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Post by Jonah Wellington on Apr 11, 2011 13:33:16 GMT -5
Jonah chuckled. "Ouch... yeah, that wouldn't have been a good thing to sit on," he replied. "Anyway, it's no big deal. Kids don't always put their toys away.... I remember when I was a kid, I left my Legos everywhere. It drove my father crazy."
He put the dump truck in the toy box and walked back over to the couch, taking the glass of lemonade from her. "Thanks. I've done a lot of walking today, and I was getting pretty thirsty."
He wasn't really sure why he thought he needed to explain it to her, and he found a bit of warmth creeping up on his cheeks. Usually he was cooler than this with girls, and he didn't know why he felt a little awkward around her, unless it was because of the real reason he was here.
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Post by Carley Spangler on Apr 11, 2011 22:18:11 GMT -5
She laughed. "We used to have a set of Lincoln Logs around here somewhere. I think all of the Logs went missing, but then again they were used in a few pranks when I was younger." That was one thing that kept her occupied. Growing up, she was more of the tomboy who liked to rough house and she wasn't afraid to get dirty. She had been known to play several pranks, but Carley did grow out of it, with the exception of not being afraid to get dirty.
She moved to lean against an arm of one of the cushion chairs near the couch. The way he was dressed didn't signal that he was out walking for his health. "That's understandable," she said. About that time, she heard the door open and knew that Mrs. Elvington had returned. Carley was going to go help her, but she had already disappeared in the direction of the kitchen. She had helped Mrs. Elvington by charming a bag that she could slip all of her groceries into and not have to worry about the weight. Knowing that Mrs. Elvington didn't really liked to be bothered why she put up the groceries, Carley turned back to Jonah.
"With all the walking around, and you dressed the way you are, are you a salesman of some sort, or something?"
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Post by Jonah Wellington on Apr 12, 2011 20:43:27 GMT -5
Jonah had been laughing and relaxing and enjoying himself as he talked to Carley, but as soon as the door opened, he tensed up. Although the woman didn't come into the room where they were sitting, and Carley didn't comment about it, he knew instinctively that Mrs. Elvington had returned. If it had been one of the children, surely it would have been followed by a great deal of noise.
Jonah did not want to do this. He didn't want to talk to the old woman, he didn't want to make his sales pitch, and he did not want to let his father buy this orphanage and tear it down to build a shopping mall.
Carley asked him if he was a salesman, and he froze. What was he supposed to tell her? No, technically, he was not a salesman. He was here as a buyer and a message boy.
"I'm a... a businessman," he said. "Not a very good one, actually... And you know what? I really should get going. I've taken up too much of your time already." He stood up abruptly.
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Post by Carley Spangler on Apr 12, 2011 23:07:59 GMT -5
"But you haven't offered any business," Carley said as he stood up. She wondered what exactly he was there for. If he said that he was a businessman, there hadn't been any business stated. They had only spoke of the orphanage, and that sort of thing, that was it.
Before Carley said anything else and before Jonah really had time to move, Mrs. Elvington entered the room. "Carley, dear, who is your friend," she asked with a smile as she entered the room. Mrs. Elvington was a taller elderly lady. Her hair was short, curly, and white as snow. She wore a flowery dress down to her ankles and had a very grandmotherly presence.
"Mrs. Elvington," Carley said pushing off from the chair, "is Jonah." She paused for a moment and looked between the two. "He's a businessman."
Mrs. Elvington approached Jonah and outstretched her hand. "It's nice to meet you Jonah. My I ask what business brings you here?"
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Post by Jonah Wellington on Apr 15, 2011 18:54:03 GMT -5
Jonah felt rather like a rat trapped in a corner now. He greeted Mrs. Elvington with a pasted-on smile, taking her hand in his. "Grandmotherly" was the exact word he would have used to describe the woman as well; he felt like he should be calling her Grams.
In that moment, he hated his father more than usual. If he really wanted to tear down this orphanage, he would have to come down here himself and say it to the woman's face, because Jonah wasn't going to do it.
"I actually... I'm from a construction and contracting company based in London. We'd... we'd like to... We'd like to help you out. By fixing the place up, you see. Obviously, the place needs a lot of work, and we... we could do some repairs and improvements... maybe even an expansion. It would look good for our public relations if we helped out such a fine establishment as yours..."
