Made

There are rules in life that are undeniably black and white, and many of these are enshrined in the laws of society. Murder is bad, and saving a life is good. Adultery is bad, and faithfulness is good. Stealing is bad, and giving is good. Lies are bad, the truth is good. The list goes on.

While some would try to add filters, caveats, or exceptions to a lot of black and white truths to make them more "gray", Blair Andrews was not one of these people. He saw black and white truths as gospel and expected others to do the same.

Blair was more tolerant of the true gray areas in life. Why should gambling by playing the lottery be bad, but gambling by investing in the stock market okay? Why should any consumption of alcohol be bad just because some people become addicted? Why is it wrong to celebrate Christmas or Easter with idols associated with them such as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny?

No, Blair saw the gray areas in life as choices of conscience; that inner feeling or voice viewed as a guide to the rightness or wrongness of one's behavior. He endeavored to treat people as they wanted to be treated rather than how he might want to be treated himself. This mitigated any instincts to judge others and kept his moral compass pointing in a direction that he could accept.

The betrayal that he had encountered with the announcement from his fiancée and his supposed best friend tested Blair's tolerance more than anything he had ever anticipated. They had discovered that they were true soulmates and were moving to Florida together.

His friend, Craig, had introduced Blair to the new girl at his work, Scarlet. She had been hired at Disneyland to play the character of Snow White to Craig's Prince Charming. Since Craig had been in an exclusive relationship at that time with another girl, he thought that Blair and Scarlet should try each other out. Eighteen months later, and two weeks before their scheduled wedding, Blair was finally told that the two "characters" had been secretly falling in love with each other. Craig was being offered a supervisor position in Orlando, and Scarlet felt compelled to accompany him.

Sitting in the living room of the house that he shared with his older sister, Blair had listened calmly to the confession of the two before saying, "Now it's my turn to speak." Once he saw that he had their attention, he continued. "First, the heartbreak I face is a minor inconvenience compared to the betrayal from both of you."

Craig started to speak but Blair cut him off with a glare, "I'll get to you in a minute." To Scarlet, he said, "Your betrayal is the worst. You allowed this. Soulmates don't just 'happen'. Two people invest the time and effort to learn about each other, to share intimacies, experiences, and private moments. Behaviors and thoughts that should have been devoted to our relationship were given freely by you to another. Times that you should have been available for me were instead shared with someone else. You can claim all day long that you never intended for this to happen, but that is exactly what your actions did intend, and they were successful. Now you need to convince Craig that what you did to me won't also happen to him. After all, once a cheater always a cheater, as the saying goes."

Scarlet quietly sat with tears falling from her eyes as she held Craig's hand. She had no response to Blair's comments because, in her heart, she knew that he was right. She had consciously put time and effort into getting to know Craig outside of their jobs. The same physical characteristics that made him perfect to play the role of Prince Charming at Disneyland made him someone that she enjoyed being seen with. The more she got to know him, the more she wanted to know and the more she wanted to share with him about herself, her hopes, and her dreams. Things that she should have been sharing only with Blair.

She listened as Blair then began to address Craig, "If you had been some stranger that was unaware of mine and Scarlet's relationship, that would be one thing, but you knew. Real men don't do what you have done. She might be too enthralled with her soulmate right now to notice, but someday in the future, it will become very clear to her that even though you play a character, you possess none of your own. Your reptilian morals will begin to shine through in your behavior and actions, becoming more and more obvious to Scarlet and everyone else."

Blair paused for a second to watch the two soulmates studying each other before continuing, "I don't know. Maybe you will both find Jesus and through him find redemption enough to begin living a more principled life. I'll give you an example of that life by forgiving you both and wishing you a happy life together."

He stood and walked to the front door. He opened it for them and waited silently as his guests took their leave from his house and his life.

[Two years later...]

"You went to Cal Poly?"

Riley looked at the coffee mug in her hand before glancing at the opening of her cubicle to see who had asked the question. Holding the cup so that the logo was more evident, she said, "Most people take me as a Denver Broncos fan when they see this."

