The Business Trip

Chapter 12
The Business Trip, Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve

Erica led them to the group of adults chatting over drinks and appetizers on the back porch. At first, Elizabeth was worried she was going to be introduced to everyone and be the center of attention when she would prefer to be invisible. That, or be at this gathering in her professional attire and be seen as a peer to the correct demographic. Thankfully, Erica simply tapped the shoulder of one of the women and asked to borrow her for a moment. 

The two of them came over to June and Elizabeth, where the situation was explained. How Lizzie was ‘rough-housing with the boys’ and chipped her tooth. Elizabeth awkwardly stood there as the three of them talked about her right in front of her face. It wasn’t worth trying to clarify what really happened; she would only get chastised again, and didn’t want to delay the potential fix.

“Hello, Lizzie,” the new woman turned towards her, “I’m Ms. Charlotte. Do you mind if I take a look at that tooth of yours?”

Couldn’t they go inside first? Between the circle of adults nearby, as well as the young teens by the swing set, it felt as if everyone was going to be watching as she opened her mouth for the informal examination. In reality, most of the people in the backyard were focused on their own conversations, while Elizabeth’s perpetual state of self consciousness made her assume the worst.

She allowed Charlotte to look, flushing a bit as she absolutely felt like a child when she was so much shorter than the three women around her on top of everything else. 

The young hygienist obviously didn’t have any of the tools she would have at the office, so she settled for a phone flashlight while tilting the petite redhead’s face towards the sun. “Hmm, I’ve definitely seen worse,” she said, “I bet Paul could patch that up in less than ten minutes. Do you want me to give him a call? The office is only a few minutes away.”

“Ungh hmm.” Elizabeth nodded along with her awkward vocal affirmation. Her mouth was still wide open, with Charlotte gripping her chin.

June had a more mature response. “I’d hate to inconvenience him. If it’s not bad, Lizzie could probably wait until Monday.”

“That’s assuming she could get a day-of appointment,” Charlotte pointed out, “It varies from practice to practice, of course, but it can take a while if it’s not an emergency. Anyway, I know he likes to catch up on paperwork on Saturday when the place is closed and quiet. If he’s around today, it doesn’t hurt to ask. Besides, he owes me countless favors for all the shifts I’ve covered!”

“Alright,” June shrugged, “Just don’t push too hard on my account! I appreciate the offer, but I don’t want to disrupt his Saturday ritual if he has work to do.”

Charlotte stepped back from Elizabeth with a friendly smile, turning off the flashlight and unlocking her phone to call her boss. “Sounds good; I’ll see what I can do. Don’t worry, Lizzie. If we can’t fix it today, I’m sure it’ll work itself out soon. I bet a mature girl like you is good at being patient, right?”

Elizabeth blushed. She knew the woman was making sure not to promise something she couldn’t guarantee a delivery on, but it was so much more patronizing due to Elizabeth’s real age. “Whatever,” she muttered.

June just sighed. “Attitude, Lizzie. Why don’t you thank the nice lady for looking at your tooth? And if you want her to call Paul the Dentist, I think you should ask politely.”

The title of the man neither of them had met was needlessly immature. However, Elizabeth was still trying to move things along regardless of how it made her look. “Thank you, Ms. Charlotte,” she mumbled, “Can you please call- your boss?” Despite her desire to get an impromptu appointment and leave the party, there was still a line in terms of demeaning herself.

Charlotte stepped away to make the phone call, which June decided was a good time for Elizabeth to go apologize to her ‘peers.’  While everyone mistaking her as a tween was frustrating, it was also unfair that she was the one in hot water for something that wasn’t her fault. The boys in the backyard were noticeably amused as she was walked up to them, particularly the one who had pulled her pants down. Then there was Kelly, who looked a bit annoyed and judgmental. She had been a friend to Lizzie at first, but things certainly hadn’t ended that way.

June had recently told her to start thinking about her apology, but Elizabeth had been too distracted with everything else to do so. What was she supposed to be sorry for, again? Swearing, maybe? As she was nudged forward and encouraged to get started, Elizabeth gaze was drawn towards the ground as she mumbled a weak apology about her language.

Of course, that wasn’t enough for her assistant. “Say ‘sorry’ to James and Kelly,” June insisted, “For trying to blame them for everything. Is there anything else she should apologize for?”

“She was pretending to be an adult when she’s just a little girl,” James immediately said.

“She was a bad sport, and a terrible teammate,” Kelly added.

“She barely even tried,” one of the other boys scoffed.

“Lizzie?” June said, before the girl had a chance to defend herself, “Go on. A proper apology. For all of that. Last chance, unless you’d prefer a spanking?”

