My father would be all over the news because of her. His name would be dragged through the mud.
"Imagine the headlines," Audrey cooed. "Imagine what will become of his precious Ritter Child Safety Law. They'll have to change the name. It'll be tragic."
Audrey giggled like it was funny to her.
I saw red. My father's legacy was that law. He had spent months on it, making it perfect. Most considered it one of the best child safety laws ever written. I remembered how proud he had been.
How he said he'd done it for me.
This would tarnish that. They would change the name. He deserved the recognition for his work. It wasn't fair.
My hands shook around the paper folder. Audrey knew my weak point. She had set me up. This was what she was good at. She was an information broker. Selling secrets and knowing things was how she made her living.
"What do you want?" I whispered, my shoulders sagging in defeat. I didn't have a choice. Not one I could live with, anyway.
Audrey grinned like a snake. "Just copies of some of the reports. I'll give you a list of what I'm looking for, and then of course if you see anything interesting, that as well."
If I saw anything interesting, I was keeping it to myself. I was going to do the bare minimum to keep her happy and keep those photos from the light of day.
"Fine." I agreed.
"Oh, and there is a new stipulation." She smiled, but it was cold. "Since you had to be coerced, part of the deal is that you now help Anastasia."
"What?" My head shot up.
"You'll make sure she looks good in her new job. It was yours, so it should be easy for you," Audrey said, taking a sip of her blood red wine.
I opened my mouth to protest, but Audrey simply looked at the folder in my hands.
"I'd hate for something to happen to my cloud access," she said. "You know how easy it is to post things to social media these days. And who knows what other interesting things I have on there about your father."
The threat was clear. If I didn't comply, she'd ruin my father's legacy and mine along with it. I was stuck. I had to agree to this for now. I needed time to come up with a way around this.
"Fine. I'll scan the documents and help Anastasia," I muttered.
This day really sucked.
"Excellent. I knew you could be reasonable if you tried," Audrey said, patting me on the cheek again. I nearly turned my head and bit her.
"Is that it?" I asked, crossing my arms. "Can I go now?"
"Of course, dear," Audrey replied with a smile. "You are the one who came here, remember? Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay for a glass of wine?"
Only if I could throw it in your face, I thought to myself.
"No, thank you," I replied through gritted teeth. I looked up at her, anger hot in my chest. "Why are you doing this to me?"
Audrey chuckled. "Because I can. I would have gotten Anastasia the job, but it seems the office won't hire my blood relative. A wise, but annoying precaution. But you, you aren't a blood relative and you had prior access. You have a reason to work there without question or concern. To be honest, it was easy."
My mouth opened but nothing came out.
"Oh, don't look so shocked. Anyone in my position would see the opportunity and take it. That's all this is. The fact that I get to make George Ritter's daughter's life miserable is just icing on the cake."
"You must have really hated him," I said softly, shaking my head. How in the world did my father ever marry this woman?
Her green eyes narrowed. "He was an idealist. He was a fool. And he died before he could follow through on the promises he made me. It was my one chance for power and he failed. He ruined my chances. You deserve everything you get because of him."
I took a step back as if slapped. I had no idea the resentment she harbored toward my father, and I was just beginning to see how it was going to affect me.
She was going to make my life miserable because my father didn't live long enough to get her where she wanted to go.
I didn't say anything, but just looked at the door. She walked me to the door and held it open like she was a gracious host all along.
"Have a wonderful night, dear," she said as I stepped out onto the porch. "Oh, and one more thing. I'll know if you're trying to keep things from me. I'd hate to find out you were lazy or incompetent. Imagine how disappointed your father would be if you were either of those things."
She smiled, the threat hanging in the spring air like cold ice.
I didn't look back as I walked away. The street was dark and full of shadows. I stomped my way down the street to the bus station, knowing that the anger in my face would keep everyone away. I had a long ride home to think about what she was forcing me to do.
There was nothing good about today.
What about Henry? I thought. His smile made me warm a little bit. I remembered the kindness in his eyes and the way his hand had felt in mine. The happy way he made my heart speed up and my stomach flutter.
Well, I amended, other than Henry, there was nothing good about today.
Chapter 5
I wore my favorite dark gray slacks and cream colored silk top for my first day back at my old job. Just because I was going back in time didn't mean I had to dress like it. Besides, wearing something that made me feel professional and attractive would at least make the day start out better.
Gus greeted me warmly as I walked in the front door.
"Good morning, Aria," he said, smiling at me.
"Good morning, Gus."
"If you get hungry later, the missus made banana bread. I'm happy to share."
I'd forgotten how good Mrs. Gus's banana bread was. It was almost reason enough to come work here on its own. Today was already a better day than yesterday.
"That sounds great. Thank you."
He just grinned and waved me on to the stairs so I could go up and start my work.
I stopped by Jaqui's office and said hello. She showed me where I was working and gave me the password to the WiFi in the building.
"Here's your work space," Jaqui said, bringing me to a small office on the top floor. It was already warmer up here than on the lower levels, and it was only the beginning of spring. It was one of the downsides of working in an historic old building. The heating and cooling weren't always efficient.
Boxes filled the room except for a small table, where a scanner attached to a laptop sat waiting for me. One small window let in the light from outside. I sighed. This was going to be my life for a while.
"It won't be too bad," Jaqui promised. "Want to get lunch with me today? My treat? And Gus brought his wife's banana bread."
"Lunch sounds good," I replied, staring at the sheer amount of work I had in front of me. This was going to take forever to scan everything. So much for a paperless society. "Oh, wait. I might have someone bringing me lunch," I said quickly.
"Oh yeah?" Jaqui grinned. "Is he cute?"
I thought about Henry's green eyes and the way he smiled.
"Yeah. But he'll probably forget. So, if he does, I'm all yours."
"Sounds good," Jaqui said. She pointed to the stack of boxes closest to the table. "I need you to start with these ones. We're backlogged and I'd like to catch up a little bit before moving onto the new stuff."
"Okay," I said, glad to at least have a starting point.
"Once you finish those, then you can move onto the Paradisa stuff," she said, motioning to the rest of the room. "And I'm supposed to remind you, none of this may leave this room. It's confidential and the US Government will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law, yada yada yada. You know the legal disclaimer on all this stuff."
She said it nonchalantly, but it made my blood run cold. I was going to be doing exactly that for my stepmother.
"Got it," I replied, hoping that my smile looked normal rather than guilty. I hadn't even done anything yet and I felt bad about it. I needed to come up with a way out of doing this for her. I had to.
"I'll leave you to it then," Jaqui said. "If you need anything, you know where to find me. Hopefully I don't see you for lunch."
She winked and walked out of the office leaving me with boxes of boredom.
The first few boxes were all unrelated to the Paradisa trade deals. Most of the documents were several months old and pertained to other countries, so I didn't have to worry about delivering them to my stepmother.
My watch read that it was ten ‘til noon. I was going to give Henry until one to show, then I would go find Jaqui. I hoped that he would come. I hoped he wouldn't forget. Just thinking about him made me smile.
My phone chirped on the desk beside me as I started in on my third box. I picked it up without thinking and groaned.
* * *
Anything interesting?
-Audrey
* * *
If this was going to happen every day, I was going to go crazy. Not only was she making me do something I didn't want to do, she was going to hound me every step of the way?