Chapter 18
Laughter and the joyful shouts of children filled her ears as Sola put on a smile and walked through the gate that led to the children's home. Several of the young children surrounded her, presenting her with bunches of wild flowers and little crafts they had made for her. Sola accepted each one herself and graciously complemented, and engaged with as many of them as she could as she approached the director. He gave a short bow and a small apology for the excitable children. Sola waved off the apology and expressed how it filled her heart with joy to see them happy.
The director smiled and gestured for her to join him for a walk through the halls. "I am glad you were able to make time for us," He said as they walked, "Though I admit I was surprised when your staff informed me that you were coming."
"No doubt," Sola said. "But when I heard your list of concerns, I felt it necessary to see how bad it is."
The director nodded and led her to the third floor. Half the rooms had been emptied, and blocked off with tape to prevent anyone from walking into the damaged space. The entire floor had a musty smell to it that grew stronger as they walked into one of the rooms near the far end of the building. All that was in the room was a wood bed frame and a desk that was soaked with water. Overhead there was a decent sized hole that exposed a pipe held together by a plastic link that was fracturing. All along the seam of the pipe was moist with condensation that dripped every so often onto the floor. The director pointed up at it before speaking. "We assume that pipe has been leaking for some time," He said. The other day, the ceiling caved in when too much water began to leak from the pipe. Naturally, we moved almost everyone off this floor to a different one."
Sola looked at the damage and frowned. "Have you had any one come and look at it?" She asked.
The director shook his head. "Not yet. The plumber wasn't able to come any sooner than next week."
She pursed her lips and hummed in thought. "I will personally see to having someone come over as soon as tomorrow to fix this," She said. "Is this the only room this has happened in?"
He gave her a short bow, "Yes, but as I said before, there are other concerns." With is arm outstretched, he gestured for her to walk into the room across the hall. This one was just as sparsely furnished as the other but with the items pulled away from the walls which were showing signs of discoloration. The director pointed at a large section of wall that was looking a little gray compared to the rest of the white wall. "We noticed the discoloration after one of the rain storms last week," He said. "We think it might be mold, which as I'm sure you're aware, is a serious health risk."
Sola nodded in understanding as she looked around the room. Her mind raced with questions of what she should do. The problems were mounting, and more and more it was looking like tearing the place down and starting over was the best thing to do. But that was a choice she didn't want to make. Not until she had more information to go on. "I assure you I am just as concerned about these problems as you are," She said. "No one is staying on this floor, am I correct?"
The director nodded, "Yes. We've moved everyone off this floor and have them doubling up with friends in other rooms."
She smiled. While the conditions of the rooms made it safe to say no one was living in them, it made her feel better hearing it from the man in charge. "Good. While I'm not entirely sure where these particular problems stem from, I assure you I will do everything in my power to ensure this place is properly fixed."
The director bowed his head, "Thank you, Your Majesty," He said. "And in the mean time?"
Sola tilted her head. "Mean time?"
He cleared his throat, "I… I assumed you'd be putting us somewhere else while the repairs were being made. Am I wrong?"
She gave him a small smile, "That won't be necessary. I promise you the repairs will not interfere with the functioning of this place."
The director didn't seem to like her answer, but he didn't voice it as he bowed once more, thanking her for her efforts. Without another word of the concerns, the two of them left the area to return to the ground floor common room where to children were gathered around, excited to have their very own audience with their queen. They were all so energized that it took a bit of time before everyone had settled down enough to allow each one to speak one at a time and Sola sat patiently to listen to each one as they asked questions, or complimented her or just gave a shy hello. The entire experience brought a smile to her face as she watched their eyes light up at her full of curiosity and wonder.
