The House of Allen

“Here you go, Ben. I included your holiday and overtime pay here so make sure to buy your grandma something nice with it, okay?” Alexandra smiled as she handed Bentley the small brown envelope containing the man’s wages for the month.   “Thank you, Alex! Grandma was asking when you would visit us again. She misses you so much.” The man beamed at Alex as he opened the envelope to make sure that the money he received was the correct amount.    A knock on the office door interrupted the conversation as it opened to reveal Frederick Allen, the owner of the entire farm and factory where they are working. Ben and Alex quickly shot up from their seats to greet their employer.   “Hey, Bentley, Alexandra! How’s it going here?” The middle-aged man smiled as he waved at the two people to take a seat.   “Everything is fine, sir. I was just finishing up with this month’s payroll.” Alex bowed as she motioned for the older man to take a seat.   “That’s good to hear. The customers from overseas have also been praising our produce lately, especially the cherry tomatoes. They say that it was so good, your skin will stay youthful for two full seasons!” The old man laughed and Bentley smiled at the news. He has been taking good care of the cherry tomatoes in the field and he’s glad to hear that their customers appreciated the product of his efforts.   “So what brings you here, Mr. Allen? It’s not every day that you visit here unless it is something important.” Alex inquired.   “Here, I would like to invite you to my son’s welcoming party. You know, Erwin’s older brother? He’s finally coming back from his studies in England. I’d like to discuss something with you as well, so I thought why not hand the invitation to the party to you myself?” The older man smiled as he handed Alex an envelope containing the invitation to the ball that will be held at the Allen family’s main estate. “Please come. I want you to have fun once in a while like you used to do.” Mr. Allen added.   “Ben, can you please step out for a minute? I’ll walk home with you once we have finished our discussion here.” Alexa nodded to Ben’s direction, dismissing the man from her office. Ben smiled at his friend and Mr. Allen before leaving, shutting the door behind him. “So what is it you wanted to discuss with me, sir?” the woman asked once she heard Ben’s footsteps had faded.   “As I told you before, my son will be returning from his studies in England. I sent him there for two years to study business. However, I am afraid that he may lack the experience needed to succeed after me so I’m planning for him to at least get some experience before taking over the business fully. I thought who better to teach him than you. You have been so efficient in running the farms and factories that we almost get no complaints from our partners and customers, and I want you to teach him everything about running this place. Can I count on you?” The older man held the young woman’s hand from across the table as he looked up to her in question.   “Sure, Mr. Allen. It would be an honor for me, and you know how thankful I am that you trusted me with this job despite my status. I will do my best to teach your son what I know.” Alex confirmed as Mr. Allen smiled and patted her hand in assurance.   “Thank you so much, Alex. Your father always spoke so highly about how smart and reliable you are and working with you, I know that he did not lie about this one. My son will start next Monday, and in the meantime, I will expect you at the party, ok?” Mr. Park stood up and waved goodbye as he exited the small office.   After her boss has left, Alex sets about packing up for the day. She arranged all the papers neatly and stashed them into the filing cabinet. Then, she gathered up the remaining envelopes containing the pay of the employees who are currently out sick or on vacation and locked them up inside the vault, making sure that it has been secured and locked properly. After surveying the room for anything that may be out of place and testing the vault and filing cabinets a few times to make sure that they are, indeed, locked, Alex picked up her bag and exited the office and made sure to lock it up with her keys after. Bentley was already waiting for her outside.   “How long have you been waiting for me?” Alex asked as she jogged to meet her friend.   “Not long. I still had to sort out the fertilizers after I left your office earlier.” The man smiled as he led the way. “By the way, are you going to the party?” He asked.   “Well, I’m invited and I think Mr. Allen would like me to meet his son since we will be working with him when he takes over the business.” The woman shrugged as she waved at a couple of kids playing by the sidewalk.   “Wouldn’t you feel awkward, though? I’m sure it will be full of those rich people they are friends with and you’re going to be the odd one out there. I’m worried about you.” Ben bit his lip, glancing at the woman beside him.   “Mr. Allen treats his workers just like his friends. Don’t worry, Ben, I’ll be fine. Besides, Erwin will be there so at least there is someone I know who is also invited. If anything else goes wrong, I’ll just head home. I’m betting they would not even notice me missing.” Alex answered, patting the man’s arm reassuringly.   “Alright, if you say so. I’m betting you’re still going to be the prettiest there beside all those rich snobby women.” Ben grinned as he stopped in front of the apartment building, making Alex blush furiously.   “S-so, this is me. I’ll see you tomorrow!” the shorter woman stammered as the man walked away backward, his eyes never leaving hers as he continued to wave and smile.     ---   “I’m home!” Alex announced as she entered the small apartment that she shares with her mother.   “Welcome home! I was just having tea with Detective Maxwell here.” Her mother announced from their dining room-s***h-kitchen.   “Oh, Detective Maxwell! What brings you here?” Alex asked, placing her bag down in the living room, and joining the two at the table.   “Well, I saw him arriving and asked how he had been. He said he hasn’t had anything since breakfast and I just had to invite him for a bite.” Mrs. Clifford, Alex’s mother, answered for the detective who pursed his lips in embarrassment.   “You should not be skipping meals, detective! Next time, I’ll make sure to give you part of my share for food from the farms. How can you solve cases when you’re hungry, huh?” Alex reprimanded the detective as she retrieved a small box of produce from their pantry, shoving it to the detective who reluctantly accepted.   “I really do not have much time to cook since we have been really busy at the station after the recent murder in town. However, I think it will just be dismissed as a drunken accident or something. By the way, your boss’s son is coming home.” Detective Maxwell added the last bit, hoping to divert the attention of the mother-daughter tandem from his apparent lack of nutrition.   “Then we’ll just have to invite you for dinner and breakfast. Right, mom?” Alex replied stubbornly, her mother quickly nodding in agreement. “Yeah, Mr. Allen came by the office today to give me an invitation to the ball for his son’s welcome party.” The woman added almost like an afterthought.   “A ball? Wow, that’s great! You’ll finally get to go to one after all these years! You used to really love those types of parties.” Mrs. Clifford exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. After everything that happened to their family, Alex has sacrificed a lot to support them and she was glad at anything that would let her daughter let loose once in a while.   “Yeah, it’s great and all, but I’m just worried about not looking like a mother of the bride there. You know I can’t afford a new dress just for me to use it only once.” Alex sighed.     “I-I think I need to go check on something at the station. I’ll see you tomorrow, Mrs. Clifford, Alex!” Sensing the Change of atmosphere, Detective Charles Maxwell excused himself and left the small apartment.   “I can take out a loan or something so you can buy a dress at the boutique.” Mrs. Clifford offered, rubbing her daughter’s hand sympathetically.   “No, I can’t let you do that, mom. I’ll just have to choose the most presentable one I have from my old dresses that I managed to keep. Don’t worry too much about it. After all, I’m going as an employee and not someone out to seek her future husband.” Alex smiled, as she made her way to her room to check out said dresses. “What about this? Black is always classy.” She asked, holding up the plastic covering a black off-shoulder dress with a thigh-high slit on one side.  The dress glittered under the light with the stone embellishments scattered all over the material.   “That looks perfect! I think I have a purse that would be great with it.” Mrs. Clifford smiled as she approved her daughter’s choice. Inside, she secretly wanted her daughter to find a husband already so she can stop worrying about their family and start enjoying the life she has ahead of her.