Chapter 3

Paige did not want to give Mr. Donovan a personal tour. She had planned to have their receptionist, George, take Mr. Donovan and his team around their building because she didn't want him flirting with poor Haley, too. 'I could clarify that I meant George but maybe I'll just take his whole team.'

"Of course. If you and your team would follow me, we can get started," Paige replied. She was attempting to be pleasant. She led them into the lobby.

Nathaniel wanted to spend more time with Paige. His previous thoughts about going into the shelter were completely forgotten with the prospect of more time with her. He wanted to determine if he really was ill or if he was just being dumb because of a pretty girl. 'But she's more than pretty. She's gorgeous. Honestly, if she was taller, she'd be a model. Maybe I can get her into acting? And that would be a reason to talk over dinner…' he trailed off in thought. His thoughts were interrupted as they entered the building.

"This is our lobby. This window is where our receptionist, George, completes intake forms with our clients. The two doors on the opposite side of the room lead to the staff break room and security office on the left and my office that I share with Haley, our assistant director on the right. You do need a badge or to be buzzed in to access the rest of the building," she stated, pulling her badge from her shirt to a reader near the door.

Nathaniel watched her intently. Paige felt uncomfortable under his gaze. Her stomach was doing flips. 'The faster I finish this, the better.' She led them through the door and into the remainder of the facility.

"Here we have our recreational room, where our clients can spend their free time. There's a television, some desks if they have a project they're working on and a few crafting supplies. We have a few clients that knit or crochet, so we have yarn and love yarn donations," she said with a smile. She thought of her group of clients that knitted her a sweater, hat, scarf and gloves and the amount of care that they put into making each of those items. She led the group to another door on the far left of the room where a security guard was standing.

"This door leads to the male dormitories, which are occupied and I will not be showing you. This and the female dormitories across the hall is what we designate as personal space for our clients and we respect their privacy as much as possible. Our rooms are fashioned with two beds, two nightstands, two dressers and two lamps, so our clients do have roommates. There are large, shared bathrooms with multiple showers like you'd find in a gym as well. We try to pair up clients based on interests and personalities. If we notice someone is shy, for instance, we can room them with a more outgoing client so they can come out of their shell a little." Paige then turned and led them to a door and opened it, stepping inside and turning the light on. There were a lot of old computers on a few rows of tables.

"This our Career and Education Center. All of the computers were donated to us. We usually get them from businesses that are updating their computers and rather than throw things away, they donate them to us. Here, our clients take classes to finish school if they haven't, do homework for college or technical school, build their resumes and do certification courses. As you can see, space is limited, which is due to lack of resources. Your donation will actually help expand this, allowing more of our clients to take part in these programs and graduate from our center."

Nathaniel looked at the old computers. Some of them were dinosaurs that were probably older than he was. How did they even turn on?

"Rhonda, look into our company's computers and see how outdated they are," he said.

Paige looked at him and blinked. 'What? Is he concerned because he looked at our computers and thinks his are old, too? Or maybe he would donate them? I'm so confused. When he's not flirting, he just says things with no context and expects everyone to understand him,' she thought to herself. This man was getting under her skin and she wanted to get through the tour, take the picture accepting the check and hide in her office the rest of the day.

"If you'll follow me again, I can show you our cafeteria and Craft Room. We have a few supply rooms and a health center. Then we'll conclude our tour." Paige turned around and led them out the door into the recreation room and through a set of double doors. They walked into the cafeteria, which had long tables with benches on them and a line of covered counters with heated surfaces that workers put food into and served.

"We mainly have volunteers that come and help in the cafeteria, but our clients do a lot of the cooking. It's an important skill that they learn. Behind the counter is the door to our kitchen and supply room where we keep food donations."

"Did the china and flowers not arrive yet?" Alex asked, looking worried. The tablecloths were draped over the tables, but that was it. Paige sighed.

"The china arrived right before you and Haley is dealing with it, somewhere. She might have told them to come to the back of the building where our deliveries typically go for easier access to the cafeteria."

'China? Flowers? What?' He guessed that Alex was trying to change the aesthetic of the shelter, but he felt like this had caused more work for them. He hadn't seen a lot of actual staff and guessed that they were all scrambling to deal with everything Alex planned. He wasn't pleased.

"Alex, go see what they need to accomplish your vision and call in our employees if necessary to finish as quickly as possible. Rhonda, assist with this," Nathanial said. His voice was like the arctic.

Paige was bewildered again. This man was flirtatious and inviting or cold and unapproachable. There was no in between these two moods that she had seen. She wondered why he was like that. He almost seemed like he was two people in the same body.