Portland Maine

"Boss, you have a customer out here that insist that he needs to see you," said Steffanie one of Deanne Rossi's employees.

"What could this customer want that you couldn't possibly help them with?" Deanne asked with an eyebrow raised curiously.

"I have no idea," Steffanie shrugged. "I offered my assistance, but he brushed it off and said he wants to see my boss instead. He was pretty insistent and since I didn't want to possibly lose a customer, I told him I'd go and get you."

"That's weird," Deanne said curiously. "If he just wants to buy some plants, your perfectly capable of helping him with that. I suppose I should see what he wants. You're welcome to join me Stef and listen in."

"I have to admit I'm unbearably curious as to why he wouldn't tell me what he wanted?" Steffanie said.

"Let's see, shall we?" Deanne suggested, as she rose from her desk where she was doing paperwork and headed for her office door Steffanie following.

"Can I help you, sir?" Deanne inquired once she had reached the customer that was waiting. "What can I help you with that Steffanie couldn't?"

"Deanne Rossi?" the man inquired.

"That's right, I own this business," Deanne agreed trying to remain calm and not show her surprise or shock, as she gazed at the man that had refused the assistance of her employee and had immediately asked for the boss. She tried not to let her eyes widen in shock as this man, whom she didn't even know the name of was her mate. She supposed she shouldn't be so shocked, though, as numerous members of her family had met their mate over the last few centuries, so she supposed it was just her turn and she didn't mind at all. If there was one problem with being basically immortal, it was boredom and tedium. Both humans and immortals or any other species for that matter needed constant stimulation.

"Let me assure you that Steffanie Garfunkel can help you with anything you require," Deanne said.

"I was told by a friend of mine that you're the best at what you do, which is why I wanted to speak to you," said the man. "Let me introduce myself. I am Griffen Bathurst and I wanted to hire you to help me with a large garden that has been allowed to go to seed."

"And how did you hear about me?" Deanne inquired. "What's your friend's name?"

"Archie Balster," Griffen told her and Deanne nodded

"Yes, I do know Archie, but he greatly exaggerated about me being the best," Deanne said modestly. "I won't say I'm not good with plants and everything related to them, but I would hardly consider myself the best in the business. Besides, taking private jobs, isn't something I normally do. I have a business to run after all," Deanne said gesturing at all the plants and things around them. There were flowers galore, along with vegetable plants, garden statutory and also seeds you could plant yourself and everything else you needed to start your own garden, the tools, the soil and everything else required. Deanne didn't just own a garden center she owned a garden emporium.

Emporium was a really old-fashioned word, but it fit better than center or store in this case.

"My sister and I are willing to pay you quite a bit of money if you would do this for us," Griffen told her. "Archie did say that he didn't think you took private jobs, but that I was welcome to ask you if you were willing to take it and if not then he said that I could ask you if you knew anyone that did."

"I don't really need the money Mr. Bathurst. I make plenty with my emporium, as I'm not only the manager, I'm also the owner as you are aware," Deanne explained.

"Is there anyway I can convince you to take the job if money isn't a concern for you?" Griffen asked.

"Why don't you come into my office and we can discuss it?" Deanne suggested.