The words tumbled out of Jonah's mouth as if they had a mind of their own. It was the exact opposite of the reason he was here, but suddenly he didn't care. The hell with his father. He wanted to do this.
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Post by Carley Spangler on Apr 15, 2011 23:27:17 GMT -5
Mrs. Elvington accessed the young man. Maybe it was just a thing that came with age, but she felt that there was something else there but it wasn't her place to really ask. "Repairs," she repeated. "There could be a few things done around here." It was completely obvious that several areas needed work. The place that Mrs. Elvington worried about most was the children's bedrooms.
"We could do with an expansion for maybe another bedroom or two." She focused back to Jonah after looking in the direction of the kitchen. "We've tried to do a few repairs ourselves but we just haven't had enough money to hire anyone to come in and actually work on the house. I think this might be a very good idea, don't you Carley?" She looked over to Carley who nodded in agreement.
Carley was skeptical about the man at first, but the more she talked to him, the more likable he seemed. Had she ever known the real reason he came here, she would be fairly upset.
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Post by Jonah Wellington on Apr 17, 2011 0:52:48 GMT -5
Now that he'd said it, he couldn't take it back. And if his father did end up coming down here and making a pitch to the woman on his own, Jonah's lie would surely be exposed. And there was little to no chance that he'd be able to get the company to actually do the work, so if any improvements were to be made on the building, he would have to do them himself.
He'd dug himself into a hole, and he knew it. But the smiles of both of the women seemed to make it worthwhile. At least for now. If they found out what was really going on, they would hate him. And for some reason that he couldn't really explain, he really didn't want Carley to hate him.
"Good," he said, nodding. "Um... why don't you come up with a list of some of the major improvements and things that you need done... I'll see if I can get a contractor in here to take a look at some of the basics... the foundation, the pipes, the electric... to see if anything needs to be brought up to code. You really don't want any code violations, or the city could shut you down."
And he just kept digging the hole even deeper....
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Post by Carley Spangler on Apr 17, 2011 7:42:13 GMT -5
Before Mrs. Elvington said a word, Carley disappeared into the kitchen to look in one of the drawers for a piece of paper. She knew pretty much everything that needed work and she began to write them down quickly. Things such as the piping, and some of the flooring in certain rooms. Then there was also the fact of the flickering lights sometimes. She returned to the living room area and handed Jonah a list. "I think that's everything major," she said.
"We should have had someone come in a long time ago," Mrs. Elvington spoke up, "but we've just been busy with other things." She did think that it was nice of the young man to come in and offer to improve the orphanage. Being the kind woman that she was, Mrs. Elvington didn't second guess anything.
"This is really nice of you to do," said Carley. "I know it will mean a lot, especially to the children."
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Post by Jonah Wellington on Apr 17, 2011 23:46:25 GMT -5
Jonah suspected that time hadn't been the only factor. After all, improvements generally cost money, and as an orphanage, money was very probably in short supply much of the time. He didn't say it, though. Bringing up money at this point in time seemed rude, and he didn't want to remind the women that he knew of their hardship. That had originally been the angle he intended to play, when he was going to try and buy out the orphanage for his father's mall... and he had little doubt that it would come into play again when his father found out what he had done. But Jonah refused to think about that right now.
Instead, he quietly took the list from Carley and glanced over it. There was quite a bit of work to be done, actually; but then, he had anticipated that would be the case. He could get one of the company's contractors to come over and inspect the place without explaining why... that wouldn't be a problem. But he was going to have to find a way to get enough workers in to do the other things... and that would be a bit tricky.
What had he got himself into?
"You're welcome," he said, still feeling like a horrible fraud. "I mean, what's more important than helping kids, right? Children are the future. And we can get a local newspaper to cover the story, and it will be a big human interest story, you know? It'll be good for both the company and the orphanage."
