“Opposites Attract”

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The inimitable Mrs Bakersfield

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It’s not every day of the week you get to meet a genuine god-zillionaire.  Or so it seems to our boy.

She is Mrs Bakersfield, CEO of a conglomerate, rivalling the once fortunes of the Rockefellers, Vanderbilts, and others.  To her granddaughter, Emily, she is simply Grandma.

It doesn’t take long to see that her grandmother and Emile have a special bond, one that might have included Emily’s mother, Grandma’s daughter.

And for the record, Emily and Tim are her last two direct descendants.

Of course, Grandma has noticed the change in her granddaughter because of our boy and she has a private talk.

It is an interesting conversation.  She can see that he has the same affection for Emily as Emily does for him, enough to believe that something might come of the relationship.

She is no doubt aware of the differences in background, but sometimes those are just details.

She offers him a job, well, not so much a job, but an introduction to the HR manager, the equivalent one might say to an interview.

Oh, and one final detail, the grandmother has stage four cancer and has only a matter of weeks to live.

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Today’s words:  2,489, for a total of 19,048

“Opposites Attract”

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A visit to New York

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I remember my first trip to New York.  We came via Los Angeles, and we were late arriving and therefore missed our outgoing flight.

It was winter, but in LA it was not cold.  That first trip we didn’t really know what cold was about.

Then, New York had been suffering from snowstorms and the weather was so bad it had stopped arrivals.  We were delayed, then got on the plane, and waited, and waited, until the pilot decided we were going, come hell or high water.

What happened?

We arrived at two in the morning, at a terminal that hadn’t been used for years, along with four or five other planes and thousands of bags sans carousels.

It was the stuff of memories, no matter how much hardship was thrown at us.

Of course, none of this is relevant to the story.  Our boy is summoned to New York, gets a ride in the corporate jet, and is staying at a swanky hotel.

There will, he knows, be a price to be paid.

But, reunited with the love of his life, all is good.

For now.

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Today’s words:  2,138, for a total of 21,186

“Opposites Attract”

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Oops, I think it was too much.

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Our girl goes missing.

Our boy has not received a call for a day or two, and there’s no answer when he calls.

Has the use-by date just been declared?

The experience at the charity was hardly what she had expected, and it was only reasonable to believe that her arrival would cause a few issues.

The head of the charity tried to explain to the boy that the people would not recognise the fact she was trying to help, just the fact she was part of the problem.  Behaving irresponsibly and then trying to mend those ways didn’t sit well with anyone.

The boy’s friends think he’s bonkers for trying to get her in to help.

So he assumes radio silence is the same as a break-up, and laments the fact to his sister, happy to see her little brother finally get the girl, but that the girl had to be who she was.  She secretly doesn’t think it will last, or worse, that he will stuff it up somehow..

Except he goes to visit his sister and finds the girl there.

Explanation, she was whisked away to New York to be with her grandmother who had stage 4 cancer and is not long for this world.

The girl and her grandmother have a special relationship since her mother died, and both she and her brother Tim are the only other living relatives of this grandmother.  She is also very, very wealthy, and there is another story about what’s going to happen to it when she dies.

Cue the vultures, circling the almost-dead carcass at the waterhole.

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Today’s words:  2,489, for a total of 19,048

“Opposites Attract”

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I’m trying not to be cynical

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There’s a reason why I am reluctant to give money to a lot of charities.

Quite often when you see them on TV, or in the papers, it’s usually someone very familiar to you, a movie star, or a TV star, a person people would respect, making a pitch for donations.

These people are usually very well paid for their services, with all manner of perks.

So, in reality, for every dollar you give, a large percentage goes into this person’s pocket, another large slice for the administration, and in the end, the people who are supposed to get it, get nothing.

You could argue without them there would be nothing anyway.

On the other hand, a lot of famous people do donate their time, and help raise funds that mostly go to those who need it.  I give to those.

What I would like to know is what motivates these people.

Enough pontificating.

Our girl gets to go with her boy to the charity to help, firstly to peel potatoes, then to hand out food to the needy.  It’s an experience that brings her to tears.

It doesn’t help that it is the reductions and downsizing in her father’s company that put the people she is serving in their situation.

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Today’s words:  1,722, for a total of 16,559.

“Opposites Attract”

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Something’s not right.

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You know how it is when you’re working away, an idea comes to you, but the problem is, it cannot come out of nowhere.

There has to be a previous reference to it so that when the reader gets to that point in the story, they can say, oh, yes, I read about that two chapters back, and that was what it was about…

So, back I go, in my time machine and re-write history.

Just to be clear, I didn’t write myself out of existence, which I often wonder in these shows on TV where you can go back, that they do not alter their own timelines.

Of course, I keep forgetting when we watch these shows we’re supposed to suspend belief for the hour.  If we could do that in reality, how many of us would make the same mistake, or create a whole new timeline?

