The Call: A Psychic Paranormal Romantic Comedy Read online

  "They're happy paintings, a lovely exhibit," she said.

  His lips turned up at the corners. Not quite a smile. "I hoped you'd be early today. Can I interest you in a cup of tea?"

  She returned the smile. "I'd like that, Sam."

  He took her work bag from her shoulder and walked with her toward the elevators, in step with her and matching her pace. It was odd that he took the bag from her. It wasn't heavy, but it was awkward. Matilda had borrowed it from Ellie. The straps were too long, so it pulled Matilda slightly off-kilter to carry it.

  Still, most men wouldn't think to take the bag, and those that did would ask or hesitate.

  He's… different, she thought.

  When she started to move toward the first available elevator, he gently took her arm. "Too crowded."

  "OK." She said. He kept hold of her arm as he studied her face. She'd normally pull her arm away, but the touch was so clearly a gesture of companionship, it didn't bother her. His dark hair was similar to Jacob's but cut shorter. His pale blue eyes stood out from his drawn, tired face.

  He swayed a bit in place. “Are you OK?” she asked.

  "How did you get the scar on the underside of your chin?" He asked as they got in the elevator.

  "I slipped on the ice while walking home from school when I was seven. How'd you see that?"

  "I looked at you."

  "You're at least a foot taller than me! You can't see the underside of my chin."

  "You had your head tilted higher when you were looking at the paintings." He smiled a little smile again as they stepped off the elevator.

  "You look so tired," she said before she thought better of it.

  "I am. I haven’t slept deeply for a long time. I think I might sleep today, though. You have a disability?" He asked.

  She was startled by the directness of the question. People didn’t often ask outright, especially in a work setting. He waited patiently while she considered how to answer.

  "Yes. I have cerebral palsy."

  He nodded. They turned a corner into a kitchen area. "Does it hurt to pull your hair back like that with the pins? It looks like it would hurt."

  "No, it doesn't hurt," she said.

  "There are a couple of types of tea and there is good coffee."

  She selected a teabag. He handed her a paper cup with a lid. She made her tea.

  "Let's make a lap of the floor," he said. "I think you made an impression on Jen the last time you were here." He nodded to the receptionist when they walked by her desk. "After you went into Jake's office, she ran into my office and told me to call someone for help."

  "Ha! The security guard asked if he should call for help, too. I had no idea who to call."

  Sam paused and looked at her. "That makes me sad. You are not so alone."

  "No, it just felt like it at the time. Everything had gone so very wrong."

  "Or right," he said.

  "I was a mess."

  "I'm sure you were, but you would not have made the waves you did, otherwise,” Sam said as they turned another corner.

  “Oh?” she asked. What waves?

  "My dad's office is this corner, then Noah, Jake, and me. William is the next corner. Ethan is on the other side of Will..." He went on naming offices for people she didn't know.

  Another surreal encounter… she thought. Sam was very calm, though. Soft-spoken, gentle, and kind. He was downright soothing. She instinctively liked him.

  As they walked down the hallway, Jacob came out of a door further down and saw them.

  "Hello, Matilda. Congratulations on your safe arrival." Jacob grinned at her and then looked at his brother.

  A frown creased Jacob's forehead. "Sam, are you with us?" There was a note of concern in his voice.

  "Yes and no. I've been waiting, and now I'm done waiting so I can sleep soon."

  "What were you waiting for?" Matilda asked.

  Sam looked at her again. "Who helped you when you hurt your chin?"

  "My dad was there."

  "You wouldn't have called him for help?" Sam asked.

  "Oh. He died. I see. I’m sorry," he said before she could respond. Sam startled Matilda with a hug. "Use your colors without fear, Matilda. You are welcome here. You can call me."

  "You're doing that sleepwalking, talking, weird thing again, man." Jake ran his hand through his hair.

  Sam handed Jake the bag with Matilda's computer. "Jen!" He called, "I'm sleeping now." There was no response.

  "Sleep good, Sam. No dreams." Jake said.

