United (The United Trilogy Book 1) (13 page)

“Miriam, Please, you are a part of our family now.  I don’t wish to make you uncomfortable, but anytime you choose, you are welcome to stay and eat; alright?” She nods, not saying anything.  I take my spot at the table again and dig in.  I moan out loud again.  “Geez Miriam this is seriously the best thing I’ve ever tasted.  You really must stay and eat with us.”  Wes and Molly nod their heads but don’t stop eating to comment.

She smiles again at my compliment.  “I’m so happy you like it.  Thank you for the invitation, but I have my family at home waiting for me.  As soon as you are finished I will do the dishes and be on my way.”

Oh of course she has a family, why didn’t I think of that.  “Well then off you go Miriam, we really appreciate all your hard work.  We will take care of the dishes.  We don’t want to get lazy, so putting a couple of plates and pots in the dishwasher is no problem.”

“The pots are all done, it’s just the plates and bowls, but I don’t mind waiting.”

“Nonsense, we will do our own dishes or my mother would have my head!”

At this Miriam chuckled and nodded along.  “She raised you well Miss Roz.” The thought of my mother made my chest hurt.  I missed my parents so much, but have hardly had time since I’ve gotten here to think about just how much.  I would make sure to call them tonight.

“Thank you again Miriam, you have a wonderful night.  Don’t worry about making breakfast or lunch during the week.  We have plenty here for breakfast and will all be gone at lunch.  I’m going to make sure everyone sticks to business hours so they can all go home to be with their families, so we should be home by 6 every night.” She beamed at me, apparently she likes this plan.  I think back to what the Council said about how hard Vaughn was pushing himself and others.  I refused let myself fall into that.  Whatever can’t be finished by 6 can be taken up again in the morning.

“Wonderful.  I will have dinner ready by 6:30 every week day but how about the weekends?

Weekends?  My heavens how is this woman going to have any family time if she is here every day?  I shake my head, “absolutely not!  You are not coming to cook for us on the weekends as well.  The three of us are perfectly capable of throwing something together.  It might not taste as amazing as your cooking, but we will figure it out.  I want you to spend time with your family on Saturday and Sunday.”

Her eyes filled with tears.  “That is very generous of you Rosaline.  How about for the next few months I come over Saturday afternoons and give you a few lessons?  You can learn how to cook the meals so that you won’t have any troubles on your own.”

What a sweetheart, I can see the idea of her leaving us in what I assume she sees as the lurch is troubling her so I nod my acceptance.  “That is so thoughtful of You Miriam, yes that would be wonderful under one condition only.” She looked perplexed and cocked her head to the side.  “I want you to have your family come over and eat with us on Saturdays.  They don’t have to be here the whole time, but I assume your husband can bring everyone over for dinner?”

Again, her eyes filled with tears and she nodded.  “Yes, he can, but are you sure?  I have four children.”

“Oh yes, I’m very sure!  It will be a treat, and even though he doesn’t look the type Wesley loves children, they tend to flock to him.”  This was very true and something that always seemed to surprise people.  I think it’s because he always talks to kids like they are little adults.  He never talks down to them and he loves answering all of their “Why?” questions in great detail.

“Then yes, I accept.  Thank you.  Enjoy your evening everyone and I will see you tomorrow night.”

“Good night Miriam, I look forward to your roast tomorrow.” Wes shouts after her.  Of course he has planned the week’s meals in advance, I should have known.  We finish up eating and Wes volunteers Molly to do the dishes saying that everyone will switch off turns and tonight just so happens to be hers.  She complains but begins to wash the dishes anyway.  I ask Wes to take me on a tour of the rest of the house, minus Molly’s room.  I’ll let her show that to me later.  Wes takes me to the floor where his room is.  There is an office on each floor and he asks which one I’d like.  Obviously since he is on the third floor I tell him to take that office, and I will take the one on the main floor.  He shows me around the bathroom and the office and then to his room.  He opens the door and I immediately know that Payton had him in mind when designing this room.  How she was able to get everything done so fast is beyond me, but I had a sneaky suspicion that the Council already knew I would choose to live with Wes and Molly and probably had this commissioned ahead of time.

The room was a light beige color with brown trim, with one wall covered with large framed map.  The bed was placed just beneath a sky light.  Yes, this must have been commissioned for us, which means they must have designed this back when they made the house last year.  They sure did have a lot of confidence in us.  How thoughtful of them putting in the sky light knowing Wes would feel more at home.  He just grinned up at me knowing where my thoughts must have gone.  His bed was purely functional with a tan bed spread and forest green accents on the pillows and sheets.

“This is very you Wes.” He nodded.  I said good night to Wes and made my way to what I was hoping was Molly’s room.  It was on the other end of the hall from where mine was located.

