Elise's POV
RIIIIIINN-Click!
Morning cannot come fast enough, I think as I open my eyes to my outstretched arm that's turned off my alarm which reads 6:45 AM. I rub my eyes as I head towards the bathroom to take a shower and dress. I'm usually the first person up every day, but today I especially have reason to get up this early. Not only do I have a business to run, I have school to go to in order to learn how to actually do it. And like most days, Marlene (1) is up with me and sees me off.
"Are you sure that's what you wish to wear, my lady?" Marlene gives me an unsure look. The 'wear' in question is my old school uniform with its trench-coat-like blazer (2); it's on days that I wear something related to my childhood that I typically encounter him and as everyone including Marlene knows, mere interaction with him puts me in a supremely bad mood for the rest of the day.
Him being, of course, Aloysius O'Hare.
But today, I'm not letting him get to me because today some of my relatives are coming to visit and not even O'Hare can spoil that. So before Marlene can add anything about changing, I remind her I'll be having lunch outside home so she and the others staying behind need not wait for me and head out. I already have something to change into after class, anyway.
A bit later…
I replay my classes in my head as I change out of my old school uniform in the bathroom. In my 'Values & Ethics' class, we were assigned a worksheet in which we had to come up with viable situations to various shady encounters business people might run into, and in my 'Business and Society' class, we had to write a paragraph or two on what we as students think is ethical in business's relation to society as a whole. Now, our teachers gave us a week to come up with something.
I'm the only one in both classes to have turned in my assignments early. And I can bet money they'll come back with high marks.
Let me guess: You think I'm being a smarty-pants. But I can't help it if it's true! Like everyone else in history, I have likes and dislikes. Take biology, for instance. I HATED taking it in high school and I still find it terrifically boring. But even then, my brain cannot tune out. In fact, even when I tune out, I still find myself remembering practically every detail of something whether I like it or not. And it's not only academics that come easily like this. Sports, particularly dancing, fencing and even some martial arts, come the same way, much to my chagrin.
When I was a little girl, I would get teased a lot. I would be called a 'nerd', 'a teacher's pet', or the biggest stinger, 'a suck-up'. Even in school today, I felt the shocked, admiring, and envious eyes of my classmates eyeball me. I would cry and complain to my aunt about my 'brain being too big'.
And she would always say, "Elise, it's the actions you take with that big brain God gave you that will make all the difference."
Probably, I think as I finish redressing, but it's hard to see what that difference is.
…
Mavis's POV
I sit across the street from the downtown part of the college (3) Elise is taking classes from and thank goodness there's a bench here. I also changed when I got up today so now I blend in with everyone here a trillion times better than when I came here. There aren't too many people out at this time, so I pull out my issued PDA and start recording. I'm expected to give some semblance of a report every day; whether it has something to do with the mission or something that might help me understand this time a little better.
"Mavis, recording on street corner, early September 1999. Followed Elise here and so far, no trouble has come her way. I recognize one uniform of the Atteberry-Baxter School for Girls and Young Women, so Agent P's quip about her being a princess might not be too far off base." I glance up and spot her outside- Wha…? When did she change?
"I don't know if you guys get visual or not," I say turning the PDA towards her direction and hoping this will go through to everyone back home, "but I think princess just changed to a flight attendant." And that's true. Instead of a white blouse and brownish blazer, she's now wearing a short-sleeved entirely green uniform that resembles a flight attendant's. She even has a matching beret over her slightly pulled-up hair and in between her pink hair bows.
She crosses the street where I am, thankfully further away from me. She's going in the opposite direction so I get up and start following her. It doesn't take me long to see that there's a park right along the route with a stone wall/fence, which is a GREAT place for me to follow and not be seen, so I hop over.
"Currently heading towards the plant. So far nothing outta the ordinary, but on a personal note I think that outfit shows off WAY too much leg." Elise stops a few feet from the crosswalk and takes out a small makeup mirror. However, she doesn't put on anything and glances behind her and it's then I notice that what looks like a futurist limo has slowed down as it comes towards her.
Uh-oh.
"Stand by guys, I think we may have a problem."
…
Elise's POV
I don't know if you can truly feel atmosphere shift when a particular person appears but I definitely feel it every time this happens. I put away my mirror and continue walking, my resentment clearly showing as I get nearer to the switch for the crosswalk. I try to distract myself by singing out loud. And I know the perfect song.
