mary a weak smile. “I have only flown once before, and I was a child, so I don’t really remember that flight. Oh, and I am Stasia.”

Mary sat down in the aisle seat and easily slid her briefcase under the seat in front of her. She appeared very relaxed and at ease with this whole flying thing. She was already settled in and buckling her seatbelt.

Stasia took another deep breath and looked at Mary. “Do you fly often?”

“At least once a week. They sat you next to the pro...you are going to be just fine.” She gave Stasia a warm smile and a gentle pat on the hand.

“Once a week? Do you mind if I ask what you do? That seems like a lot of traveling, your job must be very interesting.”

Mary laughed, “I suppose that is the perfect way to describe my job, it’s interesting to say the very least. I am an FBI Agent.”

“You are? That is amazing. Tell me, do you work on the X-Files? Sorry...you most likely get that joke daily. I have a tendency to say very stupid things when I’m nervous, and right now, I think I am more nervous then I have ever been in my life.” Stasia took another deep breath.

Mary laughed again, this time it was a deep, warm, heart felt laugh, “Dear, as often as I hear that one, I don’t think anyone has ever said it that quickly, or apologized in the very same breath. Are you simply nervous about flying? Because I assure you, this plane will stay in the air, and be on time...no plane in the world would have the nerve to go down with me on it.” Stasia gave her a very frightened look. “I’m sorry Stasia, I didn’t mean to make matters worse.”

“Not at all...I’m on my way to a job interview. I need a change of pace, and moving away from Michigan seems like a big change of pace. However, I haven’t interviewed for a job in more then four years.” She sighed and looked out the window, “I’m not normally a nervous person, and I’m not sure why I am so wound up about this.”

“I am a firm believer in following your gut instinct, is it a good nervous feeling, like you are more excited, or is it a bad nervous feeling, like you think this may be a bad idea? If you listen, your gut is telling you something...you just need to calm down for a minute and listen to yourself.”

Stasia smirked and quietly said, “It’s such a good feeling. I think that is what is so frightening, I don’t think I’ve ever been so sure of something in my life. Now I just have to make the people I am interviewing with see that.”

“Sweetie, I have a funny feeling you are going to knock their socks off!” Mary laughed when Stasia’s face lit up. “I can see it in your eyes, you are exactly what they are looking for, they will see it too.”

The two of them chatted about all sorts of things, Mary told Stasia all about the FBI and her work as an agent. Stasia told Mary all about her current job, and the fact that she wasn’t exactly what she was interviewing for, but that she trusted Josh, and if he thought this would be a good situation it would be. The time seemed to fly faster than the plane did. When plane touched down and Stasia let out a huge sigh of relief. She looked over at Mary who gave her a reassuring look, patted Stasia’s hand and said, “I told you we’d be fine.”

Stasia laughed, “You were right, thank you so much for helping me through this flight, and helping me settle down about this interview. I am so glad that you were here next to me.”

Mary reached into the pocket of her suit jacket and pulled out a silver business card holder. “Stasia, this is my card, if you ever need help with anything, you call me and I will make sure you get the help you need. You remind me so much of myself when I was your age, and making the decision to enter the Bureau. You are going to excel my dear.” With that, she handed her card to Stasia, picked up her briefcase, and walked down the aisle.

Stasia got her own briefcase out from under the seat in front of her, pulled her other bag from the overhead compartment, and walked off the plane, feeling more confident then she had before meeting Mary.

As she walked out of the airway, she saw a man holding up a sign with “Anastasia Blake” written on it. She smiled brightly, “I am Anastasia Blake.”

“Well hello Ms. Blake. Do we need to go to baggage claim?”

“No, this is all I brought with me.”

“You certainly travel light Miss. By the way, I’m Bill.”

“It’s very nice to meet you Bill. I wasn’t expecting to be met here, I was planning to take a cab to the office.”

“We don’t want you to have to deal with all of that hassle. Besides, anyone that Mr. Adams speaks this highly of deserves a ride to her interview. Are you nervous at all, because you look as cool as a cucumber.”

“I am nervous, very nervous, but Josh Adams assured me that there is nothing to worry about, and that his niece is excited to meet me. I’m not sure if he was telling me that just to put my mind at ease, but it helped, so I choose to believe him.”

Bill laughed, and took Stasia’s small suitcase from her. “Right this way Ms. Blake.”

