Two weeks later
Norah drove up to the gate, which immediately opened for her car. It must've been programed to recognize her vehicle Norah thought impressed. Apparently, the people that worked for Aaron Hotchner didn't miss a trick, as she had only been here once two weeks before. At least she wouldn't have to use the intercom every time she wanted to enter, a rather huge inconvenience, considering how much she was going to be here at different times of day. At least four days a week, though it would vary according to season and the work that needed to be done.
"Welcome back, Ms Greenway," said a voice that she recognized.
"Thank you, Derek. I thought I told you to call me Norah," Norah smiled.
"So you did," Derek said smiling in return. "So ready to get to work."
"You bet! I've had a nice break, as I didn't go back once I turned in my resignation to my old job. I just took a bit of a vacation," Norah said.
Norah didn't bother to explain why she hadn't gone back to work until she started her job here.
Derek suspected that she hadn't wanted to be around her boss Mr. Coke. He, Aaron and Penny had discovered over the last couple weeks that Mr. Jerry Coke had a habit of sexually molesting the younger employees or trying to anyway. Several had quit after less than six months on the job, one had quit after less then a month. One had put up with it for over five years, until Mr. Coke had finally cornered her and tried to rape her. The female employee had kicked him where it hurt and he had fired her. The employee had tried to file a harassment suit but had been dismissed.
Derek knew that none of this had ever gotten to the ears of Aaron or it would have been dealt with long before that incident had happened. Some people believed that being in a position of power made them untouchable but this was not the case or it least wasn't in one of Aaron's companies. A genuine complaint just took landing in the right ears for something to be done. Technically, any employee should go to HR and file a complaint, but some didn't like to do that, as they feared they might be seen as a troublemaker.
Derek would leave it to Aaron to tell her that Jerry Coke had been dealt with and had in fact been dealt with about a week ago.
"Let me show you around," Derek offered. "The gardens can be confusing until you learn how to navigate them."
"I thought one of the under gardeners was supposed to show me around?" Norah said.
"Nobody else is here yet, as you're a bit early," Derek said.
"I'd rather be early then late," Norah said.
"That's a good policy and Aaron will appreciate that you like to be on time. He's the same way himself," Derek said.
"Well, okay then. You can show me around," Norah decided. "So long as I am not taking you from your duties."
"No, you're not. I have my link, if Aaron needs me for anything."
Norah and Derek walked around the garden and Norah tried to remember the different paths and where they went. While her memory was excellent it was going to take more than once for her to remember which path went where.
"And this is the rose garden," Derek said.
"This is gorgeous," Norah said, as she examined the roses that were of all different types and varieties.
"Yes, it is, and it needs someone of your expertise to make sure they stay healthy," Derek said. "A lot of the plants here are hardy varieties that don't need much work to maintain, but there's still a lot that needs constant tending."
"You sure seem to know a lot about gardening," Norah teased him.
"My mama loves to garden," Derek explained. "She has a garden too, but it's a normal sized one."
"I used to have a garden when I was still living with my parents," Norah sighed. "It was actually my mother's garden, but I made it my own. The two of us often would work together to get rid of weeds and water the plants."
"So do you still help your mama?" Derek asked.
"Not as much as I used to. You see, they live in Philadelphia and I live here. Of course, when I go home to see them I do help mom with the garden if necessary, which isn't often," Norah explained.
"Sounds similar to me as and my mother and sisters live in Chicago," Derek said. "Still, I go home to visit them several times a year or mom comes to visit me."
Norah noticed that Derek didn't mention his father and assumed he was dead or possibly he had left the family. It wasn't her place to ask however, as she and Derek hardly knew each other, so she didn't.
"I have a sister to by the name of Rose, she should be done with college pretty soon," Norah said.
"So if she likes you? Does she like to garden?"
"No she's more like dad," Norah said. "Luckily, she didn't inherit his allergies."
"I would love to meet your sister sometime and your parents," Derek said.
"I'm sure you will at some point," Norah said.
"I had better get back to work," Derek said, leaving Norah beside a shed that held everything she would need for her job. "Here are the keys for the shed and the code for the garage. Your parking space is marked on the second level.
Derek explained what every key went to and Norah nodded.
"Thank you, very much, for showing me around Derek. It's going to take me awhile to learn this garden, as there is no way anybody could learn it on the first walk-through," Norah said.
