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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.
..................
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.
................
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.
..................
To be continued..