I knocked on the door and she opened instantly.  “HI, welcome to my humble abode Madam President.” She let me in with a flourish and a curtsy, the crazy Girl.

“Why thank you lowly servant.”  This made her burst out in giggles which of course were contagious and for a moment we were no longer the President and director, we were just sixteen year old girls acting silly and enjoying the excitement of a new place.

“Isn’t this amazing Roz?  I don’t know how she did it but Payton got us spot on!” I’m pretty sure I have a good idea how she did it, but I just nodded in agreement.  Molly’s room was pure Molly.  Where my room was serene and Wes’s functional and calming Molly’s was over the top…well, like Molly.  Her walls were white with the exception of one wall that was a deep orange, which just so happened to be her favorite color.  The room was filled with deep red, purple and yellow accents and her bedspread was a mixture of all the colors woven together.  It was definitely a Molly room.  She had framed pictures on the wall with black and white photos, and a large bean bag type orange chair over in the corner by a fire place.

“Molly it’s perfect!”

She giggled again.  “I know right!  I never want to leave, and these beds…my goodness the beds were commissioned by angels!”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her silliness.  “Yes they sure were.  I was thinking about putting together some baskets as a thank you to Payton and Andi, maybe a few others who made our transition extra special.”

Molly squealed, “Oh what a fabulous idea!  I’ll help and we will make Wes contribute something as well.” No doubt his will be something completely practical like a calculator or something of the sort but either way it was only fitting that he help out as well.  I stayed for a about an hour planning out the baskets with Molly and talking all about our first day.  She burst out laughing when I told her about my meeting with Masters.  “Oh I would have paid to see his face, big bad man getting put in his place by the tiny little girl.”

This had us both in hysterics but I still felt bad about how it all went down.  “Maybe we should bake him some cookies as a way to make it up to him.  All men like cookies right?  And we can add them to the baskets!” I declared.  I guess my nap gave me a second wind.  Molly always having plenty of energy to go around took off towards the kitchen.

As we waited for the cookies to bake I went to my office to call my parents.  We talked for a long time and it was so nice to hear their voices.  I really did miss them something terrible.  I told them all about my new job (everything I was allowed to, which wasn’t much) and shared my idea of a dinner party which they thought was wonderful.  That sparked another idea.  I asked them to join us for the dinner party and stay the night since we had plenty of space.  They readily agreed and I told them Judy would be getting in touch to let them know the details.  Once I hung up I went back into the kitchen to find Molly removing the cookies and placing them on the rack to cool.  After sampling a few to make sure they were good enough to give out we both said our good nights and I went into a fast and sound sleep.

Chapter Fourteen

Much too early the next morning, Wes was banging on my door informing me it was time to raise.  Why did I want him living with me again?

On our walk to work that morning something occurs to me.  I’ve been so busy trying to take everything in I completely over looked one thing.  I turned to Wes and Molly.  “How is it that you two were able to bypass university?  I understand why I did, but how is it that both of you aren’t going.  You think education would be super important to the People who work at the Ministry.”

They both shared a smile.  “We are going,” Wes informed me.  “We just aren’t doing it the traditional way.  The Ministry has its own college of sorts.  Many of the department heads who retire from their position stay on to teach modified classes.  We are getting the practical side from our work and the education on the side pretty much.”

Well that makes sense, but also brings me to my next question.  “I still don’t know what job you were assigned Wes; isn’t this information something I should know?”

Wes laughs but looks a little uncomfortable.  “They are having me work across the board pretty much.  My main focus is going to be in research and development.  Helping the engineering staff, even the career bored.  I will also be one of the main people Molly goes to for help.” Ah, now that fits Wes perfectly.

Once we get to the Ministry building we go our separate ways.  Wes goes off and does something brilliant, Molly goes to find George while I split from her to go to the Career Department.  As I approach the department there is a buzz about the room that I like.  It’s not frantic, but everyone seems to be doing their own thing and able to ignore everything around them.  It’s Incredible, there are huge screens everywhere.  It is one of the largest departments I have seen yet.  It is broken down into zones, with each zone having a large screen of a school on display.  Each person has at least one other screen at their desk, some have two.  There are interns running back and forth from the file room to the screening room, there are people making a dash to the data room.  It is pretty insane, and I am able to take it all in for a moment.  One thing I appreciated was nobody seemed to be idle.  There was no standing around, no one talking about their night, it was at full efficiency and in top speed, and it wasn’t even 7am yet.

