The Reunion Read Online Free Page A

a few weeks back.  I guess they're pretty stand up.  They were upset that the proposal, including the PowerPoint, were yours.”
    “I’m a prima donna as far as corporate is concerned.  Lead?”  She went pale.  “Ham, it’s a 10 person team and seven sites.  I can’t lead!  I’m a fucking data entry operator!”
    “EM!”  He shook his head and laughed.  “Hell of a time for your insecurities to pop up.  You’ve never been just a data entry operator.  There are a few people that know how hard you work and what you’re capable of, even if you have doubts sometimes.  The chairman is coming to meet you.”  He added softly.  “He’ll be here tomorrow.”
    “WHAT?!”  She jumped up and started pacing.  “NO!  NO WAY!”  She was shaking her head.  “I’m calling in sick.  I won’t be here.”
    “Em.”  He said with a warning.  “I’ll personally come to your house, drag you out of bed, and into the office if I have to.”
    “No you wouldn’t Ham.  I sleep naked.”  She teased him.  Ham covered his face with both hands and shook his head.  She sat down picturing Ham dragging her naked into the office to meet the chairman of Brockton International and laughed.
     
    Mike was jumping up and down.  He couldn’t wait.  He could see how upset, excited and confused she was and his enthusiasm was making her more confused.
    “Let me pick it.  You should wear the yellow top with the gray suit.”  He pulled the clothes out of her closet.  He was so smart and so creative.  She could just gobble him up.  “Put your hair up in that bun thing.  And wear the gray shoes.  They make your legs look good and you walk all model-like.”
    “That’s because they’re three-inch heels.”
    “Yeah that will make you as tall as me.”
    “Shut up short shit.”
    “I’m taller than you now!”
    “I’m still bigger.”  She pulled him on the bed and wrestled him, tickling him. 
    “I thought Uncle Ham was an uncle?”  He said confused. 
    “No he’s an honorary uncle.  Uncle Ham and Aunt Sarah are family friends and have known me since I was born.  Uncle Ham went to school with grandma and auntie Lavender.”
    “Is his name really Alistair?”
    “Yes, that’s why he goes by a short version of his last name.”
    “They call you by your last name at work.”
    “Sometimes.  It’s kind of a boys’ club thing.  When they accept you, they call you by your last name.  Kind of like you do with Corrine.  You call her Washburn, you’ve never called her Corrine or Cori.”
    “Yeah, but she’s one of us.  She plays soccer, basketball and baseball with us.”
    “That’s what I mean.  I hung out with the guys and they started calling me Connally instead of Em.  No one calls me Emily?”
    “Grandma does when she’s really mad at you.”
    “She uses all my names, plus some, doesn’t she?”  She hung the suit on the back of the bathroom door and cleaned up her shoes while Mike returned to working on his math homework. 
    “She hasn’t done that in a long time.  Not since you and Uncle Josh caught the clothes line on fire with the barbecue.”
    “That was funny.”  She smiled and then straightened her face, “But very dangerous.”
    “Sure mom.”  He rolled his eyes.  “Like you didn’t know that the lighter fluid would do that.”
    “It wasn’t a practical experiment but I learned a lesson.”  She paused for effect. “Don’t try lighting grandma’s clothes line on fire with the hose on the other side of the house.”  She tossed her shoes under her dressing table and started peeling off her clothes and changing into her grubbies.  “How many do you have left?”
    “Last one.”  He grinned.  “Then garlic cheese-bread and spaghetti, right?”
    “Perfect choice.  Something nice and messy.”  She ruffled his hair and went downstairs to the kitchen.  This was her ideal kitchen, small, convenient and lots of natural light.  She set out her