Chapter One - Episode 125 - Out From Under - Situationally Theirs

Review, Revision, Edit and Update

Lots of revision in this episode. Keeping the intent of this episode, I had added quite a bit of detail throughout the episode. Improvements in character description and scene setting,

Out from Under

It is a common maxim that we should leave our home life at home when we enter our places of employment. While that does sound like it should be easy - just shut a mental door and leave it closed until quitting time - it is not quite that simple. This does take years of practice, and is not necessarily very successful, especially with the technology that is so ubiquitous today. 

~~~~~

An email pinged through on Brigitte Smithson’s cell phone, distracting her from what was being said. She frowned at what she read.“Hello Brigitte. I have an issue I’d like to discuss with you. It’s really a small matter, but pretty important.” Quickly skimming the email from her neighbour with increasing curiosity and some anxiety, she began to worry. What have I done wrong? Reviewing the last couple of days in her mind, there was only the normal chaos of moving in and setting up her few pieces of furniture. Was I too noisy? I set up my speakers so they faced away from the other side of the duplex. She hadn’t heard anything from her neighbour, until now. Brigitte was letting her worries interfere with her attention to the business meeting she and Miss Em were attending with Gerald Winston, the Beaufort Estate accountant. 

Mr. Winston, a very ordinary man, had a scruffy ring of graying hair that needed a trim and wore gold rimmed glasses. Everything about him seemed round, from his shiny pate, rounded shoulders and thick fingers to his rolling gait as he greeted his client and her assistant. Dressed in an open necked shirt, he had his shirt sleeves loosely rolled up to his elbows. His desk was tidy, but stacked with file folders, pencils, pens, and two staplers. A few business cards, tucked in a little plastic card holder, almost seemed an afterthought. Pandemic restrictions eased, he was glad to be open again, even if he kept his hours limited. His office, closed for quite sometime, except for telephone interviews or video chat consultations, was finally open for the face-to-face consultations he preferred. 

Brigitte leaned over to her employer, Emelina Beaufort. “I’m sorry Miss Em. Did I miss anything? My mind wandered to a personal worry.” Patting her hand, Emelina replied in a stage whisper, “I hope everything is all right? No, you didn’t miss anything. Mr. Winston has just gone to get some other paperwork.” Sounding less than confident, Brigitte said “Everything is just fine, I think.”

Mr. Winston returned. “Let me begin by saying, Mrs. Beaufort, I am so sorry for your loss. I am pleased to meet you and understand that you have questions for me. In the past, I frequently spoke with your husband and occasionally with Mr. Digby.” The accountant opened a file, shuffled through the papers and pulled out a single page. He handed the letter, dated four years previously, to Emelina to review. From the Estate lawyer, it was information that, since Mr. Beaufort's passing the previous year, all correspondence was now to go through James Digby at the Estate until further notice. It made mention that Mrs. Beaufort was presently indisposed...” Emelina, tears pooling in her eyes, stopped reading and returned the letter to the accountant. 

The accountant put the letter back in the file. He appeared not to notice his client's discomfort only said “Since Mr. Beaufort’s passing, Mr. Digby seems to have been in charge. Quite a change from butlering to managing all the accounts.” Leaning forward, elbows on his very busy desk, he looked kindly at Emelina. 

She nodded in agreement. “Yes, Digby has been a rock for me these last several years." She turned to Brigitte and introduced her to Mr. Winston. “This is Brigitte Smithson, my Personal Assistant. She has been just as solid for me these last four years. But now, I wish to know about the Estate business. Your relationship with Digby will not be altered, unless either of you wish it. The three of us can discuss it at anytime to formalize any changes. As Michael - Mr. Beaufort - left full responsibility for the Estate to me, my goal is to learn what constitutes my role in this whole business.” Emelina had looked away briefly, an all too familiar feeling of shame washing over her. Sitting up straight, she continued. “Is there a resource, or resources, that you would recommend for me? Is the Estate considered a Small Business or is there some other designation for Estate management?”

Gerald was very impressed with Mr. Beaufort’s wife. The rumours he heard from other accountant’s about her complete lack of concern may have been true at one time, however something had changed for her. Whatever had happened, he was pleased that Mr. Digby would have some pressure taken off his shoulders. Gerald hoped that Mrs. Beaufort knew what a gem she had in that man. If Miss Smithson, the Personal Assistant with her, was as stalwart as she had said, the Estate just may have a real leader at the helm. One with strong supports that she relied on for their proven wisdom.

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Home at last. Brigitte had one easy chair in her living room. She flopped down in it, and closed her eyes. Then sat straight up, grabbed her shoulder bag and began searching for her phone. Her tablet met her hand first. It would be much better. Pulling up the email from Joanie Richardson, Martha Havestock's daughter, she reread it: “Hello Brigitte. I have an issue I’d like to discuss with you. It’s really a small matter, but pretty important.” Her stomach churned. Quietly aloud she said “I finally have a nice place of my own and I can walk to work. I like my new neighbours but now after only being here for a day, I get this email!” She heard her mother’s voice. “Slow down. Breathe.” Not realizing she was holding her breath, she let out a slow whoosh of the trapped air, took a new deep breath and got her breathing back to a normal, steady rhythm. She took off her light jacket and hung it up, poured a glass of cold water and sat at her quasi antique-store table with her tablet.

She began to reply to the email. “Hi Joanie, I’ve read your email. I’m home from……..” No, I think I’ll call her. Joanie picked up on the first ring. “Hi Joanie, this is Brigitte. I read your email. What can I do for you?”

The phone call ended when Brigitte, relieved and amused said “I’ll meet you in the backyard.” She was still laughing when she walked onto her back porch. A very young man, and Martha's nine year old grandson Ben, was standing on the other side of the gate separating the two backyards. Quickly serious, Brigitte called out to him “Ben! I hear you have something you want to ask me. Let me take the lock off the gate so you can come in and we can talk. You can call me Brigitte, remember?” His mother stood on her back porch, arms folded. She smiled. “Go ahead Ben. It’s ok. Ask Brigitte about the sign on the gate.”

Young Ben was very nervous. He held up the yellowed and faded sign that dangled from hooks on the gate. “See, Brigitte, the sign is wrong now.” Talking to grownups made him shy, but he had to talk. He was nine years old, practically grown up and this woman with pretty red hair and a really sweet motorcycle just made him act like a baby. “If you want the gate to stay locked, then that’s ok. I’ll just take the Grandma’s Busy sign off so you can be”……he searched for the word his grandma used………”you can be private.”

Brigitte had brought the key for the gate's padlock “Ben, thank you for noticing that. I have been so busy, I didn’t even think about the sign. Let’s you and I take that lock off.” She turned the key in the lock til it popped open and let her new friend take it off the gate.“You give that to your mother with this key. I do need you to do something else for me, if you can.” Ben, still nervous, was really quite excited. “Sure. What do you want me to do?”

She looked at the sign he was still holding. “I think we need a new sign, Ben. Would you make a new one for our gate? Do you need any help with it?” Brigitte was enchanted by this young man, so polite and thoughtful…..and nervous. Her concerns about the children coming over willy-nilly had been allayed.

“Children are likely to live up to what you believe of them.”

~ Lady Bird Johnson, Former First Lady of the United States