As soon as I walked further into the room and people noticed me it was like a pause button was hit.  Immediately everything came to halt and people were openly gawking at me.  It took everything I had not to check to see if there was something on my face or if I put my underwear on over my clothes, it was literally that bad.  But then I remembered that most of these people have been watching me on a screen or reading about me in print for most of my life.  I was really trying not to let it creep me out but I almost turned around to run off to a fake important meeting, but just when I was about to turn on my heel my scanning eyes stopped on a particular blonde.  Our eyes locked and she smiled.  Natasha.  She stood up and walked over to me.  “Rosaline, Hello it’s so nice to finally meet you.  I am Natasha Starr.” She put out her hand and I accepted it.

It felt so strange introducing ourselves to each other like strangers when she probably knows more about me than I do.  I think she picked up on this fact and laughed.  “A little surreal isn’t it?” I asked, trying to break the awkwardness.

“Totally, sorry, I don’t mean to stare, it’s just so weird to see you, well up close and in person.” I nodded because it seemed so weird to meet her too knowing who she was and the impact she had on my future.  If it wasn’t for her there is a huge chance I wouldn’t be standing here today. 

“I would like very much to sit down and talk with you, but I suppose I should go introduce myself to the masses.”

She smiled and said in a louder voice, “That’s a good idea, maybe then they will stop staring and get back to work.”

This made me laugh.  I think we are going to get along just fine.  “Can you point me in the direction of the head of your department please?” Natasha nodded and pointed out the man I remember seeing at the ceremony.  I nodded my thanks and walked in his direction.

“Good morning President Thatcher, I’m Cole Ronan.”

I took his hand.  “It’s very nice to meet you Mr.  Ronan, please call me Roz, and thank you for having me.”

Smiling widely he said, “Of course Roz, you are always welcome, you are a bit of a celebrity around here.”  He said with pride.

I’m not sure what type of response he is looking for so I smiled back and said “yes I imagine I am, well done you!” This earns me a chuckle.

“Well now. what would you like to see first?  I can give you the standard tour and let you stay and observe for a while if you’d like.  Any questions at all please just ask.”

“Thank you very much, I’d like that.”  He showed me around, and I couldn’t get over how massive the place was.  The main room was made up of about 50 people who were all sitting at their desks monitoring their individual cases.  Then we walked down a hallway and there were private rooms.  Mr. Ronan explained that each room represented a zone.  The rooms each had a large screen taking up one wall that was split into three sections.  One for the younger children, middle aged and advanced students.  I was thoroughly impressed by now.  “This is just amazing!  I had no idea how intricate the process is, and how many people you have working for this department.”

This made him laugh like I just told a joke.  “Oh my dear, you have seen anything yet, come with me.”  I followed him away from the monitoring rooms to another section.  This was also opened like the first room.  It was filled with younger people ranging from about sixteen to nineteen, they must be the interns.  They all have computers and look a little frazzled.

“This is where most of the processing gets done, and the facts get checked.  The monitors notice someone on screen they type that persons code in and the time on screen and which camera.  It then comes in here to the processing room where it is reviewed and detailed notes are taken and then sent to the specific case worker.  It is very tedious and takes a keen eye and a lot of man power.  Most of the young people are interns, but most of the staff stays here for another year after their internship until they get the flow down, as you can see it can become pretty chaotic.”  We leave the processing room and enter yet another room.  This one has a red door, odd I must say and no name on the outside.  “This is our red room.”

Well ok, that makes sense.  “This is where the list is narrowed down.  The case workers immediately file the undesirables away.  All of the Presidential candidates come straight to the red room.”  He had to scan us into the room, which I thought was odd since all of the other rooms were open.  I gave him a puzzling look.  “Only two people are allowed access to this room, I am one, Annabelle is the other.  It used to be three, however, you are allowed as long as either Annabelle or myself are with you.”

We walk into the room and it is completely blank.  Well that’s weird.  Then I notice there is another scanner which Ronan puts his hand on and immediately a hologram took over every wall in sight.  It looked like a grid.  “What is it?” I whispered?  I’m not sure why I was whispering other than the fact that I was in complete awe.

“These are all our Presidential candidate files.  You aren’t allowed to see any unless Annabelle is showing one to you, but she wanted you to see the room and told me I could show you your file.”  I was completely at a loss as to why Annabelle would want me to see this room.  There were only two reasons I could think of.  One, this explains how Vaughn got a hold of my file and why now only two people have access.  The only other reason I can think of is the Council wanting me to know how many other options are out there.  If I was going to take it positively I would think it was to show me out of how many I was chosen, however the sinking feeling in my stomach is telling me it is a warning of how easily I can be replaced.  I push those thoughts aside for now.