“Oh, please call me Stasia. Ms. Blake is far to formal for me.”

“Stasia it is. Here is the car.”

Her jaw dropped. Not only had Josh’s niece sent someone to pick her up, she had sent a limo to do it. The chauffeur opened the door for them and took her suitcase from Bill. They both slid into the back seat and got settled. As the car pulled away from the curb Bill said, “Josh says this is your first trip to the South, that you actually haven’t traveled much at all.”

“I have only been out of Michigan once before, to New York with a friend as a child. I am very excited about the possibility of living somewhere other then Michigan. I could use a change.” Stasia looked out the window and was pleasantly surprised. Growing up in Michigan, she expected the entire South to be a huge swamp, but that wasn’t the case at all, the scenery flying by her window was beautiful and lush. The area was hilly and green, old homes flanked the street they were on, reminding Stasia of all of the Civil War stories she had heard in school, one of these houses may have been a barracks for Confederate troops. Stasia smiled at the thought of exploring the history of this area . She was looking forward to having a clean slate, she could start over, leave the horrible memories from her past behind, and put down roots somewhere new.

The limo pulled up in front of an office building that actually looked welcoming. Stasia was amazed at the fact that even from the outside, this place looked homey. The office was in a fairly small town, it had a real downtown area, with little gift shops, a small grocery store, a lovely park with a large white gazebo in the center. This was the type of town Stasia thought only existed in movies. There was a young mother pushing her baby down the street in a stroller, and as she pass, she said, “Hello” and gave Stasia and Bill a warm smile. There was a young boy playing with a dog in the park, he had a red baseball cap, a stripped shirt and overalls, he could not have been more then six years old, and his dog was white with black spots, she knew right away his name had to be Spot. She had stepped out to a limousine and into a Norman Rockwell painting. She looked at Bill and said, “This town is unbelievable. I have never seen anything like this in my life. The only word that comes to mind is quaint.”

Bill grinned, “This is a wonderful place to call home. But now let’s get you inside to meet everyone, I’m sure you’d like to get this over with as soon as possible. When you are done with your interview, I’ll take you over to the Bed and Breakfast where you’ll be staying tonight.” With that, Bill opened the front door of the office and held it back for Stasia to walk through.

They stepped into a beautiful reception area, with dark green couches, navy blue leather chairs, and a large, round mahogany desk, behind which a very pretty girl sat. She smiled brightly when Stasia and Bill walked in, “Bill I haven’t seen you in ages! How are you? OH MY GOODNESS! This must be Anastasia! Hi there! I’m Jamie! I am so excited to meet you! We have been expecting you all day. The ladies are waiting in the conference room, but I was thinking you might like to freshen up before we send you marching in there.” Jamie spoke so quickly, Stasia had to giggle.

Bill rolled his eyes at Jamie. “This child has talked a mile a minute since the day I met her. Half the time I only hear every other word that she says. I’m going to leave you here with her, and I will see you after your interview. Good luck, but if you are anything like Josh says you are, you won’t need it.” Bill turned and walked away down a long hall, toward the back of the building.

So far, things were going well, everyone she met was very kind, and Stasia was starting to feel better and better. She would like to look at herself in a mirror before she met her potential new employers. “Jamie, I would like it very much if you could tell me where the Ladies Room is before I go into the interview.”

“Well I figured as much! You just follow me then, I’ll wait out in the hall and take you to the conference room.” Jamie got up from behind her desk and started down the same hall Bill had vanished into. She could hear the muffled sounds of a conversation behind one of the doors, that was probably the conference room where she was going to face her first job interview in four years. Jamie stopped in front of a door, opened it, reached in and flipped on the light switch. “There you go. I’ll just wait out here for you.”

Stasia went into the ladies room and looked in the mirror. She was happy she had chosen to wear her navy pin striped pant suit. It had been comfortable on the plane, it had held up well to the hours of sitting, and she looked very professional, in her own estimation. She had worn her hair up, to make sure it stayed neat on the trip, and as usual, the only jewelry she was wearing were her pearl post earrings. She reapplied her Chapstick, straightened her french blue blouse, wiped the dust off of her heels, took a deep breath and walked back out into the hallway.

Jamie gave Stasia a huge smile and said, “Are you ready?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” She took a tighter hold of her briefcase and followed Jamie back down the hall to the door she had assumed was the conference room.

