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I gently shook her awake.
"Jade, wake up," I said softly.
She lifted her head, her eyes blurry from sleep.
Looking around, she wiped her eyes. "What time is it?" she asked blearily.
"Almost midnight, Cinderella. Your coach is about to turn back into a pumpkin, so you need to hit the hay before the bell tolls," I told her.
"I hoofed it to the ball tonight," she said sleepily, yawning and stretching. "However, I have an early morning, so bed sounds perfect."
She stood on her toes and gave me a quick peck on the cheek before shuffling off.
Growling, I resisted the temptation to go after her and shake some sense into her. However, that would be the opposite of what I was going for. Miss Independence would have had a heart attack if I interfered.
I ate the dinner left for me and thought that it wasn't half bad. I was positive that my mother would have had a heart attack at the thought of me eating something like this when I was a child. I wondered if her reaction would be the same if she saw Robin eating this. Heaven forbid I tell her about this particular dish, or she would immediately hire a nutritionist and a cook to ensure that Robin had gourmet meals.
That was just the kind of thing that Jade was trying to avoid. She wanted Robin to have a normal childhood like regular kids. She was terrified that if she weren't careful, my family would spoil Robin and turn him into an arrogant rich, entitled kid.
I had to admit that she wasn't wrong. Without question, I wouldn't have thought twice about giving Robin anything and everything that he wanted.
The next morning,I waited for Daisy to arrive and called her into my office almost before she had the chance to put down her purse and take off her jacket. She came into my office, surprise written on her face.
"I need your help with a couple of personal matters."
She raised her eyebrows and waited.
"I would like you to help Jade out with her business proposal. She wants to open her own restaurant. She has a great start on her plan, but she could use your magic touch. You have done a million of these perfectly, so it would be easy," I told her.
"How would you like me to approach her?" Daisy asked, her arms crossed across her chest.
"I don't know. Maybe you could say that I told you she was working on a business proposal, and you have the expertise and some spare time. You might even throw in a comment about how you women have to stick together and help each other," I told her.
Daisy sniffed and rolled her eyes, which told me exactly what she thought of my plan. That was fine with me, though, because that just meant that she would figure out her own way of broaching the topic.
Clearly dreading the answer, Daisy asked, "What is the other task you need help with?"
I steepled my fingers and tried to figure out how much information to give Daisy. I knew Jade would be pissed off if she knew that I was giving out any of her personal business to other people.
"Jade's mother died when she was young. Her father has been busy drinking himself to death ever since," I said, deciding to be direct.
"I guess things have worsened lately because she is looking into rehabilitation centers. Money is a huge issue," I told her.
"So, you want me to find a good center that is inexpensive?" she asked.
"No, I want you to find the best place possible," I instructed. "Then, I need you to find a way to pay for her father's stay so Jade doesn't know. Maybe you can have the center contact Jade and tell her that it has come to the center's attention that Jade is looking for a good rehab center. Have them assure her that they will work with her on the payment for the treatments. They could offer her a sliding scale, based on her income, or something like that."
Daisy nodded at my instructions.
"Make sure that the center has an immediate opening so that her father can enter the program as soon as possible," I said.
"Anything else?" Daisy asked.
"No, that's all for now," I remarked, turning back to my computer to let her know she was dismissed.
I had complete confidence that Daisy would follow my instructions implicitly. She was, if nothing else, one hundred percent efficient in her duties.
I stared at the computer for a little bit. I wondered if there was some grant or scholarship opportunity that could suddenly become available that Sage could benefit from.