Half the group of adolescents snorted and/or smiled at the threat. Elizabeth’s cheeks were burning at the implication that she could be spanked by her aunt. What kind of twelve year old still got that kind of treatment? Not that she was twelve. 

And was she supposed to apologize for all of that at once? It needed to happen, and now; June hadn’t hesitated to wash her mouth out with soap earlier, and would probably bend Elizabeth over her knee just as easily. Elizabeth’s brain went somewhat on autopilot, as she blurted out the list of things she was supposed to be sorry for. “I’m sorry for swearing, and lying, and being so bad at Manhunt.” Her eyes were still trained on the ground, as it had been bad enough catching some of the reactions to June’s discipline. “Sorry for blaming you, and, umm . . . ”

“And how old are you, Lizzie?” June asked.

After so many written iterations, Elizabeth didn’t have to stop and think about the answer. “Twelve years old,” she mumbled. As in, not the adult that she yelled that she was after chipping her tooth and suffering through the humiliation of everyone seeing her underwear.

“That’s right,” June nodded, “No more playing pretend, okay?” She proceeded to ask the group if they accepted the apology. For a second, James looked like he was going to push his luck, until Kelly spoke up for the group and said it was fine. Since she and the others were partly to blame, it was best to stop while they were ahead and let the new girl take the heat.

Once that was settled, June took Elizabeth’s hand and led her back to Charlotte and Erica. The good news was, Paul was indeed at the office and willing to see them. There were no guarantees as to what he could do for the tooth until he was able to look at it properly, but Charlotte said he’d probably take care of it right away, based on her experiences at the office. The ‘maybe’ was simply another instance of them playing it safe, so little Lizzie wouldn’t whine about being told anything for sure.

After June said goodbye to Amanda, and a couple other young adults she had been mingling with, she walked Elizabeth towards the front door. Since the awkward apology, she had kept up the patronizing hand holding the entire time. Erica insisted on giving them a ride since they didn’t have their own car, since it would be ridiculous to order one for what was less than a five minute drive. She wouldn’t be sticking around for the ‘appointment,’ though she could at least introduce them before heading back to the house.

“Here we are,” Erica said. Parking was easy, when it seemed like every suite was closed for the weekend. There were a couple cars here and there, no doubt for those like Paul who put in the extra hours.

As she led the way towards the door on the corner, June took Elizabeth’s hand again and quietly said, “Behave, Lizzie. You’ve caused enough trouble for one day. Do you understand?”

This was so unfair! June was her assistant, not her aunt. But the longer Elizabeth was stuck in the role, the more difficult it was to push back. “Yes, Aunt June,” she muttered.

“Good,” June said, “Now be a polite young lady for the dentist. This is a great opportunity to work on your manners.”

It didn’t help that Paul was rather attractive. A bit older than the men Elizabeth would normally date, but still. He probably made a good amount of money at his dental practice, and she wouldn’t be opposed to testing the waters if she were dressed properly with her immature features offset by the morning ritual she hadn’t gone through in two days now. Of course, it was moot because they lived in different cities, but still. 

Instead of seeing her as a prospect, however, the handsome dentist made the same assumption everyone else did. If Elizabeth’s own boss didn’t recognize her, why would someone she just met think she was anything else but a red haired tween?

“Funny story. I actually have a niece named Elizabeth as well,” he said, as he brought them to the nearest chair to the lobby, “Although she goes by Beth. You prefer ‘Lizzie,’ right?”

“I prefer ‘Elizabeth,’” she blurted out, without thinking about it. The unsettling part was, her full name sounded a little bit off. Between writing ‘My name is Lizzie’ so many times, as well as how she had been addressed all day, it was surprisingly difficult to adjust back to ‘Elizabeth’ even when it was what she had gone by her whole life until this trip.

Was June going to punish her for not going along with the childish nickname? Elizabeth knew she should have committed to what she had gone by as her assistant’s niece. She just hadn’t been able to help herself; between the frustrations of the last hour, as well as Paul sparking the adult side of her by saying the full version, it just slipped out.

For the time being, she chose to focus on Paul, who said, “Elizabeth, then.”

Fucking finally. After her pride had been wounded non-stop, something as simple as being addressed properly served as a small balm. At the same time, he was talking to her more like a child than an adult, so it wasn’t nearly enough to fix all the hits her confidence and dignity had taken.

Doing as she was told, Elizabeth got onto the chair, fidgeting here and there as she was reclined. Going to the dentist had never been her favorite, though she was hoping that dealing with a chipped tooth wouldn’t be as bad as a drawn out cleaning.

She opened wide when prompted. It felt a bit more natural to do so in a professional setting, rather than on the back porch with an ‘audience’ in the background. Erica had already left, as she had only stuck around long enough to introduce them, so June was the only other one there.

