The Business Trip

Chapter 10
The Business Trip, Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

By the end of the following meeting, Elizabeth wasn’t even halfway done with the 137 lines that June had assigned her. Her handwriting was a lot more legible on the fresh sheet, which would hopefully count for something, but Elizabeth was just shy of 50 when June wrapped up the presentation and came over to check on her. 

“Well, you tried,” June said. She sounded more disappointed than judgmental as she looked over Elizabeth’s work. “You can keep working on this tonight, if there’s time. Read this out loud for me?” 

Elizabeth flushed as her assistant pointed to the line she had most recently written. It wasn’t as if June needed to specify, since they were all the same. Since this was their last meeting, Elizabeth was assuming that things would go back to normal soon. Deciding not to rock the boat when June was still firmly committing to their roles, Elizabeth did as she was told. “My name is Lizzie. I am twelve years old. Aunt June is in charge.” Saying it was definitely worse than writing it.

“Very good,” June nodded, “See how reading is easier when you write clearly?” She picked up the notepad and packed it up with the rest of her materials.

It was so patronizing, and not particularly logical. If anything, taking the time to write more neatly would make it so other people could read the words. Plus she had been tasked with writing lines, and could easily recite each sentence without looking at this point. Once again, Elizabeth didn’t argue or complain. She just wanted to go back to their suite, establish herself as June’s boss, and figure out how they were going to undo the ‘vacation’ excuse that had been told to every potential client they had met with, as well as the director of their department.

As usual, June took Elizabeth’s hand as if she was a child. Speaking of things that didn’t make sense. What kind of twelve year old needed that kind of support?

When they reached the hotel lobby, Elizabeth was begrudgingly letting June lead her along. She didn’t realize until they were nearing the outside doors that they were going the wrong way; the elevators were off to their right. “Where are we going?” she asked. To a clothing store? That would be ideal. But June had already said that she didn’t want to use her company card for such purchases. Elizabeth had long forgotten the reason June had given for not wanting to use her personal card. It would be simple enough for Elizabeth to simply pay her back later.

“It’s a surprise,” June replied. She led Elizabeth to a blue sedan that was waiting for them on the curb, “Get in, Lizzie. Don’t forget to buckle up.”

When had June ordered them a ride? She must have done so on her phone at the end of the meeting. So, she was okay using her company card for something that definitely wasn’t on their itinerary? Then again, this could easily be her personal one; Elizabeth didn’t know where they were going, which meant there was no way to know for sure. Her mind was just focused on credit cards again now that they were leaving the hotel. 

June circled around to the other side of the car, getting in the back seat as well. She greeted the driver and went through the usual minute or two of small talk as they pulled onto the road and began driving towards wherever they were going.

Without her phone, Elizabeth was both bored and uncertain. Was this going to be a business lunch or something? June still had her materials, though hauling around a laptop and a few folders wasn’t that big of a deal if they were headed somewhere else. Either way, Elizabeth would have preferred returning to their room first, or at least being told more than ‘it’s a surprise.’ She was still waiting for a chance to confront June again, once they weren’t dealing with the time pressure of looming meetings or the social pressure of other people being around.

Twenty minutes later, they were pulling into a suburban neighborhood a few miles outside the city. Not a meeting at a restaurant or a coffee shop, then. “Where are we going?” Elizabeth echoed. The address on the GPS didn’t help, as she wasn’t familiar with the area beyond the name of the hotel.

“I told you, Lizzie,” June rolled her eyes, “It’s a surprise. Should we work on your retention skills after we get your handwriting to a proper 6th grade level?”

Right. Being ‘twelve’ would make her a middle school girl. Elizabeth grimaced at the suggestion, especially since their driver no doubt believed that she was as young as she appeared. June also said it so casually. 

Before Elizabeth could think of anything else to say, June turned her attention up front. “This one here, on the corner,” she said. A few seconds later, they stopped in front of the house.

After thanking the driver, June got out of the car and waited for Elizabeth to do the same. Ignoring the look of confusion on the petite girl’s face, June once again took her hand and walked her to the front door and rang the doorbell. 

Thirty seconds or so later, a young woman around their age opened the door with a smile. “Hey, June! Glad you could make it. And you must be Lizzie?”

Elizabeth didn’t recognize her in the slightest. “Umm . . . ” she trailed off. It was ‘Elizabeth.’ But between the lines and the full day of dealing with the childish nickname, it was starting to feel like more trouble than it was worth to correct people. Especially when it was someone she didn’t even know.

“Hey, Amanda,” June said, “I love this house! Jealous you get a corner lot. And yeah, this is Lizzie; she’s a little shy. Lizzie, this is my friend, Amanda.”

Amanda chuckled, “Well, it’s a rental. I doubt I’ll be able to buy any time soon. Anyway, come in! I can give you the tour. Everyone else is in the back; I’m sure Lizzie will get along with the others.”

“Sounds good!” June replied, “Lead the way?”