Jamie tapped lightly and opened the door without waiting to be acknowledged, “Anastasia Blake is here.”

A soft female voice with a thick southern accent answered, “Well please send her on in.”

Jamie stepped aside and allowed Stasia to enter the room, as she passed, Jamie gave her a friendly pat on the arm, “Good luck.” She then quietly shut the door.

Stasia was now standing at the end of a conference table, facing two women, one of whom looked to be around 45, the other looked no older than Stasia. They both stood up and walked over to her, the older woman extend her hand and said, “Anastasia, it is a pleasure to meet you. My uncle Josh speaks very highly of you, and that speaks volumes about you.” Stasia shook her hand, and blushed at the compliment.

“Josh is very easy to work for, he is like a father to me, so I love working for him.”

The younger woman took Stasia’s hand and shook it firmly, “I am so excited to meet you, I am looking forward to the possibility of having a girl my age around the office. Please come in and sit down.”

The three of them walked over to the table. Rather than sitting Stasia at one end, and the two of them sitting at the other, they sat her at one corner of the table, the older woman sat at the end of the table right next to her, and the younger woman sat right across from Stasia. It was much more relaxed than most interview situations. Both women were smiling brightly, and Stasia was feeling at ease. This was her interview to blow, and she wasn’t about to screw it up, Josh had put his good name on the line for her, and she wasn’t going to embarrass him.

The older woman spoke first, “First of all, let me introduce myself and my daughter. I am Diane Bass, and this is Stacy Lofton. I’m not sure exactly how much Uncle Josh told you, but this is a fairly new company, we formed it with my son Lance, my husband Jim, and Lance’s manager Johnny Wright. We are a management company, we handle basically singers, actually, right now, we only have two artists, both of whom are singers. We are getting ready to kick off a talent search, and we are hoping that we are going to grow rapidly. We are looking for an Office Manager, someone with more experience with keeping books, and running an office. We are a small family operation, and we want to keep that feeling of family around the office. We are a tight knit group, and anyone that works here is actually expected to be a part of that group. I’m not sure if you know who my son is, but he has a very high profile life right now, and we are very closed mouthed about him around here. He is actually one of the owners of Free Lance Entertainment, and is very involved with its operation, which is very difficult at times because of his day job. We are still working out the details of him running a company, when he can be here very rarely. And if you were to work here with us, we would love your insight into how to help him be as involved as he would like to be. Now, we...”

Stacy interrupted, “Momma! Slow down! Let’s find out about Ms. Blake.”

Diane laughed, “I’m sorry, I tend to get ahead of myself. I would really like to hear a little about you Ms. Blake.”

Stasia smiled, “First of all, please call me Stasia. Secondly, I’d be happy to tell you anything you’d like to know.”

Stacy grinned, “I have a question, and I don’t expect you to answer if it makes you uncomfortable, but how old are you?”

“Stacy!” Diane gave her a horrified look.

Stacy shrugged her shoulders, “Momma, I’m just curious, she seems so young! And according to Uncle Josh, she’s been working for him for a while, so I was just wondering, she doesn’t have to answer if she doesn’t want to.”

“Mrs. Bass, it’s fine, I’m not shy about my age. I just turned 26 on the 24th. I have been working for Barnett & Adams for four years. I am currently, the Office Manager, and Mr. Adams’ Personal Assistant. Basically I run the firm’s financial affairs, I do quite a bit of management for Mr. Adams, he has given me the responsibility of settling conflicts between co-workers, hiring, and unfortunately I have the responsibility of letting people go as well.”

“My Uncle Josh told me about the people you had to let go before Christmas, he also told me one of the gentleman thanked him for having you break the news to him, he said that the compassion you showed made the entire experience easier for him. This gentleman also told Uncle Josh that you sent one eighth of your Christmas bonus to his family, apparently you didn’t disguise your handwriting on the envelope.”

Stasia’s face went blank, “I...I...don’t know what to say.” Who had talked to Josh? How did they know it was her? She thought she had done a good job of disguising her handwriting, she knew those families needed that money more than she did, most of them had several mouths to feed. She didn’t have anyone else to worry about, she didn’t want them to feel as if she was pitying them, so she just sent money orders, mailed out in plain white envelopes with neatly printed addresses, she had never intended for them to figure out it was her. She looked down at her hands folded in her lap.

