Meg remembered just before she fell asleep that she had forgotten to call James. She went out into the kitchen and quickly dialed his number. He groggily answered, and Meg apologized for calling late, but she wanted to let him know that everything was fine, and that she loved him very much. James responded in kind, and both hung up.
It had become a great night for Meg and Amanda, because except for the 10 minutes Leo spent on the phone due to work calling him, they got to hang out with their father, and it was an occurrence that rarely happened due to both his work schedule and their mom being there. But with her at her sister's house, her father seemed more relaxed, and it showed in how he listened and tried to assure Meg when she had talked to him. She had never seen that side of him before, and didn't know if he would show it again, but for one night, he was their dad, not their father.
Tom had received a call from Becky sometime around 8. She was informed that there was a 9:00AM meeting with the mine foreman, Leo Daniels, all the supervisors, and upper management. They were going to explain the changes being made, the changes that she and Tom developed, and go over their implementation. And attendance was mandatory.
Tom could hear the excitement in her voice, and tried to calm her down enough for her to get a good night's sleep. He told her to just take a deep breath, and offered to meet her at the office at 8:00 am to go over all things that they had worked on. That seemed to calm his boss enough that she agreed, said goodnight, and hung up, only to call Susan. She was full of excitement. Susan told her the same thing that Tom had told her. She just needed to take a deep breath and relax. Everything would work out.
As was becoming usual, James woke up before his alarm. He showered, dressed, then headed for the kitchen, only to see his dad sitting at the table, drinking coffee. James asked him if everything was ok, to which his father replied that it was. He told his son that he had an important meeting first thing that morning, and so had to go in early. James could see excitement in his dad's tired eyes, and knew it must be a good meeting. He wished his dad luck and started his routine of making everyone breakfast. Once done, father and son shared a quiet moment, the silence broken when Tom asked him about Meg. Tom regretted it instantly, as James lit up like a circuit board, and just kept talking about Meg, without breaking rhythm. Tom just shook his head and smiled. His son had found the girl of his dreams. And it didn't matter to James that she towered over him, and would only get taller before she stopped growing. She was the girl for him. Tom understood. He had felt the same way when he met Debbie, and started dating her, and knew that she was the one.
When Meg woke up, there was a bounce in her step. Just getting things off her chest when she talked to her dad seemed to lift a tremendous burden from her shoulders. And since she was up early, she decided to cook everyone breakfast, which surprised Leo when he came into the dining room. Leo seemed to enjoy spending time with his girls as much as they did. It was a new experience for him, and secretly looked forward to doing it again.
Once the girls were off to school, Leo got ready for his meeting. He hated meetings like this, because it was always some idiots high up in the company who had “brilliant ideas”, and the company would always latch on and adopt them, only to find out after a very short time how terrible they were. And he kept thinking that this would be another one of those types of meetings.
James caught the bus just as his mom came out of the bathroom. She saw breakfast waiting, but felt Tom kiss her goodbye as he was heading out the door. So for the first time in a long while, she ate breakfast alone. But she wasn't upset. James was in love, and Tom had an important meeting. It made her proud as both a mother and wife to see things going well for the two men in her life that she loved very much.
Becky swore off wine since that night at Susan's, and the subsequent incident with Tom. But she was too amped up about the meeting, so she poured herself one glass to help her calm down. And she was proud that she only had the one glass, as it did relax her enough to be able to sleep. And she woke up with the alarm, had breakfast, showered, dressed, and left for work. Except that when she got to her car she realized that she had forgotten her keys. Cursing herself, she thought she was screwed as she went back to her apartment, expecting to be locked out. But thankfully, she forgot to lock the door, and breathing a sigh of relief, grabbed her keys, locked the door, and drove to work.
James bounded up the steps of the bus and made his way to Meg, who looked a million times happier than the day before. They gave each other a kiss, and once James took his seat, Meg told him all about the night before and the talk she had with her dad. Once she was done, James had a serious question to ask her: could she depend on her dad to help with her mom? Because it seemed to him that he didn't like Betas, just like her mother. Meg looked at James for a moment, considering his question. She told him that she really believed he would help. She couldn't explain it, but her dad from the night before wasn't the dad she was used to. He was different, and in a good way. James took her larger hand in his, and said that if she was confident, so was he. And he lifted her hand up to his face and kissed it, which sent a little shiver down her spine. She just wanted to hug him forever, but the seats on the bus made it impossible.
Tom pulled into the parking and saw the very familiar sight of Becky waiting for him. He thought that she looked really beautiful, and had that million dollar smile on her face. She hugged him, and they went into the office and started preparing for the meeting. Going over everything, they felt very confident. They had already impressed the owner. Now all they had to do was get the workers to buy in, no small feat. Tom knew that from first hand experience.
James and Meg exited the bus and went to homeroom. Since Meg had a bounce in her step, she moved quicker than usual, which caused James to be pulled along in such a way as to lose his balance a couple of times. James was 6’5”, but his stride was no match for her much larger one. Meg hadn’t realized what she was causing by her walk, until the second time James almost fell. Then upon understanding what was going on, she apologized profusely to him. James just smiled at her and told her it was alright, he’ll live, and winked at her. She smiled at that, and consciously slowed her walk to a near crawl, allowing him to keep pace. They finally reached the room and sat at their desks.