After taking a look, and poking here and there with one of his tools, Paul turned to June and said, “Yeah, we can for sure get this taken care of right now. I just need you to fill out a couple forms, if you don’t mind.”

They left Elizabeth alone in the chair. Paul told her to sit still and be patient, and they would be back in a few minutes. June added on that they were only going to the front desk, and that she was still being watched from a distance. Just another implication that she was an immature brat who couldn’t be trusted with something as simple as lying in a chair at the dentist.

June followed Paul back to the lobby, where he asked her a few clarifying questions about whether or not she counted as a guardian for Elizabeth, if she had the family’s insurance information, and so on. It felt a bit risky to lie about her relationship with her bitchy boss in a medical setting, especially if there would be any kind of paper trail, but June couldn’t help herself when Paul asked, “Do you know if her parents have considered braces?”

That would be fucking perfect. While Elizabeth could always dye her hair back and somehow save face with the director of their department for taking an impulsive, non-approved vacation on such an important weekend, she’d be stuck with braces until the work on her teeth was done. Speaking of impulsiveness, June didn’t think twice about replying, “Well, her teeth aren’t that bad.” That much was true. The girl didn’t have perfect teeth, but she also didn’t have any noticeable gaps or crookedness in there. Spinning the rest from a dose of the truth, June went on, “Between that, and a tight budget, they decided against it. I would absolutely be willing to pay for part of it, but they’d probably feel guilty for taking my money.” Or, more accurately, the money she’d be charging to Elizabeth’s credit card. 

Now she just had to see if Paul would take the hint. It wasn’t unheard of for someone to pay for a relative’s bills. As for the rest of the logistics, she could probably get away with a series of half-truths and technicalities. Maybe June wasn’t really Elizabeth’s aunt, but she was basically the girl’s guardian for the day. 

As it turned out, she didn’t need to worry about any of that. Rather than taking the conversation down that road, Paul simply offered to do everything pro bono. It wasn’t really charity, as he admitted to her that there were cases in which he could do jobs for the sake of tax write-offs and discounts on supplies if he used XYZ for a free procedure. “I don’t have Elizabeth’s insurance information,” he explained, “And if her family can’t afford it even with their plan . . . ”

It was so much better than what June was fishing for. And certainly a win/win in terms of what she and Paul would be getting out of this. The only loser would be Elizabeth, which was fine. June could feel a tug at the corner of her lips, managing to turn it into more of a grateful smile than a smug smirk, “That would be amazing. Why don’t I give Lizzie’s parents a call, just to double check?” She still needed to make this seem as above board as possible, and then there was the matter of selling it to Elizabeth.

“Go ahead,” he said, “There are still a couple forms for you to fill out, too. I can get everything set up in the meantime. Do you want me to talk to Elizabeth about it?”

‘Absolutely not.’ Keeping a straight face, June replied, “Why don’t you let me take care of that? She’s going through this whole ‘I’m as mature as an adult’ phase. Something tells me she’s not going to be too enthusiastic about braces, even if that’s what’s best for her. An actual adult would know the difference. Anyway, I can talk to her. As fun as it is being the cool aunt, tough love is part of the job sometimes.”

Once he turned around to take care of the necessary prep, June pursed her lips in a victorious smirk. Her bitchy boss, in braces. Not that Elizabeth was going to be her boss for very long. One way or another, June was onto better things. Either a new job with a manager who actually treated her properly or, best case scenario, a promotion for her successes this weekend now that everyone was finally going to see who did all the real work behind the scenes at Elizabeth’s desk.

As for little Lizzie’s fate, that would depend on how the rest of the trip went.

June had no trouble filling out the forms. Crazy how being someone’s subservient errand girl gave her plenty of insight into that person’s life. Aside from adjusting Elizabeth’s birth year, and using her own number for the emergency contact, June didn’t have to stray very far. It wasn’t as if Paul would know that it was Lizzie’s address, rather than her parents’ place. And since the girl was getting braces for free, there was no need to bother with any of the insurance stuff.

By the time he returned to check on her, June was done. “All set,” she said, offering him the clipboard, “Mind giving me and Lizzie a minute to talk?” There was no telling how Elizabeth would react and, even though June had already planted the seeds about the ‘phase’ she was going through, it would be easier to convince her to go through with this latest development if June didn’t have to juggle that with dismissing any claims about adulthood that Elizabeth was making.

It would be fine. Technically, June would be telling the truth to her niece–braces may be embarrassing in the short term, but her teeth will look better in the long term. 

For June’s purposes, however, the short term was all she needed. And also, it wasn’t going to be that short. Even in mild cases of misalignment, the average time in braces was somewhere between six and eight months. 

Maybe, just maybe, little Lizzie would end up needing braces for a year or longer.