Transitions Ch. 03

Thank you Tigerssman for all the help in editing this work.

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Amy found a specialist in post-traumatic stress disorder cases. Amy was finding the role of a caregiver very stressful. Only being eighteen, she just didn't have the life experience.

It was well before she wanted to do it, but she had to find an equal, someone who could keep the ship afloat if Amy needed downtime.

It just took two weeks to find someone to help Amy. Amy thought, "Am I that replaceable that it only takes two weeks to find a replacement?"

Amy said, "So Aillis, tell me about yourself,"

"As you can tell by my name, I'm a full-blooded Irish lass; we go back over 500 years," Aillis said proudly, "I am just eighteen, but there was no work on the other side of the wall. Everyone has heard of 'His Lordship' and his kindness. No one can compete with Daniel, I mean, if you are in her companies you would be daft to ever leave.

"When we heard about the job my Dad said, "You go girl, find your place in the world. It was a very sad time leaving him. Now that I left him, all I can do is make him proud of who I am and how others view me."

Amy said, "And just how do people view you?"

Aillis said, "Well some say I am loyal, hard-working, detail-oriented, and can get the job done no matter what. I beg your pardon Miss, but personally, I do not think people put much stock in those kinds of things; they sure sound nice in an interview.

"I'd rather be judged on the person that I am, not what I bring to the job. I am a friend, I will be there for you on a personal level. I stick by my friends and I make them easily. I'm a down to earth lass, that's how my Dad raised me. Now that Dad is on the other side of the wall, I will need to make a new family. Family is very important to me. Family is family, no matter how it is made."

Amy spoke, "I don't know what I would do without family, Daniel is my sister, 'Her Ladyship' and 'His Lordship' are like parents."

"'Milady', could you come to my office please."

"'Milady', this is Aillis. She puts a high premium on family values and you know how I cherish them."

Aillis said, "You mean I got the job, just like that?"

"Aillis you will attend all meetings with me. You will know as much, or more about our business than I do. We will split up the workload, we will both take days off without missing a beat. Most of our clients use Skype already, you will have it on your business phone. If we get our work done early, we can take the afternoon off."

"'Her Ladyship' oversees most things family. She likes to have all mobile devices shut off during meal times and family outings. You are a member of our family."

There was a devastating drought that effected most of the townspeople. True to his word, 'His Lordship' welcomed all who migrated to his house. The west wing of the house was the largest of the house. It all made sense to Amy now, she appreciated the forward thinking of 'His Lordship' and 'Her Ladyship'.

Friends could be with friends, children could play with their friends.

The chefs had to plan a week in advance. 'His Lordship' would hire hunters to get wild game.

HR went into overdrive, hiring townspeople for low-level work. Some of their wages came back to 'His Lordship' to pay for food. They were glad they could help out 'His Lordship' as they would benefit from the garnishment."

Many of the farmers planted fast-growing crops that would put nutrients back into the ground. The ground was tilled before the rains came to sink deeper into the ground.

Aillis's schedule became harried. Amy's priority was to 'His Lordship' and 'Her Ladyship'. The drought and the organization for the townspeople took her away from the business side of things thus, it fell unto Aillis.

Because of her hard work during the crises, Amy and 'His Lordship' set up a surprise for Aillis. Aillis was mystified as to why she would go to 'His Lordship's' office, even more so when he left when the two came in. Amy turned on Skype on 'His Lordship's computer and left. Aillis was left alone sitting in 'His Lordship's' chair when the video came on.

Aillis screamed, "Da, is that really you!"

"Yes girl, it is me. 'His Lordship' wanted this to be a surprise."

"Well Da, you could have knocked me over with a wee feather."

Amy's voice came over the intercom, "Take as long as you want, tap record."

Aillis and Dad both hit record to treasure this moment.

It had been a while since they talked, there was much to talk about.

Dad had found work in one of 'His Lordship's' startup companies. He knew Daniel arranged for him to get the job.

They talked until half past nine. Aillis was on cloud nine.

Amy justified getting that extra slice of dessert as to be sociable while Aillis ate her dinner.

