Book Series: IRISH BLUE Author: Sheila Willar Copyright: 2021 Sheila Willar ISBN #: 978-0-9867101-4-8
Book Title: THE CHAPEL Chapter #: 03 - THE INVITATION
Erin took the elevator to the conference room and arrived early. She waited for the others and optimistically hoped that they were running late, but soon it became clear that there was no meeting. It was highlighted on the project schedule, but Erin did not understand that when Justin sent his regrets, then the event was unofficially cancelled.
Erin took one last look through the expanse of glass that separated the boardroom from the flow of the city forty floors below. As she turned towards the door, Astor Mancinni entered the room, placed an envelope on the table, and promptly walked away with her silk scarf waving good-bye over her shoulder.
Even though the encounter barely existed, Erin felt a tension that remained after Astor was gone. Erin opened the note but could not read it because of the hand writing. She called her supervisor and asked how to contact Mrs. A, and was told to check with Ms. Statton who was Mrs. A’s secretary.
Erin phoned Ms. Statton and explained that she needed help to decipher the note but the reply was very curt.
“Um-hum”, was all that Ms. Statton would say.
Erin reiterated that she could not read the handwriting which only seemed to make Ms. Statton more upset. Eventually Ms. Statton acknowledge that she knew what was in the note. It was an invitation to Mrs. A’s estate, with the date and time that a driver would pick her up.
Ms. Statton gave as little information as possible and abruptly ended the call.
Ms. Statton had been Mrs. A’s personal secretary for fifteen years and had only been to the Mancinni’s home a few times. It bothered her to no end, that a young nobody who had only been with the company for a few weeks had already received a summons.
Erin could dismiss Mrs. A’s eccentricity when it was at a distance, when it was removed by several layers of other people, but it made her uncomfortable when it became so close. She wondered if the others had also received a hand-written note, but she did not want to ask. She didn’t want to be singled out or gossiped about. All she knew for sure was that she had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach, the kind of stirring that can not be resolved with a simple fix..