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Post by Carley Spangler on Apr 19, 2011 15:38:41 GMT -5
"Good good," Mrs. Elvington replied with a smile. She was happy that something was actually going to be done. Walking over, she took Jonah's hand and patted it with her own. "Thank you." The gesture was probably one of the nicest things that had been done for her in a long time. Of course the improvements were not just for her, but it was still an extremely nice gesture. "Now I must go upstairs and finish what I was doing before I went to the grocery store, then I will find something to cook for dinner. I will leave you two back to your conversation before I came in." Mrs. Elvington smiled between the two and started going toward the stairs. "Jonah," she said turning back around, "you are more than welcome to stay for dinner if you would like." Not waiting for any sort of answer, Mrs. Elvington made her way up the stairs.
Carley had took her seat again on the arm of the chair. "I know it is a lot of improvements," she said, "But it is not as bad as it used to be a few months ago. We're slowly getting things taken care of. Most of our time has either been spent on tutoring or fundraising for a trip for the children. Of course we could have been fundraising for improvements, but the children became more excited about trips so I didn't want to bring them down. Whatever extra money I have helps with a very few small improvements."
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Post by Jonah Wellington on Apr 19, 2011 21:10:21 GMT -5
Jonah felt trapped again. They were so... grateful... and it made him feel even worse. If he failed to deliver on his promise, or worse, if his father came down here and told these nice ladies the real reason he'd come down here... Well, Jonah was pretty sure there was a very special place in hell reserved for people who lied to widows and orphans.
Somehow, he had to have these repairs done, and without his father finding out. Maybe he could keep the truth from his father for a while, and then once the improvements were done on the building, he could find some kind of way to make the building protected from being torn down. There were lots of loopholes in building and zoning codes; he knew that from past experience. Maybe he could find one of these. Maybe the building was a historical one--it looked to be Victorian in style--and he could have it declared a historical site. Or maybe there was some sort of charitable organization clause that could protect the building. He would have to investigate.... he just knew that he couldn't let his father tear down this orphanage and put up a shopping mall.
Meanwhile, there was the matter about what to do about this dinner invitation. He really should say no... but he felt reluctant to leave Carley.
He was getting attached to her. This was very, very bad.
"So... uh... this house, do you know anything about its history? It looks pretty old... when was it built?"
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Post by Carley Spangler on Apr 20, 2011 1:21:58 GMT -5
"I know that it has been passed down in Mrs. Elvington's family for several generations. I'm not exactly sure when it was built, but since Mrs. Elvington didn't have any brothers, the house went to her. I know that the electricity wiring had been really old that Mr. Elvington had to have it redone. Of course, that has been awhile back however."
Carley was obviously oblivious to the real reason he was there. She thought that his offer to actually make improvements on the house was probably the best thing to happen in a long time. Maybe they would be able to get the children the type of field trip they wanted if they didn't have to worry about money going toward any improvements.
"Other than that, I'm not sure about anything else. I know that Mrs. Elvington was actually married out in back yard, as was about three generations of her family."
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Post by Jonah Wellington on Apr 21, 2011 22:52:38 GMT -5
Hmm. That gave him something to work with, anyway. But he would have to make a trip to the city records office to find out when the building was built.
"That's nice," he said sincerely. "I mean, it's cool that she wanted to turn this old family home into an orphanage. Kind of a way to pass down the house to future generations, even though she didn't have children of her own. It must have been a great comfort to her to have all these kids around when Mr. Elvington passed... how long ago was that?"
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Post by Carley Spangler on Apr 24, 2011 15:21:22 GMT -5
"She found out that she couldn't have children. She told me that they tried, but they didn't get lucky. It was Mr. Elvington that actually sort of gave her the idea for the orphanage. He said something about adopting children, and Mrs. Elvington said that that gave her the idea for housing more children than just adopting a few. She thought it would be better if they actually gave a place for other children to stay who needed a home."
Carley thought for a moment. "Mr. Elvington passed when I was eight, so about thirteen years ago. He had just changed the wiring about a year before he passed. I think he had a heart attack, or something like that."
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Post by Jonah Wellington on May 3, 2011 23:14:28 GMT -5
"That's sad," he said politely. "It sounds like he was a good man. At least he got to make a difference with his life. Do you have any idea how long the orphanage was running before you came here?"
