Chapter 2: Amra

Next morning she woke up early, picked up the second of the two suits she had, put the one from the day before in her washing machine and made a note to herself to remember to take it out and iron it when she returned that night. After her shower she got dressed and picked up her bag, then the bell rang, and she stopped to think for a second. She had not expected anyone. She started walking slowly towards the door, and once there, peeked to see who it was. She started to breathe again, it was Miss Clark's driver back to pick her up.

Once Caliope inserted the special key, the elevator doors opened and she walked in smiling. Lady Magna was there greeting her as she was picking up her bag and walking towards the door to the big living room.

"Miss Woodward please walk with me. Miss Clark will be with us soon, she asked me to guide you through the apartment."

"Thank you... that would be very helpful."

"You already know the living room. And towards the front door is the guest's bathroom. Now, don't forget that you can use it too if you like."

"I would try to avoid that but thank you for letting me know."

"Easiest way to remember your way back is imagining the living room as the center, elevators as part of said center. The full apartment is made around it. Starting from the service rest area, The Kitchen and the dining room are over there, the next important room is the Study. The Library of Miss Clark is the following, and then a guest's room. A second bathroom there, and the next room is Miss Clark's son's room. Young Amra has his own bathroom. Right next is Miss Clark's room and her own bathroom as well. There is another room following hers, used to store personal things from Miss Clark so This is a room no one enters but her and her son. The dining room again, and the kitchen. A small room with all that is necessary for the apartment's cleaning. That leads us back here. Do you have questions?"

Caliope was trying to memorize each room and then quickly shook her head. It didn't sound hard, the apartment, as big as or even bigger than any of her previous residences, was very well ordered, helping her immensely.

"Thank you Magna, may I ask, do you remain here at times? During the day?"

"My job, among other things, consists of what you are going to do as well, but I only work during nights, and directly with Miss Clark, I don't deal with her son."

A little hint of bitterness was detected on her statement, and just then Miss Clark came out of her room finishing combing her hair to the side.

"Oh Caliope, I am happy to see you. Magna, can you make sure this envelope goes straight to our main client in his private residence today?"

"Yes Miss Clark, I am going to be waiting for you downstairs. Bye Miss Woodward, have a good day."

"Goodbye Magna, enjoy your day as well. Hello Miss Clark, it is nice to see you."

Miss Clark was smiling entertained by some private joke and as soon as Magna left on the elevator, she motioned Caliope to join her at the Kitchen. As she poured herself a glass of fresh juice, and offered Caliope another, she smiled warmly at her.

"Magna is a very smart woman, who I have come to know for a long time, and have worked with even longer. But she doesn't get along with my son. I also need a lot of help, and she is a bit sensitive with the fact that I wanted to hire someone else to help me and also be with my son."

Caliope understood quickly why Miss Clark was telling this to her, she must have heard Caliope asking Magna about her job, and also like her, noticed her tone. Miss Clark continued.

"To be honest, it was my son who suggested to make Magna very busy on other things and as far from him as possible. You don't have to worry about a thing, she is not holding any bad feelings toward you."

"I am not worried, but I do thank you for telling me. Anything in particular you wish me to do for you as you are gone today Miss Clark?"

"As a matter of fact, there is some paperwork I have been working on, and even Magna forgot about it. But first, have you read the copy of the legal contract I wanted you to sign today?"

Caliope blinked and swallowed hard, she had forgotten to read it, but she did not know how it would make her look. At her sudden hesitation to reply, Miss Clark quickly added.

"I am sure you did not have enough time, so it is ok, you can take this morning to finish reading it, and at noon, one of my personal lawyers will come to collect your signature, is that ok with you?"

"Yes Miss Clark, thank you very much, I appreciate all your patience and support towards me."

"I am happy you are here Caliope, and now it is time for me to run. Have a beautiful day dear."

As soon as she finished her sentence, Miss Clark returned to the living room, picked up her bag, and lead herself to the front elevator.

"And Caliope, when you finish with those legal papers, the other paperwork is on my study, make yourself at home."

And the elevator doors closed on her last words, leaving Caliope completely alone at the room. She ran to her bag and took out the copy of the contract she was going to sign later, took a seat and started to read each line carefully. It was nothing out of the ordinary, but Miss Clark made it sound important. A few articles were not what she would have expected, but she was committed to make her job career start there, and reading about long night hours or trips outside of the country made her even more interested in her new job.

She finished reading the contract about 30 minutes before noon and decided to wait for the lawyer before starting with Miss Clark's paperwork, when she felt something strange. The apartment was on the 15th floor, but it seemed quieter than usual. The hair behind her neck started to rise and she felt a little agitated without a reason. As if something was going to happen, she stood up and carefully started to look around the room. Their eyes met and she felt her heart skip a beat. He was tall, very tall; he might as well be built to work as a bodyguard, strong, and with a powerful presence. He was easily double her size. "Caliope... I presume" she heard the words, but she could have sworn his lips did not move. Her eyes were locked on his, so she just might have missed it.