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Today’s words:  1,579, for a total of 14,837.

“Opposites Attract”

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Walking in another person’s shoes

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Going to volunteer at a charity is not the place to be wearing shoes that are more expensive than the daily food budget.  This is the task our boy is given, to take her with him as another volunteer.

Of course, how to break that news to a girl whose old clothes are probably more expensive than his car.

He goes to pick her up and there he discovers just what the work staff think of him.  Not the sort of people they expect at Daddy’s company.  Emily comes to his rescue.

Then there is convincing her he was not going to be able to take her in $5,000 Gucci dresses and Prada shoes.  They were going to Walmart, a different type of shopping spree.

Of course, that’s not without its problems, the staff are members of the school she used to go to and people she tormented and treated badly.  People seem to have long memories.

If only life was simpler.

That hurdle negotiated, more by luck than good fortune, they move to the next.

Our boy takes her home to his place, and when you live in a castle, literally, well…

I’ll say no more.

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Today’s words:  2,239, for a total of, 13,258.

“Opposites Attract”

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A night meeting

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Who can sleep when you’re stressing over whether the girl of your dreams is or isn’t the girl of your dreams?  Yes, it can be that confusing.

It’s obvious the father doesn’t think it’s over, yet.

And when he gets the call, in the dead of night, it’s a ridiculous question to ask him if he’s still awake, especially when he answers the phone.

Yes, the heart does flutter at the sound of her voice.

And a meeting, in the middle of the night. At the diner.  A diner that was once a den of iniquity and now just an empty reminder of what the city was before it was bypassed with the new interstate.

Looking for the chauffeur he figures she hasn’t arrived.  He doesn’t believe she drove herself.

Does that come under the category, you learn new things every day?

He finds her already there, nursing coffee, and looking like an unmade bed.  In other words, she is definitely the most beautiful girl he has ever met.

And the kiss tells him this thing is far from over.

Perhaps it’s worth it when he tells her she will be coming with him, and learning the ropes.

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Today’s words:  1,518, for a total of, 11,019.

“Opposites Attract”

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A rather odd request

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How many people have been in limbo, wondering whether the last conversation was actually the last conversation?

Relationships that are in the early stages are always on a knife edge.

The boy knows that it’s possible this relationship has a use-by date, that while the father seems to think his daughter is benefitting from them being together, it might just be possible to spend some time with the girl of his dreams.

What will happen when reality sets in?

It seems the father of the girl is impressed with the boy and asks to meet him, but once again the PA is sent to fetch him.  Since it is her father our boy makes an exception.

Wondering what he wants…

It seems she wants to start a proper charity foundation and run it.  Of course, being so young she cannot start at the top, so she has to learn the ropes, so to speak. And he knows the boy does charity work.

We all know what that means, taking the once spoilt brat to a place where people would judge her for what she was, not entirely because she’s from a rich family, but more because of the fact she was, and maybe still is a brat?

A challenge?  Indeed.

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Today’s words:  1,288, for a total of, 9,501.

“Opposites Attract”

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A different type of girl friend

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Let’s get it right from the start.

Our boy knows there’s something going on and is bracing himself for what he thinks might be the mother of all pranks.  She is, after all, the best in the business.

Then there’s the little thing like status, and he has none, so it’s only a matter of time before the father pulls the plug.

But…

As much as all this weighs on his mind, she is not going anywhere.  She learns her first lesson, that our boy will not be summoned like a dog.  She has to ring and ask him where and when they can meet.

There’s that small thing like the limelight, and it shines very brightly around all of the members of her family, and especially on her.  She is a news magnet for all the wrong reasons, and that limelight spills over onto our boy.

He makes the news in the local paper; with a suggestion they might be dating.

They might, or after finally meeting at the local diner they disagree, she leaves not very happy, so maybe they might not be dating.

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Today’s words:  1,876, for a total of 8,213.

“Opposites Attract”

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There’s always a downside.

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So, our couple have made a breakthrough.  She realises that he loves her, and makes that startling discovery, that she has very strong feelings for him.

Pity that he’s from the figurative wrong side of the tracks.  People in her family marry who they’re supposed to, to perpetuate wealth and prosperity.

But, her father likes him, notices the change in her, and -, well, anything might happen.

Except…

She had a brother, a bully and a spiteful rich spoilt brat (not unlike his sister, whose behaviour was mostly why her new boyfriend kept this distance) who didn’t like him.

To underline his hate he gathers a few of his friends and when our boy is returned from a secret assignation with the girl, they waylay him.

Threats are made.  It is not unexpected by the boy.

And just as they are about to take him out the back, you know the routine, she comes back, and, well, let’s just say, it sucks to be a younger brother.

There’s no sleep after the ball, adrenaline running high.  She calls, and they talk.

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Today’s words:  2,353, for a total of 6,337.