Sola could have easily spent her whole day with these children. In many ways they were easier to deal with than politicians, or officials who all want something from her, or are waiting for her to mess up. Children are so simple in what they want from her. A hug, and answer to a simple question, an invite to the palace… all of which are pretty easy to accommodate or are so sweet that it just melts your heart. But, as with all things, her time was coveted by so many other things that she had to resist groaning when her security officer gave her a light tap on the shoulder to warn her to begin wrapping things up. The children groaned in disappointment, and Sola gave each one a hug before taking her leave, some of them even holding her hands as she walked to the gate where her car was waiting for her. Across the street she could hear reporters shouting questions at her as cameras clicked rapidly taking as many pictures as possible of her. Sola held her hand up in a wave as she smiled at them before climbing in the car and letting the driver take her back to the palace.
While she had been away, Padme had seen to reviewing the other problems in the children's home that they were aware of. Her notes were significantly better than Sola's organized in a way that surpassed anything she could have done. Over the past few weeks, the list had gotten shorter and yet this latest development was yet another set back from making the place habitable. It was frustrating. But Sola was ever so grateful to have Padme's help and support through this. Sola entered the study barefooted and with her coat slung over her arm as she threw it down over the back of her chair. She was tired yet she couldn't deny that the visit with those children was a refreshing change of pace.
"We got problems with mold and plumbing now," She announced as she stretched her arms over her head. "Who was that guy you suggested we get to—"
Her voice catches in her throat as she looks to where Padme normally sits to find it empty. And as her eyes slowly raise, she finds that her sister is sitting on one of the settees across from Darred Janren. The two of them huddled over a blueprint and Padme held a notebook on her lap as she took notes. Surprised at his being there, Sola straightened herself up and crossed her arms over her chest. "What are you doing here?" She asked.
Darred rose from his seat and bowed his head. "Princess Padme invited me to go over some details regarding the children's home," He answered.
Padme stood and approached her sister and handed her the notebook as well as the original report they had been using as a guide for the repairs. "I was going over repair and maintenance costs and found that we are close to exceeding what was spent to build it." Padme explained. "I called Mr. Janren for his professional advice on how to prioritize things going forward."
"And you though he was the best person to ask?" Sola asked her sister with a cocked brow. Padme gave a shrug, "You already mentioned that he was aware of the problems. I figured it is best not to expand the circle of people who know about it," She said. "Besides, I'm… starting to have my doubts about all this." She said the last part barely above a whisper.
Doubts. Most likely put in place by this guy whose been questioning her actions since the very beginning. "Sola," Padme started. "Please, just listen to what he has to say. What he's suggesting makes a lot of sense to me." She gave her arm a firm supportive squeeze before Padme excused herself to leave her to talk with the architect.
Darred watched her carefully from where she stood from him across the room. Her eyes were narrowed suspiciously at him, not wanting to hear him out. She turned her head to look out one of the tall windows in the office and watched as a flock of birds flew past. She wished she could just fly away from all of this, go some place warm and let the fresh air cleanse her of all her worries. With a deep breath, she turned back to Darred and approached the spot her sister had been sitting. Her arms were crossed tightly over her chest as she took her seat and glanced at the papers that were laid out on the table. "What is it that I need to know?"
He gave her a polite smile and pulled out a pile of papers from under the blueprint. "As I said earlier, the construction of the building is considered below standard by my company's policy." He said. "N.G. Industries often partners with the same distributors for materials. That in itself is common practice, however, for them, they want to keep costs even lower. So they intentionally buy materials that are below the standard of have defects yet are still good enough to pass initial building inspections." Darred pulled out a file that looked like a copy of a receipt. "I also buy materials from the same source. And I found this. It's their purchase order." He pointed to a series of numbers that followed the purchased item name. "This is the batch number. It tells us the quality of the material, where it came from, as well as who else has purchased from the same batch." He flipped the page to the next one in his pile. This one was a formal document from a manufacturer. "This is the recall for the batch of foundation supports that N.G. Industries bought."
"You made your point that they cut corners last time," She said, "What's so different now?"
He reached for a folded newspaper that was next to him and placed it in front of her already opened to a story from an isolated region to the south of Theed. "The same supports were being used to make a house. It collapsed when they were adding the first floor." He said.
Sola picked up the paper and read through the story quickly. Two construction workers had died in the accident while another was badly injured.