Yes, he was making conversation, but he was also trying to find subtle ways to get more information about the place, information that he could hopefully use in his effort to save it. Even as he did that, however, he felt another pang of guilt. This poor woman had no idea that the orphanage even needed to be saved, and it probably wasn't a good idea to keep it from her. Somehow, it was bound to blow up in his face. But he couldn't stand the idea of her pretty face looking at him with contempt, so he let the lies keep building.
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Post by Carley Spangler on May 4, 2011 22:23:28 GMT -5
"Mr. Elvington was a good father to a lot of the children here, and he would do anything he could to keep it running. As for the orphanage, I think it had been running between ten and fifteen years before I came here."
Carley was oblivious as to why he was asking such questions. She thought Jonah was just trying to make conversation rather than figuring out a way to save the orphanage. If she knew he was attempting to save the orphanage that would be one thing. If she found out that the business he worked for was the reason as to why he was trying to save the orphanage and that it was he who was supposed to tell them what was going to be happening, Carley would be fairly upset. She was in a blissful ignorance of the big situation going on.
"Several renovations have been done since the orphanage opened, but that was mainly because Mr. Elvington could do them himself. Now that it's just Mrs. Elvington and I, there is not too much we can do especially since she's getting older and I'm really the only one that can watch the children."
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Post by Jonah Wellington on May 5, 2011 17:40:34 GMT -5
Carley fascinated him. Jonah was not used to people who were so good and honest. Here he was, lying through his teeth, so he wouldn't have to see the look of contempt in her eyes when she found out the real reason he was here. He was selfish and weak, and he wasn't entirely sure that he would be going out of his way to try and save the orphanage if there hadn't been an incredibly cute girl working there. He felt like he could get lost in her soft brown eyes, which seemed to silently beg him to do the right thing. In a way, she reminded him of his brother Stephen, who was shy and sensitive and a better person than Jonah could ever hope to be.
"So... you plan on keeping the orphanage going, then, after Mrs. Elvington... can't anymore?" he asked, trying to keep his question as tactful as possible. "It would be awfully hard to do that all alone, don't you think?"
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Post by Carley Spangler on May 5, 2011 19:03:46 GMT -5
"I do plan on keeping the orphanage going. After all, these children are still going to need a home." As for the next part of his question, Carley gave a shrug. "It's probably going to be a little difficult, but I've been here long enough to know how Mrs. Elvington has been running it. I was always amazed at how she was able to do it alone, but I think I'll be able to figure it out."
She never really thought twice about how hard it was going to be to run the orphanage on her own. There wasn't anyone else around that could help her run the orphanage, so she would have to do it alone. "The major thing that would be difficult is when I have to run to the grocery store. Sure, there are a few older children here, but I still don't like the idea of leaving them all alone."
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Post by Jonah Wellington on May 7, 2011 23:43:01 GMT -5
Carley didn't even realize it, but every time she spoke, she made Jonah feel guilty. She was warm and selfless and strong; she wanted to take care of the orphanage and the children because it was important and because she cared. Jonah worked for his father because he didn't know how to stand up to his father and tell him that he wanted to do something else--anything else.
"That's really great," he said sincerely. "The children are lucky to have you. Maybe by the time you take over, you'll be able to find someone else to help you, just as you help Mrs. Elvington."
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Post by Carley Spangler on May 8, 2011 6:48:14 GMT -5
Running an orphanage alone was a lot like being a single mother in a way. However, Carley didn't mind it. She knew that it was a huge responsibility to take on at the orphanage, even just helping was a huge responsibility. Although, she was lucky majority of the children there were not serious troublemakers. Sure, there were a few pranks here or there, but that was to be expected from children.
"Maybe," she said. "That would ease a little bit of the busyness, but if not that's okay. There's always a way to make something work." As one door closed, another one would open, even if it wasn't clear where the other door opened at first. At that moment, she heard Matthew crying, and told Jonah she would be right back. The two year old had tripped over his own feet. Carley felt bad for him, but the expression Matthew gave as he cried made her laugh. She picked him up and wiped away whatever tears was on his face. "Don't cry, you're okay."
Returning to the chair she was leaning against, Carley sat him down on the floor. "If there is someone that wants to help out later on, they have to have a lot of energy, especially to keep up with this one."
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