“For your sake, I hope he's a nice boss and not, as some celebrities are, a conceited schmerk. Good luck, Ms. Hamlyn.”
Anna Dawn smiled slightly, rose from the chair, thanked the secretary, then turned and walked somewhat dazedly out the door and down the hall.
“Schmerk?” she questioned, as she tapped the elevator button. “I don’t think so. Dr. Omega seems so nice on TV. I can’t imagine he’s a schmerk.” She stepped inside when the elevator opened. As there was no one but herself in the car, she continued to talk to herself during the ride down to the lobby.
“Aunt Carol, can you believe this?” she beamed to an unseen party. “I’m really here, at CSU and I’m going to be James Omega's secretary! The real James Omega! And I’m supposed to protect him. What do you think that’s all about? The way I see it, this is either going to be one extremely interesting job, or the total pits. But at least I’ve got a job. One less thing to worry about. But there’s still a hundred things to do! Keep an eye on me, will you? I love you.”
That night, a breath of cool wind from the west came up, found the open window in Anna Dawn’s new kitchen and ruffled the freshly-ironed curtains hanging there. Anna Dawn turned from where she sat at the kitchen table and looked at them. It was as if something was out there, something new and tantalizing, calling to her. She got up, stepped to the window and looked out. Her apartment stood on a little rise and the third floor window allowed her a partial view of the far-spread lights of Fort Collins. In the pale moonlight she could see the outline of low mountains in one direction and a carpet of tree tops in the other.
From the window, Anna turned and looked across the kitchen into the living room, where Bowlinda the cello was propped in a nearby corner.
“How about pizza, tonight?” she asked her silent, stringed friend.
She pulled a Fort Collins phone book off the top of the fridge and began to thumb through the yellow pages. Her finger stopped on the first Pizza Hut she came to. Then her heart caught in her throat. Under her finger was a line of print revealing the Pizza Hut’s address.
“This is too much!” she cried, a little spooked. She turned to her cello. “Bowlinda, you are NOT going to believe this! 1509 Omega Place Plaza! Wow. It’s like a sign. Everything that’s meant to be makes a circle. If it’s right, all the loose ends fit together in the end. I feel good now. In place. I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
Shaking her head, still somewhat amazed, she made the call, ordering a medium, deep-pan mushroom-pepperoni and a two quart bottle of root beer for delivery.
She put down the receiver and again returned to stand at the window, her thoughts turning over again and again how she had come to be here, all the way to Colorado, to this particular university. Her Aunt Carol’s recent death was a great loss and yet it proved to be a blessing. Who would have thought her old-maid aunt’s executor would appear from out of nowhere and present Anna Dawn at the gravesite with proceeds from an insurance policy that she didn’t even know existed. $40,000 wasn’t a fortune, but enough to get her out of the small university where she was piece-mealing together an Associate’s degree and into a quality university for her Bachelors. No, not a fortune, but enough to give her a chance. Enough to maybe make a few dreams come true.
Still, who would have ever thought she, a Texan, born and bred, would end up here, in the Rockies of Colorado? With her inheritance, she could have chosen to go to college anywhere in her home state. But Anna Dawn wanted a fresh start. It was time for something different.
For several weeks over the past months, she had explored the websites of many different colleges, being especially interested to find one where botany and music, her two great loves, could matriculate hand in hand with best advantage to both. She selected seven or eight possibilities and submitted requests for more detailed information.
As soon as the packet about Colorado State University in Fort Collins arrived, three things immediately caught her eye. One was that a top cellist, retired from the New York Symphony Orchestra, was on the music faculty. The second was that the botany and agricultural departments were ranked among the best in the country. But the clincher was the front cover of CSU’s packet. It showed, simply, a shot of the garden in front of the University Arts Center. Anna Dawn fairly gawked when she saw it. It was beautiful and stirred her botanist soul. The colorful array fairly shouted to her that Colorado State University was where she was supposed to be for the next two years.
Anna Dawn Hamlyn was not a person easily swayed nor one to make up her mind quickly. She continued to go over all the other possible choices for several weeks, but the initial feeling about CSU did not subside. In fact, it grew stronger. At last, Anna Dawn concluded there must be a reason she felt so good about this choice and gave in. She applied, was accepted and even given a scholarship. The next thing she knew, she was packed and on her way to Colorado.
Now, here she was, settled in with a nice apartment, her studies all paid for and a secretarial job to boot. Who could ask for more? Why then, did Anna Dawn harbor mixed feelings as she gazed out the window at the lights of Fort Collins? Excitement was there, surely, mostly for her forthcoming courses of study. Wouldn’t it be grand to study cello under a master? And she could hardly wait to delve into the classes on botany! Perhaps, then, it was the new job with James Omega that had her on edge. She didn’t know why, but there was something disquieting about it; something that set off an uneasy, tingly feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“I’ll be the best secretary he ever had,” she promised herself aloud, convincing herself she had nothing to fear. “After one week, James Omega won’t know what he ever did without me!”
Except for the rustling curtains lifted by the wind, nothing replied to her comment. The apartment was much too quiet and the pizza was taking forever.
Anna Dawn reached for her cello and pulled a kitchen chair to the small wooden deck set outside a pair of sliding glass doors in the living room. The wind at the window now sought her hair and teased it against her face.
Anna Dawn paid it no mind. She settled on the chair and set the instrument in its familiar position between her knees. Gently, lovingly, she wrapped her arms around its body and caressed it with the bow. The cello sang back to her with a low alto voice, responding to every nuance of her fingers. She closed her eyes and let it sing.
A new home. A new beginning. The grief and loneliness of losing Aunt Carol and leaving behind all she had ever known would surely pass with time. She would not allow herself to feel alone anymore! She would be happy here! Happiness, after all, was a decision. This was the beginning of a new life, and she would make sure it was everything she wanted! Apart from a little, nagging tingle that erupted whenever she thought about her new boss, everything seemed peaceful and right.
Anna Dawn bowed and swayed, her fingers dancing. Her music rose and fell with the night wind at the curtains and floated upward to the stars.
Dr. James Omega requested only a modest office. He said he did not want to make waves by pushing anyone out of the offices they were used to and he wished to minimize in any way drawing attention to his arrival at CSU. However, he did insist, to the woman in the administration office who arranged such things, on an efficient, part-time, secretary and at least one window.
“That's no problem, Dr. Omega,” she said with the words from President Hewitt, Give him whatever he asks for!, still ringing in her ears from a phone call that morning. “We have a nice office, with a window overlooking the quad, just waiting for your name on the door.”
Omega's first day on the Colorado State campus as an official member of the faculty was one of the last few days of spring term. Carrying only a briefcase, he headed hesitantly along one of the walks that dissected the greens. He found himself caught in an onslaught of students scurrying out of the surrounding buildings in a frantic pace to get to the next class. Omega paused, letting the flood pass as his eyes surveyed the unfamiliar domain. A few students looked at him with a hint of recognition, but either they did not believe their eyes or they