“Judging by the look on your face, you had no intention of being found out. I respect that. I respect the fact that you would give up your bonus for those people, and if you prefer, we won’t discuss that. My point was actually that the compassion you showed, in what was potentially a very bad situation, made the whole thing much easier.” Diane gave her what could only be described as a motherly look.

Stasia looked up from her lap, into Diane’s eyes and simply said, “They need it more than I ever could need it. My finances are not a problem at this point. They need it now.”

“OK! Let’s move on Momma! I ask about her age and you have a heart attack, you go and hurt the poor girl’s feeling and then just stare at her!”

Stasia smiled at Stacy, the two of them reminded her of the way she and her mother interacted. “Stacy, I promise you my feelings are not hurt, I was just very surprised, Josh never said anything to me about any of this.”

Stacy looked sharply at her mother, “That is probably because HE didn’t want to upset you.”

Diane looked Stasia in the eye again and said, “I am sorry, I didn’t realize you didn’t know about all of that. How about you tell us a little about your family, I am always curious about the people who are close to our employees, and family can tell you a lot about a person.”

Stasia swallowed hard and thought, ‘There is no use in candy coating this...here we go...’ “Well, my father left the family before I was born, my mother found out she was pregnant, after he left. She raised my brother, Noah and I by herself. She didn’t really have any family, and honestly I don’t know if my father had family or not, so it was just the three of us. She worked as a paralegal for Barnett & Adams for several years until she died of Cancer when I was fourteen. At that point, Noah had just gotten married, he was twenty-two at the time, and I went to live with him and his new wife, Nicole. We actually faired really well all things considered, Noah got his degree in engineering, Nicole was a first grade teacher. I went to Michigan State University and got my degree in Business Administration, Noah made sure we all finished school. I moved into my own apartment less than a mile away from Noah and Nicole. Then I ran into Josh Adams, he had kept a close eye on Noah and I after our mother died, when I told him I had just graduated from college, and was applying for jobs, he asked me to come into the office and talk to him. I figured it couldn’t hurt, so I did, and the rest as they say is history.”

Diane furrowed her brow, “How do you feel about the prospect of living so far from your brother? Mississippi isn’t exactly close to Michigan.”

“Noah and Nicole were killed in a car accident almost two years ago, that is one of the reasons I need a change, its difficult driving by their house every day, but I do have Jake to remind me of the good times.” Stasia smiled widely.

Stacy look confused. “Jake?”

“Noah and Nicole’s Jack Russell Terrier. He’s three now.”

The three of them laughed, which broke the tension. Diane sighed, “Stasia, I didn’t mean to pry, I am sorry, had I known any of this, I would never have asked.”

“Mrs. Bass...”

“Diane”

”I’m sorry, Diane, honestly, I don’t mind talking about my family. I am very proud of them. My mother worked very hard to make a good life for Noah and I, it was hard for her to raise my brother and I, but she did a very good job. And Noah was amazing, he was eight when I was born and he really was the little family man. The two of us were very close, right up to the end. I am proud of the bond we maintained. A lot of families, who have no father, fall apart. We found strength in our little family unit. I have had quite a few sad experiences in my life, but I think the fact that I have come through all of it makes me a much stronger person. The only thing I would ever ask, is that my rather complicated past not be held against me. I would prefer that I be judged on my on the job performance.”

“Stasia, I am truly amazed that you have chosen to be so open with us. It wasn’t necessary to tell us about your background, I can assure you that as far as deciding whether or not to offer you a position with Free Lance is concerned, your past is nothing but a benefit. You have shown great strength and perseverance. I do however, have a few more questions for you.” Diane looked over at Stacy, who gave her mother a confused look.

“Ask away.” She looked at Stacy reassuringly.

“Ok, how would you feel if the position required some travel?”

“Actually, I would love to do some traveling. This is only the second time I have left Michigan.”

Stacy looked at her mother as if she had three heads, and Diane looked back at her with a look only a mother could give, she was clearly telling Stacy to hold her tongue. Stasia had to smile at the silent interaction, apparently all mothers and daughters had the ability to communicate in this way. Diane turned away from Stacy’s glare and cleared her throat. “What type of computer knowledge do you have?”

“I have an extensive computer background. I am comfortable with most operating systems, and a large number of software applications. I have used several types of accounting programs, billing systems, as far as computers are concerned, you name it, I have probably tried it.”