"Ohhhhhh, beyond the last mountain,
The very last mountain,
Beyond the last Zinniga-Zanniga tree,
Beyond the last WOOMF bush,
The very last WOOMF bush,
There is a vaculous, vacant prairie.
The Prairie of Prax."
I get to the switch and press it along with the last lines to emphasize my displeasure, "and the tale. Of. The Zax." (4) The limo stops and the window rolls down to reveal the rather short man inside.
"Hello, Elise."
"Photosynthesis, Mr. O'Hare." I normally don't bother adding 'mister' in there but he IS our mayor and I have to maintain the image that my company is law-abiding i.e. NOT having any conflicts with officials.
"Why must you always greet me that way? A simple hello will do."
I expected him to make some sort of small talk, but instead he starts right up with "Why did you make such a fuss last week?"
"You raised our import prices without proper notification." I really have to force myself to stay calm because other reactions just give him what he wants.
"I gave you all the notification in the world, Elise, and you know it."
"Like you gave everyone north notification about the use of trees on public and private property? There are still a few who wish to plant gardens and such in their yards."
Despite him feeling me with dread, I grin a little. Talk of trees drives O'Hare crazy, no matter what. He shoots me a glare and his two bodyguards look nervous. Those two are actually quite nice and don't seem to get a real kick of having to work for O'Hare.
"And we know why there are no trees, don't we?" he growls.
I don't, surprisingly.
"I cannot for the life of me imagine why you of all people, would continue to sty me. Especially with your little escapade a few years back-"
I turn and shoot him the biggest 'death glare' my family says I give. I can get over having to deal with him, but when he starts talking about my "little escapade"…That's harder. He stops that in midsentence.
"Why do this, Elise? You have plenty of other career choices you could make. Or you could find some fool who might be crazy enough to marry you."
I roll my eyes. "Because I have a brain in my head, I have feet in my shoes, I can steer myself any direction I choose. And the direction I choose is running my family business. And doing so ethically and in an environmentally efficient way."
At this point, O'Hare really looks like he wants to jump out the window and strangle me but I suddenly hear the ever-closer "Hello, Elise!"
Iris! What impeccable timing! My older sister is just on the other side of the street. O'Hare knows he's not gonna get any more out of me today, so he leans back.
"Until next time, Elise, you just remember what we talked about."
With that, the window rolls up and the limo starts driving up north passed the plant. As it drives, it rolls over a can and that sends it flying my way. I kick it, and the can goes sailing upward and leftward. It almost reaches the roof but hits a foot from it and falls the small two-story length fall, fittingly, into a recycling bin.
As I approach Iris, she looks over towards the fading limo. "What did O'Hare want to talk to you about?"
"The usual." I say. The truth is Iris-or anyone, for that matter-don't know about my 'little escapade'. Even though that takes a lot longer to suppress those emotions, I know another song that helps me get over O'Hare until our next encounter.
On the far-away island of Sala-ma-sond,
Yertle the Turtle was King of the pond…
…
Mavis's POV
Extra, extra, I think as the limo starts driving away, what the heck was that all about? Clearly there's something more to the story between O'Hare Air and Elise's part of the Coke Empire.
"I don't know if that whole exchange went through," I say to into the PDA, "but I'm gonna need some information about the relationship between these two. And if someone could get me info on whatever the Zac are, Yertle the Turtle, and that quip about a brain and all."
Just before I submit it, I add, "This might just be my personal opinion, but I think with a little training and a bit more discipline, Elise might make a good OWCA agent."
…
(1) Elise is based off the marriage candidate in Harvest Moon: Story of Seasons. Marlene is one of the maids in her mansion. She doesn't have a portrait, but appears to be a grey-haired woman.
(2) This uniform comes a combination you can get if you play Winter School Uniform Dress Up Game on a website called dressupgames . com. Check it out if you have time!
(3) The community college I attended had a few different locations and one of them was in downtown in between several businesses. That's what I had in mind when I wrote this.
(4) The opening to the second story in the 1973 TV special 'Dr. Seuss on the Loose'. It's sung by the Cat in the Hat, and opens the story of the Zac. Also in the special is the story of the Sneetches and Green Eggs & Ham.
Can you spot the OTHER Dr. Seuss stories mentioned in this chapter?