The tall man smiled down at Riley and said, "I don't know how anyone could confuse Billy Bronco with that sad horse head used by Denver on their helmets. They look nothing alike. Hi, I'm Blair Andrews and you must be Riley Haberman."

"Yes, I am," Riley said as she stood to shake Blair's outstretched hand. "How are you so familiar with Cal Poly's mascot? Did you go there?"

Rolling an extra chair into Riley's cubicle, Blair said, "I was a Mustang. I graduated three years ago."

Riley sat down and scooted her chair back to allow more room for Blair to fit his chair into her tight cubicle. His mention of having been a Mustang made them almost kindred alumni since they both had graduated from the California Polytechnic University system; him from the San Luis Obispo campus and her from the Pomona campus.

"I graduated in June," Riley informed him. She then continued to get things arranged on her desk as Blair opened up his laptop and arranged it on his thighs. He spent a few minutes reviewing the information on his new team member as she continued to arrange things.

"Okay," Blair finally said, "I haven't sat through a new employee orientation for over a year, so why don't we start by having you tell me what they covered with you so I can fill in the appropriate blanks."

"Can I ask who you are?"

Blair's eyes darted up from his computer screen to meet Riley's. He said, "Well, there's a blank that I certainly need to fill in. I lead the program management team that you are joining. I'll need to have a chat with HR about not letting employees know who they report to during their orientation."

Riley's face reddened as her embarrassment grew. She had to search for a voice to explain, "No, I was told your name but it didn't register when you introduced yourself." She stared at her feet as she said, "I was expecting to meet a woman."

Blair chuckled softly and said, "That is not an unusual occurrence when all you do is hear the name spoken rather than see how it is spelled. While Blair a gender-neutral name regardless of how it is spelled, without the 'e' such as my spelling is traditionally considered the masculine version and ending with the 'e' as the feminine spelling."

Riley looked back up and saw a smile on Blair's face, which eased her concerns over her gaff considerably. She didn't make a habit of checking guys out; she was a married woman after all, but she figured that she should study the person that she reported to so that she could become familiar with his mannerisms, expressions, and body language. He didn't appear to be much older than her, but that could be attributed to his hairstyle and his casual clothing. His blonde wavy hair was worn longer than most men that Riley knew, falling over the collar of his XES logoed polo shirt and resting on his shoulders. The partition around her cubicle was six feet tall, and Blair had towered over the top of that by at least three inches when he had first introduced himself. Riley didn't typically assess a man's attractiveness, but she would have certainly rated her new boss as pleasant on the eyes.

He asked, "What else did you cover in your orientation? Did they mention anything about business travel?"

"I was told that it would be expected but not a regular thing. Is that an issue?"

"Not unless it's an issue for you," he pointed to her ring finger and added, "or your husband."

Riley quickly shook her head and said, "No, we don't have kids yet, so me being gone for a few days won't be an issue for us."

"Do you have a valid passport?"

"No, but I have applied for one."

"Good," Blair said. "We don't anticipate any international travel for the remainder of the year, so that should give you plenty of time to receive it. Do you belong to any frequent flier or hotel rewards programs that you prefer to use? We don't typically get to choose, since corporate travel makes those arrangements, but if we can get our choice without additional costs, they try to make it happen."

Riley answered, "I have no preferences yet. I suppose that I'll develop some once I get more experience..."

Blair chuckled again, and said, "Oh, you certainly will. So, here's how I typically handle onboarding new team members. If you have concerns about any part of it, just speak up and I'll try to adjust things for you."

Riley just nodded and let Blair continue, "You'll get your company laptop and cell phone by the end of the day. Until then, we'll focus on getting you acquainted with the rest of the team at our weekly planning meeting that will start at 1 in my office..."

"Where is your office?"

Blair pointed to a door directly across from Riley's cubicle. She saw him point and raised a questioning eyebrow.