“Goodness! Apparently you have computers covered! I already know you are an exceptional bookkeeper, Uncle Josh made that clear. Stasia, I really can’t think of anything else we need to know. Stacy, do you have any more questions?”

“No Momma, I think you covered MORE THAN ENOUGH!”

Stasia laughed, Stacy was quite clearly embarrassed by her mothers line of questioning, Stasia on the other hand really hadn’t been phased. Honestly, she was shocked that they were done already. Diane stood, Stacy and Stasia followed suit. As they all got to their feet, Diane said, “Stacy and I will talk and one of us will call you this evening.” She extended her hand and Stasia took it in her own.

“Thank you so much for meeting with me.”

Stacy stepped over and grasped Stasia’s hand, “Not at all. Thank you for coming down, it was honestly a pleasure to meet you.”

The three of them walked to the door and Stasia walked out, Diane shut the door behind her. Diane looked at her daughter and smiled. “Amazing.”

“MOMMA! YOU WERE SO INVASIVE! I can’t believe you brought up the fact that the poor girl gave away her Christmas bonus. THEN, you ask about her family, and when she is completely open with us about her family, which BY THE WAY she didn’t have to be, you start asking about travel? I can’t believe you! What were you thinking? I don’t understand what travel has to do with being our office manager, which she is perfect for.”

“Stacy, I have an idea.” Diane smiled at her daughter.

Stasia walked down the hall to the reception area, where she was greeted by Jamie and Bill.

“How did it go?” Jamie asked, jumping out of her chair and running around her desk to greet Stasia.

“Honestly, I’m not quite sure. I think it went, but I just don’t know. Jamie, it was great meeting you.”

“It was my pleasure. I’m looking forward to working with you.”

Stasia laughed, “You are awfully optimistic! Thank you! I’d love to work with you too.”

Bill walked over, “Are you ready to head over to the Larkmore Inn, that is the Bed & Breakfast we’ve got you booked into for the night?”

“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

“Right this way little lady.” Bill made a dramatic sweeping motion with his arm, while holding the door open for Stasia.

“Well thank you sir!” She did a little curtsey, and walked out the door. Bill opened the car door for her and climbed in after her. As they pulled away from the curb he smiled at her.

“I can’t seem to read the look on your face. I most certainly hope it went well for you in there.”

“Thanks. I think it went as well as can be expected. Honestly, I’m not sure how Mrs. Bass and Mrs. Lofton felt about me. I like both of them, actually they remind me of my mother and I.”

“You’re close to your mother then?”

“Yes I was, but she died several years ago.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry, I just stuck my big old foot in my mouth didn’t I?”

“Not at all. You had no way of knowing. Besides, I don’t mind talking about my mother, I like the memories.”

“I think you’d fit in great around here. You seem very honest.”

“At this point in my life, I really don’t see any point in being dishonest. The truth always surfaces, and if it’s after the fact, it is going to be ten times worse than it would have been had you told the truth in the first place. Honesty is big in my book, that is the one thing my mother drove into our heads, if you aren’t honest with yourself, and with others, you will never see the way things really are. I expect complete honesty out of the people around me, and I give no less myself.”

“Wow, I see you are passionate about this.” Bill smiled.

Stasia laughed, “I suppose I am. I never really thought about it in those terms, but passionate is a good way to explain it. I think I am passionate about more things than I ever realized. There I go with another major life revelation!”

Bill looked at her curiously. “Major life revelation? Here in the car? Really?”

“I was kidding, but in a way, I guess that is exactly what it is when you realize something that holds true, without ever noticing it. I would think that that is a revelation. What do you think?”

He laughed, “I guess you’re right. I never thought of it like that. You are already keeping me on my toes. I hope Diane and Stacy are smart enough to hire you.”

“Maybe the smarter move would be to NOT hire me. I can be a real handful!”

Both of them laughed at that. The car pulled up in front of a beautiful old home. Stasia sucked her breath in. “Oh my goodness, this is beautiful.” The house was three stories, painted white, with dark green shutters. Each and every window on the front of the house had a window box filled with cheerful pink and purple flowers with ivy trailing down. There was a large, covered wooden porch with dark green rocking chairs lined up with bright floral cushions. The brick walk that wound it’s way from the street was lined with flowerbeds and a large green lawn stretched out on either side of the brick walk. The entire yard was surrounded by a white picket fence. The place looked like a painting. It didn’t look real. Stasia did not know places like this existed in reality, novels yes, but the real world?