"Not even someone with a excellent memory," Derek agreed. "There are acres and acres of gardens, so it takes everybody awhile to learn their way around. People have been known to get lost on occasion, but they always find their way out again and if they can't they can always call for help."
"Well, hopefully, I won't need to do that," Norah laughed.
"Someone will come and rescue you if you do, all you have to do is send up a flare," Derek chuckled.
~~~Aaron and Norah~~~
Several weeks later
Norah had settled in and was enjoying her job very much. The under gardeners had caused a few minor problems at first, or at least a couple of them had, as they believed they should be in charge. They looked at her as an interloper, in what they considered their territory, but she had made it known that either they would shape up or she would put them on report. That would be a black mark on their work record, which would mean that other employers might not hire them, especially since the mark would be because they had disobeyed someone who was technically their boss. They could stay until they retired or they could switch jobs if they found something better, but they didn't need that black mark, as it would hinder future job opportunities.
They had settled down after that, even if they weren't very friendly, which was fine, so long as they followed orders and got the job done.
Norah sat down on one of the benches under a giant oak tree. The tree was humongous with a trunk wider than any five people and the bench was made out of wood as well and went around the trunk. The wood of the bench was nice and smooth, so there was no chance of getting a splinter. Norah liked to sit here every morning with a cup of real coffee instead of a substitute and just look out at the beautiful garden. The trees provided plenty of shade on hot days, as the thick branches spread far out from the trunk. She usually sat here in early morning before it had a chance to really get hot, with a cup of coffee and perhaps a pastry or a muffin or a donut from the closest pastry shop.
"Enjoying the view Miss Greenway," Came a voice that Norah had only heard once, during her interview. It was low and gravely and when Norah looked, she saw an unshaven Aaron Hotchner standing slightly of the side of her only a foot away.
"The view is rather magnificent," Norah responded, taking a sip of coffee, not showing how surprised she was to see him standing there. She hadn't seen hide nor hair of him, ever since the interview and suddenly, he just popped up startling her. "I sit out here almost every morning for a few minutes, eat my breakfast and enjoy this magnificent coffee, before I get to work."
"Well, you certainly seem comfortable surrounded by nature," Aaron commented. "But then, why become a gardener if you didn't like working with your hands, feeling the soil slip through your fingers?"
"That's exactly it," Norah said looking startled at Aaron astuteness. How could he possibly know how it felt to plant something, nurture it, watch it grow, change and mature? Lucky guess maybe? But the obvious answer was that he had gotten this information from somebody who liked to garden, perhaps his own mother or more likely the gardener that had retired. It was possible that the two had been friends.
"You also don't seem to dislike bugs like so many women do," Aaron commented.
"It depends on the bug," Norah said. "I hate spiders and roaches. I'm not too fond of bees or hornets or Yellowjackets either, anything that could possibly sting me, but other than that no I don't mind bugs."
"Well, if one gets starts crawling on your hand or even your hair when you're asleep in bed I wouldn't blame you for disliking them. That happened me once."
"I wouldn't think you'd have any trouble with roaches, or water bugs, which look like roaches so to me there really is no difference, except sometimes they have wings and roaches don't," Norah said.
"Oh, it wasn't here that it happened," Aaron explained. "I was in Europe, staying at this neat little inn when my head started itching and it woke me up."
"So you found a roach in your hair," Norah said.
"Yeah, believe me I crushed that bug once it was on the floor and threw it in the toilet. I didn't particularly like or dislike them before then, now I loathe them," Aaron said.
"I can't blame you there," Norah said. "My first apartment seemed to be crawling with them. I was in college and I had this tiny little place near where I was attending. Still, it was all I could afford, unless I wanted to stay in the dorm. I worked a part-time job while I got the full college experience."
"So why not stay in the dorm?" Aaron asked fascinated.
"I've never been the party type and it was a likely possibility that I would get someone as roommate that was all they did. It would've been very disruptive to my studying. A little fun in collage is all well and good, but not if it interrupts your studying time. I could just have studied at the library but I don't like to be out after dark, unless I'm with a group of friends or something as no single assailant in their right mind would attack three or four people, walking together," Norah explained.
"That's wise," Aaron said. "There have been known to be assaults, even someplace supposedly safe."
"Exactly," Norah said. "I had mace and a panic button if necessary, but there also a chance I'd never have an opportunity to get to them."