"You're a director?" she asked. Now she was questioning her original assessment of his age. Why were they having this discussion in her cramped cubicle if he had that spacious office over there?

Ignoring her question, Blair asked, "I hope you don't consider it too personal for me to ask what size shirt you wear. I need to get you set up with a full complement of corporate shirts since they are essentially our uniform when we are at client locations."

Riley considered the question and asked, "Would it be possible to try a few of them on? I would normally say that I wear a women's medium, but with some shirt styles, a medium isn't long enough for me."

When wearing a dress or skirt, most people would believe that the majority of Riley's five-foot-nine-inch height was in her legs, but she knew that her torso was harder to fit. After all, a woman could leave a portion of her legs exposed without a problem. Leaving either her upper or lower torso exposed, especially in a professional environment would be frowned upon.

"I think I can arrange that," Blair said. "What were your plans for lunch?"

He knew as soon as he asked the question that he had not phrased it properly. He quickly tried to clarify, "What I mean is, do you plan on bringing a lunch or going out to eat each day? I ask because some of my team members have tried to eat lunch in their cubicles so that they can continue working, and I want to discourage that behavior. I encourage everyone to take a break while they eat. If you want to eat lunch here, that's fine, but I don't want to see any work being done at the same time. Understand?"

"What do you do?" Riley asked.

"I always go out for lunch," Blair assured her. "If I remain in the building, I would get interrupted by someone or something. There are several fast-food places close by, and a very friendly family-owned deli right around the corner that I frequent."

"Maybe I'll join you sometime."

[Five months later...]

From that August day, Blair Andrews had taken Riley Haberman under his wing. There were five other program managers on Blair's team at XES, but it was obvious to everyone that he viewed himself as Riley's mentor and he took that role seriously. Some of his motivation might have originally been due to Riley being the youngest member of the team or the only female, but Blair was always protective of her, especially when they traveled.

XES managed large-scale systems integration projects all over the world. The program management team would typically travel to a client location at the beginning of a project to perform site surveys, data center assessments, and other fact-finding that would allow them to develop an appropriate strategy for the integration project. They would then return to headquarters and begin development and implementation.

There was no way that Riley could easily disguise her beautiful face and sensuous figure, and even if it was possible, her effervescence, friendly confidence, and sweet innocence would still attract the wolves. Blair guarded Riley's virtue more vociferously than he had his own sister's. Riley seldom witnessed Blair's efforts on her behalf but there were a few times when he had stopped her from accepting a drink from a stranger or pulled rank to make her return to her hotel room rather than remain in the company of a man other than himself.

Blair felt that the safety of all of his team members was his responsibility, and with Riley being the most vulnerable, his attention to her was understandable. He made certain that Riley's travel itinerary matched his exactly so that they were always on the same flight even if they didn't get seated next to each other. While not always possible, their hotel rooms were on the same floor as often as could be arranged.

For this week in Las Vegas, while the entire program management team would be attending the CES show, he had paid the upgrade charge out of his own pocket to ensure that he and Riley had adjoining rooms at the hotel. Since he had decided to drive his personal vehicle from Southern California so that they would not have to bother with either McCarren Airport or the hassle of a rental car during one of Las Vegas' busiest weeks, the mileage reimbursement that he would receive would more than cover the room upgrade price.

The rest of the team decided to fly, so Blair asked Riley to ride to Las Vegas with him. After being neglected and ignored by her husband for weeks, spending four and a half hours chatting with another adult was all the enticement that she needed to accept. Questions from Riley about what she should expect at the CES covered most of the first hour, but by the time they were in the Cajon Pass, her questions became slightly more personal, "So, if you graduated from San Luis Obispo in 2016, that would mean that you are around 28, right?"

"24," replied Blair. "I was 20 when I graduated."

"You completed a four-year program in two years?" Riley asked in astonishment.

Blair chuckled and said, "No, it took me three and a half years, then I had to wait for graduation. You should know how hard it is to get the required classes scheduled each semester..."

"But wait, that would mean that you started at Cal Poly when you were 16."

