The Gem E3

The Gem - Salford's evening

Evening was drawing close and the city's temperature was dropping fast in Manchester. The picnic was fun and they ended their window shopping in 'Dorothy Perkins' where they could not resist buying matching earrings since they were on sale. Marylyn Osborn, Evelina and Pamela have been best of friends since elementary school. All their parents attended the same church; Marylyn, Evelina and Pamela attended the same Sunday school where their foundation in the Word of God was established.

They all attended high school in the city of Salford and moved on to different Universities. Marylyn attended the University of Leeds, Evelina attended the University of Bradford and Pamela chose to remain close home in the University of Manchester. For as long as Marylyn could remember, she had always wanted to be a high school teacher. Evelina worked in the city council of Manchester as a property surveyor while Pamela worked as a legal adviser in a law firm in Manchester. They always hung out at least once in two weeks when Evelina was in town. Evelina's job required her moving around towns within Greater Manchester. They lived within few miles of each other. Marylyn lived on Meyrick Road, Evelina at Brydon Close and Pamela at Lower Broughton.

It was just one of those rare days that they were all free on the same day of the week. It was a real special day. Marylyn wished they had more free days like the one they just experienced. It was a special time with her girls. It was the beginning of another era; she had been thinking of what to get for her students. She really missed them. She was more of a practical teacher who liked to handle the subject in a really practical way. Her classes last session were more of field trips than sitting within a classroom. Her responsibility was to enlighten the first and second year students about general science and she did not see how that could be done effectively within the classroom. It was better to teach with what her students could see and feel. She also saw it as an opportunity to tell of God's greatness through science. Marylyn suddenly remembered that she sighted a couple of lovely pencil cases at Wilkinson on sale. She had forty students in this new session; she took a mental look at her account and concluded she could afford forty copies of the lovely pencil cases. She was definitely returning tomorrow to make an order. She was so excited about the new session and the gifts.   

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Thursday had arrived and it was almost half past the hour of five and David Olsen did not want to be late. If he knew Sophie Grant as much as he thought he did, she would have headed to Victoria Station to ensure everything was set for their potential client. He just had to make sure everything was ready for his handover tomorrow evening; there had been intensive two-week training with the person stepping into his role but it was protocol for him to give a handover presentation in front of his whole department and the management of the Guardian. 'Looks like everything is as it should be and it's time to head out!', David said aloud. Just as he was about to head out of his office, his mobile phone rang and it was his pastor. Christopher Murdock called to let him know there would be a barbeque at the church on Saturday. Since it was the last Saturday in a while for David, he promised to be there from noon and the call ended with David dashing for the elevator.

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As soon as David Olsen stepped out of the office building, Lucy from the front desk called Sophie Grant to let her know that he was out. Sophie immediately alerted all the people on the guest list to let them know of his departure from the office. Everything looked beautiful at the dinner party venue and she was sure it was going to be a swell evening. She had a camera waiting to capture the look of surprise on David's face. She was sure it was going to be priceless. She had arranged for taxis after the dinner to take David and his mother Josephine back to their respective destinations. Everyone was expected to bring a gift along to the dinner party.

Already people from the department had started arriving at the Giraffe and Josephine had been with Sophie since about three o'clock putting finishing touches to the programme they had planned. If she knew David well enough, he would take the long route getting to Victoria Station just so he could enjoy the sceneries of the busy town of London. It was six o'clock and time to head to the station. 'Josephine, could you please be in charge of the camera to capture David's expression when he walks through these doors', Sophie said stretching out the camera to his mother. 'Gladly child! He's going to be mighty surprised', Josephine said chuckling. Her son was a constant source of joy to her. She was a proud mother of an amazing son and she felt so blessed to be his mother.

Sophie picked up her scarf and jacket from the chair where it was resting and set out for Victoria Station. She was really excited about the dinner party; her project was about to be executed in a few minutes. She felt as if she was floating; this was one chance to show David how much she deeply appreciated his support and encouragement over the years. She could testify that she was indeed a better person after having had contact with him all through these months. She had been groomed in her career over the years. What a blessing he has been! She almost walked past the station in her excitement; she stopped long enough to pick up the free newspaper at the entrance of the station before heading to wait for David near the 'Tie Rack' stand within the station. She was so engrossed in the article she was reading that she did not realise when David arrived and tapped her from behind. 'David! You gave me a scare...how was your trip down here? Did you put finishing touches on your handover presentation like you wanted to?', Sophie said while trying to relax from the scare she had. David chuckled at the priceless reaction Sophie had from the surprise he gave. He knew she was really engrossed in the article she was reading and he was in the mood of being playful so he decided to give her a bit of a scare and it was worth the action. 'Sophie! You are such a scaredy-cat.', David said and he went on to affirm that he had finished the handover presentation. As Sophie led the way out of the station, she informed him that the client had a change of plans and would appreciate it if they met at the Giraffe instead of the initial location set for the meeting.


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To be continued..