FICTION
A Man of Many Names — 6
Making plans for settling in an a trade fair.
It was the Thursday before the last week-end in November when Griffin returned to Golden in the late afternoon. Using the portal to his new home near Pike Lake, he wasn’t surprised to see that Talan had arrived before him. Talan had obviously made himself feel at home as there was a fresh pot of coffee, along with some grilled cheese sandwiches –burnt a little extra around the edges as usual– for a snack.
Talan wasn’t what you could call a chef. He was too impatient. As Griffin looked around, he could see that Sophie had been in the house before either he or Talan had arrived. A sign indicated that she would be back with the Jeep in order to pick them up. She would already be at the sports complex that was the setting for the craft and book sale.
“I’d like to say you’ve picked out a nice place, Griffin, but it is, like, boring. You need to spruce the place up,” Talan teased.
“It’s supposed to be boring. After all, I’m going to be an economist this time around, and more importantly, a politician.”
The bantering continued while Griffin decided to whip up a salad to go with the grilled cheese sandwiches. Sophie would appreciate a good salad. One of the unique things about the portal was its ability to transport more than just a body. As long as he could hold something, it could be transported. He had managed to bring two large shopping bags filled with fresh fruit and vegetables, a bit of pasta, and various spices, as well as some vinegar and olive oil. Unlike Talan, Griffin could cook a decent meal.
“So, have you found a place for yourself here in Golden area?” Griffin probed.
“Uhm,” Talan mumbled through a mouthful of sandwich. Finally swallowing, he replied, “Not yet. I thought I’d bunk in with you, or Sophie for a while until I figure out the best neighbourhood for my abode.”
“What about a job?”
“Nah, that can wait as well. I don’t want to rush into something without first having a better layout of the land and my options. It’s not as if I need the money.”
Talan talked big and sounded lackadaisical but, Griffin knew that he was hesitant in rushing into things. He had learned a long time ago, that making decisions without proper recognizance was often costly in lives as well as money.
“You could always work for me,” Griffin offered knowing that Talan would decline that offer.
“Thanks for offering, but I don’t see a future as an economist’s assistant or whatever you would call me. Being a “gopher” is not in my skill set,” he added with a laugh that Griffin shared in.
Gopher was a word both had learned recently as describing someone who would go for this and go for that. Using the name given to a small prairie rodent called a gopher, was a western thing, both in western America and western Canada.
“No one could ever say you were a gopher, besides it’s “go-for,” not gopher.”
Talan was the first one to hear the approach of the Jeep. Sophie’s steps on the porch were soon followed by her calling out, “Will someone please open the damn door?”
She was clutching four bags of groceries, four eco-friendly bags which announced that she had been shopping at the supermarket near the edge of the city. The aroma of cooked meat wafted out of one bag. Talan reached out for that particular bag without offering to take the other bags from her hands. Griffin just shook his head as he grinned at Sophie, who laughed while handing the other three bags off to Griffin. Talan’s appetite for meat was legendary.
Seeing the salad bowl heaped, and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc on ice brought a smile of appreciation to her face. Sophie loved her older brother because he was always thoughtful of others. Still, there wasn’t any way she was going to admit that to him. She had a reputation of being a tough cookie to live up to.
“I’m starved. I kind of figured out that you would bring something to decent to eat, Griffin. However, I knew you wouldn’t have thought of extra protein for baby bro.” Seeing the three grilled cheese sandwiches heaped on a plate beside an opened can of beer, Sophie added, “Talan, why didn’t you bring something else besides the fixings for grilled cheese?”
“This is just a snack until the real meal. I knew that between both of you there would more than enough for a real meal,” he said with a grin. “See,” he added pointing out the various grocery bags, “point proved.”
Once the meal was devoured, the three retreated into the small living room in order to come up with a plan for Griffin’s life-ending accident in the mountains near the community of Rocky Mountain House.
They had used contrived accident scenes in the past and soon had a plan that would solve the issue of the disappearance of Mr. Griffin Brown. With the plan eventually taken care of, the talk soon turned to how both Sophie and Talan would cover their tracks on their way to new lives.
“It’s simple,” Talan bragged. “I’ll just walk. I’ll just disappear as Talan Bryce, and show up here as Luke Talan. Who in their right mind would ever think to look for me in Canada, let alone a tiny city in the midst of North America’s version of Siberia.”
“How about you, Sis?” Griffin asked.
“Staying as Sophie, your sister. Of course that means that I have to have a husband which would free me from the need for a job. Mother has suggested that Talan will act as my husband.”
Talan was about to protest when Sophie cut him off. “It’s just for a few years, you dolt. Besides, it will be a marriage in name only. And your won’t be Luke Talan, it’s going to to be Talan Longley. I already have all the documents for both of us created to cover these new identities,” she added as she handed Talan a binder filled with the documents and photos and other relevant information for their background stories.
Since this wasn’t the first time Talan had worked with Sophie, and knowing that The All-Mother was calling the shots on this assignment, he quickly conceded without any further protest. Protesting was pointless. “So what do you mean, just a few years?” he asked out of curiosity.
The only answer he got was of Sophie rolling her eyes and continuing, “Okay, with that now settled, let’s meet here in another three weeks’ time so that we can put the finishing touches on our plan to spring Griffin out of his life in Deer Crossing.”
Turning to Talan, she added, “That is except for you, Talan. We need to be here at least ten days earlier in order for us to get our new home, a nice place in one of the suburbs. We’ll also need a his and her set of cars. BMWs I think should do the trick, out of your funds of course. And then, we need to begin making appearances around the city, the three of us together.”
“I assume that was the reason for the Arts and Crafts Faire,” Griffin offered, “public exposure with photo opps with a number of the passing customers. Would I be right in guessing that my business cards will coincidentally be on the display table as well along with the book?”
“Naturally,” Sophie beamed. “You do have them printed up already, don’t you?”
“Business cards and a brochure.”
“How did you think of having a brochure? I’m impressed,” Sophie asked.
“I didn’t think of it, my executive assistant thought of it.”
“You’re executive assistant?” both Talan and Sophie exclaimed at the same time.
“Yeah. I hired what I thought would be my office secretary only to find out that she will be much more than that. You’ll both have to meet her. She has already taken over my new office and has begun organising my business files. She’s a godsend.”
“Is she hot?” Talan asked without stopping to think. As soon as those words were out of his mouth, he realised. “Oh yeah, I’m supposed to be married.”
“Do you think she would mind coming to the trade fair tomorrow so that we could meet her?” Sophie wondered. “I think it’s important that we get to know each other sooner rather than later.”
“I already anticipated that. I will be picking her up at her condo. I’m sure you’ll both agree with me about her being my office assistant, I mean my executive office assistant.”
Griffin suggested that their new cars should be purchased right away as there was no way that the three of them would be able to share the Jeep with all that needed to be done. Since it was still early evening and Bema Autosport was open until nine on Thursday evenings, that problem could be solved in short order.
Previously
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