"That would be correct," Blair nodded. "I then obtained my MBA from Pepperdine last year."

"I keep telling Stuart that he should look into the MBA program at Pepperdine. I hear that it is a good one."

"I liked it," Blair agreed. "They offer a lot of flexibility for people with full-time careers."

"That's what I keep telling him about the program, but he wants to wait to see if his company will offer better tuition reimbursement for him once he has been there for a year."

"Laguna Ranch Company, right?" Blair asked. He thought that demonstrating he paid attention to their previous conversations would be polite.

"Right. He works in their marketing department currently but is hoping to move into development and planning in the near future."

"Didn't he start there around the same time that you joined us at XES?"

"A month earlier," Riley said. "As soon as we got back from our honeymoon, he reported for duty. I got the job of finding a place for us to live and getting our household setup while waiting for my starting date with XES to be determined."

Blair nodded in understanding, and said, "Onboarding of new employees in July has always been delayed due to so many people taking vacations. So, you two are coming up on your first anniversary? Be sure to request time off to celebrate."

"Our wedding anniversary," Riley confirmed. "But we've been together in some fashion since our senior year of high school."

"Did he go to Cal Poly too?"

"No, Stuart went to Cal State Fullerton, but we both lived with our parents while attending college. Since we both still lived in the same neighborhood, we were able to see each other regularly, but it wasn't always an exclusive relationship. Have you ever been married?"

Riley knew from the lack of a wedding band and talk among other women at XES that Blair was currently single, but no one knew if there was someone significant in his life. He had never brought a plus-one to any company-sponsored events, but that didn't necessarily prove that he wasn't involved in a relationship.

"No, I haven't," Blair said, but he didn't elaborate. He quickly reviewed their conversation to this point and decide that he needed to back things off some from the evolving personal tone that he was detecting. Nothing that Riley had ever said or done left the impression that she wasn't devoted to her marriage and her husband, but Blair knew from experience just how slippery a slope relationships could be when outside influences permeated them. He would not be any influence on anyone else's as Craig had been on his. He would not provide a substitute to Riley for any topics that she should be discussing solely with her husband.

"So, have you reviewed our meeting schedule for the week?" he asked.

"Yes, I have, and I was going to ask if there were any that you wanted me to take the lead on. Paul and Brent mentioned that they were preparing the agendas for a couple of meetings, so if you want me to take one or two, just let me know."

"I'll review their agendas when we get to the hotel and let you know. I may let you assume ownership of one of the meetings that they have prepared for, but I'll need to discuss it with them first. How much time have you spent in Las Vegas?"

"Hardly any. I never saw the point of coming to Las Vegas until I had turned twenty-one, and then I was too busy with finishing college, getting married, and now working..."

Blair nodded and said, "Well, the moniker, "Sin City" is quite accurate for this place. Trust me, a lot of people come here for trade shows and other events purposely to explore their most deviant and perverted selves. I would appreciate it if you stuck close to me or another member of the team while we are here. We are all going to be very busy and there won't be much time for alternative activities, but stay close regardless."

"You always do that. You have no faith in my ability to take care of myself."

"Look, Riley," Blair tried to explain, "Let's get you a bit more experience as a beautiful woman surrounded by horney guys away from their ball and chain before cutting you loose on your own. You are part of my team, and I am responsible for your performance, your safety, and from a professional perspective, your virtue. A place like Las Vegas during the CES show is not the time for you to spread your wings. I respect your marriage and your vows. You would be lucky to find four other guys in Las Vegas this week who would say the same thing."

"Oh, come on," Riley countered, "You are fine with letting the guys come and go as they please..."

"Says who? Every member of the team has strict rules to follow on all business-related travel. This is a very 'incestuous' industry that we're in and rumors travel fast and far. Even if an employee leaves a company, their reputation sticks around for a long time. XES is very guarded of our brand and our corporate image and expects all employees to respect that. It's one of the things that I like best about working here at a company with a conscience."