Bill got out of the car and held the door for Stasia, he offered her his hand as she was stepping out. “Nice place, huh?”He led her up the walk to the wide wooden steps. Their shoes made a hollow sound as they climbed the six steps to the porch. Now, she could see the old fashioned, wooden porch swings at each end of the long porch. She smiled, Stasia could picture happy couples curled up on the swings, talking quietly with their heads close to one another. This place seemed magical. A plump woman dressed in an ankle length, floral cotton dress walked out the front door smiling widely.

“Well hello there Bill! This must be Ms. Blake, we’ve been waiting for you! Please come on in and have a seat you two.”

Bill smiled down a Stasia, “Just do what she says. She honestly will not take ‘no’ for an answer.” He then looked up at the woman, “Good afternoon Myrtle. You are right this is Ms. Anastasia Blake, but she prefers Stasia.”

“Well then, Stasia it is. What a pretty name. Where ever did your parents come up with that? I don’t think I’ve ever heard it before. Oh no! I have heard it. I saw a television show about a poor Russian Princess named Anastasia. Is that where it came from? Are you Russian?” As she talked, she led Stasia and Bill into a cozy little sitting room. The room was full of over-stuffed chairs, the kind that are perfect for curling up in on a rainy day to read your favorite book. Myrtle was obviously fond of flowers, the soft sofa was covered in flowers, the needlework hanging in a frame over the fireplace was of a large bowl of roses. Pillows were covered with flowers, even the rug on the floor was floral, and somehow, it worked. It was nowhere near as overpowering as Stasia would have thought. Stasia and Bill sat in a pair of high-back chairs sitting to one side of the brick fireplace. Myrtle sat on the sofa across from them, and settled her dress around her. This woman could be anyone’s grandmother. She smiled warmly and said, “When I saw the two of you pull up in that big black car, I put the water on for tea, it should be done any second.” As if on cue, the shrill sound of a teakettle whistle ripped through the peaceful scene.

Myrtle pushed herself off of the sofa, as Bill stood out of respect. “Bill you just sit down, I don’t need you making me nervous getting up every time I move, I’m too old for that.” He chuckled and dutifully sat down.

“She’s quite a character.” Stasia said when Myrtle had left the room.

“Anyone that sets foot here in her house is treated like her own child. You’ll only have to put up with it for one night.”

“I like it. I like people that take charge.”

“As you should. A strong girl like you needs to be surrounded by strong people, or else you will walk all over them.”

“You are so right about that.”

Myrtle walked in the room with a huge tray in her hands, Bill jumped up to take the tray. She had prepared cookies and cakes, a china teapot with flowers on it was sitting in the center of the tray, with delicate teacups and saucers there was a small creamer and sugar bowl. Myrtle was good at entertaining. She was already in the process of pouring three cups of tea. “Well, Stasia dear, it’s just you and I tonight, this is my slow season, not many people traveling to Mississippi right before New Years. We’ll have a good chat.”

“Now Myrtle, you go easy on her.” Bill said with a lighthearted tone in his voice.

“Shush Bill! You’ll frighten the poor girl. It will be so nice to have a girl here to talk to, now that my boys have taken their wives home. All of my boys were here for Christmas, they brought the wives and the children. I have four grown sons, now I have eight grandbabies, each of them have given me two! Only one little girl, she’s the latest addition to our family. They named her Rose.”

Stasia wondered if all grandparents were this proud. Myrtle was glowing talking about her grandbabies. She was so proud you could feel it.

Bill finished his tea and moved to get up. “Myrtle, thank you so much for the tea, but I have to get back to the office.”

“Running off so soon? Well you say hello to Diane for me.”

“I most surely will. Stasia, I hope to be seeing you again, very soon.”

“Thank you so much for everything, Bill. You have been very kind.” She stood and shook his hand.

“It was truly my pleasure little lady.” He turned and walked out of the sitting room.

Myrtle looked at her and said, “I’ll show you to your room, you can get settled, then we’ll have that chat. How does that sound?”

“Heavenly. But you have to promise to tell me more about those grandbabies.”