When Aillis saw Daniel, she ran up to give her a bear hug, so tight she could feel her scarring on her back.

Aillis was horrified, "I am so sorry, Miss Daniel, please forgive me. I didn't know."

Daniel comforted Aillis, "It is alright child, I think it is about time I stop hiding this secret and tell everyone."

Aillis couldn't not answer.

Daniel called a meeting in the west wing. "Parents please wake your children, they need to hear this just as much as you do. I don't think I could bear saying it again."

Now that everyone was gathered, including bleary-eyed children, Daniel started to speak.

"You may have noticed 'Her Ladyship' shows me favoritism with somethings. Shortly after I got here I was taken away against my will, was treated like a piece of meat. Whippings were just one of their favorite things. It was so bad, I had to go to the hospital. The doctors couldn't help me at all. As luck would have it, a first-year medical student suggested a centuries old treatment, she saved my life.

"I don't condone what happen to the people who did this to me so I will not discuss it.

"I have had many nightmares, some very bad. The best thing that helped me was the kids. Replacing terrible times with happy times. The night after the circus was the first time I slept all night in months. I have pictures all over my office, almost every picture has to do with something you kids helped me with.

"You kids don't know it, but we need you more than you need us. You give our lives meaning. When we look over our lives, the first thing that pops in our heads is our kids."

When it appeared, Daniel was getting too emotional, Amy came over and hugged her.

"Thank you, 'Milady', 'Milady's maid' and Amy for keeping my secret. It is time for me to live again so no more secrets."

'His Lordship' came up to Daniel and commanded, "Daniel it is time for you to take a two-week holiday. I am sure you trust your team to carry on in your absence."

She hired a team to trust one another, now she had to trust them, she was having a hard time coping with it.

'Her Ladyship' made all the arrangements. A little bungalow on a private beach. As 'Her Ladyship' was saying farewell to Daniel, she gave her a wink and said, "Find a stud, so you can have a happy ending to your vacation."

Daniel's face turned beet red.

On the third day, Daniel was going stir crazy even though her private beach was steps away. She got into all her wrap-ups and cover-ups and headed up the trail to the resort pool.

It was not long after that a waiter came by and offered her a mojito, saying it was from the gentleman in the corner.

When Daniel looked over all she saw was a bronze body with pearly white teeth, a totally ripped body and green eyes she could lose herself in.

He slowly walked toward her, "Hello, my name is David. What is a pretty lady such as yourself doing out here all by yourself?"

"Waiting for everyone else to leave so I can go home."

David said, "Very well, I shall leave first, shall I?"

Daniel was getting very upset with David as he stayed on the same trail as Daniel.

Daniel found out that David lived one bungalow down from her.

That didn't mean he lived close to her, the resort provided golf carts to cover the vast distances between the bungalows; it gave the clients a sense of privacy. David noticed were Daniel's bungalow was.

The next morning David came over to make breakfast in bed for Daniel. As he gave her the tray she turned and he saw Daniel's scars.

"GET OUT, NOW!" screamed Daniel.

David said, "It's too bad, I was hoping I could buy you dinner."

Daniel, in tears, called Amy and told her the whole story.

"Daniel that was mean, cruel and I am ashamed of you. Here is a guy you meet on vacation who you seem to not mind talking to. He makes breakfast for you, as he is doing so he sees your scars. Instead of being repulsed by them, he not only wants to stay for breakfast, but asks for a dinner date. He is not even expecting sex of any kind!

"All you do is kick him out of the house. Are you nuts! Daniel, I am your sister. I know how your relationships have been.

"What harm would a dinner date do? Daniel, what if he is the guy who can help you with those nightmares. If you ask me, he sounds like a nice guy who deserves better than how you treated him. I expect you to give him a big-time apology, unless you have run him off.

" Daniel, no one wears enough clothes for sub-freezing temperatures when it is ninety degrees out and sunny.

"If you can patch things up with this David person, I want to meet him. Anyone who can help my family out in any way, is OK by me.

"What do you think Mom and Leon would say? He is your uncle by the way."

