The Refuge

Chapter 22

A danger foreseen Is half-avoided.
—Unknown

A week came and went in Ramona’s job, and to her delight, the daily tasks Mrs. Aleric assigned to her shifted from menial and repetitive, to things that actually felt important on a broader scale. By the end of that week, the two had finally cleaned up the rest of the literal and figurative mess Mr. Beaumont had left in his wake, which pleased Mrs. Aleric greatly. She even treated Ramona to an extravagant lunch and granted her the privilege of speaking on a first-name basis. “Mrs. Aleric” felt more comfortable on Ramona’s tongue than “Donna”, but the honor remained. 

The next several days ushered in a shift in Ramona’s workflow. Where many of her days had been spent either working in Mrs. Aleric’s office or taking frequent trips there for instructions, now she worked almost exclusively at her own desk. It was Mrs. Aleric who visited her secretary when needed, not the other way around. 

One of the more entertaining items on her to-do list lately had been the Alerics’ quest to coax Bolivar Ortega to visit Steelfort. The couple had met with Ramona and agreed that Bolivar would less likely reject them if the correspondence came from Donna instead of her husband. 

That said, Donna vehemently declared she was no writer, and so it became Ramona’s responsibility to handle correspondence, albeit with heavy supervision. Both Alerics would submit notes on the content they wished included in the next email to Bolivar, and then Ramona would assimilate it into a cohesive whole that conveyed both respect and goodwill. 

So one typical morning found Ramona perched in front of her computer, scouring her email inbox for any sign of a reply from Bolivar. They’d left the correspondence yesterday at a confirmation that he would indeed visit, but so far, no agreement on when. And as many times as Ramona refreshed the feed, nothing from Bolivar. 

With a sigh, Ramona let her gaze fall from the computer screen and to a stack of calendars on her desk. Mrs. Aleric had a bad habit of buying new calendars whenever she lost the old one, but then she would also lose track of all her appointments inside. Now that she’d found them all, she had yet another new one for Ramona to transfer all the dates into. 

Then a broad form appeared in her peripheral. She instantly recognized the figure in the doorway to be Mrs. Aleric’s, so she looked up with a kind smile. 

“Good morning, Mrs. Al—I mean Donna.” Ramona said, “How may I help you?” 

“You heard the news, didn’t you?” 

“The news? I don’t think I have.” 

Mrs. Aleric clomped over to the guest chair opposite her secretary. The impact of her weight hitting the armchair sent a rumble through Ramona’s feet. Then she folded her hands with a conspiratorial smirk on her face. 

“Today’s the day, didn’t you hear?” 

“I’m really sorry, but I don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.” 

“The trap’s been sprung!” Mrs. Aleric’s grin only widened. “Bolivar’s agreed to visit.” 

“Oh! I was just checking and didn’t get anything back from him. Did he get your email somehow?” 

“No, he called. It’s adorable how hard he tried to pretend he actually does anything for Newhill; he was only dragging his feet because he doesn’t like us.” 

Ramona adjusted the collar of her shirt. “Time to change that today, I guess. What time?” 

“That, he wouldn’t say. ‘I have no idea how long it will take me to leave my considerable engagements behind, but it will be sometime today’. Those were his words." She shook her head.