Courage & Resolve
1.2 - First Day of a New Life
A week later, Amelia walked down the street of downtown Willow Creek, looking for Beauchamp Law. They were a local law firm owned by a couple. According to their website, they were looking to become a more prominent business in Willow Creek, but rumor had it that they had ambitions to expand even further beyond the bounds of their cozy town one day. But, to begin growing just within Willow Creek in the meantime, they needed some new employees. Amelia felt lucky when she saw the ad for the job opening in the paper a few days earlier.
The couple had been desperate enough to hire her on the spot once she'd sent over her qualifications, which consisted of a college degree in law. They hadn't even required an in-person interview. While ordinarily, the lack of professionalism would have worried Amelia, but all that mattered to her in this current moment was that she secured a job with decent pay that would allow her to support Cory and Jamira.
Spotting a brick office building with a sign that read Beauchamp Law, Amelia took a deep breath, steeling herself. She then walked firmly up to the front doors, grabbed the handle, and walked confidently into the room. The woman sitting behind the desk perked up immediately when Amelia entered the room.
“Hello!” she called out cheerfully.
“Hi, I’m new here and was just hired-“
“Amelia Brown, right?” the woman said. “I’m Genevieve Beauchamp. Glad to have you with us.”
Genevieve stretched out her hand over the desk, and the two shook. She then hurried over to a door to the left of the desk, and opened it up for Amelia.
“Come on in!” she said. “Let me show you around.”
Amelia did as she asked.
Genevieve stopped in a hallway just beyond the desk, which had a few closed doors, evidently hiding rather spacious rooms. “Here at Beauchamp Law, we firmly believe in rewarding hard work. While we value treating each of our employees as a family, and affording them the same respect that they give us, the rooms in this hallway are reserved for our most elite employees,” Genevieve said, gesturing. “The people who’ve done the most for our firm, if you will.”
She carried on with the tour, walking past the staircase, and leading Amelia into a small sitting room behind it.
“We call this our rec room,” Genevieve sighed. “It isn’t much, but if you have some free time, you and a friend are more than welcome to come down here and just relax. Through those back doors is a parking lot for those of you that drive to work. Currently, that is just me and the head of the company, my husband, Felix, so there is ample parking space."
“Will I get to meet Felix today?” Amelia asked.
Genevieve shook her head apologetically. “No, I’m sorry. He’s on a call at the moment. In fact, he’s pretty regularly on a call, but I can promise you, you will meet him eventually. Usually, if you need him for anything at all, you should come to me. I’ll report back to him, and if he thinks it’s required, Felix is more than happy to block out time in his schedule for you.”
Amelia frowned, remembering what Genevieve had said earlier about treating employees like family, but chose not to make a comment that could potentially danger her employment at this new job.
Genevieve led the way upstairs, and Amelia stepped into what was seemingly a sea of cubicles.
“Here’s where the majority of our employees work,” Genevieve said. “You’re welcome to take any empty desk, and we’ll have a name plate set up wherever you choose within the week. Felix works in the room with the big door and windows up there, though I don’t recommend bothering him, he’s typically very busy. I'm in the room just to the left of his office, so come and see me with any concerns you might have, instead! Finally, to conclude our tour… the bathrooms are to the right of Felix’s office. You think you’ve got that all?”
“Sounds wonderful, Genevieve!”
“Great!” Genevieve cheered. “I’m sure you’ll have a great time working here.”
The rest of the day consisted of Amelia choosing her desk and slowly starting to sort through a whole series of legal documents that would help the firm win their next case. It was slow, grueling work, but Amelia smiled anyway because she knew that all of this would benefit Jamira and Cory.
Amelia walked into the house late in the evening, arms full of groceries. She placed them on the counter, then turned to face the part of the house that had the bedrooms.
“Cory! Jamira! I’m home!” she called out.
Her two kids came running out of the room she’d designated as theirs- the larger room that had definitely been intended to be the master bedroom.
“Could you two help me with dinner?” she asked.
Cory and Jamira nodded, and began to help her heat up some ramen noodles. It wasn't a dinner she'd be proud of, but it would do while she waited for her first paycheck.
When Cory was occupied, Jamira came up to Amelia and pulled on her sleeve. “Mom,” she said quietly.
“What is it, Jamira?” Amelia asked.
“I-I just wanted to know… why don’t you like Dad anymore?”
Amelia hesitated. Both Jamira and Cory definitely deserved to know, but they were still so young… She pulled out a dining room chair, placing it in a spot where she could both observe Cory and talk to Jamira.
Making up her mind, Amelia turned back to Jamira. “Jamira, you know how sometimes, when... hm, let’s say… Cory takes one of your toys and you don’t want to talk to me about it because I think you should have done something about it yourself? It’s... kind of like that for me. I’ll tell both you and Cory when I feel ready, alright?”
“Okay,” Jamira smiled.
Jamira wandered off to help Cory, and Amelia let out a deep sigh of relief. Sure, it hadn’t been the greatest analogy, but it was the most she could hope Jamira could understand right now. One day, she would tell them everything, but she knew that day definitely wasn't today, or any day in the near future. They deserved to enjoy their youthful innocence for a while longer.