The Lakes

Chapter 3

       

3

Chris worked for the next hour going through the emails.  She figured out pretty quickly how to delete the auto-messages that she assumed were unnecessary, it took her a little longer to figure out how to save the stuff Jocelyn had forwarded.  The email from Mr. Lake was a forward from his attorney containing a document drafted by Mrs. Klein with instructions to file in the DeWitt file.

The email from Mrs. Klein was a very pleasant introduction.  She had included a basic outline of what she did on a daily basis for Mr. Lake and all of her contact information including two cell phone numbers.  Chris couldn't imagine why someone would need two cell phones.  She hated answering the one, but mostly because her dad had called incessantly in the past three weeks to get daily updates on a job she hadn't even started.

Just after successfully weeding through the nineteen messages Mr. Lake called her.  She answered nervously but all he said was "Can you please work with Jocelyn to get the conference room ready?"  She had said "Yes sir" before she realized he'd already hung up.  His phone etiquette was going to take some getting used to.

When she got to the conference room she laid out the navy folders, one at each seat.  Apparently Jocelyn had already done her part, there were empty glasses and three pitchers of water in the center of the expansive table as well as two trays of cheese and crackers.  That girl worked fast.

She then realized with excitement she needed to use the facilities.  When Jocelyn had showed it to her she had thought to herself that she'd never seen such a nice restroom.

When she entered it this time she studied ever part of it.  She felt silly putting so much effort into looking at a restroom but she was amazed to say the least.  The counter and sinks were granite, a beautiful dark brown color with bright gold and green specks that reflected in the incredibly chic lamps that hung from the ceiling.  They were also dark brown and kind of lacy looking.  The light that emitted from them looked like golden rays of sun.

The wallpaper, which seemed like a ridiculously simple term for what covered the walls, was the same dark brown and gold found in the granite.  It was a pattern she couldn't remember the name of...damask maybe...and lined up perfectly unlike the hideous floral paper in the hall bath at her dads house.  As a matter of fact, when she went up to touch it she couldn't even see a seam.  Crazy.

She eventually made it to the stall, which had, of course, a heated seat.  Because why wouldn't it?  The toilet paper was easily four-ply, which she didn't even think was a real thing. 

When she emerged and washed her hands there were beautiful pumps containing soaps that smelled like nothing she'd ever smelled before, something spicy and sweet.  At the end of the counter was a gorgeous cherry dresser with a plush dark purple velvet chair.

She sat down and ran her fingers through her hair again, ashamed that she wasn't comfortable with using the meticulously clean brush that sat by a hand mirror and powder.  Though she was sure no one who'd used it had lice she still remembered when her mother had stayed in the bathroom with her while she sat in the tub with the gross-smelling shampoo on her head.

She looked over the various lotions that were labeled in fancy print, lavender, mint, rose and vanilla.  She settled on the rose, it reminded her of her mother.  She put her hands to her face as she exited the bathroom taking another sniff and missing her terribly.

"You okay?" she heard the familiarly smooth voice of Jeremy.

"Yes," she said wishing she could think of something cleverer.  Was this going to be the basis of all of their conversations?  She flushed when she realized he must have seen her with her hands to her face.