“You just try to stop me.” Myrtle started up the staircase, Stasia picked up her suitcase from the entrance hall, where Bill had left it, and followed Myrtle up the curving staircase. When they reached the top of the stairs Myrtle opened the door to a huge bedroom. “Here you go dear. You get settled, and I’ll be downstairs if you need anything at all.” She disappeared from the doorway, leaving Stasia alone in the room.

She had her own private bathroom, fluffy pillows, a cozy little chair with a table nearby for reading, or just looking out the window at town. The room was spacious, with a queen sized bed, dressers, a little writing desk and chair, and plenty of room to spare. She sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath and took another look around the room, she liked the navy blue and white theme Myrtle had going on. The walls were painted navy and all of the trim was crisp white. The fluffy down comforter was navy, the pillows piled up on the bed had navy and white stripes. Stasia couldn’t help thinking how much she liked it here, this town was special, it would be good for her to move here, she couldn’t get a cleaner slate than this town. She flopped onto her back and looked up at the ceiling, just as her eyelids were starting to close, her cell phone rang. “Where is it?” She quickly dug through her brief case as it rang for the fourth time.

“Hello?”

“Well? How did it go? Are you leaving me? Details...give me details!”

“Hey Jess! I have no clue how it went. They asked questions. I answered questions. They said ‘thank you’. I left. Now I am sitting in the dollhouse they are putting me up in for the night.”

“Dollhouse?”

“I have never seen anything like this. This Bed and Breakfast is the most adorable place I have ever seen. You have got to see this place! It’s December, and somehow this woman has her garden in full bloom, can you explain that one to me?”

“Stasia, you are well aware of the fact that I can’t keep fake plants alive, how am I going to explain a garden in December to you? So you don’t know if you got it or not?”

“No, I have no idea at this point. How’s Jake?”

“He’s fine, I’m trying to fatten the little guy up.”

“Jess! He does not need any more weight! The last time you watched him, the vet put him on a diet when I got home!”

“He’s boney.”

“HE IS NOT!”

“ANYWAY! Jake is fine, we are both looking forward to you coming home tomorrow. I’m going to go grab some dinner, Dearie. Call me as soon as you hear anything.”

“I will. Thanks for calling Kiddo.”

“No problem. Bye.”

“Bye.” Stasia clicked off her phone, got off the bed and walked to the bathroom. She washed her face, and took off her clothes. She got out her red twin set, and a pair of khaki pants. She was slipping on her shoes so she could go downstairs to talk to Myrtle when there was a knock on her door.

“I’m coming!”

Myrtle was standing in the hallway with a big grin on her face. “Diane Bass is on the phone, Sweetie. You can take it in the office down the hall, third door on the left.”

“Thank you Myrtle.”

Stasia enter Myrtle’s office, which was very floral, no big shock there. Stasia was giggling as she picked up the phone. “Mrs. Bass?”

“Diane.”

“I’m sorry, Diane. How can I help you?”

“Stasia, Stacy and I have been talking since you left, and I wanted to get back to you right away, so you wouldn’t be hanging.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that.”

“We have decided, the Office Manager’s position, as originally specified, isn’t the right situation for you, or Free Lance.”

“Oh, I see. I’m very grateful you took the time to meet with me. Thank you very much.”

“No! Stasia, you don’t understand! I shouldn’t have said it that way. What I should have said, is that Stacy and I have created a new position we would like to offer to you. We would also like to invite you to dinner, so we can discuss the details.”

“I would like that very much. Thank you.”

“Stacy will pick you up in twenty minutes. Is that long enough for you?”

“That’s fine. I’ll be ready and waiting.”

Stasia slowly walked to her room, “Oh my God. They want me? They created a job for me?” She dug through her suitcase and pulled out a black knee length skirt, black tights and a pair of black shoes. She decided to wear the red twin set she already had on. She grabbed her black purse, her black coat and she bounced down the stairs to find Myrtle.

She found Myrtle in the kitchen. “Myrtle, Diane and Stacy are taking me to dinner will you be up when I get back?”

“Sweetie, I can't go to sleep until everyone in my care is tucked in safely. I’ll be up.”

“I’m sorry I’m running out on you, I was really looking forward to our chat.”

“You are here to get a job, not to sit in front of the fire hearing about my grandbabies. You get the job, then you can hear about the grandbabies.”

“Deal.”

Stacy popped her head around the corner, “Hey there Myrtle! How are you this evening?”

