Louise Ch. 16

"I haven't been harassing you!" Bartlett snapped. "It is well within my rights to push you to produce."

"Interesting." Gene mused. "I know for a fact that Francesca hasn't brought in a new client for longer than I have. Is she on probation too? I don't see you stopping by her office to remind her that she hasn't brought in any new clients... unless you're harassing her in a different way perhaps?"

Gene had just realized something. He didn't have to take anyone's shit and that included Bartlett's. If he lost his job, the Sinclaire account would go with him.

"Now, unless you're going to put Francesca on probation under the same terms as me, then get the fuck out of my office and leave me the fuck alone so that I can do my job. If you insist on screwing with me, I have human resources on speed dial."

Bartlett's face turned beet red and Gene could see the muscles in his jaw clenching in anger. Finally, Bartlett turned on his heel and walked away without saying another word. Gene watched as Bartlett went into his office and slammed the door. He went back to making his calls. If he had no one by the end of the day; he would...

"No I won't I still have a few days." He told himself.

As the day wore on, Gene could sense Bartlett watching him and realized that he was going to find a way to fire him.

"Son of a bitch." He swore under his breath.

By the end of the day; one of the contacts had agreed to invest with him. it was a small amount; but it met the criteria that he bring in a new client. He emailed the proposal to the client and waited for the client to send the e-signed confirmation to come back.

While he waited, he printed off a copy and put it in a locked drawer. He would meet with the client in a day or two and give him his paper copy of the signed proposal. On a whim, he downloaded the proposal and all of his work on a flash drive. He didn't trust Bartlett.

A quiet ding alerted him that he had mail.

Gene printed three copies of the signed document, checked the time stamp on it. He locked two away copies and left to take the third one to Bartlett. He looked the clock and cursed. He was supposed to be at the house. He would make it quick and be on his way. Louise and Nathan would understand.

It occurred to him that not long ago; he wouldn't have cared if they understood or not. As the days passed, he was finding that even with the temptation to drink; he was beginning to like himself. As he got closer to Bartlett's office; he was surprised to hear a familiar voice.

"I'm Nathan Sinclaire and this is my wife Louise."

Gene stopped at the door shocked. Anger set in and then was gone. They had every right to be at the office. It wasn't unusual for potential investors to drop by. He tapped on the door and stepped in.

"Gene!" Bartlett said jovially.

Gene wanted to punch the fake smile from Bartlett's face.

"Hi Gene." Louise said. "We wanted to see if you needed a ride to the house."

Bartlett face lost the fake smile and confusion replaced it.

"Gene is my brother." Louise explained when she saw Bartlett's confusion.

"You really know them." Bartlett murmured.

"I told you that I knew them." Gene replied. "I didn't have to tell you how I knew them."

Nathan watched the interaction and knew that there was an issue between the two men. He looked at Bartlett and didn't like the barely concealed jealousy and greed that he saw on the man's face.

"Mr. Bartlett." Nathan said drawing the man's attention away from Gene. "I would appreciate it if no one except Gene handles my account."

"Mr. Yancy is on probation and part of that is my approving his proposals." Bartlett replied.

"How much longer is the probationary period?" Nathan asked.

"It ends this Friday at the end of the day and he has to have a new client by then." Bartlett replied.

"That's what I was coming to tell you." Gene said with a smile on his face. "I have a new client. He's already e-signed the documents."

Bartlett seemed to forget that Nathan and Louise were in the room as he demanded to see the document. He scanned the papers and sneered.

"You call this an investment?"

"You didn't stipulate an amount." Gene replied. "You said that I had to bring in a new client and that's what I did."

"B...but... this wasn't worth writing up!" Bartlett stammered.

"I met your criteria." Gene said his voice cold. "I fucking dare you to renege."

He too had forgotten that they weren't alone as he stared down at Bartlett.

"This is my new client. As far as I'm concerned, my probationary period is over and I'm quite sure that Mr. Carlisle would agree."

"I'm glad to hear that your probation is over." Nathan said. "Perhaps we can meet and talk about that proposal."

Bartlett put his fake smile back on his face.

"Welcome back. Now if you will excuse me, I'm late for an appointment."

Gene stepped back.

"I want it in writing before you leave."

Five minutes later, he watched Bartlett send an email to human resources ending his probation. Gene knew that he now had an enemy who would do what he could to fire him. In the meantime, he planned to enjoy his victory.

**********

Gene watched as Nathan walked around the outside of the house not understanding how he could see anything.

"How can he see?" he asked Louise.

"He had very good eyes... Gene, I'm proud of you. You could have used that letter to keep your job; but you didn't."

"That isn't entirely true." Gene replied. "I showed him the letter in order to get the probation. Bartlett was ready to fire my ass when I got back. I wanted to wait until I was on firmer ground before I presented you and Nathan with a proposal."

"I'm ready to look inside." Nathan said.