  "Only bitches, shrews, and vegans pass on Mom's lasagna, Jacob."

  ✽✽✽

  Jacob winced.

  "So, I shouldn't pass on lasagna in the future?" Matty asked.

  "Would you typically pass on lasagna?"

  "Fuck, no." She smiled.

  "He's usually not like that." There was an apology in there somewhere. The serious tone of voice didn’t suit Jacob at all.

  "I wasn't offended. We had a talk." Matilda said.

  Jacob paused to look at her. "Thank you."

  She nodded. The conversation felt too heavy. "Your mom and I are going to be shopping buddies. We both appreciate petite sizes."

  He snorted again. "You don't need Darla's influence."

  "You best not be talking smack about your sweet little mama. She gave my friends and I hugs."

  Jacob looked at her with raised eyebrows. "She's a hugger. She mothers everyone. But, you best remember that she has eight big, smart sons that she bullies and manipulates on a regular basis. She's wonderfully, sneakily deceptive.”

  "Don't you also have a sister?"

  "Yes, but no one manipulates her. Not even Mom," Jake said as he opened his office door for her.

  "Hey, nice balls. Why are there tennis balls all over your office?"

  "Why are you so interested in my balls? You can't play with them right now. We have work to do."

  Don't think about the dildo. Don't think about the dildo. Don't… ah fuck. Too late.

  "I figured you'd want me to slap ‘em around and show them who's boss. Again."

  He grinned. "That's later. You're so red right now, I can't even see your freckles." His eyes danced with suppressed mirth.

  "I know. My best friends are bitches, I'mma murder them later." She laughed.

  "Good to know."

  "What's with the tennis balls?" Matilda asked. "They weren't here last week."

  At her question, he picked one up and thwacked it on the wall shared with the office next door. "Yes, they were. They were just cleaned up behind my desk. You were too busy shivering to notice them."

  "WHAT?! I'm not late yet!" A voice yelled from the office.

  Jake picked up another ball and threw it at the wall again.

  "You're such a dick!"

  Matilda could hear the voice moving into the hallway. A few seconds later, another Trellis brother appeared in the doorway. "What? Oh. Hello, gorgeous."

  Tall, with lighter brown hair and darker brown eyes, this brother had a similar build to Jake, more muscular than Sam. Matilda could see Hank and Darla in all the brothers. They were all of a type, thus far.

  While Hello gorgeous was not a typical professional greeting, Matilda took it in stride. There was no leer or heat to it. "Hiya handsome. Which brother are you?"

  "The BEST one," he declared.

  "Nope," Jake said. "Sorry, man. Adrian's the best of us. Then Ethan. Then probably Matthew or Luke. You don't make the top three." Looking at Matilda, he said, "How come he gets 'Hiya handsome' while I get 'what's with your balls'?"

  "The ones younger than me don't count. I'm in the top 3," the unnamed brother corrected.

  "He started out with a compliment. I responded in kind." Matilda said.

  "I started out with immediate, sincere offers of assistance when you were in distress! I got 'I'm fine.'"

  "Stop whining and introduce me to your brother," Matilda sassed. It was hard to be serious and professional when the guys wer
e so casual.

  Jake rolled his eyes. "Matilda Benton, this is my man-whore brother, Noah." When Matilda reached out to shake hands, Noah turned it as he bowed over it and kissed her inner wrist.

  Jake smacked him on the back of the head. "Don't get us sued."

  "Oh, OK. Now he's worried about being proper," Noah rolled his eyes. "So, Matilda, how do you feel about nicknames?"

  Jacob glared at Noah.

  Matilda looked back and forth between them, clearly missing something "Uh, sure. Mat. Matty. Whatever."

  "Tillie?"

  "I'm not opposed, it just feels like the name of a crazy old aunt."

  "Ever change your name?"

  "Nooo. What am I missing here?"

  Jen stuck her head in the office. "The Beer Team is here."

  ✽✽✽

  Matilda finally got to present the information she had spent weeks compiling.