Elizabeth was still clueless as to why they left the hotel and strayed so far from where she had expected to camp out for the entire weekend. Apparently June was visiting one of her friends who lived in the area? That’s what it sounded like, anyway. Probably not a relative, or the ‘niece’ concept wouldn’t hold up. Honestly, Elizabeth was mostly worried about the ‘others’ that Amanda referenced.

Fortunately for her, Elizabeth wasn’t kept in the dark for too long. Amanda went off to check on something for a second after requesting that they take off their shoes at the door. June gave Elizabeth the highlight reel–Amanda was a good friend of hers in college, and invited June to her barbeque when she heard that she was in town for the weekend. Between some of the nearby neighbors, as well as Amanda’s older sister, there were a few kids around ‘Lizzie’s age’ present as well.

There was NO reason for Elizabeth to be there. Her disguise made sense as an unorthodox presentation tactic, albeit one that backfired completely, but she had nothing to gain from attending a gathering like this. It would have made way more sense for her to stay back at the hotel. Solitude sounded a lot better than socializing with a bunch of strangers; doing that as an adult would have been enough of a chore, but everyone at Amanda’s place was going to assume that Elizabeth was a tween. 

The frustrated look on Elizabeth’s face must have been clearly evident, as June said, “It’s fine, Lizzie. I still have networking to do tonight; Amanda and I just wanted to catch up, as we haven’t seen each other as much since graduation. You can behave yourself for a few hours, right?”

Elizabeth couldn’t exactly say ‘no’ to a question like that. She was too overwhelmed by this development to notice that June was no longer including her when mentioning things on their itinerary. “June-”

“Aunt June,” she said. As always, quick to correct it when Elizabeth forgot, “Answer the question, Lizzie. Can you behave for a few hours? Yes, or no?”

Huffing out a sigh, sounding a lot more like a teenager than an adult with such a reaction, Elizabeth mumbled, “Yes.”

“Good,” June said, “Besides, I bet you’ll have more fun than you think. Erica’s daughter is cool, and I’m sure you’ll make some other friends with the neighborhood kids. Just don’t have too much sugar, okay?”

Elizabeth wanted to scream. She was a fucking adult. June shouldn’t be talking to her like that! However, she bit her tongue, opting for a more calm and somewhat mature, “Fine.”

Right on cue, give or take a few seconds, Amanda turned the corner. “Okay, no hosting fires to put out. Ready for the tour? Lizzie, you can head out to the backyard. They’re about to start some game; I told them to wait for you!”

What else could she do? She had just told June that she would behave, and there wasn’t anywhere else to go but where Amanda had just directed her. Elizabeth hesitantly walked towards the kitchen when she was told she could use the door in there. While it didn’t sound like either of the young women were following her, she had to assume that June would linger to make sure she was going where she was supposed to. 

Hiding out inside the unfamiliar house would be her preference, of course. Elizabeth wasn’t big into books, though she would certainly be happy to read in a secluded room instead of playing yard games. Stalling at the glass door for a moment to take in what was waiting for her on the other side, she saw a group of five younger looking teenagers circled up in the middle of the spacious yard, as well as nearly double that amount of adults strewn about. Some were talking around the grill, some were drinking on the other side of the deck; Elizabeth actually belonged on the deck as well, but both seeing her reflection earlier as well as the fact that her boss hadn’t even recognized her was all proof that her disguise successfully made her look like a tween rather than a professional young woman. At this point, it absolutely didn’t feel like a success.

Elizabeth stepped outside, wincing slightly at the sun, as well as how a couple people looked her way as the door slid open. A nearby brunette woman gave her a smile. “Hello there! Lizzie, right?”

Just like when Amanda greeted them, Elizabeth’s first instinct was to correct the nickname. She bit her tongue again, not wanting to deal with the hassle, especially when June would no doubt chastise her for straying from the role she was stuck in. “Uh huh,” she muttered.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Erica. My daughter is- Actually, one second.” She turned towards the yard and called out, “Kelly! Can I borrow you real quick?”

“Sure!” Similar to her mother, Kelly had brunette hair and a fair complexion. She looked to be about twelve or thirteen, though her simple sundress gave her a more mature look than the girly pink/white combo Elizabeth was wearing. Kelly turned to say something to the group she was with, then walked up to the deck. “Oh! Is this our sixth?”

Erica nodded. “If she wants to play. Lizzie, this is my daughter, Kelly. Kelly, Lizzie.”

“Nice to meet you, Lizzie!” Kelly exclaimed, “You should totally join us. We were thinking boys vs. girls, and you’ll even things out for that. Come on, it will be fun!” Deciding for Elizabeth, clearly deaf to the ‘if’ part of what her mother said, Kelly took the petite redhead’s wrist and guided her to the yard and to the four similarly aged teenagers.

Elizabeth reluctantly followed, wondering all the while if there was still some way out of this. The more this day dragged on, the less she felt like an adult.

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