“Would you like to see how it works?” I nod and he scans his hand again and then types in a code.  Instantly the other boxes fade and my file is on screen.  It has my picture with my birthday and several hundred sub files.  He clicked on a few to show me.  It had everything.  My face must be beat red right now.  You know people are watching you in order to place you with your right career, but I never thought it would be anything like this.  It had my favorite color, favorite foods, dislikes, allergies, a list of all injuries and sickness with dates next to them.  After that were a list of accomplishments and a list of fears.  I didn’t want to look at any more.  I quickly thanked him and told him I needed go, I couldn’t take much more of this.  Either he did an amazing job of pretending not to notice or he was used to being quickly dismissed by the President because he said thank you for coming and was gone.

I found my way out of there as fast as I could and hid in my office for the next few hours trying to contemplate everything I saw.  I was going to have to go back there tomorrow but it would be strictly to work and pick the brains of everyone there.  My goal for myself was to get to each department and come up with at least one way to improve it.  At the time I made the list, it didn’t seem like much, but now it’s starting to feel rather overwhelming.  I can’t imagine what I could improve In the Career Department because it runs so smoothly.  No use borrowing trouble.  I spent the rest of the day in the office going over notes and maps and trying to get caught up.  There was plenty to keep me busy.

I took a few breaks and tried to get to know my personal staff, but it was exhausting.  I must have said “Please call me Roz” over a thousand times, and not one person listened.  People acted too formal and almost afraid of me.  Something had to change in the atmosphere, because I can’t work like this I’m ready to snap.  At least I got a lot accomplished today, I was grateful for that.  I was able to have a long powwow with Judy who loved both the gift basket ideas and the dinner party.  I gave her the cookies Molly and I baked to add to the baskets and Wes actually surprised me by formulating special bubble bath for the girls.  What surprised me even more was that he chose cinnamon as the scent.  I was trying not to read into it, but I’m thinking someone has a crush.  It’s about time!  We sent Tina, Aspen, Payton and Andi the frilly baskets.  Then we also sent Miles and Masters a basket of cookies with a note.  When that was done we started planning the dinner party for the end of the month, just after I get back from visiting the prisons.

The next day I found the courage to go back to the Career Department.  Chocolate milk in hand, I strode through the door with confidence.  I went right up to Natasha and asked if she’d mind if I observed for a while.  She smiled at me, “Be my guest.”  She pulled up a chair and eyed my milk with a smirk.  “It’s nice to see some things don’t change.  Feeling stressed?”  It was more of a statement than a question and the fact that she knew chocolate milk was my go to for calming my nerves just set them even more on edge.

I ignored her question and jumped right into one of my own.  “Can you walk me through your morning routine and show me exactly what your day would normally look like?”

She smiled back at me brightly again.  “Sure thing.  It’s a little different for me now that all of my students have been placed, but since I only have infants now I have a lot more time on my hands to help out and do other things.  Cole assumed you would be in all week and thought I would be the perfect person to show you the ropes, so I’ll walk you through a typical day back when I had you, Tristan and Molly, ok?”

This made me sit up straight.  “I thought you only had one, you have three people you follow?” She gave me that' oh honey, you have so much to learn' look.  I seem to be getting that particular look a lot lately.

“Each new recruit is given two or three babies.  They watch them grow and document everything.  I had you and Molly.  Leon Had Wes and Tristan.  At a very young age it was discovered that Wes would need to have his own person assigned to him.  Even at the age of 5 it was amazing how much his mind processed.  Poor Leon was working himself ragged and trying to keep up on all Wes’s journal entries was a nightmare.  Leon even had to have someone help with processing the entire math section.  Around that same time, Tristan was ruled out as a candidate for President, so he wouldn’t have to be watched as closely, so I offered to take him from Leon.  You and Molly spent a lot of time together which made my job much easier.  Poor Leon still had more work than most of us put together even though he had only one to our three.

“Ok, you’ve lost me.  I understand Tristan not being a candidate, and even Molly and me, but what journals are you talking about, and how did Leon get all of his work?”

She looked a little sheepish and I knew whatever was coming next I wasn’t going to be thrilled about.  “Well you see Roz, journal entries are one of the best tools we have to really get into the students minds, which is why at a young age you still had journal entries even though the teacher took down dictation.  All those entries come straight to us.  The interns process them and send every case worker the ones that apply to them.”

Yep, I knew I wouldn’t like where she was going.  This is even more invasive than I thought.  “So you are telling me all of our assigned journals every morning were just a way to probe into our minds?”

She winced at my harsh wording but nodded.  “I see.  And our tablets at home that we use for home work and research I’m guessing that is how Leon got all of Wes’s ideas then?” She nodded again.

“Do you realize how invasive this is Natasha?  How horrifying it is to learn that you have been watched and dissected all of your life?”