Steffanie, knowing that she wasn't included in the upcoming meeting watched, as her boss and friend lead Mr. Bathurst towards her office. Her curiosity was nearly off the charts, but maybe Deanne would tell her what had gone on in the meeting once Griffen Bathurst was gone.

~~~Deanne and Griffen~~~

"It's certainly an interesting proposition," Deanne said once the door to her office was shut. Once the door was fully closed sounds from the main part of the emporium were immediately cut off completely.

Soundproofing was a wonderful thing. Nobody would be able to overhear their conversation unless they were in the same room not that Steffanie would spy on them, although she knew her employee was very curious about this Mr. Griffen Bathurst just showing up out of the blue and making such a request. Deanne thought absently as she studied her mate who was a handsome man with his dark brown hair, and hazel eyes.

"So I've intrigued you then?" Griffen suggested.

"I won't say you haven't, but it's still not really a job that I'd usually agree to take on," Deanne said. "I'm certainly busy enough here at my place of business and I also have my own garden at my home to tend to."

"What can I do to convince you?" Griffen asked her.

"I'll tell you what if you agree to go out on a date with me then I'm willing to look over this garden that you and your sister inherited that you say is such a mess. This is not an agreement to take the job mind you, but I'll at least do an assessment and then decide after that. It certainly sounds like an intriguing project, but it might be more than I want to take on, especially by myself."

"Archie says you have a real gift with plants and could make a plant flourish, even if it's half dead," Griffen said.

Her mate's tone of disbelief, at Archie description was obvious to Deanne. Griffen probably believed that Archie was exaggerating, but would soon learn otherwise

"It is a rather massive project, as me and my sister inherited this estate from an uncle who died sometime ago. We had no idea that we had a distant uncle, so neither one of us ever met him. The estate lawyers had apparently been looking for an heir for quite some time."

"And this uncle, you didn't know about let the gardens get in a very disreputable state," Deanne said.

"He was apparently ill during the last few years of his life, and the only servant left was an old housekeeper. She was kept on to keep the house up until heirs could be located, which apparently took some doing," Griffen explained.

"So where is this estate located?" Deanne asked.

"It's out in the countryside outside of Calais. The one here in Maine, of course not the one in France," Griffen explained. "It's really not that far to go if you use the sky lanes that is. An hour and a half to two hours or so depending on traffic."

"I suppose I could take the weekend to see this massive garden that is in such bad shape," Deanne said decidedly. "My assistant manager could take over for a day or two and he knows to call me if there any problems he can't handle."

Griffen perked up at Deanne's expression and tone, as he could tell she was intrigued at the notion of seeing this massive garden that he and his sister had inherited.

"You're the owner, so you don't necessarily have to come in to work, as I'm sure you have people to handle that besides this assistant manager, you mentioned," Griffen suggested in a wheedling tone.

"I'm not only the owner though. I'm the manager as well and while you have a point, I enjoy coming in and helping customers find what they want when I'm not dealing with the paperwork that is," Deanne answered honestly. "I won't say I enjoy the paperwork, even if that's on computer nowadays, but still, I'm well aware you have some if you have any business."

"Nobody, I know, enjoys dealing with paperwork," Griffen snorted chuckling. "It's simply a fact of life for any business so you deal with it."

"That is so true," Deanne agreed without arguing, because when someone was right, they were right. "If you give me the address of the estate, I'll head there early Saturday or we can arrange a time if you like and you and your sister can meet me to show me around the garden and I'll tell you after I do a tour whether or not, I'm accepting the job. Now about that date, Mr. Bathurst."

Griffen studied Deanne and saw she was serious about what she had asked about a date. While he could admit to himself, he was attracted to her and he had thought about asking her out he hadn't been going to do so at least until he knew she was going to take the job or not, as it would be a conflict of interest.

"If you take the job, it's a conflict of interest don't you think?" Griffen suggested.

"That will just encourage me not to take the job," Deanne told him seriously. "In fact, I won't even come and view this garden if you don't agree to go out on a date with me, as that way, there is no conflict of interest."

"That's blackmail," Griffen protested.

"I suppose you could look at it that way, but I consider it an incentive," Deanne told him with a brilliant smile, which made Griffen's insides roll over in interest. "I don't care about the money you and your sister can offer. I have more than enough for my needs. Not only does this place bring in quite a bit I also own several garden emporiums in different states, so you see, I am definitely not hurting for money. I have not had a date in longer than I can remember, but it's been several years at least and I really like you."

Deanne shrugged as if to say that was her requirement and to take it or leave it. Please, please, take the offer, Deanne begged Griffen in her head, though she didn't let her thoughts show on her face nor did she voice them out loud.

"It certainly hasn't been years since I've had a date," Griffen said winced at what Deanne revealed.

"I've just been busy here and to tell you the truth, I haven't been interested in anyone in a long time as so many men have personalities that leave a lot to be desired," Deanne didn't bother to tell Griffen that one reason she hadn't dated was she had been waiting to meet her mate, and anyone else that she had dated was no more than a temporary distraction. However, everyone had sexual urges, so she did date occasionally, if only to get her urges to disappear for awhile anyway.

No immortal ever became permanently attached to whoever they dated unless they were their mate. That didn't mean that it didn't cause problems however, with their significant others occasionally, as those boyfriends and girlfriends, didn't necessarily want to break up with the one they were dating, even if the immortal in question did.

There had been problems in the past when one of his family wanted to break up with whoever they were dating and would be in the future.

"I won't say I disagree. Dating anyone can be a minefield," Griffen said, even as he rubbed a hand under his chin, as if he was thinking about Deanne's offer.

"I won't pretend I'm not attracted to you, because I'd be lying if I did, but if you take this job, technically, that means that we'll have an employee/employer relationship. I just don't want you to quit and leave the job half finished if things don't work out between us that's all. It's almost never a good idea for anyone to get involved with someone who's working for them."