“Hi there darling! How’s your Momma?”

“She’s fine, she asked me to tell you she’d be by tomorrow for a good long talk.”

“I’m looking forward to it already. Now you girls run along, have a nice dinner.”

Stasia smiled, “I will see you later Myrtle.”

“Bye Myrtle, see you soon.” Stacy said as she led the way out the door.

Stasia was expecting to see Stacy’s car waiting outside, but she didn’t see a car anywhere. Stacy noticed her looking around and said, “The restaurant is only two doors down. We’re gonna walk.”

“Oh! I love that we can walk, this town is great. Did you grow up here?”

“More or less. We moved here when I was in grade school. I’ve been here ever since. I met Ford, that’s my husband, here. I think we’ll be staying put. Lance even bought a house not far from town.”

“Lance is your brother right?”

“Yes, my baby brother. He’s twenty now.”

“Not exactly a baby.”

“He’ll always be my baby brother, even though he’s bigger now, and has the whole superstar status thing happening.”

“Superstar status?”

“Sure, Lance is part of the group NSYNC. Have you heard of them?”

“NSYNC, as in the song from that movie NSYNC? The one with Gloria Estafan?”

“That NSYNC.”

“Goodness, I never put that together. I know very little about his group, other than the stuff I’ve heard about the lawsuit, and I’d recognize some of their songs.”

“Well if we have anything to say about it, you are gonna know all you can stand to know about the guys.”

“Stacy, what exactly do you have in mind for me?” Stasia asked as they walked in the door to a very quaint little restaurant, again, this place was homey. This entire town was too good to be real.

“I’ll let Momma fill you in.” Diane was already seated at a table, in front of a cozy fireplace. Stacy walked up and said, “Mission accomplished, I got Stasia here safe and sound!”

Diane grinned at her, “Well I should hope so, you only had to escort her two doors down the street.”

As Stacy and Stasia settled into their chairs, Diane noticed the look on Stasia’s face. She had the look of excitement and confusion in her eyes. She was a striking girl, and Diane could tell that her eyes were the doors to her soul. Stasia couldn’t hide the emotion in her eyes, that made Diane think of Lance, his eyes always spoke the truth, just like Stasia’s. Had her eyes been green rather than steely gray, Diane would have sworn she was looking into her son’s eyes.

“Momma?”

“Oh I’m sorry, I was thinking about Lance.”

“We just saw him for Christmas, and we’ll see him tomorrow in Hawaii.”

“I know, I wasn’t thinking about missing him. But that is all besides the point, we are here to try to talk Stasia into joining our little company.”

Stasia looked from Diane to Stacy and then back to Diane. She was really getting curious as to what they had in mind for her. The wait was killing her. ‘Don’t push Stasia, they’ll get to it when they get to it. Breathe, and wait PATIENTLY.’ She took a deep breath and smiled warmly at the pair.

Stacy rolled her eyes at her mother, “Momma! Would you tell her what we came up with so the poor girl can think about it?”

“Ok, Stacy, you watch your tongue. I will get to the point right now. Stasia, we need you. That is the honest truth. We do need help managing the office, but one of our biggest problems is keeping Lance in touch with what is going on here at home. He needs to be completely up to date with all of the ins and outs of daily business here. We are working very hard to expand this little business, and there are decisions that only Lance can make, but Lance is hard to stay in touch with, not to mention the fact, that this is his side job. There have been meetings he has had to miss because of obligations to the group. We are getting ready to launch a talent search, and that is when we are really going to need to be in touch with him, the problem is, our talent search is going to be happening exactly when the tour for the new NSYNC album is going on. His time for Free Lance is going to get more and more difficult to find. He isn’t experienced at reading contracts, or legal documents, it is very time consuming, and that is time he just doesn’t have. SO, what I am trying to say, is that we are proposing a job consisting of several responsibilities. First, we want you to be the link between Lance, and this company. Second, when he can’t handle a meeting, we want you to take it for him. Third, we need help with the books, computers, general accounting and things along those lines. Fourth, we want you to decipher all of the legal stuff for him, so it is cut and dry and he can make decisions without having to research legal issues. And we want you to do all of that, while traveling with the group, he needs someone with him to assist him with all of this. Your background in management, law, business administration, bookkeeping and your people skills make you the perfect person for this job. What do you think?”

“I think I am exactly what you need. When do you want me to start?”