<strong>Emily</strong><br/><strong>The architects' offices</strong><br/><strong>Talking with colleagues</strong><br/><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">Hmmm, well she’d better deal with Jimmy before he became a problem.  Asking her out by email, when she was right here??  Some guys, honestly!  He’d hardly spoken to her, there was no chemistry whatsoever, but he seemed to feel he was expected to try or something, just because she was single.  But it was like he was making sure he’d fail and not have to actually go through the ordeal!!</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">Well he was new, and only about 23 or so, and presumably hadn’t picked up the vibes that she was off-limits within the Family and its enterprises.  He wasn’t even Italian.  Probably – like most people – he didn’t even realise the firm was part of the Family.  Anyway it was always best to be definite – not patronising and not leaving them hanging or thinking it might be worth pestering her.  She went over to his desk.</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“Hey thanks for the invitation Jimmy; I don’t date guys from work though, sorry.”  She softened it with a smile and moved on.  He’d seemed almost relieved! </span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">Now here was Frank.  He was a sweet guy, and looking worried about something.  Something about his kids, perhaps, the way he was staring at the photo. </span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“Hey Frank,” she went and stood next to him; he was someone who knew the score, so she could stand close to him to look at the photo without him taking it the wrong way.  “Everything OK? How are the kids?”</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">She looked at the photo: the boy had ‘trouble’ written all over him!  All sullen and in those clothes with his trousers falling down so it was amazing he could even walk.  He’d be into some scene that was a worry for Frank, and in Miami there was plenty of choice for that.  </span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">The girl was lovely; still at school by the look of her, small and slender with such long hair…long straight brown hair, almost to her ass.  Such a pretty face.  The hair said ‘feminine’ and ‘innocent’ all at once, like advertising herself but in fact barely ready for an adult kind of relationship.  Ready for a first, tentative step perhaps?  It made her think briefly of her own innocent adolescence back in Christchurch…</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">But really she shouldn’t even think of the girl as sexy, or about stroking her fingers through that hair while cuddling her; it’d be complete cradle-snatching…</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">It HAD been a while though, since her last girl had been lured away by the guys.  Not that she minded; they were SO cool with their dark suits and shades and perfect hair and shoes. What girl wouldn’t want to hang out with them at the café?  It was a pity she herself wasn’t able to, with having to keep her connections quiet, but they were all in it together after all - rebuilding the city with these great projects like the new mall she was working on.  Creating jobs so parents could feed their kids, revitalising neighbourhoods and overcoming the corruption and greed that so often tried to stop them.</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“Well it’s Sam,” Frank was replying, “I don’t know what’s got into him lately.  He goes off and I don’t know where, though he has racecar pictures all over his bedroom walls suddenly.  He won’t walk home from school with Chrissie any more: school finishes and he just goes off his own way, without her.  Then he gets home late, won’t say where he’s been – it’s a worry!  I can’t go and collect him obviously and it’s not like Chrissie can make him do anything: he’s bigger than her now.”</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">Emily’s words came out on their own, it seemed like: “Oh Frank, that MUST be a worry!  Well look, I’m off now, would you like me to pick him up for you?  Today at least, would that help?”</span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">They both knew Emily could come and go as she pleased, unlike Frank. </span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“If he likes cars, you know, he’ll like mine I think, and if we can get him home, with Chrissie, you know, maybe he’ll stay there?  </span><br/><br/><span class="bbc_font" style="font-family: verdana;">“You could call them, say I’m coming?”  She looked at him with her smile; knowing, deep down, that she looked pretty appealing.</span>