  The group of eight people around the table were completely focused on her for the entire length of the presentation. It was eerie. This was not normal. She could not read their reactions. They sat there, completely zoned in on the content.

  No laptops. No phones. No interruptions. No questions. No feedback. No reaction at all.

  “And, that’s what I have so far.” Matilda looked around the table. “Can I answer any questions?” Did she completely misread the project?

  “That was great, thank you.” The marketing lead, Gary, said in a monotone voice. “Would you please go back to the beginning?”

  “Um. Sure. OK. Do we need to run through it again?” She asked as she moved backward in the presentation.

  “Is this available for us to make notes on somewhere?” a woman asked. Ellen. Her name was Ellen.

  “Ah, no. I don’t think I have access to anywhere you can get to it electronically.”

  “Wait,” Jake said as he tapped a few keys. Then he came over to her computer. “May I?”

  “Sure.”

  He hit some hotkeys and mapped a network drive. “You can save things in this location while you're in the building. We'll need to set up access for you to get into it from your office.” He sat down in the chair next to her.

  “OK. I’ll move the presentation file now.” Matilda wasn’t sure what to expect next.

  “I’m in,” said Ellen. “Go Gary.”

  “Slide 3 - microbrewery trends suggest…” Matilda watched in wonder as Gary and his team pulled her deck apart, slide by slide, and wove it seamlessly with their internal work and research.

  “Slide 38 - your numbers are much higher than our estimates and don’t align with the trend data we saw earlier in the deck. Where did those estimates come from?” Gary asked.

  “The trend data is under-estimated,” Matilda said with confidence. "It is based wholly on bars, taverns, and restaurants that aggregated purchases up through three specific point-of-sale systems that are popular with franchise and chain establishments. It completely ignores the mom-n-pop local places.

  “30% of the sales volume from these manufacturers goes to mom-n-pop. The trend data ignores it, which is fine for a trend. But, we’re not going to ignore it in projections.”

  There was silence around the table. “Unless you disagree,” Matilda hedged.

  Gary shook his head. “Not at all.”

  The room was silent again. She looked at Jacob. He raised his eyebrows.

  “Trying to figure out what the non-verbal conversation is about?” He asked.

  “Very much so,” Matilda replied.

  “When I floated the idea of starting a beer label a few months ago, the group was in favor of exploring it. We did some research and came up with an action plan.

  “Then we brought it back to the larger leadership team. In general, everyone was on board. Then Sam started rambling about this local vodka brand. The product was good, the labeling was great, the brand alignment with its ad channels was even better.”

  “Ah, that’s how I got a Request for Information,” she nodded.

  “Well, not quickly," Jake admitted with a small smile. "Sam told us to go find someone that knows liquor, and then we’d move forward.”

  “So,” Gary picked up the tale, “I went and found some ad agencies that had experience with big liquor brands. We put out the request for information to a group of them. They came in and presented. ‘Those people know how to sell beer,’ Sam said. ‘They don’t know liquor.’ So, we kept looking. There were eight consultancies that presented before you.”

  “Then I got annoyed,” Jacob said. “We were wasting time. The thing is, Sam is never wrong. Everything he’s ever blessed has been amazingly successful. He has the Midas touch.

  “Sam told me to move forward if I wanted, he wasn’t opposed to our plans. But, he thought we were missing perspective. He asked if I had seen the vodka.

  “I’m not a vodka drinker. I forgot all about it. So, I went and found the vodka, which led to you.

  ‘When you didn’t show up on time on Thursday, we intended to just move on,” Jake said. “I was done with RFI screening. I hate that shit. Advertising people talk a lot and say very little.”

  “After you left on Thursday, your contract went to legal for review, but we were still uncertain about what you’d bring to the project,” said Jake.

  “Why extend the contract without the pitch? Why not just reschedule? I was shocked when it popped up in my email on Friday.” Matilda asked.

  Jake shrugged. “We couldn’t fault your dedication. If you weren’t useful with beer, Dad would move you to a different project.”