"Nowhere is really completely safe," Aaron agreed. "This estate would take an expert in security to get on. I won't say the security's unbreakable, but it certainly as close to unbreakable as Penelope can manage."
"The same Penelope that Derek is married to?" Norah asked.
"Why yes," Aaron said puzzled.
"Derek just happened to mention her as we were talking one day," Norah explained.
"Ah!" Aaron said. "Yes, they haven't been married long, a couple years. It took them a long time to admit their attraction to each other."
"I can understand why," Norah said. "A lot of employers don't want their employees to be dating or married to someone that works in the same place, even if it's a different department, though that's mostly the government."
"While that's true, that's not my policy. Having feelings for someone and not being able to act on them just makes those people miserable. Having to switch a job you love for another just to be able to date someone in that same job is ridiculous in my opinion. Of course, I can also understand it from the government's point of view. You can't concentrate if you worried about your spouse being in danger and this is particularly true when government law enforcement agencies like the FBI."
"I can kind of understand it in that case, but a lot of private employers have the same policy, which is just kind of stupid," Norah said.
Norah rook a sip of her coffee savoring the taste of it. She'd had real coffee maybe half a dozen times in her life, before she had started working directly for Aaron Hotchner. She had always saved it for a special treat, as real coffee was practically worth it's weight in gold. The real deal was around $10 a cup, which on her salary she couldn't afford very often. Now that she was working directly for Hotchner though he provided it at no reduction in salary. It was certainly a nice perk and showed that he was generous and kind. So many people with Hotchner's kind of money would've hoarded it for themselves, not thinking of the people that worked for them. Those that worked for the wealthy were often ignored as inconsequential and most of them would never think about sharing their coffee or tea or any other beverage with their workers. If you worked outside most employers would at least provide water, but that was about it and some didn't even think to do that much.
"So I heard you had a little problem with Pablo and Ethen," Aaron mentioned.
"Nothing I couldn't handle," Norah said, as she took the last sip of her morning cup. "They believed that one of them should be in charge not some newcomer just starting out. When I pointed out that you didn't think they were ready for such an important position and that's why you hired me they still didn't like it. I told them I could either report them or they could quit, but those were their only choices. Reporting them would have left a black mark on their record, which I hated to do."
"But sometimes it's necessary," Aaron said and Norah nodded.
"I know it, but I still didn't like to do it. Really, they're right, I am the newcomer here and should have started at the bottom. Of course, I'm also the one with a masters degree which is nearly 7 years of education. I told them when they got their masters degree and then they can work somewhere where they're in charge, but that I wouldn't be leaving the job here for a long time. Besides, it's not like I applied for the position, as your secretary was the one that contacted me."
"So you're settling in then." Aaron asked.
"Yes, I am and I'm really enjoying working in such a magnificent garden," Norah said.
"By the way, I've been meaning to mention that Mr. Coke, your former boss, has been fired," Aaron said.
"Why?" Norah asked simply blinking at the information, but not responding otherwise.
"I believe you know why," Aaron said. "In fact, I know you do, so don't play coy with me."
"I wasn't trying to get him fired I just wanted him to leave me alone," Norah said finally.
"I wouldn't have fired him if he hadn't deserved it," Aaron assured her. "He might have been reprimanded, or put on leave for awhile without pay, so he could think about his actions, but his crimes were serious enough for him to be fired. Not because of you, but because of his actions," Aaron added before Norah could start blaming herself, as she had started the ball rolling, even if inadvertently. "You are not the first person he has tried to corner to sexually molest over the last decade at least, perhaps rape and you wouldn't have been the last either. He's only lucky I'm not calling the police and only because the people he did it too don't want to come forward."
"You can't blame them," Norah said. "They'd have to testify in front of an audience and not just the jury, the bailiff and the judge, but perhaps people watching the trial. Most any women would consider it rather embarrassing that they were vulnerable enough to be cornered and molested. That's the way I would've felt if the same thing happened to me, instead of just angry at the harassment. I won't say that Coke didn't try, but he never quite succeeded. Still, I know what I would've felt, what any woman would've felt when their body is violated like that or even at the attempt of it. I would've been fearful, scared, angry and grief stricken, even if the attempt hadn't succeed. I would've been afraid to report it, as he would've been there a lot longer than me and I would have believed that the chance of anyone in authority believing me were slim to none. I would've been indecisive on what to do about the situation, if anything, not until or unless the situation had gotten much worse. Coke was a predator, and he eventually would've been caught anyway, though who knows how many other women he would've tried or succeeded to molest before he was stopped."