"The children's home is three stories and made with the same supports from the same batch." Darred said.
This was bad. It was bad before, but now seeing that the same poor material has already killed people… what was she to do? Move them out and take what comes with it? Is there any way to salvage it? If they knew how bad the place was, would they even trust her after this? Questions swarmed her mind as she tried to come up with a plan but with no definitive answer to the problem. "So what is your suggestion then?"
He frowned and turned back to the blueprint. "These were the original plans I proposed to you when you were hiring for the project. I made some changes to the design to lower the cost, cut out some of the more expensive material like granite counters, and the mosaic on the fireplace…" His eyes caught hers as he paused for a moment. "I think you need to tear it down and start over."
"No," She said without a moments thought as she stood and walked back over to her desk.
Darred followed her and stood in front of her desk with a spreadsheet in his hands. "The cost to make the current structure work exceeds what already went into it. It's getting to the point where it'll cost more than what I said I'd need to build it."
She shook her head. "I can't…" She sat in her chair and placed her head in her hands.
"You must," He implored, placing his hand on her arm and squeezing as if he was trying will her to agree with him.
Slowly, she lifted her head up and looked him in the eye. His brown eyes shown with the same worried look she had seen so many times in her own eyes. She felt her fear well up inside her. The fear of failure, fear that she was going to mess all this up.
"I know you're afraid of making the wrong choice," He started, "But I promise you, Sola, This is the right thing to do." Slowly, he took her hand in his own and ran his thumb along the back of her knuckles. She felt a shock and jumped back as she looked at their hands. Her palms felt sweaty and she felt her fingers twitch, wanting to wrap around his hand in return, but she quickly pulled away from him. Standing up, she put distance between them as she held her hand in her other hand. "You've given me much to think about," She said. "I think you should leave."
He didn't say another word. He smiled and bowed before walking out on his own.
"I can't tell you what a relief I felt when you called," Anakin said as he smiled at her closing the door to his apartment behind him. "Ahsoka invited me to her MMA watch party."
"And you didn't want to go?" Padme asked as she placed her phone on a stand on her desk so she look at him without having to hold her phone.
"Hell no!" He said as he shrugged off his coat and practically ripped his tie off.
Oh, wow… that was… kinda hot. She bit her lip as she listened to him continue.
"I am not in the mood to be her punching bag when she tries to copy their fight."
Padme shook her head. She could tell that this Ahsoka girl is very close to Anakin. He talks about her as if she's his little sister, which mostly consists of complaints about how annoying she is, albeit in a very endearing way. "It wouldn't have been that bad," She tried to argue.
His face went flat as he looked her dead in the eye, "You don't know Ahsoka like I do. She can be like an attack dog… but pocket sized."
She laughed and shook her head. "Well, maybe you'd like a break and come see me?" She suggested. It had been a month since their first sorta real date and he did say he should have time.
But his frown said otherwise. "I want to," He whined, "Really, I do…" He sighed as he ran a hand through his hair, "But Ben is having me brush up on my French for an appointment with a French Ambassador coming up in the next two weeks."
"You speak French?" She asked.
Anakin shook his head, "Noooo. I mean, I know a few words. But, I sound like I'm choking on my tongue when I speak so I try not to."
Padme laughed, "Well, I could always teach you," She said. "Je le parle assez couramment."
His eyes dilated as he let out a soft groan. "I have no idea what you said, but it sounded hot."
She laughed again and shook her head, "Not even close."
He sighed as his lips cocked into a sad smile, "I wish I could come see you."
"Me too."
"But, once this whole thing with the French Ambassador is done, I'll be able to take two whole weeks off and I'll be yours the whole time."
"I'll like that," She said.
"So will I."
Padme smirked as she switched back to French. "Je vais te baiser jusqu'à ce que tu vois des étoiles." His eyes went wide as his jaw dropped. "That was what hot sounds like."
He laughed and wet his lips. "Fuck me."
"I plan to."
I don't speak a word of French so I'd like to thank tvshowswillruinmylife from Tumblr for making sure my translations were right!
