Angel

8 - Noreen

Definitions are malleable.

What mattered was what could get pushed through and approved. We had different categories of wishes. Events were large-scale trips, such as taking a child to Canada's Wonderland or Disney. Experiences, however, were multi-part events. They were usually local, smaller in scale, and took place over the course of a day.

If a child wanted to be a magician, that would be an experience. They'd have a private lesson with a magician who usually donated their time, a show for them and a few friends and then attend a performance where the child would go on stage at some point and join the magician as they performed a trick for the audience.

Usually.

No one ever stated outright that an experience had to be a one-day event or small in scale, so I pushed through the paperwork for Ethan. He was going to get the Princess Bride Experience and it was going to culminate in Spain.

What were they going to do, fire me?

Picking up the phone, I dialled from memory.

"Hello?"

"Mrs. Collip, this is Noreen Willow. How are you?"

"My goodness, dear. I'm fine. It's been years. How are you and your parents?"

"Everyone is well. Do you and Mr. Collip still have the ranch?"

She paused. "Yes, we do. Were you considering getting another horse? I'm not sure if we have availability. Mr. Collip isn't getting around like he used to and we're... Well, we're winding things down a bit."

"Um, no ma'am. I was wondering if you still had the Andalusian horses?"

"We have two, Noreen. Were you interested in doing some riding?"

My colleagues could probably see my smile from across the office. "I am, and I have a friend who would join me. Do you have a minute or two? I'd love to catch up and explain what I've been up to."

We talked about Ethan and his obsession with Spain and The Princess Bride.

"You always had such a big heart. That's just lovely. My grandchildren love that movie. You remember my son Ted? He fell in love with them when he was in England and practically raised the kids with that movie. It's the one with the swords and monsters, right?"

"I'm not too sure about monsters, but absolutely."

"I bought my grandson the Black Knight for Christmas. You could detach his arms and legs. It sounds silly, but they love the movie. I had to get it from the Internet."

I didn't have the heart to tell her that was from The Holy Grail.

"I'm sure he loved it."

"He did. I just wish they lived a little closer. Well, you let us know when you want to come down and we'll make sure you're set. The farm isn't exactly what it was, but you know kids and horses. I'm sure he'll love it and I know they'll love the attention."

"The horses?"

"Of course the horses, dear. They're people too, you know."

I chuckled. She must have said that a million times back when Mom and Dad had Red stabled at their farm. "Yes, ma'am. And I certainly like them better than a lot of two-legged people."

The call ended, but the smile remained. She was always the sweetest woman.

Misha had six people lined up for interviews. It was going to upset some people that my position wasn't filled internally, but I wasn't going to question her choices. Knowing her, she likely had some sort of Zen psychobabble reason for looking outside. Noreen, if they won't step up to fight me on this, how will they fight for the clients?