"You sure were reluctant to report his actions," Aaron mentioned.
"I already explained why I was," Norah said. "I explained that I didn't expect to be believed and I didn't want to go report him without proof, as we discussed already. That would've been a sure way to ruin my career, at least with most people. At the least, I would've had a black mark on my record or possibly just gotten a warning about spouting false accusations," Norah shrugged, as she set her empty coffee mug on the bench beside her.
"I do understand," Aaron said gently placing a hand on Norah's arm. "I understood when you accidentally revealed that you were thinking about leaving your job because of work complications."
"I wasn't even sure if you were going to investigate or not. I know you said you would, but people often say that and then don't do squat. No offense meant," Norah said, feeling Aaron's warm hand laying gently on her arm. It wasn't precisely an intimate gesture, but it sure did feel like one to her. Somehow his hand felt comforting.
"None taken, because you're right," Aaron said.
"So I haven't seen you outside in all the weeks I've been working here, so why did you come out today?" Norah asked in a causal tone.
"Oh, I haven't been here, which is why you haven't seen me," Aaron said. "I've been in Europe a lot these past few weeks dealing with business. I was probably out here when you were gone for the day or on your day off whenever I was home."
"Traveling to so many faraway places must be fun," Norah said wistfully.
"It can be, but I go for business not pleasure, so I hardly take the time to see the sites. I could take a few extra days I know, but it's not as fun unless you have someone with you, a friend or even just a business partner," Aaron said.
"A girlfriend or a wife," Norah said.
"I don't have either one of those right now. I haven't had a serious girlfriend in at least five or six years and I've never been married, as I've never found the woman that I can love for a lifetime."
"So many women or men for that matter want you just for your money," Norah said wisely. "They don't want you for yourself."
"Which is exactly why I've never married. I've just never found the right woman and I'm to smart to fall for someone that just wants me for my portfolio," Aaron said.
"There was something in Aaron's tone that Norah couldn't quite decipher. Was Aaron flirting with her, Norah wondered, then immediately dismissed the thought as ridiculous. Aaron could have any woman he wanted why would he look at her? She was attractive certainly but couldn't hold up to those gorgeous women, with flawless skin bodies and hair. There were many wealthy, gorgeous woman in the world with money of their own that were a hell of a lot closer to Hotchner's social strata then she was. For one thing, Aaron Hotchner was her boss and she didn't see him dating one of his employees. It was probably just wishful thinking on her part. She had to admit that he was very handsome, with his dark hair cut in the latest style, a slight scuff on his chin where it was clear he hadn't shaved for at least a day or two and his well toned body. It was clear he exercised as he had muscles underneath his light shirt and since his shirt was open at the collar she could see part of his chest as well as his neck. She tried not to look directly there as it was certainly enough to make her blush and make her hormones hum.
Norah sighed silently, but didn't let the sound escape her lips. "I should get to work Mr. Hotchner. I've had my cup of coffee and breakfast. I'm ready for the day now."
"You can have yourself another cup if you like before you start work," Aaron offered.
"That's very tempting," Norah said. "Maybe for break. I'll likely need it by then due to the humidity draining my energy."
"I hope we have many more conversations Ms. Greenway," Aaron said and Norah waved in acknowledgement before disappearing.
Aaron watched her go sighing faintly. His conversation with Norah had been rather interesting to say the least. She clearly had a passion for her profession and that wasn't a bad thing at all. In fact it was something he could respect and appreciate, as so many people didn't have Norah's passion for whatever their job was. She also clearly enjoyed the peace and quiet as she sat out here on this bench nearly every day she was present, something he had certainly noticed when he was here and something that Derek had confirmed when asked.
Yes, he could very much full in love with Norah Greenway, if he let himself that is, but as he had told Derek, Norah would have to be open to a sexual relationship and she might not be. He had never forced a woman into a sexual relationship in his entire life and he wasn't about to start. Of course, to be fair most of them fell at his feet, which only put him off from ever dating them seriously.
Aaron looked out at the beautiful gardens sitting on the bench for a few minutes to enjoy the early morning, before heading back inside, after checking his watch. He had a holo meeting very shortly, so as much as he would've liked to have stayed outside for awhile business called.
~~~Aaron and Norah~~~