"Well, then, if you feel that way, and your opinion is set in stone, then I won't take the job, so that they'll be no conflict of interest," Deanne told him seriously.

"You sure do drive a hard bargain don't you Miss Rossi?" Griffen told her half seriously. "My sister and I really want to get you for this project, as Archie simply raved about how good you were, but if you won't agree to take the job without me agreeing to that date, then I suppose, I'll have to give in. I only hope it's the right decision and that it doesn't blow up in either of our faces as my sister would be most upset with me if that happened. Trust me, you don't want Mira mad at you."

"I have a sister, so I know what you mean," Deanne told Griffen. "I also have two brothers. I would never want any of my siblings mad at me, but especially my sister, as we're close. Still, my sister would tell me to go for it, if I was really attracted to someone whether or not they were a coworker or if they were paying me to do a job, so the man was technically, my boss."

"Well, you certainly have more siblings than I do," Griffen told her. "Still, I'm not sure of my sister will be happy if we start dating since you're going to possibly take this job. I suppose I can tell her it was a condition of you accepting the job, which happens to be the truth. She'll probably think it's hilarious that you made that a condition of you taking the job or even going and touring the estate's garden. She has quite a sense of humor does Mira."

"So are you older or younger than your sister?" Deanne ask curiously.

"We're twins actually, fraternal of course," Griffen told her smiling.

"Well, that's rather interesting," Deanne admitted. "Twins don't usually run in my family, even if I realize that multiples are quite common in this century. They are certainly more common than they were centuries ago. So are you older or younger than your sister?"

"I was born first, so I guess I'm older, though Mira wasn't far behind, as it was only a minute or two later, because the doctor had to do a C-section," Griffen answered.

"From what I know about multiples, even twins that's quite a common occurrence," Deanne said.

"True, it is kind of general knowledge. I mean, if you know anything at all about a subject like childbirth, and since most females know at least generally about that type of thing, I shouldn't be surprised that you know that," Griffen said.

"It helps I have a large family and I'm not just talking about my immediate family," Deanne told him with another brilliant smile. "I have more cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews then I can count and they always seem to be getting married and giving birth. I've set in more hospital waiting rooms then I can remember waiting for a new baby to be born."

Deanne didn't bother to tell Griffen that those nieces and nephews were her siblings from different generations nor did she bother to tell him that she was immortal and also had magic. They were also the Hotchners and though they weren't technically related that didn't mean they weren't considered family, even if the children that her godparents had weren't considered her siblings. Griffen would learn eventually about all the secrets the family kept, but right now, they had just met, and hadn't even been on their first date yet.

"Well, your extended family certainly is larger than mine," Griffen whistled appreciatively.

"What can I say both the Hotchners and the Rossis have always been prolific," Deanne said with a shrug and a smile.

"So you don't follow the general rule of 2.3 kids?" Griffen suggested, and Deanne shook her head.

"We never have, not ever since our family lines have existed. We usually have at least four kids per generation and of course, those children eventually get married and have families of their own, which only increases the number of family. Our family line extends back all the way to the late 20th century," Deanne said. "Both the Hotchners and the Rossis have always kept good family records unlike so many other families," Deanne added when Griffen looked at her with a curiously raised eyebrow and a questioning look on his face.

"They would have to if you know your family lines started in the late 20th century," Griffen commented.

"Near the very end of that century, actually," Deanne said. "There are many stories that have been passed down in the family for a long time along with those records. "

Deanne was lying through her teeth about family records as neither the Rossis or the Hotchners had kept records like they should have or at least hadn't put them onto computer, and if there had ever been any records, they had long since turned to dust. She wasn't lying about those children, however, and they extended all the way back to the beginning of the family line. She knew how her parents had met as it was a favorite story for both her mother and father to retell to the different generations of their children. She knew all about Jorge Mason, and how much trouble he had caused, though her parents hadn't exactly gone into details about a lot of things, because she and her siblings had been young at the time.

"About that date," Deanne said getting the conversation back on track. "Do you have any favorite places to eat here in Portland or do you even live in the area or do you live in Calais?"

"My sister and me do live here in Portland," Griffen said, "which is why we were kind of surprised that we had this distant uncle that we had never heard about. I'm not sure what happened there and why I never knew, neither of us knew we had an uncle, but there could be all kinds of reasons for it."

"Yes, there could be," Deanne agreed. "It could be there was some kind of rift in the family a long time ago to where they stopped talking to each other and never told their children about that branch of the family. I'm sure that you and your sister will never know the real reason you never knew about this uncle or about his branch of the family at all, but it's clear to me that this uncle never married or at least never had children or they would have inherited, which is why you and your sister did."

"I had already figured that out for myself," Griffen shot back, smiling enjoying the conversation. "As for favorite restaurants, I'll eat about anything, but there's no reason to go fancy, as we have no idea if we have more than a few dates before we mutually decide that it's not going to work. So long as you accept working on this project until it's finished then we'll try that relationship thing despite possibly hard feelings if we do break up."

There's no way in hell we're going to break up, Deanne thought in her head, but she knew that Griffen didn't know that so all she said was. "I'm a professional and if I accept working on this project, then I'll stay until it's completed, but there's no guarantees I will."

"OK good," Griffen said letting out a relieved breath. "I know you're not completely sold on working on this project, but I'm hoping you'll be so interested once you see the gardens of the estate that you won't be able to say anything but yes. After all, how often do you have an opportunity to design gardens anyway you like? You can choose the flowers and everything else that goes into a massive garden."

"That's certainly a massive incentive," Deanne admitted with a huge beaming smile

~~~Deanne and Griffen~~~