All That She Wants(4)

“Yes,” he said curtly.

Now he was wondering if I was Zimmerman’s friend.

Time to disabuse him of that notion.

I leaned in across the desk and lowered my voice confidentially. “Um, look… if he’s a buddy of yours, I’m sorry to speak out of turn – but he’s kind of an asshole.”

As soon as I said that, Stanley chuckled involuntarily, and I knew I had him.

“And I’m an hour late for our meeting,” I added.

“Uhhh,” Stanley groaned sympathetically.

“You think he’s still in the building?”

“Welllll…” Stanley looked around, as though he were afraid Zimmerman might jump out of the shadows. Then he leaned in towards me, returning my familiarity. “…he’s kind of known for jettin’ out early on Friday, you know what I’m sayin’?”

I laughed. I liked this guy. “Yeah, that sounds like the Klaus I know. Look, could you do me a favor and call up to his office? If I call his cell, he’ll just ream me out for five minutes, so his office phone is better. If he’s gone for the day, I just want to get the hell out of here – as I’m sure you do, too. How much longer you here?”

“Till midnight.”

“Ugh. Sorry to hear it.”

“Ah, well. It’s a livin’.”

That was one thing I never could understand about people on the lower rungs of the ladder. Granted, I would be working all evening and then taking a redeye back to New York for a business meeting in the morning – but I was amply rewarded for it. More than amply rewarded. This guy probably got kicked and abused by everybody in the chain above him, and shared in none of the spoils. He was a cog in the machine, and yet I could tell even from our brief interaction that he had a lot going for him. He was personable, he was at least pretty intelligent, he was affable – he might have made a great elite-level customer service contact or a low-key, no-pressure salesman. But he was selling himself short working long, boring hours down here for a company that didn’t appreciate him.

I wanted to tell him all that, but… unless they knew my family’s name, nobody ever listened to me. They just thought I was some rich asshole lecturing them. And I wanted to keep a low profile, so I kept my opinion to myself.

“True, true,” I agreed. “Look, could you do me a favor and check in on him? If you could save me, uh, having to talk to him… I’d really appreciate it.”

He chuckled and nodded. “You got it.”





6





He picked up the phone and dialed an extension… waited a second… and then said, “Hey, Lily.”

Lily.

A slightly old-fashioned name. I was picturing an older woman, 50-plus.

If that was the case, no problem, I could charm the pants off her.

“Mr. Zimmerman there?” Stanley asked.

There was an answer on the other end, and Stanley winced. He mouthed silently, He’s here.

I grimaced and clicked my fingers, like Damn it!

Stanley grinned – then looked at the phone as though he’d just heard some new information.

He covered the receiver. “But he’s leaving,” he whispered.

Leaving… that’s good, I thought. He’s probably on his way out to dinner. He’s definitely not going to want to talk to ME… which I can use to my advantage.

“Tell him I need to speak with him,” I said, giving Stanley my friendliest ‘commanding’ voice.

He looked a little surprised at my change in tone, but he relayed the message dutifully. “There’s, uh… there’s this gentleman here who wants to speak to him.”

The 50-year-old woman said something, and I could tell from Stanley’s expression that he wasn’t getting any traction.

“Tell her I’m from LMGK,” I instructed.

“Uhhh… he says he’s from LMGK,” Stanley said, clearly uncomfortable at being caught in the middle.

There was a long pause. Then Stanley asked me, “What’s your name again, sir?”

“Connor Brooks.”

“A Mr. Brooks,” Stanley said into the phone. “Mr. Connor Brooks.”

There was another long pause. Then Stanley said, “Sure thing, Lily,” and held out the receiver to me. “She wants to talk to you.”

Great.

Probably an OFFICIOUS 50-year-old woman, about to talk down to me…

Go on the offensive?

Yeah, why not.

I nodded at Stanley, grabbed the receiver, and said, “This is Connor Brooks from LMGK. Please put Klaus Zimmerman on.”

No answer.

Just dead air.

I thought she might have accidentally hung up on me.

“Hello? Is anyone there?” I asked.