Sammy drove up to Hawkeye Property Group early that morning. The main locati
on was located in Oakwood about an hour drive from West City. She hadn’t been to this location in over 6 months and was a little nervous to why Mr. Gardner requested this visit and why she was being pulled from the Guilford case. Sammy lived in a house near downtown West City in a neighborhood filled with young professionals. She knew her two roommates from a yoga class she had been going to for the last couple of years and at one point they had spent a lot of time together hitting up the bars and going to various houses of random guys they happened to meet. But, recently they had spent less time together. Every once in awhile they’d have dinner or watch a show together, but Sammy’s life no longer orbited theirs. She couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment she became consumed with her work maybe it was during covid or maybe before.
When she was younger and in college she could never see herself as a career woman or someone that would be motivated by moving up the corporate ladder, yet here she was. Her career gave her structure, a backbone on which she could thrive and fill her life with meaning. She no longer saw friendships or creative hobbies as a source of meaning in her life, instead she craved perfecting her skills in her field and generating an increasing source of income. Her 6 figure salary had given her a lot of pride and it just wasn’t handed to her. She worked long hours, sometimes 60 hour weeks. She studied hard and focused diligently on her papers and reports and was consistently lauded by her superiors. At one point she would have assumed this would have corrupted her or diminished her soul or personality. But in fact the opposite was true. She hadn’t felt this confident in her entire life and she still felt spiritually connected to the world. Not necessarily through prayer or deep emotional connection with others, but through the mastery of herself.
Today was a little different though. She hadn’t been this uncertain about her role in the company in a long time she thought as she waited for Mr. Gardner to finish his call. Her main focus had been securing estates from people that had passed away. Either through purchasing the property from relatives or through trickier means involving lawyers and diligently crafted case files. She had already been putting the Guilford case together for a month and had hoped it may have secured her a position as the regional manager, yet Molly had told her she’d no longer be involved with the case. Was this due to her incompetence. Maybe Mr. Gardner had valued her less than she’d thought. They usually communicated through short concise emails, yet she always had the impression that she had his full trust. She ran her recently done fingernails through her black dress she had selected for the day. Maybe her life was too reliant on this job she thought. She no longer had many friends she socialized with in person yet communicated with many online through Instagram and facebook messenger.
Her closest friends Lucien and Emma were in a group chat together and they’d share intimate parts of their lives almost everyday, but she hadn’t seen them in person in longer than she could remember. At one point she needed constant human connection. In the past she was always surrounded by close friends and lovers and relied on giving them support and confidence. Eventually, she started to distance herself from this. She saw that most of the people she attracted in her life had problems of some sort whether emotional or self-esteem issues and they relied on her for confidence and self-assurance. She had given them life. Healed them. She was addicted to healing as much as they were to her positive light. Eventually she realized she could never actually help these people but could only provide them with temporary bandages. Really, she was contributing to their misery not changing them. True change had to come from within and she was just an enabler preventing the change from happening. Eventually she began to distance herself from her friends and cut off relationships that were like this. Which happened to be most of them. They were also holding her back, and she was curious to see what her life could become if she could put pour all that attention into herself instead.
She dragged her long pale fingers through her curly red hair as she heard Molly’s footsteps enter the lobby.
“Hey Sammy. So Sorry to keep you waiting. Mr. Gardner is finally free. This will have to be a brief meeting though because he has important matters to attend to.”
“Oh. Alright. I didn’t realize I’d becoming all this way for a ten minute talk with the boss.” Sammy said sarcastically.
“Well, you know Mr. Gardner… You look amazing by the way. Gosh I’d die to have hair like yours.”
Mr. Gardner was staring out the window of his office when he heard Sammy’s jubilant voice from outside his door.
“Hello Sammy. Thank you for coming all this way at such short notice.” He said softly and without emotion.
“Yeah, no problem Mr. Gardner. You know this town is lot nicer than it seems on the surface.”
“I find it sublime as well.” He said. And he paused for a moment as silence filled the void between them.
“You’re probably wondering why I called you here today?”
“Yeah actually. I was. Molly didn’t explain a whole lot to me. She just implied it was urgent. I guess you didn’t approve of my work on the Guillford case.”
“Ahh the Guilford case.. Your work was exquisite as usual. But, I require your services for a more important case. It appears you are ready for such cases.” Mr. Gardner said staring deeply into Sammy’s large blue eyes.”
“Oh ok. Well, that’s a relief. So what does this new case concern?” She asked
“Well I only have a minute to discuss matters, but..” He grabbed a small briefcase and gently passed it over to Sammy. “Everything you need should be in here.”
“Ok, I’ll be sure to pour of the files when I get home.”
“Yes, your home.. About that. So this new case requires constant vigilance and attention, so you will be staying in town at our Macomb residence for the next couple of weeks. I’ll give you the next couple of days to pack your belongings and move in. The keys and address are inside the case. Do you understand?”
“Uh Yes I think so. I should be able to settle myself in tomorrow.”
“The house has been deep cleaned and should be stocked with food. And the bed and towels have been freshly laundered. In addition, your salary will be increased.”
“Oh ok. So what am I working on exactly.”
“Like I said. Everything you need is in the brief case, but this job will be quite different from anything you’ve done before.”
“Oh, how so sir?” Sammy said directly.
“Well I can’t say too much, but it concerns more investigative work. Similar to that of a private eye. Do you think you can handle this?” He said softly.
“Yes, I think I can, sir. As long as everything I need is in here.” She said patting the case.
“Well it certainly is. I don’t have time to get into the details but I am going to need you to tail a woman for me. We believe she is involved in illegal matters concerning the Macomb property and we’d like to build a file on her. Her name is Jasmine Bashir. She also lives in town. Oh, and be sure to call me directly if she happens to visit the house across the street. Do you understand?”
“Yeah I think so. So, I have to follow this woman and keep track of what she does? I don’t really have experience with this.”
“No, maybe not. But I know you are the only one capable of performing this job. And it is all fully legal in case you were questioning that fact.”
“Well, I must be off, Sammy. Be sure to pack all your belongings tonight and I hope you have a wonderful stay here in Oakwood. Also, go through the file carefully. There is a lot more information there. More than I have time to discuss with you. at the present time.”
“Uh.. alright sir, good luck with the rest of your day. And uh, thanks for the promotion I guess. I’m looking forward to this new case.”
“That is good to hear Sammy. Be sure to call me after you read the file. There is one more important thing we will have to discuss then.”
“Okay, I’ll call you as soon as I finish looking it over. See you later sir. I like the new painting by the way.” Sammy said as she got up from her chair.
“I enjoy it as well” Mr. Gardner said as they looked at the painting together. It was a painting of children playing near a river, their faces concealed by reeds and other plants. It was colored with mostly blues and purples and in the impressionistic style of Monet.
“Goodbye Sammy. And good luck.” Mr. Gardner said as she exited his office.
