The Road

Chapter 18

It was a bright and refreshing day for the Beauvais family. Their business was booming and there could not be a better time to award the employee who had made all of this possible considering the unexpected drama that had come into their lives. Ebony had been more than a faithful employee; she was compassionate, educated and business orientated. When Winston needed someone to step up to help out, she did more than her job description called for. Winston decided to offer Ebony a deal that she could not refuse.

Ebony had the next several days off of work and it was left to Winston and J.P. to run the shop. J.P. only worked part-time since he was a full-time college student and he mostly worked on the days when Ebony wanted to take some time off or was on vacation. Winston thought it would be nice to call Ebony in to work so that he could surprise her with a family, friends and business gathering. Winston had arranged for the local business owners and staff to come by and help decorate the area. The local business owners had supplied everything for the party as well as the food.

J.P. had called his good friend Rod over to enjoy the event and help out. They were going to make sure that they got Ebony there to the party; otherwise it would not work out if she did not show up. J.P. and Rod had a hard task believe it or not. Ebony was far from being a push over and when she stated that she was taking off work for the day, it was exactly what she meant. The two thought of different scenarios to use to get her to come with them; nevertheless whatever excuse they used, Ebony had to be present by four o'clock.

Deborah and Bethany decided to help set up tables and chairs with some of the other locals since there was not much else to be done. The people really came through to help Winston put it all together. They knew he went through a lot and this would be the best way to reward a person who was in much need of recognition. They were in their final hour to finish up, all that was left to be done was hang up the balloons and streamers.

J.P. called Ebony house to see if she was at home; once they arrived Rod had stayed in the vehicle waiting on J.P. to bring her outside. Taking an fictitious report with him, he planned on using it to lure her out. It was all a set up and J.P. had intentionally re-worked some numbers on a report to make her get involved. Once inside the house he really begged for help to understand the report and to get the numbers right before he had to turn it in today. Ebony took one look at the sheet and she knew that he was going to get hung if she did not help him out. She was kind of suspicious about the report because she taught J.P. how to work the reports and do the numbers. He was doing a fine job for months; what caused this fluke she could only wonder. Ebony could not do anything from looking at the papers, she would have to go to the shop and look into the computer to make things right. Smiling, he knew she was falling for it; he told Ebony that he would drive her there and bring her back home if she would help him out. When Rod saw them coming out the door he laughed, made a call to the shop, and started the vehicle.

He parked in the back of the shop to avoid the ruining the surprise set up for Ebony on the main entrance street.

"Why are you pulling around to the back?" Ebony asked.

"I had locked the front screen door as well as the main security door" replied J.P.

Thinking to herself that his actions were odd. J.P. and Rod let Ebony walk in the door first.

"Surprise, Congratulations Ebony!"

The loud yell made Ebony jump at first, then she started to look around the room at all the familiar faces.

"Wh - what is all of this about? J.P. what is going on here?" Ebony said curiously.

Winston stepped forward and began to commend Ebony on her work and great attitude that she displayed during time of need. After she relaxed and took a seat, he began his speech.

"During a struggle of what we all expect to be the worse thing to happen to our family. During a time of heartache and pain, through the difficult days of sleepless night and when the tears kept falling down my face. Even when I was not crying I was hurting deep inside. Besides my family and my wife; there stood one other special woman who made my life a lot easier. This special and dedicated person kept my business going while I attended to my family needs. She not only came into to work and kept the reports, open and closed the shop, she also made record sales. I believe that this woman is capable of operating her own shop. In the near future hopefully she will continue to work with me and open another shop at the new plaza that is being built northwest of here."

Winston walked towards Ebony and had her stand to her feet. She stood beside him wearing a huge smile.

"Ebony would you like to be a manager for my business and help me to oversee the new and old shops? There will be an increase in pay and benefits paid at 50% by me."

Batting her eyelids, she held back the joyful tears.

"Are you serious? I am going to manage the shops with you? Oh my goodness. Thank you God... Thank you Jesus! Yes, the answer is yes Mr. Beauvais."

"Ebony there is more work involved than what you normally do; however, I am very confident that you are qualified and able to handle it with training. We will discuss the pay, benefits, location, hours and days on Tuesday. If you have any questions get them ready and be prepared to discuss them on that day; but for right now... Let's Party!"

The front door opened and he led Ebony outside. She was ecstatic about what they had done with the place and how they blocked off the street. They partied well into the night.