FICTION

A Man of Many Names — 5

Hiring an executive assistant for his new office.

Griffin had made the return trip to Golden less than a week later. He had managed to book Friday off, ostensibly to take care of medical appointments so that he could follow up with Ms. Lawrence. There was still furniture to buy for the house and a four-wheel drive SUV for use during the coming winter in order to be able to get to the city for work.

All of the purchases had gone well. He had the sales Ms. Lawrence drive the SUV to the acreage, while he drove his Toyota Prius. Another real estate agent followed behind as he would be bringing Ms. Lawrence back to the dealership in the southwest corner of the city.

Griffin was going to leave the new Jeep in the garage attached to the house in order to have a vehicle to drive each time he returned until he was done in Deer Crossing. Until then, he would travel from Deer Crossing to the acreage via the portal.

Griffin had already sent the coordinates to his brother and sister with a promise to have a vehicle on site to make things more convenient for them. Griffin had no doubts that Talan and Sophie would be buying property and vehicles for their new lives in Golden.

Griffin’s new place would be their first landing place in order to set up their new lives. The portal was temporary, a portable unit that had become the norm for his extended family now that they weren’t using their older estates in Europe very much.

Back on those estates, they had constructed elaborate communications centres and physical training facilities. However, with the world’s constantly shifting centres of power and influence, away from Europe, there had arisen a greater need to be closer to the action.

Their ancient enemy, the Fomorians, had been busy funding and stoking the flames of ultra-right wing groups, comprised mostly of older white men. Canada had become one of the world’s hotspots for these groups.

With the ascendance of Canada on the world stage as a beacon of hope and freedom, right-wing extremist groups moved in from their neighbour to the south, the United States of America.

The conflict between the Fomorians and Griffin’s extended family, the Tuatha Dé Danann, or better know as the Sidhe, was now acted out through the use of mortal humans.

Griffin had a few other things to do before business hours were done later in the afternoon, including a stop at reputable agency that would allow him to hire a secretary for the office.

The office wasn’t quite ready for use, however Griffin knew that an on-site secretary would make things happen there faster, and with better workmanship. He arrived at the appointed time. He had phoned earlier from Deer Crossing to set up an appointment where he could interview at least three candidates for the position.

Griffin was surprised when he arrived to see there was only one candidate, a woman with red hair. Looking at her file, he noted that she had a formidable background as an executive assistant. The only reason she was not currently employed was because she had just recently moved to Golden from Europe.

She had followed her husband who had taken a position at the University of Saskatchewan. No sooner had the two of them arrived in the city when her husband demanded a divorce.

Her name was Sarah, Sarah Visser, at least that was the name that she used for the interview. Griffin wasted no time in offering her the job. He wasn’t just offering her the job because of her situation, though that did unconsciously influence his choice. She was everything that he had hoped for in an assistant.

What Griffin didn’t know about Sarah would only be found out over time. Sarah wasn’t who she claimed she was, though she did have all the skills found in her curriculum vitae. She knew who Griffin really was. She also knew about Sophie, as she had been in Paris when Griffin had met his sister there just over a week earlier. She had been searching for Griffin for a long time.

“Now, if you are willing to accept the position, I would be more than happy to show you the office space. It’s not much, and it definitely needs a set of firm guiding hands to be ready for me when I make my final move into it,” Griffin offered.

“Most certainly, Mr. Long.”

Hearing her call him Mr. Long sounded too formal, and at the same time reminded him that he would now be known as Griffin Grayson Long for a few decades. He had just become used to being called Griffin and there was no real reason to give it up so soon.

It was especially confusing during the transition periods between one identity and another when those transition periods were short. It would have been much easier if he had been able to keep one name, though what that name would be he couldn’t begin to guess.

He’d been called a good number of names besides the ones he had chosen to use in the disguise of being a normal mortal. His brothers and sisters all had the same issue with names. He’d just got a text message from Talan who said he was now going to be Luke, Luke Talan. Now that was a suitable name for a warrior. Sophie was keeping her first name but changing her last name, something that we have all done when changing identities.

“When can I start, Mr. Long?” asked Sarah.

“You are already on the payroll,” Griffin laughed. “There’s just one condition, no more Mr. Long unless it’s in the office when clients are present. Otherwise, just call me Griffin.”

“Of course, Mr. Long … I mean Mr. Griffin,” she replied with more than a hint of humour in her response. “I could have sworn that you were more like a Guy, you know, short for Guillaume. You remind me of a Guillaume I once knew.”

Griffin looked at her curiously. Over the centuries, and even longer, Guillaume and Guillermo were the names he had used the most. “Now, about your pay.”

Griffin had Sarah become a signing authority for his business, something he knew would be necessary, as he would often be occupied elsewhere. A good business needed a good, strong, guiding hand and he intuitively knew that Sarah was the person he needed to be to foundation of his new career as an economist and future politician. It helped that she was very pleasant to look at as well, something that would play out to his advantage when it came time to throw his hat into the political ring.

Giving Sarah a set of keys for the office, Griffin gave her carte blanche to buy what was needed to make the office ready for clients. Most of the clients that would show up in the books were based on his past identities. That was how he managed to conceal all the assets he had acquired over the past centuries when capitalism and industrialism had enabled massive personal wealth to be acquired.

“Well, that is about it. I will be back in just over a week. If you need any questions answered, just phone or text me while I am in Alberta. I have a fair number of things I need to wrap up there before I can be here in Golden, full time.”

Griffin smiled as she left. He knew that she would be back in the office well before business hours in order to go through the files and get a better handle on the business. Little did he know that she already knew more about him and the business than he would like. Like himself, Sarah was not whom she appeared to be.

Sarah was an immortal. Unlike Griffin, she was a real goddess, a Nordic goddess. Whereas while Griffin got to live a long series of somewhat normal lives, he was had no godlike attributes despite what mythology had to say about a number of his past identities.

He was not a god, he was just a man. Sarah’s mother Frigg had told her to find a way to insert herself into Griffin’s life. No matter what, she was to stay within his orbit until she was told otherwise. Sarah’s real name was Freya though she hadn’t been called that for many centuries.

As a goddess, she wasn’t bound by the same rules as mortals or immortals such as Griffin. For one thing, she wasn’t bound by space and didn’t need a portal to travel between distant places. Simply willing to be in a place was all that was required.

However, there were occasions in which she chose to be bound to an earthly presence. The present was just one such occasion. The All-Mother wanted Griffin’s project to succeed. In fact, it would be more honest to say that humanity needed Griffin to succeed.

The dark forces that would emerge to prevent his success, were now at the strongest they had been since the first battle between good and evil. This time around, the battle would be fought more in the hearts and minds of humans, as much if not more than with military forces.

Of course, there would be violent battles to come, but they would not determine the outcome. There was no more time for hiding in the shadows of a forest and in history.

Previously

For those who are following and reading the story, thank you!

BOFace, Jenine “Jeni” Baines, Robert, Keeley Schroder, Christopher Grant, Diana Meresc, Pat Romito LaPointe, and Afroditi Filippidi.

And a few of my latest followers:

Mark Sanford, Ph.D., Debra Davis, Sara JN, Daniel Davies, Kate-lynne Pigg, Halcyon Fantasies, Vishnumaya Bisai, and Jane Keathley.