Daniel drove her golf cart down to David's bungalow, not so much as a toothbrush was left as a personal item.

Daniel went to the resort manager, "Miss Daniel how may I assist you today."

"Can you tell me where Mr. David is? He was in the bungalow next to mine."

The manager said, "Ah, Mr. David, he appears to have downgraded his room and cut his stay by a full week. He asked us not to tell you where he is, said he had to think about what he was going to do with his life."

"Amy, I lost him! He left where he was staying, cut his stay by a week and he did not want me to know where he was. He said he had to think what he was going to do with his life. That sounds foreboding to me. What if I pushed him over the edge? Why can I run a multi-million-dollar company but can't even accept a dinner date with a guy?"

"Daniel, you are letting your captors win, they are controlling your life. What can we do to rid you of this fear?"

"What life Amy? I work over 100 hours a week. I stay awake just long enough to eat and then it takes me so long to fall asleep, my alarm goes off before I can sleep."

Daniel was unaware that 'His Lordship' was listening.

He said, "Daniel, Aillis will be taking over your schedule. Plan on forty hour weeks. If I hear you are cheating and taking more hours, I will make you a part-time hourly worker with no overtime, working from 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM every day. Be thankful I don't fire you."

"Thank you, Milord."

While the resort was indeed beautiful, Daniel came home a week early as well, she needed Amy.

After some tears, Amy put Daniel to bed. After she woke up, Daniel went to work only to find her office was locked.

Daniel said, "What is the meaning of this? Why can't I get into my office?"

Her co-worker said, "You are to report to Aillis."

Daniel was fuming by the time she reached Aillis's office.

Aillis said, "What is your name again? I don't see you on this week's schedule."

"It's Daniel," she was ready to pop a blood vessel.

Aillis said, "Oh, here you are, you are a week early, I have you on vacation this week. Here is your new key card. Can I please have your old one?

"I see you have been moved to the forty-hour week plan. 'His Lordship' kindly put a new lock on your office door. Only I have the key. You are to report to me or Amy if I am not here at 8:45 AM, your lunch is at 1:00 PM, your door will be locked at 5:15 PM to give you time to turn your shift to the next supervisor.

"Your key card has been programed to only work on one hour on either side of those times. There will be a security sweep done just before those times. You can't even get in the building after 6:15 PM. If you try after that time, a red light will go off in 'His Lordship's' office and his pager will ring with a special code for you. You will be answerable to him.

"Your business computer will be easily identified from the outside and your personal computer will only have limited access, in case you were thinking about doing business work on your personal computer. We will put a keyboard monitor on it if we must.

"Most of your companies are big enough that they only need monthly meetings;

I will stagger them to fit your schedule."

Daniel was incensed, she was literally being escorted to and from work.

"Amy what am I going to do? I need those hours to keep my mind busy."

"Daniel you have a week to think about what you want to do. You could 'Quit', but you could never find a job again. In addition, you would lose the trust of everyone here, including me.

"You could get more sleep and that will help your body. There are things you can do outside of work, be more sociable.

"The number one thing to think about is, why you freaked when David saw your scars? Why are you letting your captors win? They instilled fear in you, now you can't let anyone near you. If I wasn't your sister, you would not let me either.

"Make up a list of things you would like to do, things where you meet people and make friends. You made friends easily in high school and enjoyed many activities, why can't you do that again?

"'His Lordship' was right, you were hiding yourself at work so you didn't have to deal with people. Do you plan to mope around the house with all this extra time on your hands?

"'Her Ladyship' will not allow that. If you can't find something to do, she will find something to do for you. You would probably lose your job and be at her beck and call 24/7. Having a blanket while you sleep on the floor would be a reward, forget about a bed.

"Daniel, it's all up to you, you can face your fear and conquer it or you can let fear run your life. Fear is in your mind, not on your back."

This gave Daniel pause, she thought "Amy is right, I am being a total submissive to my fear. 'His Lordship' has been very kind, I should have been fired on the spot today. He will not allow someone acting like a six-year-old work for him, he needs responsible adults. My job is hanging by a thread and the thread is burning from the top."