While Nathan looked at the house touching the walls and baseboards, Louise looked at the house too. It was from a completely different perspective. The house had a mixture of bittersweet memories for her. She started in the one place where she had always felt at peace; the kitchen.

She touched the old stove on which she had created and cooked so many meals. She opened the oven and saw that it was as spotless as she had left it.

"Would you like to keep it?" Nathan asked from behind her. "I could design the kitchen so that it stays... in fact, we can equip it with the same appliances. I'll have someone come out and do any repairs. Is there something that your mother would have wanted?"

"A dishwasher." Louise replied. "And a bigger kitchen."

Nathan looked around the kitchen with a practiced eye.

"We can actually enlarge all of the rooms. The entire electrical system needs to be updated as does the septic system and the heating and cooling systems. The best and easiest thing to do would be to tear the house down." Nathan said. "We'll use as much of the original material as possible, but sweetheart; there's a lot of structural damage partly due to termites."

"I understand; do what you think best." Louse replied.

"What's back there?" Nathan asked looking at a door to the rear of the kitchen.

"The laundry room and over there is where the water heater is." She replied.

"There's a nice sized back yard." Nathan said. "We have plenty of room to expand... I'll have Leon get his friend to start working on the permits. This is going to take a while because we won't be able to work at night and Gene won't be able to stay here."

"I can stay at Leon's apartment." Gene said as he entered the small kitchen. "I'll put things in storage."

"Don't worry about that." Nathan said. "We'll hire someone to do that. You keep concentrating on your recovery. Once the work begins I would like for you to keep an eye on things and call me or Leon with any concerns."

"How long do you think that it will take?" Gene asked.

"That depends on how long it takes to get the permits." Nathan replied. "Once that's done we can start tearing the house down. I can have the packing crew here on Monday... will that work for you?"

"That's fine...Nathan, thank you for everything."

Louise and Nathan left two days later. The moving crew had been contacted and Gene's personal belongings had been moved to Leon's apartment. Gene hugged Louise and kissed her cheek.

"I love you sis."

He shook Nathan's hand and held it realizing that neither Nathan nor Patrick had done anything to make him feel inferior. It had been his insecurities and jealousies that had done that. It was the same insecurity that had prevented him from being the man that his father had wanted him to be. Thanks to a trip to California, he was on his way to becoming that man.

It was too late for the big brother speech but not too late to say thank you.

"Thank you for being so good to my sister and to our family."

"Family is supposed to care for each other, are they not?" Nathan asked.

"Yes... yes they are." Gene replied as a pang of guilt ran through him.

"Your family is my family." Nathan said. "Part of being a family is to forgive and to accept that forgiveness."

Gene let the words set in and smiled. Nathan was right.

**********

The next week passed without any feeling of foreboding, visions or voices. Louise and Nathan spent the week designing the nursery at the beach house and getting ready to start their cooking classes. Nathan was running the final background checks on their instructor and his assistant.

He looked over at Louise who was looking at paint and curtain samples. He thought that he could almost touch the glow that surrounded her. She was breathtakingly beautiful.

"What are you thinking about?" Louise asked when she realized that she was being watched.

"I was thinking that everything that they say about pregnant women is true." Nathan replied as he stood and walked over to her. "You're glowing." He whispered as he touched her cheek with one hand and her stomach with the other.

He closed his eyes and listened to the strong heartbeat of their child.

"You are loved and will always be safe." He said telepathically.

Louise laid her hand on top of Nathan's adding her thoughts to his.

"We can't wait to meet you."

They both jumped and then smiled when the baby's heart rate accelerated as if telling them that the feeling was mutual. After several seconds, the heart rate slowed back to normal. Louise couldn't help but think about Barb and her baby.

The child that she carried was conceived in love whereas Barb's was the result of ... she didn't' know exactly what to call it. She worried for both Barb and the baby. Barb had always said that she never wanted children; it was something that she had never swayed on.

She hoped that as the pregnancy progressed Barb would grow to love her child. She also hoped that Thorne would accept and love the baby once he found out about it.

"Her choices are her own." Nathan said as he hugged Louise. "All we can do is wait."

"I know." Louise replied. "I know."

*******

Barb looked through her closet looking for something to wear for her impromptu meeting with Thorne. The little black dress that she wore that night that seemed a lifetime ago was still crumpled in the plastic bag that she put it in.

She couldn't look at it, but neither could she bring herself to throw it away. Now she looked at the bag. Before she could change her mind, Barb grabbed the bag and ran out of the apartment. She ran to the dumpster, hesitated and then threw the bag containing the dress in and walked away.

She went back to the apartment to change her clothes. She caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and stopped to look at herself. Her hands went to her stomach but didn't caress it and she didn't think loving thoughts.

Abruptly, she turned away and she finished dressing. It was time to go shopping for a new outfit.

In two days, Thorne Blackwell was going to find out that she was pregnant.