Connexion

Part 88

Sophie glanced around and noted her parent and her brother were watching her with concerns.
"I told Jena. I made a mistake." Sophie said. "Which I know, is unusual for me! To own up! Take responsibility."

"I am proud of you." Amanda smiled.

"And?" Caleb asked.

Sophie smiled. "I told Jena I would phone them, I had scribbled their number on the pad by the phone, and thought I could pretend that their description was vague and asked for finer details."

Caleb snorted. "Soph!"

"So, you did?" Amanda wondered if Sophie's idea was a good idea.

"Not exactly."

"Oh."

"Well, when I told Jena about my idea, she said I should not lie to our potential customer!" Sophie with a shrug. Amanda smiled. Caleb smiled internally because his gut told him, he knew Jena and she would not condone lies.  "Jena asked if I remembered anything about the job, what they wanted. I could remember a bit, but apart from their telephone number which I had scribbled on the pad, but I did not have their details, because I put them on the form and had misplaced the form."

Caleb folded his arms and said, "So what did she suggest?" He was keen to see what Jena suggested to his sister.

"She said to be upfront."

"Upfront?"

"Yes. She said be frank, and honest, that I offer an apology and tell them I misplaced the form, and just wanted to confirm if my recollections of their request was accurate and that I would need to get their details again."

"And that worked?"

"Yes. I explained I was new, and I misplaced the file, and could not remember their address, the dates and stuff like that, but I could remember what they wanted, so wondered if they could confirm it and correct any details if they were not precise or just plain wrong. And asked them for their address, dates details that I could not remember at all!"

Caleb asked, "And they were ok with that? The fact that it gave an impression that By Design is not competent or well-organized."

"They said they were pleased that I was honest about the mistake. I told them that Sally, Mary or Jena will create a sketch and identify recipes for the tiers based on their wishes, and would arrange a meeting to discuss the options, and if they wanted to continue with it." Sophie grinned. "See, Jena is amazing."

"True." He nodded. "She is certainly different." There was something about her that had stopped him in his tracks. The problem was that he really didn't understand it! She was calm. She stood up for her principles. She was happy to stand on her own feet. Stood by her opinions. She is kind. Really kind. Took in strays, like his sister! And him. But she was also very independent. Which was different to his normal girlfriends!

"I like her." Sophie nodded as if she was endorsing a brand.

Caleb nearly said, he agreed and that he like her too. Instead he said with a laugh, "Cause she employed you. Remember!" Caleb smirked at his sister.

Sophie glared again. "Because she's nice." She jabbed his shoulder. Then her brow furrowed, "Even if she doesn't talk much." Which Sophie found odd. Surely most people, successful people would talk, at least about their stuff!

"Much?" Caleb rubbed his jaw as he thought about Sophie's statement. He thought he should consider himself lucky given they had spend hours talking at her home.

"Ok, at all. I can't work out if she is shy or just quiet. " Sophie bridged her fingers and mulled as she went over the conversations she had with Jena. Most were about her staff. "But he really cares about her staff. Like with Andrew and Mary, and their situation, it isn't just giving Andrew time off work, on full pay, or swapping jobs to allow Mary to be there for her husband. Jena checks on them. She makes sure, that they know they do not have to through this on their own." Sophie scowled and looked over at her brother. "Do you do that for your employees?" Sophie asked her brother.

"Soph, I employ just under 1000 people, at four different locations." Caleb reminded his sister.

"My question still stands."

Caleb shook his head. "If you are asking if I take a personal note of my employees' circumstances, no. But I have a human resources department. And they handle that aspect." Caleb shook his head. "It's ok for Jena, she has a staff of five, including you." Unless of she had others that he didn't know about. A factory somewhere else? "Of course she could get to know Sally, Mary, Matthew and Andrew, and you, and your and their circumstances, on an individually basis." Caleb told his sister.

"That is a cop-out! When Jena worked for that supermarket bakery, they knew about her circumstances, had a HR department but they still sacked her!" Sophie said quietly.

"They sacked her because she did not appear at work!" Caleb corrected and said with irony, "They were not a charity!"

Sophie pouted. "I like her way of working. She doesn't rip people off."

"Are you implying I do?" Caleb smiled with a quirk of his eyebrows.

Sophie rolled her eyes at him. "No. Idiot!" She grinned at him "Of course not. I'm just saying. If Jena wanted it she could charge triple. But she has not done that." Sophie frowned. "Not sure why. I mean, she could increase the price, and get more staff on board."

"Maybe she likes the level and scale of her business." Amanda said.

There was a pause in their conversation as they all processed that statement. Eventually, Sophie looked up at her brother, "Caleb, I think you would like her!"

He knew when he was played. "You want to set me up with her?" and he had no intention of tell his sister about the kisses. Especially as he was still trying to process his engagement with Jena.

He had acknowledged that lust was muddied by the fact he might be falling in love with her. And that is a new experience. Jena featured in his dreams at night and she is in his mind during the day. The first and last thoughts in his day, involved Jena. There were things and events in his day, and some aspects whether it was looks, smell, taste and touch, it transported him to his interaction with Jena. The kiss. Their conversation. The glances. And for someone with a decent track in dating, was stymied because he was not sure how to build on that kiss without losing impetus. But to reveal his perplexity and his unusual confusion, to his family would not help his situation. He was certain that Sophie would jump in glee, Amanda no doubt would start to think about wedding plans, and his father would wonder if the situation was out of control, and like Sophie and Isaac, he would suggest a long, long, engagement. Engagement.

It was that thought, that confirmed he would not accept a long engagement! And that surprised him. A, because, he had not thought about getting engaged to Jena until just now, b after having that thought, he knew he wanted a relationship with Jena and c, he needed a plan! A really good plan.