"Hello, and you are?"

"I am Elaine's son, and you are Caliope, right?"

"Yes... yes I am Caliope, nice to meet you Amra."

He stared at her and she felt the goosebumps rise on her arms and legs, it was as if his gaze drew some kind of magnetism that made her feel unbalanced. The phone rang: and it all stopped as soon as she looked for the phone, feeling the air was normal again, picking up the phone she turned towards Amra but he wasn't there anymore, nor anywhere else. She took a few seconds to finally answer the phone.

"Hello, this is the Clark's residence."

The other side was the front desk at the entrance of the building, they were announcing the arrival of Miss Clark's lawyer and he was coming up to meet her now. She ended the call with a frown and looked at the wall clock, it was one pass noon.

How could that be? A few moments ago she could have sworn that there was still 30 minutes left to noon. The elevator doors made a little sound and then opened, a suited grey-haired man walked in with a polite smile.

"Miss Woodward? I am Chansey, Miss Clark's personal lawyer; I have brought your contract."

"Nice meeting you Mister Chansey, please take a seat, do you wish something to drink?"

"Oh no, thank you very much, but I am in a rush, I need you to sign them and I am going to leave you alone, I have other clients to visit before going back to Miss Clark with everything in order."

He rested his briefcase on the small table located near the couch and opened it, taking out two sets of papers, and a pen.

"I was told you already read the copy and agree to all that is stated, so I only need your signature."

"Yes, I have read it all, two copies?"

"Yes, one for you, one for Miss Clark." He nodded.

He pointed to both copies of the contract and where she needed to sign, she quickly signed both. Chansey smiled at her and folded one for him, locking his briefcase, and then handling the other to her.

"Welcome to your new job Miss Woodward, now if you excuse me, I am going to help myself out. Have a wonderful rest of your evening Miss!"

And just as fast as he arrived, he left quickly but graciously. She even chuckled and looked at her contract almost with disbelief.

After the papers were in her bag, she headed to the ready to serve Kitchen, opened the fridge and smiled as everything was organized, fresh lettuce drew her attention, some cheese and bread, and she had made herself a light lunch to hold until the afternoon. She asked herself if she should prepare something for Amra but neither yesterday nor today he had asked for anything at all, and today he only left his room for a few seconds, then he was gone. As she started to eat her sandwich, she reviewed the scene on her head, his presence made her feel strange, half scared, and half alert, perhaps she was surprised and nervous. He was older than she imagined, maybe even her age.

Once she finished her lunch, cleaned her plate, and grabbed a glass of juice, she went to Miss Clark's study and quickly found the paperwork she had mentioned. A stack of different reports on multiple real estate properties that offered large country houses for rent and sale. She wasn't sure what Miss Clark wanted to do with them; but then she found a little note on the corner of the desk: "Please study the best offers, I need to buy at least four properties, make sure their prices are worth what they offer, the phone is free for your use."

Her eyes moved from one paper to the other, with some marked in red that looked like her first choices. She decided what Miss Clark wanted following the ones the market offered. She selected a few more then started to make the calls, asking a few questions and confirming at the end of 3 hours, that the best way to know if this properties were offering what they really wanted, was going to see them, but they were spread all over the country.

She wrote a report on her tablet, and saved it on a file, making a mental note to ask Miss Clark how to access a printer since there was not one to be seen in the room.

Later that afternoon, Miss Clark arrived with tired eyes to her residence, offering Caliope a gentle smile.

"I hope your day was better than mine dear, tell me if you finished looking at my paperwork please."

"Welcome home Miss Clark, I had gone over all of it and made a report on my tablet, but I haven't found a printer around. How can I get this to you?"

Miss Clark smirked "Good old fashioned pen and paper could work as well Caliope."

"I will have it for you in the morning then if that is ok with you, Miss Clark."

"Don't worry darling, you can print it and turn it back to me tomorrow, I was only teasing."

Caliope smiled and offered a glass of water to Miss Clark.

"Thank you darling, but I am going to take a shower and have some dinner with my son, have you met him yet?"

"Briefly, just before your lawyer arrived."

That got Miss Clark's attention and she turned her head towards Caliope with new found interest.

"I hope he was civilized, if he wasn't, please accept my apologies."

"Oh don't worry Miss Clark, he was very polite, we did not talk much, he did nothing more than to cross a few words then return to his room."

Miss Clark took a deep breath and nodded, smiling to Caliope and waving a hand softly, the tiredness creeping back on her fast.

"Thank you darling, you can go now, see you tomorrow ok?"

"Yes Miss Clark, have a good night."

"Good night Caliope, be well."