  Gary’s head snapped up from his laptop screen. He shot Jake a confused look. Jake shook his head slightly.

  “The lesson learned here is that Midas is always right. Two-thirds of what you presented today was new information for us.” Ellen said. “We need to rethink the phases and timing. And, we need more information on those distribution metrics you shared…”

  From there, the team divvied up the to-do items and scheduled recurring meetings for follow-up.

  The meeting ended three minutes early.

  ✽✽✽

  After the team cleared out, Matilda was sitting in a conference chair next to Jake, lost in thought.

  He touched her arm. She started a bit.

  “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you,” he said.

  “S’ok. Just thinking through the metrics. Sorry, I zoned out on you.” Matilda said as she looked up at him.

  Fuck, even sitting down I have to look up at him. Why is this family so tall?

  “In case this wasn’t clear, you did an amazing job today,” he said.

  She grinned. “Thanks! I appreciate the compliment.”

  “You know what needs to happen now?” he asked.

  “Lunch,” she said.

  “No! Try again.”

  “My calendar says ‘lunch’,” she said.

  “Well, it’s not wrong. We’ll order food.” He bent to grab a tennis ball and then thwacked it at Noah’s office again. “But, mostly, pool.”

  “Seriously?” she asked.

  Jake looked at Noah. “Did you?”

  “Yep, they’re coming,” Noah said.

  A voice from the hallway called “You know, we own a technology company. There are better ways to communicate than throwing tennis balls at the walls.”

  Jake and Noah simultaneously yelled, “Booo!”

  A trail of people wandered into the office. Matilda thought she could spot the brothers that she hadn’t met yet, but it was more than just the Trellis family.

  “Aww. She’s so little. Hank said you were petite, but you are tiny. Hi Matilda, I’m Jane,” said a smiling middle-aged woman in jeans.

  “Jacob got thrashed at pool by a little girl!” she taunted at Jake. Most of the people in the room chuckled.

  Fucking great. Is “little girl” better than “Barbie doll”? Ugh.

  “I’m going to do a round of introductions. Feel free to forget all the names that don’t end in ‘Trelli
s.’” Jacob said.

  Halfway around the room, Matilda met Ethan Trellis. “Don’t worry, Matty,” he whispered, “I won’t let them call you a Barbie doll or a little girl.” He smiled a sweet smile that made her think of Eric.

  William Trellis was next. All the Trellis men were tall with wide shoulders. Will was the tallest and most built of the brothers she had met. She was fairly certain he could throw her over his shoulder and run full out for several miles without breaking a sweat.

  Holy fuck. He and The Rock must share workout routines.

  William smiled politely and shook her hand, but lacked the warmth she had felt from the rest of the family. She wasn’t sure what to make of him. He was a little unsettling.

  Jacob squeezed her hand. When did he grab my hand?

  A shorter by comparison, blockier looking man stood next to Will. “This is Hennessy.”

  Matilda smiled. “Like the liquor?”

  He chuckled “Exactly like my preferred after-dinner drink. My name is Jessup Garland, Matty. Everyone calls me Hennessy.”

  “When Will left the military, Hennessy followed him home and hasn’t left since. Something about duty and a saved life. They won't talk about it. Anyway, he's as good as another brother. We’ve adopted him.” Jake said.

  “Thinking I might change my name. Name changes are goin’ round.” Hennessy said with a bit of side-eye at Jacob.

  “What’s with the name change comments? You’re the second person to mention changing names today.” Matilda asked.

  Will snorted. Hennessy grinned. Ethan outright laughed, then took her arm.

  “Girlfriend, let’s finish these introductions and get food ordered. I’m starving,” he said. Then, “What are you doing Sunday night?”

  ✽✽✽

  After introductions were done and lunch was ordered, someone handed her a pool cue.

  “Really? Are we having a meet and greet lunch so you can all watch a couple of rounds of pool?”

  Ethan did a little jump with a handclap. “YES!”

  “Just so you know, Jake, this is really fucking weird,” she laughed.