Leo Daniels pulled into the corporate parking lot for only the second time in his life, the first being when he was hired as mine foreman, replacing Tom Adams. He walked up to the receptionist, introduced himself, and said that he was there for a meeting. The receptionist, in her usual “cheery” mood, directed him to the last room on the far right. Leo thanked her, and then made his way to the meeting.
Once he was inside, he saw Susan and her father, Michael, a couple of mine supervisors, a man named Jake from the association representing the miners, and Becky and Tom. He was going to think of a snarky comment, but remembered not only the company policy on disrespecting management, but his promise to Meg to keep a somewhat open mind with respect to Betas. So he acknowledged Tom and Becky, and took his seat. He brought a little notebook and pen, so he could write things down and study them.
At 9:00, the meeting started. Michael Myers, the mine's Director of Operations, opened the proceedings by introducing each person there. And once he was done, he turned to his daughter, Susan, who then led the presentation. And when she started on the things that the company was going to implement in order to become more efficient, the man named Jake kept objecting to the loss of money for the miners. And the more he complained, the more Leo wrote down. And whatever Susan couldn't answer, Becky asked Tom to give a detailed explanation.
Tom tried his best to answer Jake's concerns, but the workers’ rep kept going back to the loss of pay for the miners. But Leo kept writing. And then he would study what was written down. And then he tried to explain to Jake about the major benefit of the efficiency initiative, which was that the workers would get to spend more time at home with their families, while only losing a tiny fraction of their salary. Jake kept objecting, and Leo kept trying to explain. Finally, it became a near fist fight between the two men, until Michael Myers intervened.
The whole room was mesmerized by the near brawl, except for Tom Adams. He was mesmerized by the fact that Leo Daniels understood exactly what Becky had tried to accomplish. And for Tom, it meant that Leo understood the mining business better than anyone gave him credit for. Tom was very impressed.
Once tempers had calmed down, Leo had asked Becky and Tom more about the plan. Tom took over and described in total detail everything. Leo continued to write, and ask questions as he went along, until he was finally satisfied with what he heard. He looked at Becky and Tom, and was thoroughly impressed by what they had come up with. He knew the workers would embrace the new plan because, unlike Jake, he worked with the guys every day, and knew that to a man, they wished that they could spend more time at home.
And when the meeting was over, Leo came up to Becky and Tom and told them that he loved their plan, and he knew the workers would also. Becky thanked him, while Tom remarked that he thought that Leo asked the best questions, because it showed that he picked up right away what they were trying to do, and not even the budgeting department could understand it right away. Leo shook both of their hands, then went to work, spending the rest of his shift explaining to the miners about the benefits of the new operations plan. And as he suspected, the men embraced the ideas.
When Becky and Tom returned to their office, they had no time to discuss the just completed meeting. That was because there were files on both of their desks detailing the first mine that they would visit. It was in Brownsville, at the other end of the state. And they were to be there Monday morning by 9:00am. And there were two plane tickets in the packets, for a 6pm Sunday flight. So Tom knew that his weekend with his family would be cut short, but he didn't mind. He knew that they would understand.
Becky and Tom got to discussing the information in the folders, who the director of operations for that particular mine was, what their schedule situation was, and how old their equipment was. Becky let Tom handle most of that, and he got to work on it right away, only stopping for lunch, and when Susan and her father stopped by to discuss that morning’s meeting. Michael complimented Tom on taking control of the presentation. He was sure that would help the miners but in. Tom said he did nothing, that is was all Becky. Her ideas. She deserved the credit. Michael told him to not sell himself short, that as a long time employee of the mine, his wealth of experience was proving to be most valuable to the company, and that he and Becky made the best team.
That caused Becky to blush a little. She knew that without Tom’s help, she would still be trying to get the budgeting department to listen to her. But Tom made her ideas presentable, and even offered a couple of his own that were outstanding in their own right. Susan's father was right, they did make a great team. And it was because of Susan, who had the idea of placing Tom in her office. It was all because of Susan.
James and Meg found the day alternating between flying by and dragging. Meg was happy, and that was all that he cared about. He would climb the highest mountains, descend the deepest depths, fight the fiercest creatures if it would bring her happiness. He made it his responsibility to make sure that she was happy. Meg, meanwhile, kept thinking about the night before, and her father. And how he just let her vent. It was something that James would do without hesitation, without question. She was so glad that her dad took a job with that particular mine, because it eventually brought James into her life. And unknown to him, she was beginning to think a lot about being alone with him, and what would happen. But with places to accommodate her being limited to her house, and with her mom hating Betas like James, she didn't know if there would ever be an opportunity, unless it was their wedding night. But that was years away. She just wanted to be near him as much as she could.
And then the school day ended. Meg and James got on the bus, holding hands until it reached James’ house, where his father was pulling into the driveway as he exited. Both James and Tom turned around and waved to Meg as the bus headed for her house. And once it reached its destination, Meg saw her father getting out of his car. And she was about to give him a big smile, until she noticed her mother’s car further up the driveway. And both Leo and Meg’s emotions sank at the sight. Bracing for the unknown, they both entered the house, neither knowing what to expect.