Breathe In (Just Breathe, #1)(20)
I hope I don’t have a look of surprise on my face from his statement. Joe’s face doesn’t give me any indication to if I do.
As the group starts to break up in the house between clearing the table and having tea and smaller conversations, we younger adults migrate in one area as the senior adults congregate in another. Maggie, Henry and Jared are doing most of the talking while Joe and I stay fairly quiet. On occasion, I glance in Joe’s direction while I pet Sadie and I catch him looking at me. This is not good.
Jared mentions to Henry that the three of us were going to play some volleyball at the beach next weekend and invites Henry and Joe to join us. Maggie jumps in, insisting they come.
Henry looks to Joe and Joe replies, “I don’t have any plans. So, I’m in if you are.”
So it begins — socializing with Maggie’s new love interest and friend. A regular routine that I should be used to by now.
I excuse myself first from the celebration since I’ve got to be able to catch one of the last trains before they stop for the night. As I finish saying farewell to everyone who is awake, the children have all fallen asleep, Jared offers to walk me to the station. Maggie, Henry and Joe proclaim that they’ll join us which makes me a little uncomfortable. No one has escorted me to the station in a long time, not unless they’e joining me for the ride.
As we’re walking, Henry asks why I don’t just drive home.
Without thinking, Maggie blurts out, “Oh, Emma doesn’t drive. She hates cars.”
I spin sharply at her slip and glare. My discomfort is written in my eyes as I chide, “Maggie.”
“Oops. Sorry,” she sincerely apologizes.
“Why do you hate cars?” Joe asks with a hint of concern.
“No reason,” Jared interjects. “Besides, the train is the fastest way from here to Emma’s.“
We all climb the stairs to the platform and I wave my TAP card upon entering.
I can only hope that my two best friends keep their mouths shut and don’t disclose anything else about me after I leave. I prefer that they don’t talk about me at all, I don’t like strangers knowing too much — and my friends know that.
The train arrives just a few minutes later after some awkward silence. I kiss and hug Jared and Maggie farewell. Everyone pets Sadie and I wave to Henry and Joe from a distance as I walk to get on the train. Henry and Joe seem to be easier with the fact that I’m not embracing them in some way.
“See you Saturday,” Henry reminds me.
I smile and nod as the doors close and I take a seat.
Six
The week following our New Year’s celebration is busy — good busy. The team has been doing a wonderful job on all aspects of Naturally Me and have about three weeks left of finishing touches for the next quarter’s scheduled pieces. Yesterday, we spent the entire day filming a few videos for the third quarter of product reviews, cooking recipes and home made products right in my kitchen and dinning area. Now, these videos sit in line to be edited. Everyone would rather film a bunch of stuff all at once rather than break it up in a two to three-day span. Since filming for several short videos takes a whole day, I always make sure I feed Jared and the team; Connor, Vanessa and Ian, as a small thank you for all their hard work. The best part is that the food used for the cooking segments get eaten for lunch or snacks and we leave the cameras on while eating. We’ve had some really great feedback from our audience when they see the team actually eat what was just prepared. Once the day concludes, I give them each product samples for them to take home to use and review.
Maggie is back to work on my other business, Raven Media, which is a social media management services firm I started a few years after social media platforms started showing their effectiveness in connecting with current and potential clients for Naturally Me. Maggie is the chief operating officer of my firm and oversees operations for our staff of fifteen associates who handle social media for the company’s clients. We use a single internet cloud-based software system I created that enables Maggie to communicate and supervise the staff anytime, day or night, and allows the entire team to work remotely. All associates are independent contractors since they work from home and many of them work in a different state. Reports are generated automatically from the system and sent to us and our clients on either a weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis for monitoring purposes. Raven Media also provides content creation, social media marketing planning and consultation, as well as general business consulting services that are available in addition, on an as needed basis. My company is a small, yet successful firm that touts itself for having direct and personable interaction with our clients.
This morning, Maggie and I are reviewing the progress the associates are making and the overall stats for our clients. Since I was home all day yesterday filming, I hop on the train to meet up with Maggie at the Chinatown station. Once together, we continue to downtown LA, getting off at union Station a few blocks from the Peking Wok to conduct business before opening hours and then stay to have lunch.
The Peking Wok has been a client for the past two years, though at first M?qīn was apprehensive about it and needed some coaxing. She doesn’t bother with technology outside of the restaurant other than a television or radio on rare occasions. Maggie knows the ins and outs of the family restaurant and started up some social media profiles for the Peking Wok not long after she started working for Raven Media, all before M?qīn agreed to become a client — Maggie knew M?qīn would respond to results. Sure enough, within two months, the Peking Wok was getting busier during their usually slower times.